Isaiah 22

Verses 1-14, “The burden against the Valley of Vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops, You who are full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city? Your slain men are not slain with the sword, Nor dead in battle. All your rulers have fled together; They are captured by the archers. All who are found in you are bound together; They have fled from afar. Therefore I said, 'Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.' For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity By the Lord God of hosts In the Valley of Vision— Breaking down the walls And of crying to the mountain. Elam bore the quiver With chariots of men and horsemen, And Kir uncovered the shield. It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys Shall be full of chariots, And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest; You also saw the damage to the city of David, That it was great; And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, And the houses you broke down To fortify the wall. You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago. And in that day the Lord God of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning, For baldness and for girding with sackcloth. But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!' Then it was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of hosts, 'Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,' says the Lord God of hosts.”

In this chapter, we see God's judgment pronounced against Jerusalem, the Valley of Vision. The city was making a ruckus, but it was unclear whether they were in tumult or expressing joy. Their men would not be killed honorably by the sword in battle, but rather captured and taken prisoner. Isaiah would weep bitterly over the judgment against Judah, but did not want to be comforted in this matter. The valley would be full of chariots coming to attack them, but this time the Lord would not deliver them, because He withdrew His protection from them.

When you repeatedly turn your back on God and resist His correction and discipline, you cannot expect the benefits of His protection or deliverance, either in this life or in eternal life to come. Hebrews 10:26‭-‬27, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”  It doesn't matter if you call yourself a Christian or do good deeds in His name; if you refuse to be obedient to His word, He will not receive you as His child. Matthew 7:21‭-‬23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”

Instead of mourning over their situation, and calling upon their Maker for mercy and forgiveness of sin, Jerusalem is getting in their last celebration. They would kill the oxen and sheep, eating and drinking as though it was their last opportunity to feed their flesh. Our world is full of people who are unrestrained from sin, engaging in any and every kind of unrighteousness, while ignoring the existence of God and His pending judgement. II Peter 3:3‭-‬9, “...knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.' For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”