Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Bible According to Isaiah

A man once told of an encounter he had with woman who believed the Bible to be a false book. Her position was that the Bible contained the book of Esther, and that since the book of Esther didn't contain the name of God, it must necessarily be a false account. She reasoned that it then follows that the Bible must also be a false compilation since it contains a false book (according to her).

The man challenged her notion on the grounds that the Bible has 66 books and the book of Isaiah has 66 chapters. He continued by saying that if the book of Esther were not included in the Bible, then the Bible would only have 65 books. This would then make the number of books in the Bible different than the number of chapters in Isaiah. This was his proof that the book of Esther is supposed to be included in the Bible.

The humor in this dialog may cause us to chuckle, but as I relfected on this story I wondered; Isn't it interesting that there is one book in the Bible that has the same number of chapters as the Bible has books? I concluded that it didn't mean anything at all, but as I thought on it for the next few days my opinion changed. I asked myself; Could it mean something?

Questions sometimes make it hard to go to sleep, and I found that to be the case one night with respect to this Isaiah question. What if? What if each chapter of Isaiah had some connection to a book of the Bible? For example; What if Isaiah's sixty-sixth chapter had some connection to the book of Revelation. What if Isaiah's first chapter had some connection to Genesis? I have a fair working knowledge of the book of Revelation, so, I got out of bed and opened Isaiah chapter 66 to see what it might say.

What I made of that chapter can befound under the heading: Isaiah chapter 66 - Revelation. Perhaps you see additional connections, and will post them?

Click on the book you want from the index on the left side.

This site is under construction. As of the day you read this I have posted the connections for all but four of the Bible's sixty-six books. The four books for which the connections have not yet been found are: 2nd Corinthians, Philippians, Colosians and 1st John.

Note: Not all of the connections are of the same strength.
Some may be stretching your imagination to see the connection, but
I'm still working on these, and praying the Spirit will show me more.

Isaiah chapter 1 - Genesis

The opening verses of the first chapter of Isaiah are where I find the first connection to the book of Genesis. Verse two of Isaiah chapter one says, in part:

“I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”

What is the subject of Genesis chapter three? The rebellion of man against God, and the resultant fall of mankind. What is the subject of Genesis chapter six and following? God saving a small remnant of creation, Noah and his family. What does Isaiah 1:9 say?

“Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9)

We read about God saving a remnant of His people in several Bible passages, but this one says a “very small remnant”. It would be hard to get a smaller remnant than eight people saved on the ark, but these are the words that the Holy Spirit gave Isaiah to use in his first chapter. Of course, an even smaller remnant was saved out of Sodom and Gomorrah, but then, they were just the remnant of one city, whereas Noah et.al. were the remnant of the entire human population. Either way, Noah or the twin cities, the remnant was small.

In verse nine and then again in verse ten, Isaiah compares Jerusalem and Judah to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Certainly, Israel’s time in Egypt was more recent in the Israelite memory than going all the way back in time to Sodom and Gomorrah. The likeness of Israel to Egypt would have been just a powerful as the comparison to the two cities that had not existed for so long.

I believe that the Holy Spirit coordinated all three writings, and in doing so, He had the comparison of Isaiah's first chapter connect with what only He knew would come to be the first book of the Bible.

Isaiah chapter 2 - Exodus

“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

The above passage speaks of the origination of the law and the word of the Lord. Could that be related to the “Law” of Moses and to the “Word” of God, the Bible? I am convinced that it is. Where was Israel when God gave them the Law and the Word? They were in the deserts of Sinai, and these events are first recorded in the second book of the Bible, Exodus. In fact, the giving of the Law and the Word is the primary subject of the book of Exodus. Is it just coincidence that the passage above is found in the second chapter of Isaiah? Hardly. There is more in this chapter that connects with Exodus too.

Nowhere in the Old Testament is there a more vivid picture of Israel’s idolatry than what we find at the foot of Mount Sinai while Moses is up on the mountain meeting with the Lord. Flagrant abuse and total abandon is what we see in this picture, and in Isaiah 2:6-9 Isaiah implores God to forgive [Israel] not because they are worshipping idols in his day too. Isaiah is still talking about his own people, but he’s not at the foot of Mount Sinai this time. He’s right in Jerusalem, and he’s speaking of the idolatry of the Israelites there and then, but the connection is made to an earlier time, back in the days of the Exodus. What did God do when Moses came back down from the mountain? God destroyed the idol that Aaron had fashioned when Moses threw the stone tablets at it, and what does verse eighteen of Isaiah chapter two tell us?

“And the idols he shall utterly abolish.”

Isaiah chapter 3 - Leviticus

As I continue to look at Isaiah, I have to remember that the subject of the chapter will not necessarily be the same as the book to which it corresponds numerically, but so far I have found little tidbits in each chapter that make some kind of connection. I guess that I want there to be a connection, but I want to see a robust connection indicating that God set up the book of Isaiah as an indicator that the entire Bible was all laid out as early as the days of Isaiah.

Of course, I believe that it was laid out long before that, but I want to be able to show the critics that nothing is missing and that every book is in there that is supposed to be in there, and that there aren’t any that are missing. I have found some chapters where the connection is unmistakable, but there are others where the only connection I find is very subtle. I was highly amused by what I think is a connection between the third chapter of Isaiah and the book of Leviticus.

The first verse of the third chapter of Isaiah says:

“For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water. (Isaiah 3:1)

May I paraphrase part of the above to say that; ‘The LORD takes away all of Israel’s bread? He takes away their bread sustenance.’ Now I know what the primary subject of the book of Leviticus is. Leviticus is centered on the offerings, sacrifices and oblations as well as the special feasts. Every specific detail of the temple offerings is spelled out in Leviticus, but one word is conspicuously absent from the text.

It isn’t the word ‘bread’. ‘Bread’ occurs many times as unleavened and as leavened bread to be used in the temple service. Nope. The word that is missing is ‘manna’. Manna was the bread that Israel got to eat. Manna was the bread that sustained the people. They didn't eat the bread used in the temple service. The priests ate that bread.

God began giving manna to the Israelites in Exodus, and He continued giving them manna until they crossed the Jordan River and entered the promised-land. That takes us clear into the book of Joshua, and ‘manna’ is mentioned in every book from Exodus to Joshua, but it’s not in the book of Leviticus. This is a connection between the third chapter of Isaiah and the book of Leviticus. It’s an oblique connection, but it is there just the same. The clever part in my estimation is that Isaiah 3:1 says that God will “take away” the bread from Israel, and God took away the word ‘manna’ from the text of the book of Leviticus.

It is in the third chapter of Isaiah that the Holy Spirit says that God will take away the whole stay of bread. The third book of the Bible makes no mention of the bread that God was giving Israel to sustain them. Chapter three of Isaiah; book three of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 4 - Numbers

The Holy Spirit used the words ‘number’ or ‘numbered’ 114 times in the 36 chapters of the book of Numbers. What was God doing in the book of Numbers? The people were wandering in the desert because they had been faithless. They did not trust the Lord to take them into and give them victory in the promised-land. They were to wander for forty years until an entire generation of Israelites died in the desert because of their unbelief. God was purging Israel of her unbelievers. And, what do we find in Isaiah chapter four?

“When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” (Isaiah 4:4)

God would purge Israel again in the time period being forecast by Isaiah’s prophecy, but here’s one connection to the fourth book of the Bible, Numbers, and notice that it is chapter four and verse four. Then, in the next verse of Isaiah chapter four we read:

“And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense.” (Isaiah 4:5)

A cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night? That’s what Numbers 14:14 says.

“And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.” (Numbers 14:14)

Finally, in Isaiah 4:6 we find the word “tabernacle”. Isaiah isn’t talking about the Holy Tabernacle that traveled with Israel in the desert. He’s talking about a shelter from the heat of the day and from the storms, but the book of Numbers uses the word ‘tabernacle’ ninety-one times. There are only six verses in the forth chapter of Isaiah, but we find the word tabernacle there, and why is that? It seems almost out of place. Look at verse six.

“And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”

Once again, there are only six verses in Isaiah chapter four, but three of them draw a connection to the forth book of the Bible, the book of Numbers. Chapter four of Isaiah; book four of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 5 - Deuteronomy

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out the good news and the bad news, so to speak. For forty years these people have seen one miracle of God after another, and they have watched (and probably participated) as their parents have repeatedly turned from God, following after idols, and then watched again as God encouraged them to come back to himself.

Moses is addressing Israel as they are preparing to enter into the land promised to their fathers forty years earlier, and as he (Moses) is preparing to go up into the hills to die. He lays out two scenarios.

The first is positive. Moses details all the blessings that Israel can expect if they but obey God and stay true to Him alone. It’s a beautiful thing.

The second is negative. Moses details all that Israel can expect if they do not obey their LORD and stay true to Him alone. This is not pretty.

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah, the first two verses are filled with what God has done for and on behalf of His “vineyard” and His “pleasant plant”. Isaiah tells us later in verse seven that the vineyard is a symbol of the House of Israel, and the pleasant plant is a picture of the men of Judah, and it is consistent with the promises of God that Moses had enumerated in Deuteronomy.

“And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” (Isaiah 5:1-2)

The husbandman here did everything he knew to do to insure the production of grapes. This is a picture of Israel newly resident in the land of promise. In the first place, God selected a “pleasant plant” for the stock for His vineyard. Israel was His chosen people for the land. In addition, God protected them from outside interference by putting up a fence.

He also built a tower in the middle so He could watch over His vineyard. The stones that He removed from the land represent the abominable nations that He told Israel to destroy from the land upon entering therein. And, God looked forward to Israel bringing Him fruit.

And, they did bring forth fruit, but it was not the fruit He had hoped for. The grapes that were produced were wild grapes that didn’t taste the same as those from the vine He had planted. So, the husbandman (God) asks some questions, and then changes a few things.

“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?”
(Isaiah 5:3-4)

“And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” (Isaiah 5:5-6)

Wild grapes send out runners into other terrain rather than putting their energy into producing fruit. This is the picture of Israel going after other gods. The one, true God, the husbandman of Israel, proceeded to remove the things that He had done for obedient Israel because they had departed from Him and followed other Gods.

Instead of abundant rain, there was to be drought. Instead of His protection, their enemies would enter the land and ravage them. Even their eventual captivity is forecast in the fifth chapter of Isaiah. The entire balance of chapter five spells out doom and gloom for the nation of Israel.

All of this is consistent with the two scenarios laid out by Moses at the horizon of Israel’s tenure in the land of promise as we can read about it in the book of Deuteronomy.

Isaiah chapter 6 - Joshua

The story of Israel’s history that is found in the book of Joshua can be easily summarized as the removal of the people groups living in the land which God was in the process of giving to Israel. The process for each of the cities was the same; kill every living soul in the city and take the possessions as prey.

The Israelites were to leave no one living. Complete and utter desolation of every city was the order of the day. We read the following from the pages of the sixth chapter of Isaiah.

“Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.”(Is. 6:11)

The connection between the book of Joshua and Isaiah’s sixth chapter is simple, but it is highly visible and succinct.

This is the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and Joshua is the sixth book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 7 - Judges

We have all read Isaiah 7:14 many times, and many of us have taught from it. Isaiah was addressing the king of Judah, Ahaz, and the virgin birth spoken of was to be a sign to him personally, but in the wider picture, this passage is where God prophesies the virgin birth of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” (Isaiah 7:14-15)

Even though the words were spoken to Ahaz by Isaiah, the prophecy is for a point in time that would be many hundreds of years later. That is an important feature of many prophetic utterances, but it is also a feature of the connections between Isaiah’s words and the books of the Bible that the Holy Spirit wrote into the book of Isaiah.

In this same passage we find such a connection, not in verse fourteen, but in verse fifteen. Notice the second word of verse fifteen and the four words that follow it. “and honey shall he eat”.

When we think of a Bible character eating honey, who do we think of? Well, some might remember that John the baptizer ate honey and locust in the wilderness, but others will remember that Samson ate the honey from the honeycomb that the bees had built into the carcass of a dead animal. In Samson’s case, touching the dead carcass was the first violation of his Nazarite oath.

Today, Samson may be the most remembered of the Judges. Gideon was one of the Judges too, but he’s not nearly as famous as is Samson. Realizing our location within the book of Isaiah, let’s see if there is something else we might recognize in this chapter as being connected to Samson.

What part of Samson’s story comes to our mind? For me it is that he let Delilah shave off his hair and lost his strength as a result. This was another violation of his Nazarite oath. It’s in Isaiah 7:20 and it is so very specific.

“In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.” (Isaiah 7:20)

Isaiah’s words speak of the hair of the head being ‘shaved’, and the shaving is done with a “razor”. The hair isn’t said to be cut or cropped. It is ‘shaved’; not with scissors nor with a knife, but with a razor. Now look at the verse where Delilah cuts Samson’s hair.

“And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.” (Judges 16:19)

Well, there it is. She would “shave” off the seven locks of his “head”, but it doesn’t say anything about a razor. Hm. For that word we have to go back a couple of verses.

“That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” (Judges 16:17)

The Nazarite vow included a prohibition on cutting the hair of the head, in other words that a razor should never touch his head. The angel had said to Samson’s mother:

“For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:5)

Samson lost his strength. We must assume therefore that a razor was used.

This is the seventh chapter of Isaiah, and Judges is the seventh book of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 8 - Ruth

The story we read in the book of Ruth is true. The things told therein really did happen, but the message contained in the story of Boaz, Naomi and Ruth concerns our ‘kinsman redeemer’, Jesus. The whole process that Boaz went through as he moved to make Ruth his wife was Jewish protocol in his day, and it was still Jewish protocol in the days that Jesus walked the roads of Judea.

In is neatly tucked into the beautiful love story we have all read many times over. The one who would redeem that which had been lost had to be someone who was near of kin to the one who would be the benefactor of the redemption.

When Naomi and Ruth left the land of Moab, they went home to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was, of course, the birthplace of our Savior, the Prince of Peace, Emanuel. Moab was a land East of the Jordan River in the country we call Jordan today. As the women traveled homeward, they traveled in a westerly heading, crossing the Jordan River, then traveling through the territory of Judah to finally arrive in Bethlehem within the territory of Benjamin.

It was in Bethlehem that the love story between Boaz and Ruth played out, and it would have been in Bethlehem that they became husband and wife, and it would have been in Bethlehem that Ruth conceived and bore a son who they named Obed, who would live to become the grandfather of King David, and be one of the men listed in the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, with this much information in place we turn to the eighth chapter of the book of Isaiah.

In this chapter of Isaiah we find the following words and phrases:

“and she conceived, and bare a son.” (v3b)

Isaiah was talking about the conception and birth of his own son, but the passage applies to Ruth as well, and the same words are there in the book of Ruth.

“shall pass through Judah” (v8a)

Isaiah was talking about the king of Assyria, but it was Naomi and Ruth who passed through the territory of Judah on their way to Bethlehem.

“O Immanuel.” (v8c)

It is not clear to me why Isaiah used either this phrase or the next one in his prophecy, but both of them speak of Jesus the Christ who was born in the little hamlet of Bethlehem.

“God is with us.” (v10b)

This is the eighth chapter of Isaiah, and Ruth is the eighth book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 9 - 1st Samuel

What was the scenario in Israel that day when Goliath stood up on the side of the hill and taunted God’s chosen nation? What were their prospects that day? What did their future look to hold? Were they looking forward to the next day and the next week? Hardly.

I think that they were expecting to die. We might say that they stood in the shadow of death, and that is what Isaiah says about Israel at a time yet future to him. But God was about to bring a bright light into their day. They were walking in darkness, but a light was about to shine.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

God was about to break the yoke of the Philistines from the neck of Israel.

“For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.” (Isaiah 9:4)

Perhaps no greater connection can be seen between any one book of the Bible and any one chapter of Isaiah than can be seen between 1st Samuel and Isaiah chapter nine. The first book of Samuel is the ninth book of the Bible. In 1st Samuel we see the youngest son of Jesse arrive on the stage of history, slay the great menace to Israel and be anointed as King. It is in Isaiah chapter nine that we read these memorable words:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Indeed, there is no stronger connection between our savior and any mortal man than that drawn between Jesus and David. Truly and within proportion, the following verse is true for both David and Christ Jesus.

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:7)

This is the ninth chapter of Isaiah and the ninth book of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 10 - 2nd Samuel

“For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.” (Isaiah 10:22)

“Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.” (2nd Samuel 17:11)

The first thing that stood out to me as being common to Isaiah chapter ten and the book of 2nd Samuel was the statement found in both of the above passages; that Israel would be in number as the sand of the sea. I reasoned that this was a connection, and it is, but upon further investigation I found that this statement was also found in a few other books of the Bible.

I was fairly familiar with the seventh chapter of 2nd Samuel, and I recalled that God had told David that He would chasten Solomon with a rod if he (Solomon) were to commit iniquity.

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:”
(2nd Samuel 7:14)

So, when I read Isaiah 10:24, I immediately made another connection there.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.” (Isaiah 10:24)

We can remember that David did not always please God with his actions, and God did discipline David accordingly, but God’s hand was always extended to David, drawing him back to close association. I could see that in Isaiah 10:4b.

“For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.”

And, yet, all of these types of connections could be found elsewhere as well, even if they were not all found in the same book, other than here in 2nd Samuel. Then I noticed something really peculiar in the latter part of the tenth chapter of Isaiah. There were more than ten names of places. It was all part of Isaiah’s prophecy, but I wondered if all those places had anything to do with David’s career. The first ones I came to were in verse nine.

“Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?” (Isaiah 10:9)

‘Damascus’ and ‘Hamath’ are two cities we find in 2nd Samuel 8:5 and 8:9 respectively, and they represent two of David’s military victories in uniting the nation of Israel and expanding its borders. The names of other cities are not mentioned in the context of 2nd Samuel chapter eight, but these two are, and they are only mentioned together in two other books, 2nd Kings and Ezekiel.

Ezekiel’s passage is a description of the boundary of Israel (established during David’s reign). The passage in 2nd Kings speaks of Jereboam recovering the lands which had been lost) up to that same boundary, originally drawn by David’s military conquests. Both of these are then, references to the original events.

Continuing with the inquest into the several cities mentioned in Isaiah chapter ten we find that the following were all cities within the territory of Benjamin: Migron (v28), Geba (v29), Ramah (v29), Gallim (v30), Gebim (v31), Anathoth (v30) and Madmenah (v31). The territory of Benjamin was one of the smallest of all the tribal territories. This list of seven city names must have included most of the cities in that territory. Additionally, Michmash is said to be a city near Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was inside the territory of Benjamin. Maybe Michmash was too?

Why would this list include so many cities in the territory of Benjamin? Isaiah’s purpose is unclear to me as far as the details of Isaiah chapter ten are concerned, but the territory of Benjamin is significant to David. The city of David was in the territory of Benjamin. Do you remember the actual name of that little town? Here’s a clue. Luke 2:4 and 1st Samuel 16:1-4. Look them up. Now, we didn’t exhaust the list of city names.

There are two cities named in Isaiah chapter ten that are not in the territory of Benjamin. Laish (v30) was a city in the territory of Dan, but when we look for “Laish” in 2nd Samuel, we don’t find it given as a city, but rather as a man’s name, and that man was the father-in-law of Saul’s daughter Michal, who was taken from her husband by Saul’s son and was given as wife to David.

“And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish.” (2nd Samuel 3:14-15)

The final name we need to look at in Isaiah chapter ten is Gibeah of Saul (v29). We do find it in 2nd Samuel, and in 1st Samuel. There was a major event in David’s live that took place there. I include it here because it is so significant. It is 2nd Samuel 21:1-9.

“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.”

The ten cities found in Isaiah chapter 10 are all connected to David's life.

We have been looking into Isaiah chapter ten, and 2nd Samuel is the tenth book of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 11 - 1st Kings

As the first book of the Kings opens, David is dying, and he has anoints his son Solomon to take the throne of Israel. After Solomon consolidates his position as king by killing his brother Adonijah, we come to chapter three and find the account of Solomon’s dream, the dream in which he asks God for wisdom to rule Israel, and the dream in which God gives to him according to that request.

And, the rest, as they say, is history. Solomon did, in fact, rule over Israel with great wisdom. So much so that, according to the Bible account, he was known as one of, if not the most wise men in all the earth.

“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.” (1st Kings 4:29-34)

Certainly, the primary theme of this passage is the attribute of wisdom that God gave to Solomon. We might say that the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the spirit of counsel and knowledge were given him by God. Sound judgment was the trademark by which we all have come to think of Solomon. The proverbs he wrote down and the songs he composed attest to the depth of his understanding. The following passage is obviously a prophecy of our Lord and Savior, but in a limited way, it is also a picture of Solomon.

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” (Isaiah 11:1-4)

This is the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and 1st Kings is the eleventh book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 12 - 2nd Kings

I'm looking for more meat on this book and chapter. If you see something, please let me know.

“And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”

The entire chapter of Isaiah twelve is comprised of six verses. The above words which are not emphasized (either as italics or bold print) would probably occur in every chapter of the Bible. Those that are emphasized may be slightly less common, although even some of them are heavily used. Those that are in bold type above do not occur in the chapters of 2nd Kings. Those that are in italics above are found in the pages of 2nd Kings.

This chapter of Isaiah is an expression of joy. Isaiah speaks of singing songs of praise, and of trusting the LORD. He knows that God has turned away His anger. God is comforting Isaiah. There are really no words here with any negative connotation. God is nurturing and comforting His people. Isaiah invites them to join him in praising the exalted Holy One of Israel. You can read this chapter and sense Isaiah’s emotions and feelings.

There are many verses in the Bible that contain the words that are highlighted in yellow above, not just 2nd Kings. Biblically speaking, these words are quite common. However, though all of the words in yellow can be found in 2nd Kings, several of them occur together in the verses of 2nd Kings. Some of these pairs of words can be found in verses throughout the Bible in many of the other books. Those that are found in 2nd Kings are presented here. Note the sense of despair that the following verses bring to your mind as you read these. The words in yellow are the same words that are in yellow above, but the sense of the following verses is nothing akin to that of Isaiah chapter twelve. Not one of the following verses is uplifting. They are all very negative. There are twenty of them.

“And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.” (2nd Kings 2:3)

“And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.” (2nd Kings 2:5)

“And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.” (2nd Kings 2:24)

“And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.” (2nd Kings 3:19)

“And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.” (2nd Kings 4:8)

“And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.” (2nd Kings 4:11)

“But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.” (2nd Kings 5:11)

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.” (2nd Kings 5:12)

“He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.” (2nd Kings 14:7)

“And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:” (2nd Kings 17:11)

“Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.” (2nd Kings 17:23)

“Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?” (2nd Kings 18:20)

“But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?” (2nd Kings 18:22)

“How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?”(2 Kings 18:24)

“And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.” (2nd Kings 19:3)

“Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.” (2nd Kings 19:22)

‘Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.”
(2nd Kings 21:15)

“And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.” (2nd Kings 23:19)

“Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.” (2nd Kings 23:26)

“And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.” (2nd Kings 23:34)

The above verses that have just one pair of words are like many other verses in the Bible that have the same two words in them. The uniqueness of these is that where the words of Isaiah chapter twelve are positive, theses are ALL negative.

There are some of the above verses where there are THREE words highlighted. For some of these verses, it is because one of the words is the word ‘LORD’. If we eliminate the verses above that include the word ‘LORD’ in order to have three words, and then select the remaining verses that have three words taken from the list for Isaiah chapter twelve other than the word ‘LORD’, we are left with only two verses. 2nd Kings 5:11 has three words in addition to the word ‘LORD’ so it still falls within the selection criteria.

“But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.” (2nd Kings 5:11)

“Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.” (2nd Kings 19:22)

The three words in 2nd Kings 5:11 are ‘call’, ‘name’ and ‘away’. Those three words are found in this verse and nowhere else in the Bible, except Hosea 1:6, so that verse is eliminated as being anything special, but our second verse is the one we are looking for.

There is only one place in the entire Bible where ‘exalted’ and ‘Holy One of Israel’ occur in the same verse, and that verse is the one seen above, 2nd Kings 19:22. The phrase ‘Holy One of Israel’ is found throughout the Bible, but not in combination with the word exalted. The computer tells me that this combination can be found in fourteen different CHAPTERS in the Bible, among them Isaiah chapter twelve, but there is only one place where this combination occurs in one, singular VERSE, and that is 2nd Kings 19:22.

Is it just a coincidence? Is this all just playing games with words, or is there a special reason that the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to put those words in his chapter twelve, and Ezra to put those same words in verse twenty-two of 2nd Kings? No. It’s not a coincidence. They were connected on purpose long ago, and they are still connected today for God’s own reasons.

Isaiah chapter 13 - 1st Chronicles

Isaiah chapter thirteen is a prophecy against Babylon. Isaiah says so in the first part of the first verse. That said, we need to realize that this chapter has a prophecy against the physical city/land of Babylon and a prophecy against spiritual Babylon as well.

The first part of the chapter is the prophecy against spiritual Babylon, and by verse fifteen Isaiah is speaking about physical Babylon, the Babylon that we know as Iraq today. Take note of the language used in the first thirteen verses of the chapter.

“The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” (Isaiah 13:4-6)

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:9-13)

This speaks of the time of Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation period. The images in the above verses can be nothing else. But, the verses which follow can only pertain to the earthly, physical city/land of Babylon.

“Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” (Isa. 13:15-22)

When God destroys spiritual Babylon at the end of the tribulation period, wives will not be ravished, and the Medes will not be doing the job for Him. The Medes are known today as Iran. Wild beasts will not lie down in spiritual Babylon after it is destroyed, and owls will not dwell there either. So, we see that the prophecy must necessarily be about two distinct Babylons.

Now what does any of this that we have read from the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah have to do with the thirteenth book of the Bible, 1st Chronicles? It may help us if we realize that originally, the two books, 1st and 2nd Chronicles were all the same scroll/book. The two were divided later, and are divided in the Jewish Bible as well. The second follows the first, not just in order of placement in the Bible, but also in story line.

Knowing this, we should also take note that chapter thirteen and chapter fourteen of Isaiah are also closely related. While chapter thirteen is about the Day of The LORD, chapter fourteen is about God’s judgment of Satan/Lucifer and his demonic host. The second follows the first, not just in order of placement in our Bible, but also in the chronology of what is going to happen in a time period which is yet future as of this writing.

In addition to this relationship between these two chapters of Isaiah and the parallel relationship between the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, there is another strand of connective tissue running between Isaiah’s chapter thirteen and 1st Chronicles, and as we will see later, a similar strand connects Isaiah’s chapter fourteen and 2nd Chronicles.

That which is like spiritual Babylon, is treated by God as He treats spiritual Babylon. He is no respecter of persons. That may sound confusing at first, but it is like this. Israel, came to political and military greatness during the reign of David, and the time period of that reign is the time period covered in 1st Chronicles.

But, Israel was not spiritually strong during the time period of 1st Chronicles. David’s personal life was a mess, and as the leaders of a nation go, so goes the nation. The spiritual life of Israel was as much a roller-coaster ride as was the personal life of David.

Low points like David’s affair with Bathsheba, and the murder (effectively) of Uriah, were followed by the revolt of David’s son. Then in 1st Chronicles chapter twenty-one, David numbers Israel and brings the wrath of God down upon himself and his nation.

There are high points, but they are just like the high points on our roller-coaster analogy; they are short lived. Murder, adultery and self-aggrandizement by claiming as your own that which is God’s; this is all part of spiritual Babylon type behavior.

We might think of Israel under King David as the highest point in Israel’s history, but from the high point, there is only one direction to go. The high point is really the beginning of the end, and that is what the tribulation period is; the beginning of the end. The Day of The LORD spoken of in Isaiah chapter thirteen is the beginning of the end for spiritual Babylon, and the period of time covered in 1st Chronicles was the beginning of the end for Israel.

The beginning of the end for spiritual Babylon is described in the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah. The beginning of the end for Israel is described in the thirteenth book of the Bible. They are connected as the beginning of the end in each case.

Isaiah chapter 14 - 2nd Chronicles

As we noted in the previous discussion about 1st Chronicles, 1st and 2nd Chronicles were originally two halves of the same scroll/book. Even the Jewish Bible has them as two separate books.

We also noted that chapters thirteen and fourteen of Isaiah treat related subjects. We saw that chapter thirteen deals with God’s judgment of two distinct entities called Babylon, the spiritual Babylon and the physical Babylon we call Iraq today.

In that study we concluded that the connection between Isaiah’s chapter thirteen and the thirteenth book of the Bible, 1st Chronicles was that each one was a description of the beginning of the end; Isaiah chapter thirteen for the beginning of the end of spiritual Babylon, and 1st Chronicles as the beginning of the end of the Kingdom of Israel. This is not to be the final status of Israel, but it was the final status as far as the monarchy of the house of David was concerned.

Isaiah chapter fourteen begins with God placing Israel in the own land, and making that land a place of peace and rest for them.

“For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve” (Isaiah 14:1-3)

The prophecy then moves to God’s judgment of the king of Babylon, and we note that the name that comes up is the name of the king of spiritual Babylon, Lucifer. This is the subject of verses four through verse twenty. We read such statements as;

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.” (Isaiah 14:12-20)

Who owns the title deed to the Earth right now? Lucifer/Satan/the Devil, and in these verses he comes to a ‘temporary’ end. We can read in the book of Revelation, chapter twenty, verse ten as to what will be the final status of Lucifer.

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

Going down into the pit is only a temporary end to Lucifer, much like the temporary end of the kingly line of Israel with Zedekiah, and that just happens to be a connection between Isaiah chapter fourteen and the book of 2nd Chronicles.

Isaiah chapter 15 - Ezra

There is really no reason for any chapter in Isaiah to have the same number of verses as its corresponding book has chapters, but I usually look for that anyway, just because the idea of this study is based in the numerical comparison of the chapters of Isaiah and the books of the Bible, each one containing sixty-six component units.

A quick look let me know that while the book of Ezra has ten chapters, its corresponding chapter of Isaiah (15th chapter) has only nine verses. While I was looking at the numbers and before I actually started to read the words of Ezra, I compared the book of Nehemiah with its thirteen chapters to the sixteenth chapter of Isaiah and found that chapter to be divided into fourteen verses. So, I didn’t find a match there, but I did notice that the total number of chapters in Ezra and Nehemiah was twenty-three and the total number of verses in Isaiah chapter fifteen and sixteen was also twenty-three, but what could that mean?

So, I took a cursory look at Ezra and found that it was a prophecy concerning the nation of Moab. I didn’t see anything else there, so I moved on to Nehemiah, only to find that it too was about Moab. Both books were about Moab, but the principle character in Ezra was, of course, Ezra, and the principle character in Nehemiah was, you guessed it, Nehemiah. Other than their principle characters, both books were about God’s judgment of the land of Moab.

Well, that was sort of a link, so I took a look at the information at the beginning of Ezra that had been written and placed therein by a writer from the 20th century. It started out by stating that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah had originally been part of the same book called Ezra, but that the original book had been divided into two books and the second part had been renamed for the principle character, Nehemiah. BINGO!

The original book of Ezra contained all of the material from the two books we now call Ezra and Nehemiah. That means that the total verses in that original book would have been twenty-three, and that’s the same as the number as the number of chapters in Isaiah chapters fifteen and sixteen. That’s a nifty numerical alignment, but was that to be the only correlation that the Holy Spirit created between the two books and the two chapters when He inspired the writers to pen the words in them? Probably not. I began my search for more of a link, and I wondered if there was a connection between the words in Isaiah chapter fifteen and the words of the book of Ezra. What did I find?

I found about seven words or word pairs that I thought were significant and/or unique within the text of Ezra. This is a quick list:

laid waste my heart
destruction desolate
carry away brook
laid up.

There were actually a lot of other words, words that were more than just prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions and the like, but the above list shows the words that are found in the book of Ezra as well as the 15th chapter of Isaiah.

My first impression was that this list actually paints a picture of Jerusalem in Ezra’s day, so, I was hopeful of there being something more definitive of a direct link. When I did a computerized word search for these words, I found that this group of words does not appear in any other chapter of the Bible. Let me say that again. This list of words does not appear in any other chapter of the Bible. Is that just a coincidence?

Then, looking at the list, I realized that it was quite a big list of words (seven words or word pairs), and I thought perhaps that was why only one Bible chapter had them all, so, I reduced the number of words in my search to the two word pairs, ‘laid up’ and ‘carry away’. No other chapter in the Bible contains these two pairs of words. They are both found only in the book of Ezra and again in the fifteenth chapter of Isaiah.

In combination with the fact that not one, but two additional word pairs from the book of Ezra are found in Isaiah chapter fifteen this is even more significant. But, trying to be completely objective about it, I ran a search for ‘desolate’, ‘brook’ and ‘destruction’. No other chapter of the Bible contains these three words. Only Isaiah chapter fifteen has them. With that, I turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah.

This is the fifteenth chapter of Isaiah, and Ezra is the fifteenth book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 16 - Nehemiah

I found sixteen words in Isaiah chapter sixteen that are also found in the text of the book of Nehemiah. I was particularly impressed that in the very first verse there were three words (‘ruler’, ‘wilderness’ and ‘mount’) that are also found in Nehemiah. I ran a quick check and the three words are not found in any other CHAPTER of the Bible, not to mention any other verse.

These are not just insignificant words picked at random. The burden of Nehemiah was specifically to rebuild the wall around the ‘mount’ upon which Jerusalem was seated, and he had to get permission from the ‘ruler’ of the empire that ruled the then-known world.

Nehemiah’s mission took him first to the ruler, then through the wilderness to his destination, God’s holy mountain. Does Isaiah 16:1 paint a picture of just that?

“Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.” (Isaiah 16:1)

Nehemiah was not a lamb, and Isaiah was not writing about Nehemiah, but the Holy Spirit was giving us a clue that the book we are reading was not written by man, but rather by God himself.

This is Isaiah chapter sixteen, and Nehemiah is the sixteenth book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 17 - Esther

“And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.” (Isaiah 17:14)

What does this verse have to do with the rest of Isaiah chapter seventeen? It doesn’t seem to fit. The rest of the chapter is broad in its scope. It speaks of nations and peoples and multitudes. It speaks of Damascus (still the capital of Syria today). Then here in the last verse of the chapter we come down to a ‘he’ in the first sentence of the verse. Which eveningtide holds trouble? Who “is not” before the morning? Those who spoil God’s people and those that rob them are to have trouble in the evening and by morning vanish?

It’s hard to know what this might have meant in the context of Isaiah’s prophecy, but when we look at this verse as if it is inserted into the context of the book of Esther, the lights flash and the bells and sirens go off.

It fits into the story of Haman and Esther and the king as the second night of the banquet for the three of them. The evening spelled trouble for Haman from the moment that Esther told the king of Haman’s plan for the Jews. And, before the night was over, before morning came, Haman was hanging from the gallows he had built for the execution of Mordecai. “at eventide trouble; and before the morning he” was dead. “This is the portion of them that spoil” God’s people, the Jews, “and the lot of them that rob” God’s people, the Jews.

This is the seventeenth chapter of Isaiah, and Esther is the seventeenth book in the Bible.
They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 18 - Job

The story of Job is one of the longest in the Bible. His three friends and his wife take us through forty-two chapters of questions and answers. We learn much from this dialog, but the basis of the story, the subject of all the discussion is the series of events of the first few chapters.

Satan is given limited reign in the life of Job, and he takes away from Job everything that has any value in Job’s life; his family, his possessions and his emotional health. But, the one thing that Satan cannot take from Job is his faith in the living God.

Everything else is stripped from Job. We might say that everything is ‘cut off’ or ‘taken away’ from him, and that is the wording we find in the following verses from the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah.

“For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.” (Isaiah 18:5-6)

It is also interesting to note here that Isaiah does not say (speaking for God); “I will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks” nor; “I will take away and cut down the branches.” The pronoun used in these verses is “he”, i.e. someone other than God. That is consistent with the fact that Satan is the one who did the cutting down and taking away in the case of Job.

This is the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah, and Job is the eighteenth book in the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 19 - Psalms

There is a strange word that we find in the nineteenth chapter of Isaiah. The word is Zoan. It is quite possibly the name of a man who lived in Egypt, or it could be the name of a people group in Egypt, but whichever it is, it is something that was in Egypt. The entire nineteenth chapter of Isaiah is directed at Egypt, and the name of Zoan occurs twice in the chapter.

It’s sort of a strange name, as so many Biblical names are, and it can be found only seven times in the Bible; once each in the books of Numbers, Ezekiel and the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah, and then twice in Isaiah chapter nineteen and twice in Psalm seventy-eight. Even though ‘Zoan’ is in the Bible seven times, there are only three places where it is found to be in the same chapter with the word ‘Egypt’, and in all three of those places, it is not only in the same chapter, both words are in the same verse. Here are the three verses.

“And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)” (Numbers 13:22)

“Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.” (Psalm 78:12)

“How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:”
(Psalm 78:43)

The mention of Zoan in the book of Numbers appears to be parenthetical. Also notice that both references in the book of Psalms are in the same Psalm. So, we have Zoan and Egypt mentioned twice in Isaiah nineteen, and twice in Psalm seventy-eight. Nowhere else in the Bible is this the case. The pair of names only occurs once in Numbers.

In the context of Egypt and the field of Zoan in Psalm chapter seventy-eight, we find another verse that speaks of something that happened there.

He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. (Psalm 78:49)

And, in the nineteenth chapter of Isaiah we find the same thing happening.

“The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.” (Isaiah 19:14)

The wording is different, but the connotation is very similar. Psalm 78:49 says; “evil angels”, and Isaiah 19:14 says; “perverse spirit”. Did Egypt have problems in each case? This is Isaiah chapter nineteen, and Psalms is the nineteenth book of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 20 - Proverbs

Chapter twenty of Isaiah has six verses, few enough to print the entire chapter right here.

“In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; 2) At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3) And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5) And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6) And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?” (Isaiah chapter 20)

As a warning to Israel, God told Isaiah to take off his clothes and walk around naked and barefoot for three years. It was to be a picture of what the future held for Israel. That’s it; six verses and an interesting story; not much detail; not many words. How could such a story connect with the book of Proverbs? Would there be a similar prophecy tucked away in Proverbs? Hardly! Would there be something in there about Isaiah? Not once is his name to be found in the Proverbs. How could the two possibly be connected?

I prepared a list of sixteen words, mostly nouns, that are found in the above passage. It isn’t a long list. Some of them occur more than once in the six verses. Here they are, and the number of times the occur is indicated as 2X for two occurrences, 3X for three occurrences and so on.

And all of these occur just one time in Isaiah twenty
expectation 2X shame afraid old glory
king 3X young flee escape delivered
Egypt 3X ashamed three years servant foot

There are many other words in the twentieth chapter of Isaiah, but since they don’t show up in Proverbs, I haven’t included them in the above list. As for the book of Proverbs, the above words occur many more times than they do in Isaiah, as you might expect.

expectation 5X shame 14X afraid 3X old 6X glory 9X
king (numerous) young 4X flee 2X escape 1X delivered 4X
Egypt 1X ashamed 1X three 4X years 4X servant 10X
foot 6X

Perhaps this is boring, (no question about that) but after finding out where each of these words were located, it was possible to see if any of them occurred in the same CHAPTER of Proverbs. After that, it was possible to see if any of them occurred in the same VERSE in Proverbs, and guess what? ‘Shame’ and ‘servant’ appear in the same verse in the book of Proverbs, not once, but twice, but they also appear in the same verse in some other books. Here they are anyway.

“The king's favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 14:35)

“A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.” (Proverbs 17:2)

“Shame” and “glory” show up in the same verse of Proverbs 3:35, and they don’t show up in the same verse of any other book in the Bible.

“The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
(Proverbs 3:35)

“Old” and “glory” occur in the same verse of Proverbs 17, and they don’t show up in the same verse of any other book in the Bible.

“Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” (Proverbs 17:6)

But, the best connection to Isaiah chapter twenty is Proverbs 20:29. Nowhere else in the Bible do THREE words in our list from Isaiah chapter twenty occur in the same verse.

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.” (Proverbs 20:29)

I once tried to outline the book of Proverbs in order to teach a Sunday school class on it. Impossible! Practically every verse deals with a new subject. Finding any connection between the Psalms and Isaiah chapter 20 is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. [The pun is absolutely intended.]

Is it just a coincidence that the above verse from the twentieth book of the Bible has a verse in it that has three words in the verse that are also in the twentieth chapter of Isaiah, a chapter with only six verses of its own? And, is it just a coincidence that no other verse in the Bible has those same three word in it? No. Proverbs is connected to Isaiah’s twentieth chapter. And what is also interesting is that the number of the chapter of Proverbs is also, twenty.

Isaiah chapter 21 - Ecclesiastes

“Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.” (Isaiah 21:5-6)

In the twenty-first chapter of Isaiah, “the LORD gives Isaiah a directive. Part of the above assignment is; “watch in the watchtower”, “set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.” God’s directive is carried out, as we read in the very next two verses.

“And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold…”
(Isaiah 21:7-8a)

Without being particularly interested in what the watchman saw here in Isaiah 21:7, we do take note of the fact that “he saw”. He did his job of watching, and he saw something. Later, he is asked;
“Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”

And again the watchman declares what he has seen. Verse twelve begins with the words; “The watchman said…”

The LORD had directed that a watchman sit in the tower and watch, and that he then declare what he saw. The watchman of Isaiah chapter twenty-one saw come chariots, some horsemen, some asses and some camels. Later he reported that the sun was coming up, and even later he declared that the sun was going to set. He declared what he saw.

As the preacher, Solomon says;

“I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. (Ecclesiastes 1:12-13)

Solomon gave his heart to the task of observing ALL THINGS done under heaven. As the King of Israel, Solomon sat in the palace, not the pinnacle of the temple, but definite a high place in the city of Jerusalem, a place where he could overlook the city and observe whatever was going on. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon ‘declares’ what he sees as he looks at his world.

Ten times in the ten chapters of this book we read about Solomon ‘seeing’, and he tells us what is going on around him.

“And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 1:17)

“I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.” (Ecclesiastes 2:3)

“The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 2:14)

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.” (Ecclesiastes 3:10)

“Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18)

“There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:”
(Ecclesiastes 6:1)

“All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.” (Ecclesiastes 7:15)

“All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9)

“This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:” (Ecclesiastes 9:13)

“There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” (Ecclesiastes 10:5-7)

Solomon, of course, sees different things than the watchman of Isaiah chapter twenty-one sees, but Solomon is just as much a watchman as the man in Isaiah chapter twenty-one. It comes as no surprise that the twenty-first chapter of Isaiah is connected to the twenty-first book of the Bible in this way.

Isaiah chapter 22 - Song of Solomon

Isaiah’s chapter twenty-two and the Song of Solomon have a lot of words in common. Of course all of the books of the Bible have a lot of words in common; conjunctions, pronouns, prepositions, adverbs and adjectives, but there quite a number of nouns that are common in this chapter of Isaiah and the Song of Solomon. Here’s a partial list.

daughter gladness sword bare house
walls sheep shield two covering
comfort wine armour choicest waters
valley David chariots mountains gate

There is nothing too unique about these words. They are ordinary words of common usage. In fact, every one of these words can also be found in 2nd Samuel and Ezekiel, but look at the third column of words. They are military words. It’s not surprising that we find that third column of words in 2nd Samuel and Ezekiel. Those two books are books about times of war and trouble, but the Song of Solomon is a love story.

What in the world are these words doing in a love story? (Note: Although the word ‘armour’ is found in Isaiah twenty-two, the word in the Song of Solomon is ‘armoury’, the place where the armour is kept.) How are these words used in the Song of Solomon?

armoury “Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there shield hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.” (Song of Solomon 4:4)

chariots “Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
(Song of Solomon 6:12)

sword “They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his
thigh because of fear in the night.” (Song of Solomon 3:8)

These words are not in some part of the Song of Solomon that departs from the ‘love’ theme and takes an excursion into the operations of war. They are right in the middle of the love story. Have you ever wondered why Solomon used such weird words in his love story? So, we have words of war in the middle of the love story. What other words are noteworthy? How about these words found in Isaiah chapter twenty-two?
shoulder flesh ears

These words are more consistent with the theme of the Song of Solomon love letter. But, although these three words are found in Isaiah chapter twenty-two, they are not to be found in the Song of Solomon. Wouldn’t you think that will all of the descriptive language of the love story Solomon would have included the word ‘flesh’? He talks about every other part of ‘her’ body, but he doesn’t mention her ears or shoulders? Wow!

I think that this is a connection between the twenty-second chapter of Isaiah and the twenty-second book of the Bible, the Song of Solomon.

Isaiah chapter 23 - Isaiah

Tyre was originally a small island off the coast of modern day Lebanon. Hiram, the king of Tyre connected the island kingdom to the mainland in the tenth century B.C. Alexander the Great conquered it in 322 B.C. It fell to Roman conquest in 64 B.C. and was taken by Islamic armies in 634 A.D. At the end of WWI, Tyre became part of Lebanon. It is still there today, but much of it is just ruins of the once-great island kingdom. Is this the subject of Isaiah chapter twenty-three?

Yes. The destruction of Tyre is very much the subject of this chapter, but notice that its demise was only to last for a finite period of time, in this case seventy years, and then it was to return to its former life. Some historian somewhere can probably point to that very period of time. It is not my purpose here to prove that the prophecy came true.

It is significant that the period where this political entity was to lay dormant consisted of seventy years. The Holy Spirit, speaking through Isaiah’s pen continually prophesied about Jerusalem, the apple of God’s eye, a city very familiar to Isaiah himself. Is this seventy-year period concerning a foreign city/kingdom somehow a ‘type’ of some particular seventy-year period from Israel’s history? This is almost always the case with prophecy, and Isaiah chapter 20 is no exception. Jerusalem’s seventy-year period of captivity in Babylon is, of course, what comes to mind. Does this mean that this chapter is a picture of the then future history of Jerusalem? I think it does.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.” (Isaiah 23:15)

Was this true of Jerusalem and her citizens? Absolutely. And, what happened at the end of the seventy years?

“And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.” (Isaiah 23:17)

Did Israel come back to their homeland after seventy years? Yes. Did the people rise to become a righteous people before the LORD? No. They returned to everything they had done previous to the Diaspora. How did the populace get from Jerusalem to Babylon. On foot. All of the men of Tyre were slaughtered by Alexander when he conquered that city, but Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews captive and marched them off to Babylon en masse. Note also that Tyre’s period of captivity was not permanent. It was a “sojourn”.

“Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.” (Isaiah 23:7)

Who made this happen to Tyre? Alexander.
Who made this happen to Judah/Jerusalem/Israel? Read it for yourself.

“The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.” (Isaiah 23:9)

Was Tyre “the pride of all glory? No. But Jerusalem was/is the pride of God, the apple of His eye.

Was Tyre ever to see the land of the Chaldeans? No. And yet, the passage says; “Behold the land of the Caldeans.” That’s where Judah/Jerusalem was taken; to the land of the Chaldeans. Did they “behold” that land? Yeah. From the inside.

“Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.” (Isaiah 23:13)

Now, the final verse eliminates Tyre as being the ONLY subject of this prophecy.

“And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.”

What shall be holiness to the LORD in the end of days? Certainly not the harlotry of Tyre. Other than here in this chapter of Isaiah, there is only one place where these words occur and that is in the description of the mitre of the high-priest. You can find that in the book of Exodus. I believe that the final verse of chapter twenty-three is speaking of a time in Israel that is yet future to us today; a time when Israel will again be Holiness to the LORD. This is certainly not speaking of Tyre except as Tyre in this chapter is a picture of Israel.

In this chapter four places are mentioned that are mentioned nowhere else in the book of Isaiah. That would mean that the book of Isaiah (twenty-third book of the Bible) has these four places in common with the twenty-third chapter of Isaiah and thus is consistent with the other connections we find between the books of the Bible and the chapters of Isaiah. The four places are found in other books of the Bible, but not in any other of the chapters of Isaiah. This does not define the connection, but rather it is consistent with our pattern. The four places are Tyre, Zidon, Chittim and Sihor.

Now what connection can we see between the prophecy of Isaiah chapter twenty-three and the book of Isaiah? This is it. Isaiah is a book of prophecy. Isaiah is not a book filled with prophecy about the Church, nor about the Gentiles. It is a book filled with prophecies about Israel, and that is what this prophecy in Isaiah chapter twenty-three is; a prophecy about Israel hidden behind a prophecy about Tyre.

This is the twenty-third chapter of Isaiah, and Isaiah is the twenty-third book in our Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 24 - Jeremiah

Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. He had the task of being God’s witness to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon. The ministry that God gave to him is described for us in Jeremiah 1:10, and in it we see why Jeremiah had great cause to weep.

“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

Jeremiah was to be God’s witness as his beloved city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah were rooted out, pulled down, destroyed and thrown down, and that’s what he did. He was also to preside over the rebuilding and planting of the remnant, but that story is not covered in the book that bears Jeremiah’s name.

The connection between the book of Jeremiah and the twenty-forth chapter of Isaiah is one that I would describe as very strong. Almost all of the unique words that we find in this chapter of Isaiah can be found in the book of Jeremiah. Many of them occur more than once in Jeremiah, and some can be found as many as twenty times, but there are two pairs of words that occur in the twenty-forth chapter of Isaiah, and in the book of Jeremiah which do not appear in any other chapter of the Bible. The pairs are:

burned - inhabitants and pit - snare

These word pairs in common is one thing, but the fact that they don’t appear anywhere else in any chapter of scripture is highly significant. Be that as it may, the most significant connection between the twenty-forth chapter of Isaiah and the book of Jeremiah is a two entire verses which are almost identical. I have highlighted the words and phrases that are common to both passages.

“Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 48:43-44)

“Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.” (Isaiah 24:17-18)

There is much that is the same in these two passages.

God’s prophecy through Jeremiah is to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who were inside the city walls, besieged by Babylon. God’s prophecy through Isaiah was against the nation of Moab. There is a striking connection here between Isaiah chapter twenty-four and the book of Jeremiah, which is the twenty-forth book in the Bible.

Isaiah chapter 25 - Lamentations

The twenty-fifth chapter of Isaiah is a prophecy of Christ, both at His first coming and at His second advent. The following verses from Isaiah 25 are declarations of great joy as Isaiah envisions that entire scenario.

1) O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
3)Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4) For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
6) And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7) And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8) He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. 9) And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
10) For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.”
(Isaiah 25, verses shown)

Verses seven and eight picture the cross. We particularly might notice; “He will swallow up death in victory”. Then, in verse nine we might recognize the day when Israel will recognize Him whom they pierced. The rest of the above verses picture the glorious days when the Kingdom of Israel will be restored.

But, there are other verses here too. The following verses speak of something entirely different, and they are mixed right in there with the rest of the chapter. They do not speak of either advent of Christ. These verses in Isaiah’s twenty-fifth chapter speak of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem.

“For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. (v2)

“Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. (v5)

“And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. (v11)

“And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. (v12)

And these four verses connect directly to Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Together the express the exact scenario that gave Jeremiah reason to lament. He had watched the Babylonian Empire come into the land and completely destroy his city and the temple. The apple of God’s eye had been reduced to a ruinous heap of stones by strangers. There was no life left in it. The dry winds would now blow over it and whistle through the gaping holes in the walls. The fortress that had been the city of Jerusalem had been reduced to dust. It had been laid low.

This is the imagery we see in verses the four verses (2, 5, 11 and 12) of the twenty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, and it is exactly the same as that of Lamentations, the twenty-fifth book of the Bible. They are connected

Isaiah chapter 26 - Ezekiel

The twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah has the book of Ezekiel written all over it. Beginning with verse five:

“For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.” (Isaiah 26:5)

The subject of the first twenty-four chapters of Ezekiel is the impending fall of the city of Jerusalem as the judgment of God falls upon the city for because of the sins of the people. The ‘he’ of our verse above is none other than God, and the ‘city’ is none other than the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel himself even portrays the siege and fall of Jerusalem as he fulfils his God-given assignment in Ezekiel chapters four and five. In chapters six and fourteen of Ezekiel we find that the most offensive sin of Jerusalem is idolatry.

As Isaiah laments the sin of his people in his chapter twenty-six, he specifically mentions idolatry.

“O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.” (Isaiah 26:13)

Isaiah’s prophecy then moves on to speak of the removal of the people from their land and their deportation to a distant land. This is the subject of Ezekiel’s chapters eleven and twelve.

“Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 26:15)

Finally, in Isaiah 26:19 we see wording reminiscent of the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’ prophecy in Ezekiel chapters thirty-seven and thirty-eight.

“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19)

This is Isaiah chapter twenty-six, and Ezekiel is the twenty-sixth book of the Bible. They are connected.

Isaiah chapter 27 - Daniel

The first verse of Isaiah chapter twenty-seven says:

“In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1)

The destruction of the dragon is a theme that immediately takes us to the book of Revelation. There, in chapter twelve the dragon is identified as Satan, and he is also referred to as that “old serpent”.

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9)

But in the book of Revelation the dragon is not killed. We find his ultimate demise and banishment to the lake of fire, but not his death. In fact, Satan is an immortal being, and he will never die, so the dragon being slain in Isaiah 27:1 is not Satan himself. However, I believe that the dragon in Isaiah 27:1 is directly connected to Satan. The dragon of Isaiah 27 is an entity in the image of Satan, if you will. The most unique thing about the dragon of Isaiah 27:1 is where he is to be found: “in the sea”.

Isaiah uses the word ‘dragon’, and without challenging that word at all, we can compare this “dragon that is in the sea” to a beast that comes out of the sea in the book of Daniel. The story of Daniel chapter seven is that of a beast coming out of the sea and reigning in the world during history and then… being slain. The critical verses are Daniel 7:1-3 and Daniel 7:11.

“In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” (Daniel 7:1-3)

“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” (Daniel 7:11)

Isaiah uses the word ‘dragon’ in chapters twenty-seven and fifty-one, but here in the twenty-seventh chapter is the only place Isaiah speaks of the dragon coming out of the sea and being slain. One more look at Isaiah 27:1 for purpose of connection.

“In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1)

This is Isaiah chapter twenty-seven, and Daniel is the twenty-seventh book of the Bible. They are connected.