Isaiah 58: 1 – 14
Why Your Prayers Are Not Answered – Part II
1 “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. 4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. 5 Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. 13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, The Holy Day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Someone once said to me, ‘Why go to church – all the Pastor’s does is try to beat you up by telling you how bad you are.’ I replied, ‘In a way you are right, but I believe a Pastor should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’
So, I suggest as you hear the preaching of the Word of God you examine yourselves to see what effect it has on you. If you feel convicted I suggest that you review what you are or are not doing and make some changes. After all, the bottom line is that you are responsible to our Adoni Yahweh, Father God, not to your Pastor.
In our Last study we asked this question, ‘Are you someone whose prayers are not answered?’ Our Precious Holy Spirit addresses this problem with us through His servant the prophet Isaiah. In fact our Holy God Is so interested and concerned about this issue that He will go into a good detail as to why this is happening. Chapter 57 was the first of three chapters which depict the resulting sad state of Israel from different angles, and the resultant lack of effectiveness in prayer. Do not forget that all Scripture is for our identification and learning. If you are honest with yourselves then you will agree that the sins the people of Israel committed against El Shaddai, God Almighty, we do likewise.
Chapter 57 commenced with the way in which God’s true people, the ‘righteous ones’, are suffering and then went on to deal with the general sins of the leadership and the generality of the people.
Thus in chapter 57 Isaiah especially condemns those who throw themselves into the worship of Canaanite deities, into sexual misbehavior, and into nature worship. In chapter 58 directed by our Precious Holy Spirit, Isaiah condemns those who engage in hypocritical fasting, and in formal religion which has no real concern for people’s good; and in chapter 59 he condemns those who perpetrate injustice, and whose ways harm their fellowmen. We must not, of course, see Judah/Israel as full of people who are all sinning in the same way. There were different degrees of attitudes towards the gods and sexual misbehavior, and of formalism towards Yahweh and of disobedience to the Law. Some were blatant in their apostasy, others were simply disobedient because they compromised with it, and did nothing about the situation, treating the worship of Yahweh as a formality or seeing it as in fact similar to paganism. But all in one way or another were involved in injustice.
Each of these chapters is also concerned about failure in prayer, which of course goes along with the above. For the emphasis is on the fact that Yahweh only gives ear to a righteous people. Thus in chapter 57 the people call on false gods and their prayer is not answered (verse 13), in chapter 58 they fast hypocritically and their prayer is not answered (verse 4), although it will be if they repent and begin to walk righteously (verse 9), and in chapter 59 their prayer is not heard because their sins are separating them from God (verses 1-2). Judah as a whole was therefore at this stage devoid of any hope that their prayers would be heard and answered. They had shut God off and they were shut off from God. They were outwardly without spiritual hope.
Yet in each chapter the way of hope is presented to them and to us. We saw in chapter 57 how our Great God will bring back to Himself those whom He has chosen by the action of His sovereign will. This is the God ward side of salvation. In chapter 58.6-14 the way is open to those who will repent of their formality and begin to live righteously. This is the man ward side of salvation And in chapter 59 Yahweh will come as a mighty warrior both in judgment and in deliverance, and as Redeemer of those who repent (verses 16-21), and He will establish His covenant with them forever.
This section of Isaiah is a continual plea to Israel to turn to God from sin. If the Servant’s work is to be of any avail, and if Israel are to become His Servant, then sin must be dealt with and they must themselves come to Him in faith and obedience. Is this not the same for us?
So in this chapter God calls on Isaiah, and each of His servants, to speak boldly to His people and bring home to them their true state. He points out why He is unable to respond to His people or answer their cries, and that is because the basis of their approach is false. And then He outlines the way by which they can alter the situation completely by responding to Him and living lives of righteousness, purity and goodness before Him, including the taking of delight in Yahweh Himself.
1 “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
God calls on Isaiah, and on each of His messengers, to act as a town-crier in declaring openly to His people their transgressions and sins without fear or favor. They are to speak with the voice of a trumpet as God did at Sinai as we read Exodus chapter 19 verse 16, “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.”
This is the God of Sinai coming to speak to His people again and call them back to the covenant. They are to bellow their message out as over a loudspeaker, and expose their rebellion and sinfulness. They are not to spare their listeners. The message is too important for that.
The basic idea behind ‘transgressions’ is rebellion. Their hearers are rebelling against the Sinai covenant. They need to be aware that their behavior demonstrates that they are rebels against God and rebels against that covenant. The word for sin means to miss the goal, to fail to do what is right. They are missing out on their covenant responsibilities.
We read in the book of Genesis how our Holy Adoni chose a man from Iraq by the name of Abram. For his obedience our Holy God changed his name to Abraham. He had a son by the name of Isaac whose wife brought forth two sons, Esau and Jacob. Our Master chose Jacob as the one to place His interest in. Our Great and Wonderful Lord changed his name to Israel. If you take some time and review this portion of Scripture you will see that when Jacob is following the Lord, he is called Israel. The name ‘Jacob’ is often used when the bad side is being brought out. It is the pre-transformation name. But it is also the name of the one who was chosen from birth in contrast with his brother Esau, and the name used because Isaiah has dropped the use of the name Israel once the Servant, Who Is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Was established as ‘Israel’.
2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
This is recognizing the people’s response. It was their outward view of themselves. They cannot understand what the problem is, for they saw themselves as behaving satisfactorily, because they had no discernment. This was their claim:
• 1) They seek Him daily through the daily sacrifices and ministrations.
• 2) They are concerned to carry out all proper religious practices.
• 3) They make a great demonstration of maintaining justice by utilizing the God-appointed means.
• 4) They fast and indulge in self-affliction at crucial times.
This being so, how can Yahweh be disappointed with them? We must analyze the claims in more depth. Now as we go through each particular area take some time to reflect to see if these issues are occurring in your own lives.
‘Yet it is Me that they seek daily.’ They see themselves as those who seek Yahweh, and Him especially (the ‘Me’ is stressed), and do it daily. After all they assiduously offer the daily sacrifices and go through the daily ministrations. They offer the morning and evening sacrifices.
‘And delight to know my ways.’ They considered that because they utilized God-appointed means of establishing justice and listened to the priests and prophets attached to the temple, this was all that could be required of them. Did it not demonstrate that they delighted in His ways? They want all to recognize that it is their great joy to seek to know Yahweh’s will, especially in matters of justice.
‘As (if they were) a nation which did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God. They ask of me judgments of righteousness, they delight to draw near to God.’ They behaved as though they were a truly righteous nation, one that wanted to know Yahweh’s will. But all the time it was nothing but outward show. No one could criticize their careful attention to religious detail. They did everything the rules required. They followed the means. All that was true, but their hearts were not in it. It was not a genuine seeking of Yahweh.
‘They ask of me judgments of righteousness.’ They were even assiduous in seeking His judgment on things, possibly by use of the Urim and the Thummim, or by use of the lot. Indeed they give the appearance of delighting to draw near to God for this purpose to discover His ways. They sought to give the impression that they were a righteous nation, that they ‘did righteousness’, and that they were assiduous in seeking justice by God-appointed means, and they made a great outward show of it.
An outsider would surely have been impressed by their religious observance and their concern to seek God’s judgment on things and their apparently careful attention to finding His will. But the problem was that as far as He was concerned it was all pretence. In His eyes it was an outward show of religious activity and justice that was not true at heart. For along with what they claimed the worship in the high places continued, people were still not treated fairly in the courts, and their behavior to each other, both in business and private matters, continued to be abysmal. They drew near to Him with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see not? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you do not notice it?’ The people were surprised and offended at the suggestion that they were anything but righteous. Did they not do everything that was required of them?. As well as daily ordinances, and a proper seeking of justice, they also keep their fasts and indulge in self-abasement. What more did God want?
But this was in fact the problem. They saw God as Someone to be manipulated by their religious endeavors, by their outward show. They considered that if they engaged in the right rituals God would be forced to respond. What they overlooked was that God was concerned about the fact that they were failing to live rightly and were not observing the details of the covenant in their daily lives, and especially about how they were behaving in their personal relationships with each other. They did not love their neighbor as they loved themselves.
The basic sinfulness of man comes out in this attitude to religion. In his blindness He sees God as Someone Who has certain requirements, and as long as he fulfils those he considers that God should therefore gratefully respond. When they wanted Baal to bring about the fruitfulness of their crops, or Asherah to ensure fertility, they indulged in free and unrestrained sex before their images. That was what inspired such gods to act. But they knew that Yahweh was a severe God. So their approach was different. Before Him they fasted, went without food and afflicted themselves. The people came to believe that each god was to be persuaded to act by different approaches. They considered that they had a well rounded religious viewpoint.
The people over time did not have the same active relationship with The Only Living and True God that their ancestors had. What they overlooked with Father God, Adoni Yahweh, was that He Is not that kind of God. He Is not a God among others. He Is not a God Who has to be persuaded to act. He Is not a God easily impressed by outward show. He Is Yahweh, the only God, ‘the God Who Is there’. He Is the God Who Is always active. He Is the God Who wants to respond with love to those who love Him.
He Is The God Who requires genuineness of heart. And because of that He Is continually concerned with every aspect of His people’s lives, and takes account of everyday behavior. He looks behind religious façade.
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. 4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high.
Please notice how our Holy God replies to their claims. Their fasting is hypocritical, for while engaging in it they go out of their way to find their own pleasure. It is half-hearted. This suggests that it was often a formal fast without being too strictly observed, or without being too demanding. Furthermore their claims to exercise fair judgments were not true. Instead their behavior was abominable. Even while outwardly fasting and appearing humble they oppress their workers, they involve themselves in strife and court action in every aspect of life, and they behave with unreasonable and sin-inspired violence. They are as far from ‘truly just’ as it is possible to be.
Thus any seeming merit in their fasting is lost in view of their attitude to life and its resulting behavior. This kind of fasting will not result in their voice being heard by God.
Fasting is a feature of religion in any age. Where it results in a genuine seeking after God Himself it can be beneficial. But it can easily deteriorate into being seen as a means of putting God under an obligation so that He has to respond, or of impressing men with one’s holiness.
There is no need to see these as official fasts. Indeed the idea is that they occurred continually in the everyday course of life, as did their sins that accompanied them.
5 Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Our Ever Living Holy Yahweh denounces the kind of fasting they were engaging in. They afflicted their persons, they bowed their heads in false humility like a rush bows before the wind, they spread sackcloth and ashes underneath them, they wanted all to see that they were fasting. And they meanwhile engaged in their unjust and sinful behavior. Such a day of fasting is not acceptable to Yahweh.
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Our Great God lists for us all His approved way of fasting. Helping men to free themselves from their sins, working for social justice, obtaining freedom for the oppressed, breaking every yoke that binds men, feeding the hungry, caring for the homeless, clothing the poor, and being available to comfort and succor others.
‘Loose the bonds of wickedness.’ ‘Bonds of wickedness’ could refer to ‘bonds which are evil’, such as men being tied in by unfair business contracts, or harsh work contracts, or by the misuse of authority, or it may apply literally to wickedness seen as something that binds men. Either way it concerns the giving of freedom for those who are bound.
‘Undo the bands of the yoke.’ The yoke was put on oxen in order for them to work together. It meant that they were under control, and submissive, that their every movement was determined. But applying the same principle to men was to put on them an excessive burden and was a restriction of freedom. The thought here is therefore of releasing men from burdens of life, from oppression and from being treated like animals.
‘To let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke.’ This would literally indicate the freeing of bondmen unfairly held, and of prisoners put in prison by oppressive action, who were undeserving of such punishment. And also possibly of releasing men from onerous debts. It could include the delivery of men by wise judges from oppressive action. To ‘break every yoke’ includes the thought of delivering men from anything that prevents them from living in freedom and blessing. The whole emphasis is on compassion and freedom.
Providing food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless and clothing for those with insufficient is ever seen as the responsibility of God’s people. ‘Own flesh’ probably has relatives in mind and indicates the responsibility of a family to ensure that relatives do not go in need or without comfort.
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
It is if they do these things that God will hear them and respond, with the result that light will break in on them, they will enjoy full well-being, and they will be protected to the rear (from those acting behind their backs) by His glory. In the army there is a term ‘I got your six’. It means that ‘I got your back’. How much greater is it to know that our Creator has our backs instead.
Reference to light breaking forth probably has in mind the coming deliverance which will be hastened by godly response, but also includes the idea of blessing in the shorter term. Our Lord Jesus would tell His disciples in Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 that they must let their light shine before men, that they may see their good works and glorify their Father Who was in heaven. Reference to healing springing forth refers to the same. Such light and healing is always the product of godly and truly charitable living. The reference to righteousness going before, and Yahweh taking up the rear, probably has in mind the pillar of fire and cloud which during the journey through the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt represented the presence and protection of Yahweh over His people. Those who walk in God’s ways will enjoy a new Exodus, and their righteousness, and the righteousness imputed to them, will go before them as their guide and protector, while Yahweh Himself will protect the rear. Every generation can enjoy a new Exodus.
Light is the opposite of darkness, and includes the idea of life as a light. They will enjoy God’s life at work within them. The days of darkness will pass from His own people, and the way before them becomes illuminated by God’s illumination.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
The one who lives righteously as in verses 6-7 will find that Yahweh will hear His prayer and will be available to him. God will respond to his every cry. And the same is true of the nation. Let them but become truly righteous and their cry will reach the ear of God. He will hear the cry of the truly righteous and of the truly repentant. To them comes the assurance that His ear is always open to their cry when it is genuinely for what is pleasing to Yahweh. He will say to them, ‘Here I am’.
“If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
These verses split into two halves, the condition and the result. The condition describes what God requires of those who serve Him. They are to seek to free men from burdens, they must never point the finger unjustly or unnecessarily or in contempt, they must never distort the truth. They are to reach out to the hungry, and to bring comfort to the afflicted, meeting their deepest needs.
The ‘pointing finger’ refers to any method of making suggestions about others to diminish their reputations unfairly, whether by word, action or innuendo. It can also signify pointing in contempt. Speaking wickedly refers to lies, half-truths, gossip and unfounded accusations, or deliberately seeking to cause trouble by malicious words.
‘Draw out your soul to the hungry’ includes more than just charity. ‘Drawing out’ indicates an active concern and a willingness to give of oneself in order to satisfy their needs. ‘Satisfying the afflicted soul’ means going out of your way to ensure that such needy souls are comforted and provided for in every way. Both thoughts have a stress on self-giving.
The result of such living to God will be that light will come in the darkness, and the equivalent of the removal of mist by the noonday sun will result. Such people will enjoy His light and His blessing, and darkness and obscurity will be removed. When men begin to find faith difficult, and the light dims, the cause can usually be traced to deliberate sin.
‘And Yahweh will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in sun-scorched places, and make strong your bones, and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.’ God will also guide such people continually. Even when they go through arid and dry patches their souls will be satisfied from an inner spring.
He will ‘make their bones strong’. The bones represent the whole man. They are a man’s frame, they are what holds him together.
And they will be like a watered garden, continually refreshed and fruitful, and filled with flowers and fruit, and like a perennial spring that never fails, thus constantly refreshed and someone from whom others can drink.
So the truly righteous man will find light in the darkness, satisfaction in the deserts of life, strength in his bones and continual spiritual refreshment, and will be a source of refreshment to others.
‘And those who are of you will build the old waste places, you will raise up the foundations of many generations.’ The final blessing for the righteous man is continuation into the future and the production of a seed who will continue to bring blessing to mankind. These will build the old waste places, those places which have been wasted through God’s judgments.
‘And you will be called, the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of paths to dwell in.’ ‘Repairing the breach’ meant building up the walls, ‘restoring the paths for dwellings’ referred to making the cities habitable. They will be responsible for the new beginning as thought of in Old Testament terms.
It is a good thing for a man to be seen as one who repairs breaches, who makes life secure for others, who restores for them the possibility of good living conditions, both literally and spiritually.
13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, The Holy Day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Do you think our Holy God thinks the Sabbath is important? His 4th Commandment is ‘8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.’
Three things are directly described by Yahweh as holy. In chapter 56 verse 7 we have had God’s holy mountain which was connected with His house of prayer; in chapter 57 verse 15 we have the high and holy place where Yahweh, Whose name is Holy, dwells with those who are of a contrite spirit; and here now we have Yahweh’s holy day. Note that they are called holy by Yahweh and all bring about a connection between heaven and earth. All this connects with Isaiah’s vision of the threefold Holy God in Isaiah 6, and with His constant use of the title The Holy One of Israel.
This is Isaiah’s third item in his list of ‘if you’ clauses. It reiterates the special importance of the Sabbath in God’s scheme of things, re-emphasizing what has been said in chapter 56 verses 2, 4, 6. But again the emphasis is on a positive view of the Sabbath. It is a day to delight in, it is honorable, and the emphasis seems to be not so much on avoiding work on the Sabbath, but as on doing God’s ways, seeking God’s pleasure and using our words positively for God, possibly in prayer, song, worship and teaching the Scriptures. This is expressed by negating the doing of their own ways, finding their own pleasure, and speaking their own words. This will result in their delighting themselves in Yahweh.
‘If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.’ The first stage is to turn the foot way from ‘doing your own pleasure’. This is because it is a day separated to Yahweh, not just ‘a holy day’ but ‘My holy day’. It is His personal concern and is Holy to Him, and therefore not for profane use. Thus all done in it should be concerned with Yahweh’s pleasure, and that alone. It is a day that He picked out and wants us to spend it with Him. Is there anything wrong with Him wanting to spend a day with us?
‘And call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy (day) of Yahweh honorable.’ The second stage is to see it as a delight and as honorable. To be a delight there must be something positive intended from it. It was a feast day and not a fast day (although the food had to be prepared the day before), and it was a day when men and women should delight themselves in Yahweh (verse 14). It is honorable because it is worthy of honor precisely because it is Yahweh’s Holy Day.
‘And you will honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words.’ The day was to be honored as His Holy Day by nothing profane being done in it. All self-indulgence and self-will was to be excluded from it, and there was to be no idle chit-chat, discussions on business matters, or gossip. Conversations were to be centered on the things of God.
‘Then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will cause you to feed with the heritage of Jacob your father.’
We are to delight ourselves in Yahweh. This would seem to include worship and prayer and the singing of holy songs. It would also seem to allow the reading of the Law and probably teaching on it.
The second point made is that they will be caused to ride on the high places of the earth. Thus this seems to be saying that those who truly honor the Sabbath and the Lord of the Sabbath will triumph over God’s inheritance. They will inherit the promises and possess the fruitful mountains. In other words they will possess their God-promised inheritance in peace and safety.
The third is that Yahweh will cause them and us to feed on the heritage of Jacob their father. So they will not only possess the mountains but will feed on the heritage passed down to them by promise. They will be amply supplied by God. So, what was Jacob’s inheritance that if we are obedient to these instructions of our Holy Maker will give to us? We read in the book of Genesis these promises to Jacob by our Father God, “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. 28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!”
‘For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.’ This will all surely happen because God has said it and will bring it about.
