Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"It will be for briers and thorns"
Text: Isaiah 7:23
A VERY BLEAK FUTURE
Ahaz and Judah could not comprehend the bleak future that the prophet Isaiah foretold. The future of a nation that had forsaken God was grim and foreboding!
“It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
It will be for briers and thorns.
With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.”
Isaiah 7:23-25
1. Good and Fruitful Vineyards.
a) Good vineyards were hard to find.
b) A well-cultivated vineyard would be worth a lot.
c) Judah had many fine vineyards at one time.
2. What War can do to a nation.
a) It can impoverish a nation.
b) Vineyards can become places for briers and thorns.
c) The warriors that invade Judah would be armed with bows and arrows.
3. The whole landscape of Judah would be drastically changed.
a) Hillslopes could have been cultivated to become good vineyards in peace time.
b) But when war comes, these vineyards would be abandoned.
i) The hillslopes would be filled with thick briers and thorns.
ii) The shrubbery would be so thick that nobody would attempt to till the land.
4. A wasteland
a) Judah could become a vast wasteland.
b) Oxen and sheep would roam on these uncultivated lands.
c) The landscape post war would be drastically altered for the worse.
This message had to be given to Ahaz and to the house of David in the hope that they would repent and turn to the LORD for mercy!