The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 36 Discussion

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Isa 7:21-25 For The Abundance of Milk... He Shall Eat Butter

[Updated February 26, 2017]

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

The detail that is in these prophesies is truly amazing. When we read, as we did last week...

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

...We tend to think that verse refers only to great spiritual earthquakes and the sounding of spiritual trumpets, which propel our spiritual growth. We fail to notice that word "nothing", and we fail to realize that in saying: " Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets", that would include the long drawn-​out period of our lives when, unbeknownst to us, we spiritually are "carnal babes in Christ" (1Co 3:1-4).

Like all of us,​ Saul of Tarsus started out as a carnal babe in Christ. For three days after the Lord blinded him, he was so spiritually and physically immature that he could neither physically nor spiritually see his own hand in front of his physical face. The physical blindness of Saul of Tarsus typified his spiritual condition at that moment. But in the Lord's time, Saul of Tarsus became a spiritually mature son of God whose name was changed to Paul the apostle.

As such he again had to deal with whole churches which were spiritually immature "carnal babes in Christ":

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Is that not how we all first see Christ? All we can first see or accept is that Christ loved us, and He loved us so much He gave His life for us. But in the very next chapter Paul is admonishing these spiritually immature Corinthians to go beyond the milk of the word, and get past being "carnal... babes in Christ":

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 

It is that stage of our own experience with which the verses of our study this week concern themselves:

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

As we have already demonstrated, whenever and wherever we see the phrase "that day" in the prophets, it is understood as being the day of the Lord's wrath, the day of His judgment, that is under discussion.

This phrase, "in that day", appears 43 times in Isaiah alone and literally dozens more times in the other prophets, where it refers almost exclusively to the day of the Lord's wrath, His day of judgment upon His own rebellious, apostate people.

Here are but the first four entries of this phrase here in Isaiah:

Isa 2:11  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Isa 2:17  And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 

Isa 2:20  In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

What is so little understood is that "the lofty looks of man... his idols of silver and his idols of gold, [as well as him saying] I will not be a healer", is all done while we are in Babylon where we are completely unaware, at first, that we are living under the wrath of God.

Here is what we are told:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

What that verse tells us is that we are born under the wrath of God, simply because we are born 'brute beasts... made to be taken and destroyed".

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

We all, "naturally, as brute beasts... corrupt [our]selves" simply because we are all "marred in the hand of the Potter". We are "marred in the Potter's hand" for the express purpose of being "made to be taken and destroyed". That is the predestined fate of our first man and his body of flesh and blood. That is why we are told explicitly:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

So how do we get from our hopeless, "marred", sinful condition into a purified spiritual body? We get there only through a long process of being spiritually conformed to the image of our Lord, who is "by little and by little... for a long time" becoming more alive within us. He alone is making us spiritually mature while yet in these dying clay vessels which we call bodies of flesh and blood:

Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The time we spend going from "the first man Adam... made a living soul [to] the last Adam... made a life-giving spirit" is the time the scriptures call "the day of judgment".

This is what Peter tells us about that day:

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

In his first epistle, Peter has already informed us:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Who knew "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God"? The reason for that is that judgment is "for a long time" while the Lord has gone "into a far country" and seems to have left us here to our own destructive ways. This time accounts for a good part of our lives as "carnal babes in Christ" who can only be "fed... with milk and not with meat" (1Co 3:1-4), and it is described for us with the words of our study today:

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

"Everyone...that is left in the land" refers to those who were left behind instead of being taken away into Babylonian captivity. Some of us have thought that we have never been in Babylon only to discover that Babylon is somehow still within us.

The literal fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Jeremiah:

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

It is a very sad and spiritually immature position we are in when pagan leaders are used by the Lord to correct us and rebuke us. Yet that is exactly what happens to the kingdom of God within us at this stage of our "one experience" judgment.

As God's witnesses, we dwell with those whom the Lord has placed as rulers over His people who are left in the land, and in that position our counsel is sought and rejected by the people who are left in the land, just as we ourselves rejected the counsel of the Lord's elect in our own time.

Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

This is all of us when we seek to know the mind of the Lord through His Christ and their multitude of counselors. We cannot stand against the fear of being rejected by the powers that be, and we lean unto our own understanding and flee back into Egypt, back into the world.

These are the words used by Isaiah to describe what we do when we are those who are left in the land:

Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

Just as Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham, one and all, denied the Lord in their own way, so did ancient Israel, and so do each of us. When we deny the Lord and return back to this world the kingdom of God within us "shall be for briers and thorns and the bows and arrows of the adversary come and replace the truths we once had with the lies and false doctrines until "all the land... become[s spiritual] briers and thorns".

Verse 25 has quite a different meaning than the King James reads.

Isa 7:25  And on all^H3605 hills^H2022 that^H834 shall be digged^H5737 with the mattock,^H4576 there shall not^H3808 come^H935 thither^H8033 the fear^H3374 of briers^H8068 and thorns:^H7898 but it shall be^H1961 for the sending forth^H4916 of oxen,^H7794 and for the treading^H4823 of lesser cattle.^H7716

All the underlined words, while not in italics they are still added by the King James translators, and serve only to confuse the reader. When the underlined, added words are left out, the text tells us 'all hills digged mattock not, [and instead] comes to be the fear of briers and thorns...' The English word 'thither' is translated from the Hebrew word 'hayah',^H8033 meaning 'to be', or 'to exist'. This all makes this verse read quite the opposite of what the King James reads, but it now agrees with the previous two verses:

Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

Now verse 25 agrees with "every place shall be... for briers and thorns, [and three times we are told] all the land shall become briers and thorns". Look at this verse 25 in other versions. These clear up the understanding of this verse.

Isa 7:25  [LITV] And all the hills which were hoed with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of the ox, and for trampling of sheep.

Isa 7:25 [ESV] And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Isa 7:25 [RV] And all the hills that were digged with the mattock; thou shalt not come thither for fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.

It also agrees with Isa 5:6 which also tells us the hill of the Lord's vineyard "will not be digged..."

Isa 5:6  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.

We all have the same "one event", and this part of that "one event" is said to take place in "that day", the day when we are being nourished only with milk and milk products:

Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

Once again this is all an essential part of "the everlasting gospel" of the necessary long drawn out process of judgment. That judgment is the patience of the saints and is also a part of the faith of Jesus proclaimed by the three angels of Revelation 14:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.