Isaiah 22: A Valley of Vision for Repentance in the Siege -- 2019/10/15

Rev. Robert Paul, pastor of Memorial Church & School in Houston, Texas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 22. Throughout this first part of Isaiah, the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem has been described as a moment of God’s grace: He preserved a remnant, He smote the Assyrians by the Angel of the LORD, and He worked a second Passover. In chapter 22 however, Isaiah uses this event to speak a word of law against the proud and unrepentant. Men like Shebna trusted in Egypt rather than God, and in their despair they thought only of feasting before being buried in ornate tombs. God meant the destruction to bring Jerusalem to repentance and hope in Him, that Judah’s valley of judgment would be for them a “valley of vision” to restore them from spiritual blindness. For those who return to God, like Eliakim, they will experience the power of God’s authoritative and forgiving Word. We experience God’s power and authority in the church through the servants of Christ, and so did the saints of the “Old Testament church.”