Feb 11, 2019
It was Jesus who spoke of the valley of the shadow of death in the sample prayer He gave to His disciples. The use of the valley as a metaphor for difficulty was common in Jesus' day. It was used to juxtapose the experience of the breathtaking heights of the mountain that loomed over the valley. And in Isaiah 22:1-13, God is going to use the metaphor of the valley to refer Mount Zion, the elevated height upon which the city of David, Jerusalem, sat. This spiritually lofty locale was going to experience dramatic change in its circumstances – all because of disobedience to God. While Jerusalem was home to the temple and the seat of the royal dynasty of David, it was going to go through a major shift in its spiritual fortunes. The presence of the temple was not going to protect them from the wrath of God. The city's reputation as the holy mountain of God was not enough to counter their years of rebellion against Him. Judgment was coming because the people of Judah had continually rejected God's calls to repent. And the holy mountain was about to become the valley of vision. And the scene surrounding Jerusalem's fall would not be a pretty or pleasant one.