Leading To The Woes - A Word Spoken By Two Or Three Witnesses

The purpose of this lesson is to

1) Acquaint us with God's Law concerning what is necessary to declare the death penalty

2) The LORD does not break His Law

3) Show that Isaiah was not the only one speaking for God at that time.

3) Determine what is the cause of  the woes of chapters 28 through 35

Isaiah 22:14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
In this verse The LORD was pronouncing the death penalty on Jerusalem and Judah - God declared the only way to end their iniquity was through death. Under the Chileans (Babylon) Judah was scattered and Jerusalem was plundered and broken down. For all practical purposes as a nation and city they died - became desolate.

The coming Woes in Chapters 28-33 is the announcement: that this death could not be avoided. The LORD had declared the death penalty upon His people.

Read: Psalm 106; Jeremiah 25:4; Zechariah 1:4, 7:8-14; 2Chronicles 36:14-21, Psalm 81:12,

          Matthew 22:1-8

God’s law concerning the death penalty

Deuteronomy 17:6 "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. (concerned offering blemished sacrifice, worshiping / serving other gods}

Deuteronomy 19:15 "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. (concerning sinning)

John 8:17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true

Hebrews 10:28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

***God's law is clear - No one could be condemned by the witness of one man. Only when the testimony of two or three witnesses agreed could the death penalty for disobeying God's law be pronounced.

***Could God pronounce the death penalty upon Jerusalem and Judah with only one witness? Could God ignore His Law? ( The answer of course is NO!)

God uses His own advice - Follows His own laws

Isaiah 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah

Micah 1:1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem

Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Three Prophets serving The LORD during the same period of history, in complete agreement with one another. All three ignored by the nation - Hebrews 10:28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Verses For Class

2Chonicles 20:20 ¶ And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper

1Corinthians 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe
Psalm 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

Ps 81:12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

Jer 25:4 And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear

Zec 7:12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts

Zec 1:4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

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2Chronicles 36:14-21 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.