In this video, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the concept of the "Burden of the Valley of Vision" as mentioned in Isaiah 22. He explains that this burden refers to a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. God called the people to weeping, mourning, baldness, and wearing sackcloth as a way to bring them to repentance. Pastor Chuck emphasizes that when God speaks, it will surely come to pass, as evidenced by the fulfillment of this prophecy. The video ends with an invitation to download Pastor Chuck's Genesis commentary in an e-book format for a comprehensive study of the Bible.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that mold you And His Spirit like a dove Will descend upon your life And make you whole Chapter 22, verse 12. And now with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and this girding with sackcloth. God was seeking to bring the circumstances that would force the people to turn to Him. The baldness was the vow of the Nazarite, the shaving of the heads to take the vow unto the Lord of consecration. Lord, we'll give our lives to You. We'll consecrate ourselves to You, Lord. And that's what God was calling for, the people to really commit their lives to the Lord. And God had allowed the Assyrians to come and to go through this bitterness of this siege in order that they might turn to God. But behold, there was joy. There was gladness. There was the slaying of the ox and the killing of sheep. There was the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine. And there was the attitude, let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Rather than in their calamity and distress turning to God, they turned to the flesh. They said, well, we're going to die anyhow. And that's the attitude they took. Rather than calling upon God, rather than seeking God, repenting and turning to God, they took a fatalistic attitude towards the whole situation. We're going to die, so we might as well just live it up. And the fatalistic attitude was fatal. For it was revealed, Isaiah said, in my ears by the Lord of hosts, surely this iniquity will not be cleansed from you until you die, saith the Lord of hosts. It's fatal. Now, at this point, the Lord gives him a message for this fellow Shebna. Now, Shebna is not a Jewish name. And thus he was a foreigner. And there he was in the position of the treasurer in Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, go and get thee unto this treasurer, even to Shebna, which is over the house that is the house of the treasury, and say to him, what hast thou here? And whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high, and that graveth a habitation for himself in the rock? Now, the prominent families in Jerusalem would carve out these monuments for sepulchers for the family. They were sort of like the mausoleums today. And quite often the sepulcher carved right out of the rocks, right in the cliffs, would be quite ornate, as they are today down in the Kidron Valley. You can see what is called the Tomb of Absalom and the Tomb of Zacharias. And they are carved out of rock, and they're very interesting and large and ornate rock carvings. Now, going into these sepulchers, they had several little niches. And when a person would die, they'd just put them in the niche and then seal up the niche. And so the families, they were made for families, and so they would be the family burial place. The prominent families, the wealthy families, all had their own sepulchers. Now, Shemna was not a Jew, he was a foreigner, and he probably did not have any real family there, and yet he was making for himself this very ornate sepulcher for himself there in Jerusalem. And so Isaiah is rebuking him for this. He said, You won't be covered in that sepulcher, but the Lord will cover you. of thy Lord's house. And so this fellow, the treasurer, a prominent man, building a sepulcher for himself, probably leading the people in this party time as the destruction is coming, easing the interest rates and all. So everybody has lots of money, and so what? If they don't pay it back, we're going to die anyhow, so let it go. Riding around in his glorious chariots. And so Isaiah rebukes him. He will drive you from your station, your position, and from your state shall he pull thee down. It shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. He'll call his servant Eliakim. Now, Eliakim means whom God appoints. The idea is that Shebna was not appointed by God, but God will appoint a man to take his place. This man, Eliakim, whom God appoints. Now, when Shennekereb did finally arrive at Jerusalem with his troops, and the Rabakshak came to the wall and began to call up their demands for capitulation, it was Eliakim, this Eliakim, who already had replaced Shebna, who responded to the Rabakshak from the Assyrian army. Now, at this point, however, we have one of those interesting places, which there are many in the scriptures, where the prophecy moves away from the immediate to the future fulfillment, so that you have a double fulfillment. In other words, it is speaking of things that will happen immediately, but these things that are happening immediately are a foreshadowing of things that are going to happen in the future. As Paul the Apostle tells us in Colossians chapter 2, that the holy days, the new moons, the Sabbath days, these things were all a shadow of the things that were going to come. They were foreshadowing things of the future. The Passover feast, the slaying of the Lamb, the blood of the Lamb, the sparing of the firstborn in the house, that was all a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would be slain for our sins, whose blood covering our lives will free us from the curse of death. And these things are all a shadow of things to come. He said the substance is of Jesus. And throughout the whole Old Testament, you find so many, so many things that foreshadow Jesus Christ. So they were dealing with a present current situation, but it had its future fulfillment in Christ. And so they became the types of what Jesus would be. And so in seminary we had a class, Types and Shadows, in which you study all of these types of Christ in the Old Testament and the foreshadowings of Christ in the Old Testament. And so here Eliakim becomes a foreshadowing of the Messiah. Shabna, the foreshadowing of the Antichrist and his being put down in order that Eliakim, that one whom God appointed, might rule. And so as he begins to describe now Eliakim, we can see here that he is definitely a foreshadowing of the Messiah. I will clothe him with your robe. I will strengthen him with your girdle. I will commit thy government into his hands. Isaiah has already told us concerning Christ that the government will be upon his shoulder, as his name will be called Wonderful Counselor. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open. And herein we find then the proof text that this is indeed a foreshadowing of Christ, because when Christ is addressing himself to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3-7, he said to John and unto the angel of the Church of Philadelphia, Write, These things saith he, who hath the key of David, who openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. And so Jesus uses these very words to describe himself in the book of Revelation as he is addressing the Church of Philadelphia, and then later on he said, I have set before you an open door which no man can shut. And from a historic standpoint, as you look at the seven churches of Asia as the seven periods of church history, the Church of Philadelphia is the Lord's true church that is holding to his word in the last days. We hopefully identify ourselves with the Church of Philadelphia, to which the Lord said, I have set before you an open door. And I am amazed at how the Lord is opening doors in these days in which we live. Absolutely astounded at the opening of the doors, that God is providing. In several areas in Russia, they are now teaching the Bible in the public schools. It seems rather incongruous that there is greater religious liberty in Russia today than there is in the United States. Now that's rather sad. They have greater freedom of religion in Russia than we do here in the United States as far as the public schools are concerned. In one of the cities in Russia, they have the Baptist minister come in and teach the Bible class in the public school. Open door. I have set before you, the Lord said, an open door. And so, this definitely is a foreshadowing, Eliakim is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the key to the house of David, and I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Now, he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. Jesus, in writing to the church of Laodicea, verse 21 of Revelation 3, said to him that overcometh, will I grant that he might sit with me upon my throne, even as I have overcome and have sat down on my father's throne. God has a place for him, a place of glory and honor. Now we are told in Philippians that he was in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and yet he humbled himself, came in the likeness of man, as a servant he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God has also highly exalted him, he has given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Now, Jesus, in his prayer in John 17, prayed that God would glorify him with the glory that he had with him. In another place Jesus said, Father glorify thy name, and he said, I have glorified and I will glorify it again. But I would that those that are with me might see me, he said, in the glory that I have with thee. In the beginning with God, thought it not robbery or something to be grasped to be equal with God. There he was, the center of glory in heaven. God is again going to give him that position and place of glory and honor in the heavenly realm. And so, here is the nail that is fastened in a sure place. He shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. They will hang upon him the glory of his father's house, which we were just referring to, and the offspring and the issue. All vessels of small quantity from the vessels of cups, even all the vessels of flagons. Now, an interesting twist to the prophecy. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall. This is no doubt a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament prophets told the people that the Messiah was coming. That he was to have a place of glory and honor. He was to rule over the worlds. Ask of me and I will give you the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. We recognize that as a messianic song. He is going to reign over the earth in righteousness and in truth. He will sit upon the throne of David to order it and to establish it in righteousness and in justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And yet, this glorious Messiah, this wonderful Lord who is to reign and to rule over the earth, is going to be cut down, removed. The crucifixion. Isaiah tells us more about the crucifixion in chapters 52 and 53. He tells us that he is going to be cut off from the land of the living. He'll be numbered with the transgressors in his death. We did esteem him as stricken, smitten of God. But he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And so, this seeming contradiction concerning the Messiah. The nail was going to be established in a solid place. And the glory of the Lord's house would be hanging on it. But yet, this nail was going to be cut down. It was to be removed and fall. And the burden that was on it shall be cut off. That is the Jews in the glory of the house of Israel. That was to be upon the Messiah will be cut off. So, we find in the scriptures that Jesus indeed was cut off. He was crucified. Psalm 22, the Messianic Psalm, describes his death by crucifixion. Daniel, in chapter 9, told the time that the Messiah would come. But then he said, but the Messiah will be cut off. And so, Jesus was cut off. Daniel also then predicted that the Jews would be dispersed. That's what Isaiah is predicting here. The glory of the house of Israel that was hanging on the nail shall fall and be cut off. And thus, the Jews were cut off. And for almost 2,000 years, they were cut off. As they were dispersed throughout the whole world. Now, miracle of all miracles. After the 2,000 years of dispersion, according to the promise of God, He is bringing them back and planting them in the land again. And so, we see this modern day miracle. And if ever anybody needed any proof that the Bible was the word of God, surely the Jew becomes the proof. The fact that these people maintained a national identity for 2,000 years without a homeland. The fact that after 2,000 years of dispersion, they gathered back and became a nation again according to the prophecies of the scriptures. Surely, therein is a miracle that is unparalleled in the history of mankind. The maintaining of the national identity to the extent that they could come back and a nation that was dead for almost 2,000 years being reborn. Nowhere in history has there been any kind of a sequel to that. And yet, here it is promised and predicted. Their fall. And then, the Lord sort of puts the finishing touch on it. He said, for the Lord hath spoken it. That's it. What can you say? God has said it. Now, this last verse. In that day saith the Lord of hosts. And then, so you have the double confirmation that this is God's word. The Lord hath spoken it. As we go through Isaiah several more times, we're going to find this phrase. The Lord hath spoken it. And you'll find that it is always used in reference to prophecy. As Isaiah is speaking about things yet future. He says, and the Lord hath spoken it. Which sort of affirms the fact you can be sure it's going to happen. Now, in this case, it's already happened. We can look and see that it did take place. The nail was cut down and removed. And the Jewish nation was destroyed, cut off. And remained that way for almost 2,000 years. The Lord hath spoken. He did it. So, we'll move on into chapters 23 and 24. As we continue our journey through the Bible. We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse venture through the Bible in our next broadcast. As Pastor Chuck continues to guide us through the fascinating book of Isaiah. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you'd like to secure a copy of today's message. Simply order Isaiah chapter 22 verse 12. When visiting the wordfortoday.org. And while you're there, we encourage you to browse the many additional biblical resources by Pastor Chuck. Or sign up for our email subscription. Once again, all this can be found at the wordfortoday.org. If you wish to call, our toll-free number is 1-800-272-WORD. And our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Again, that's 1-800-272-9673. For those of you preferring to write, our mailing address is the word for today. P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. And now, on behalf of the word for today. We'd like to thank all of you who share in supporting this ministry with your prayers and financial support. And be sure to join us again next time. As Pastor Chuck continues his verse-by-verse study through the Bible. That's right here on the next edition of the word for today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck with today's closing prayer. Father, we thank you again for your word. And Lord, help us to give ear to the instructions. To hearken to your voice when you speak. And Lord, help us that we would not be guilty, as the children of Israel. Of a flippant party attitude. When you're calling us to prayer, to fasting, to commitment. Draw us, Lord, to yourself. May there be a renewal of our commitment, Lord, to you. Help us, Lord, to be open and pliable. That you will not have to use painful processes. To draw us to yourself. But may we be open, Lord, to the voice of your spirit. As you would draw us into fellowship. And waiting on you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The word for today would like to invite you to come along on a revolutionary study of the Bible. As we introduce Pastor Chuck's Genesis Commentary in an e-book format. Not only will you have Pastor Chuck's in-depth commentary. This e-book allows access to enhanced research studies by honored Christian scholars instantly. Features include Hebrew and Greek word definitions. As well as images of historical maps and places. Just by clicking or touching your screen. An online dictionary plus highlighting, note-taking and bookmarking. And everywhere Pastor Chuck shares what he learned or studied something. You now have access to those very same notes. So get ready to study the Bible in a whole new way. Now you don't have to imagine what it was like to be there. This is the next best thing. To find out how to download Pastor Chuck's Genesis Commentary to your electronic device. Please call The Word for Today at 800-272-9673. Or to watch a video demonstration visit us online at thewordfortoday.org. This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today. In Costa Mesa, California.