Isaiah is primarily a joyful and hopeful book. The word "joy" occurs in some form 33 times in the book of Isaiah. The words "glad" or "gladness" occur an additional 14 times. The book of Isaiah is filled with oracles of hope. Beginning in the next chapter and throughout the rest of the book, we will look at some of those oracles of hope and the encouragement and beauty and peace that they provide.

But in this chapter we will be looking at oracles of DOOOOOM!!!

Yes, oracles of doom.

Oracles of doom were one of several types of prophetic oracles used by the Old Testament prophets. We are probably most familiar with oracles of doom (or oracles of woe) in the New Testament from Jesus' denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. In that chapter Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, which outside are nice and beautiful, but inside are full of dead men's bones. We perhaps might think that Matthew chapter 23 is about as bad as it gets when it comes to oracles of doom, but that isn't necessarily so. Even though Isaiah is primarily and preeminently a prophet of hope with beautiful visions for the future, there are oracles of doom in the book of Isaiah that make the ones in Matthew 23 seem mild by comparison.

Before looking at oracles of doom in the book of Isaiah, I want to take a brief side trip to the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter one, verses 11 and 12 we read this:

Do you understand the message?

Well, I sort of hope that you don't, because I want to tell you up front that it doesn't make a bit of sense. At least it doesn't make a bit of sense in English; but it makes a lot of sense in Hebrew. You see, Jeremiah is making a word play based on two Hebrew words. (Such word plays were one of the teaching methods of the Old Testament prophets.) The Hebrew word for "almond" is "shaqed". The Hebrew word for "watching" is "shoqed". Almond trees were a common tree in Israel. When God speaks of a "rod of almond", he is basically speaking about what we might call a "stick"--perhaps a broken branch--of an almond tree. It would be a pretty common sight in the land of Israel. God's message to Jeremiah is that, even though things are going to get tough, don't doubt that I am going to do what I said that I am going to do. Don't doubt that I see and understand what is going on in the land. Don't doubt that I am on your side. And every time that you see an almond stick (shaqed), remember that I am watching (shoqed).

Now, returning to the book of Isaiah: As mentioned above, oracles of doom were one of several types of prophetic oracles used by the Old Testament prophets. Other common types included exhortations, covenant lawsuits, laments, and oracles of hope. But the two predominant types are oracles of hope and oracles of doom. We will be looking at oracles of hope in the coming chapters; Isaiah is preeminently a prophet of hope. But in this chapter we will be looking at Oracles of DOOOOOM!!!

Isaiah's oracles of doom are set in a time in which God will use the Assyrian armies to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel and to conquer all of the cities of the southern kingdom, the only exception being Jerusalem itself. Since the predictions made by the Old Testament prophets were almost always tied up with the present circumstance of the people of their day, the Assyrian conquest is likely in view in his oracles of doom. But Isaiah has a peculiar habit in that his prophecies typically relate, not only to his own time, but also to a much more distant future as well. These oracles of doom, therefore, are probably meant, not only for the Israelite people of Isaiah's day, but also to people of all ages and times as a warning about a coming disaster far worse than even the Assyrian army.

One oracle of doom is found in Isaiah chapter two, beginning with verse five:

The Old Testament prophets often used key words or key phrases to either group material together or to give greater emphasis to certain teachings. Look at some of the repetitive phrases in this oracle:

Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the glory of his majesty....

And men shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
In that day men will cast forth
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
(Isaiah 2:10,19-21 [RSV])

It is clear by the emphasis given here, that the Israelite people will experience terror at the Coming of the Lord, and they will desperately search for a hiding place. But on that day there will be no place to hide.

The Pulpit Commentary described the situation well. It says,

On that day men will be throwing away their idols like robbers or drug dealers throwing their illegal goods out the window of their car when the police are in hot pursuit. The idol worshipers will try to give their idols to the moles and bats--creatures who inhabit the caves and holes in which the godless attempt to hide. "Here! Take these idols! We don't want them!" Their idols will be worthless on that day.

We see how foolish the people of that day were to trust in things of wood or stone that they had made by themselves. We think their devotion to their idols to be senseless. But in our day we don't see the foolishness in some of the things in which people today often trust. For example, one writer said this:

So the man whose idol is money is (also) deluded. He thinks his money can help him in whatever circumstances he may be placed. But sickness comes, danger comes, plague comes, earthquake comes, shipwreck comes, fire comes, death comes, and it is quite plain that he was deluded. Money is a helpless idol; it cannot aid its (worshippers) in God's day. Point out that the root of the delusion is self-trust; a man wants to rely on something that he has, or that he has done, or that he has made. Blessed only is that man whose trust is in the Lord his God."
(Pulpit Commentary. Isaiah. p.49)

Points are again emphasized in Isaiah chapter two with another repetition of words:

For the LORD of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;
against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against all the high mountains,
and against all the lofty hills;
against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
(Isaiah 2:12-16 [RSV])

None can escape on that day. There will be no place to hide.

This is driven home in the book of Amos where we read,

There will be no place to hide.

Adam and Eve foolishly thought that they could hide from God:

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
(Genesis 3:8)

They soon found out that they could not hide from God.

On the day of the LORD, evil will be defeated. Its adherents will be overpowered and their harmful influence forever destroyed.

Phrases are again repeated in Isaiah chapter two as the prophet continues to give warning:

The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the pride of men shall be humbled;
and the LORD alone will be exalted
in that day....

And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the pride of men shall be brought low;
and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
(Isaiah 2:11,17 [RSV])

Regardless of how exalted a position a man might hold, on the Day of the LORD, there will only be one who will be exalted, and that will be God.

In the book of Revelation, we read,

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?"
(Revelation 6:15-17 [RSV])

Another oracle of doom is found in Isaiah chapter five. In verse eight, and then picking up again in verse eighteen, we read,

In verse 8:

Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land....
(Isaiah 5:8 [RSV])

Isaiah speaks of those whose greed prompts them to needlessly buy property after property that they will never need nor ever use nor even be able to use. Their choices may adversely affect their friends and neighbors, but their insatiable accumulation of temporary riches will continue. But this was written a long time ago--almost three thousand years ago--and it doesn't apply to our day and time, because we don't have people like that today. (/sarcasm)

In verse 18:

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes...
(Isaiah 5:18 [RSV])

Even if evil men are so bound up in sin that their lives become hopelessly corrupt and futile and pointless, they are still so intent on sinning that they are like oxen yoked to a heavy wagon that they are attempting to pull through deep mud. The weight of sin presents all sorts of burdens that ultimately become too heavy to bear.

But Jesus says,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
(Matthew 11:28-30)

In verse 20 of Isaiah chapter five:

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
(Isaiah 5:20 [RSV])

In terms of applicability, this could have just as well been written in our day as in Isaiah's time. For example, if we hold today that the Bible is the Word of God, we are sometimes referred to as backwards and ignorant. If we say that sex outside of marriage is wrong or that modesty in dress is a virtue, we are labeled as old-fashioned. If we contend that other world religions are not true and will endanger one's soul, we are labeled as intolerant. If we say that homosexuality is wrong, we are accused of hate speech.

In the late twentieth century, on January 23, 1996, Joe Wright of Wichita, Kansas, was the guest chaplain for the Kansas House of Representatives. He was asked to open their session that day with its customary prayer. However after the prayer, three house members jumped to their feet in a rage and indignantly shouted, 'He can't talk like that!"

What was it he said that was so terrible? Here is what he said:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says woe to those who call evil good but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life we have killed abortionists. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today. Try us and show us any wicked way in us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas and who have been ordained by you to govern this great state. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask in the name of your Son, the living Savior Jesus Christ, Amen."

Too often today, people call good evil and evil good. The results for those people today will be no better than for those in Isaiah's day, of whom he said:

Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them,
and the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were as refuse
in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
(Isaiah 5:24-25 [RSV])

In the last part of verse 25:

For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
(Isaiah 5:25b [RSV])

God's hand is stretched out in anger.

There will eventually come a time, at the day of judgment, when God's hand will no longer be stretched out in hope and reconciliation to those who oppose him and love evil. On that day God's hand will be stretched out in anger and in judgment.

Those who are dog lovers might be interested in the next verse which shows that at one time God had a puppy dog, and that God perhaps still has puppy dogs.

He will raise a signal for a nation afar off,
and whistle for it from the ends of the earth;
and lo, swiftly, speedily it comes!
(Isaiah 5:26 [RSV])

The kingdom of Assyria--the greatest empire that the world had ever known, the fiercest army that the world had ever known, the most ruthless soldiers that the world had ever known--was merely God's puppy dog. And when God whistled for it, it came. "Here, boy! Here, boy! Sic 'em!" Assyria was God's chosen instrument to bring judgment. We need to understand that God is in control. And even the greatest nations that the world has ever known are merely his puppy dogs.

Three times (25:9; 27:6; 43:10) in the book of Jeremiah, God refers to King Nebuchadnezzar as "the king of Babylon, my servant". It wasn't because Nebuchadnezzar was a righteous man that he was God's servant. Nebuchadnezzar wasn't a righteous man. He was God's servant because he was God's slave. God was in control even over him. Yes, even Nebuchadnezzar was not beyond the control of God.

In 1983, there was a television movie by the name "The Day After". It was a movie about nuclear war and was broadcast during a time when the nuclear arms race was a pressing concern. More than 100 million people watched the movie. It was the most watched made for TV movie of all time. It depicted a hypothetical situation in which increasing military steps from both sides eventually resulted in total nuclear war. The movie centered around Kansas and showed the results of nuclear warfare in that area. The realistic horror depicted in the movie is credited by world leaders, including Ronald Reagan, as playing a pivotal role in the completion and signing of a nuclear weapons reduction act between the United States and the Soviet Union, thereby making it possibly one of the most important movies ever made. The network made counselors available to the general public because of the traumatic nature of the movie.

It would seem that Christian people were somewhat less traumatized than most. This wasn't because Christians take nuclear war less seriously. They don't. They understand that nations could perish as a result of it. But they also realize that there is more to the story. The producer may have inadvertently and unknowingly reminded them of that.

The music in the movie was written or adapted by David Raksin. The music that played as the movie ended--no words, just music--was a song called "Kansas". It was not written by Raksin, but was adapted from music in a 1938 movie called "The River". The corresponding portion of the music in that movie wasn't original either, but had also been adapted from an older song: "How Firm a Foundation". So, while many people were feeling a sense of utter and complete hopelessness as the movie ended, Christian people ended with not just the tune but the words of the song ringing in their minds. The providence of God? Perhaps. One verse to the song says,

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

This isn't to minimize the risks of nuclear war. This lesson isn't about nuclear war. But what we need to understand is whether the threat is the king of Assyria, or Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, or evil rulers today, or the creeping evil of a culture war that grips the nation and the world, the situation has not spun out of the control of God. One day God is going to bring all of human history to a certain end on God's terms and timing, not man's.

Can oracles of doom be encouraging?

In a certain circumscribed area, oracles of doom can be very encouraging. It depends at least in part on whose side you are on. Sometimes, if you are trying your best to be God's person in this world, you can easily become discouraged or overwhelmed by the evil that you see. The world seems to be headed headlong into greater and greater evil and self-destruction, and evil sometimes seems to be winning. Sometimes you wonder whether God is watching, and if he cares about what is going on in the lives of men. The prophet assures us that, although God's timing may not be man's timing, God does care about what is going on in the lives of men. History is moving toward a certain conclusion, and, in spite of what some may think, God holds the ultimate destiny of all things in his hand. Things are not out of control of the hand of God. And there will come a day when things will be made right. The evil deeds of evil men will not be forgotten. Neither will the faithfulness of God's people be forgotten.

Oracles of doom remind us today that God does see, and that he does care, and that he is carefully watching. That is bad news for those who are evil, but it is good news for God's people, who will be redeemed, remembered, and rewarded.

Another verse in the previous poem by Lowell has as its background a gallows or scaffold with a noose--a scaffold on which hangings were performed--perhaps like in the days of the Old West or perhaps more appropriately like the days of the French Revolution.

(Credit: Pearson Scott Foresman; Public domain)

The verse goes like this:

Even though the world may hang truth from the scaffold and elevate evil to the throne, don't despair. God is indeed watching.

And now, back to the brief side trip that we made to the book of Jeremiah in the beginning of the chapter:

We don't need to worry about whether things are out of control. They aren't. We don't need to worry about whether God is watching and if he cares. He is and He does. We can be assured that God is going to take care of God's business. We simply need to be focused on the tasks with which we have been entrusted. God will take care of his tasks and of his people.

Oracles of doom. They can be encouraging if we are on God's side.

Next chapter, and for most of the remaining chapters, instead of oracles of doom, we will be looking at the encouragement and beauty and peace provided by some of the oracles of hope that are so characteristic of the book of Isaiah.