Bible Study Lesson for Isaiah 2:5-7: God's Protection Removed

(When I taught my two year long Bible study on Isaiah, I used The Pulpit Commentary Volume 10: Isaiah edited by H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell to give me a starting point and rough outline of the material covered in the chapters. In this article, when you read the phrase "my commentary", I am referring to this volume.)

Read Isaiah 2:5. Isaiah speaks to Judah, giving a command. Now why does he use "house of Jacob"? We know this refers to the people of Judah, or the Israelites (of which Judah was originally a part, before the kingdom was divided.) But why "Jacob" and not "Israel"? Both names refer to the same man, the patriarch Jacob, who was named Israel by God, and was the father of the 12 tribes.

When I was studying this I had three thoughts regarding why he choose Jacob over Israel:

There wasn't any great significance to why; he just liked the term, it was commonly used and so he used it. (One commentary suggested this.)

He used "Jacob" over "Israel" so as to differentiate between the two kingdoms, as the Northern Kingdom was called "Israel".

Since "Jacob" means "deceiver" (given to him by his parents, since he was born grasping the heel of his twin brother, see Gen 25:24-26) and "Israel" means "struggles or wrestle with God" (see Gen 32:24-30) Isaiah may have preferred to call the people by the patriarch's originally name, his unregenerate/pre-conversion name, as you will because they were a people of deceit and were out of right relationship with God.

I found it interesting that if you look at the life of Jacob you will find that after his encounter with God (when he wrestles with him and is given his new name) he is sometimes called Jacob and sometimes called Israel - usually Jacob. This is unlike his grandfather Abram/Abraham, who after receiving his new name from God, is called Abraham thereafter. A reflection of the difference in the character of the two men, perhaps?

Back to Isaiah 2:5. "...walk in the light of the Lord." Isaiah is referring back to verse 3, where the future Gentiles are speaking of walking in God's paths. Isaiah is asking the present day Jews to do the same, be obedient to God, and be in a right relationship with Him.

Read Isaiah 2:6a. Isaiah is speaking to God, regarding the present state of Judah. Notice the "you" and "your people.". In the previous verse Isaiah was exhorting Judah to walk with the Lord. In verse 6 we can safely infer that she isn't, since God has abandoned her.

"Abandoned" seems such a harsh, cold word, so I looked it up in my dictionary. The first definition I read was:

"To withdraw one's support or help from in spite of duty, allegiance, or responsibility; desert."

Now that, obviously, does not sound like God. That doesn't fit His character in the slightest, since He never shirks His duty or deserts someone in need. So I read on and the third definition seemed a better fit:

"To surrender one's claim or right to; give up."

I believe Isaiah is saying here that God has given up His claim on Judah and removed His protection. God put in His claim on Israel quite dramatically on Mount Sinai during the time of Moses.

Read Exodus 19:1-6. "...my treasured possession..."

Read Isaiah 2:6b. "... full of superstitions from the East." Judah had adopted a number of Syrian, Assyrian, and Ammonite customs. What were these customs?

Read 2 Kings 16:1-4. This passage describes a later time than what we are studying in Isaiah 2, but it describes some of the practices that God hates:

-- worshiping idols on high places (mountain altars)
-- child sacrifice
"... practice divination like the Philistines." The Philistines were a very superstitious culture, involved in magic and occult practices like today's voodoo witchdoctors. We can read more about their culture in 1 Samuel 6:1-9. (They had captured the Ark of the Covenant during the time of the young prophet Samuel, before Israel had a king.)

What is described here is very similar to sticking pins into voodoo dolls; by sending out physical copies of what was plaguing them (rats and tumors) they hoped this magic would send the plagues away.

God was not at all pleased that Judah (in Isaiah's day) was copying the Philistines by practicing magic.

Read Isaiah 2:7. Judah was a very wealthy country at this time, with silver, gold, and a large cavalry. (It is expensive to keep horses, even in those days.) She was a commercial success. That in itself is not necessarily a sin; Isaiah is probably indicating a pattern or culture of luxury and self-indulgence, as the result of this wealth. (Remember Abraham, the first patriarch, was a very wealthy man and he was considered righteous.)

To be continued...

Source
H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell (editors). The Pulpit Commentary Volume 10: Isaiah