All prophecies the bible says will happen in End Times are happening or almost completed at present

Like I said the book of Isaiah is one of destruction, judgement and hope.

In Isaiah 4 - it's like seeing a rainbow after a storm - it's full of hope and forgiveness:

In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

For those who survive it means that the promise of the Messiah would be all the more beautiful and glorious to them in the midst of their suffering.

It will be refreshing to have a world of holiness instead of wickedness.

3..And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Isaiah 4

5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night...

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God will create the appearance of a cloud during the day, and a fire by night...

Just as in the days of the Exodus, God will be as real as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).

Exodus 13

21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Nothing will make them afraid again - because God is protecting them...

Isaiah 4

22...for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

Over the centuries God tried everything possible to get the children of Israel to change their ways.

We saw it in Ezekiel - where Ezekiel did some very bizarre things to get their attention. They ignored him.

We see it here in Isaiah 5 - where God laments what more could he do to stop them from backsliding....

Isaiah, revealing the significance of this metaphor, explains that the house of Israel and the people of Judah are themselves the vineyard. Instead of yielding up good grapes (righteousness and justice), they yielded up wild grapes (wickedness and injustice).

Isaiah 5

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?

We also see this is Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

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He's all too willing to compromise and asks them again:

Isaiah 5

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?

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What can I do that I haven't already done that moves you to change from your idols and abominations?

This was so very important to God - because he wanted Israel to be a nation of priests - to have a good influence on the nations of the world.

Instead it was the reverse - the nations were a bad influence on them.

However, we did see it does happen during the millenial reign in Isaiah 2 - nations go to the top of the mountain - eager to learn the word of the Lord...

The more God did for them - the less thankful they were.

The more he pursued them - the faster they ran away.

Their false prophets kept assuring them God would never judge them.

Isaiah 6

God decides on another strategy.

By telling them the right things to do, Isaiah will make them blind to the truth, because they'll be so naturally opposed and unwilling to listen to it.

i.e. The people rebel against the truth...

Therefore tell them - "Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not understand."

He's using reverse psychology:

from wiki:

Reverse psychology is a technique involving the assertion of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what is actually desired.

Same thing today.

What makes people believers and others call it all BS.

I think it boils down to you have to see it to believe it.

That's why the antichrist gets people to believe he is god.

Satan gives him the ability to do miracles....

God gets to the point he's just plain fed up with them.

He gives a list of their sins in Isaiah 5; some in the form of woe sins...

and they are guilty of them all:

Amalgamation of land (verses 8–10)
Drunkenness and revelry (verses 11–17)
Compound sinfulness, or "sin with a cart rope" (verses 18–19)
Use of language to justify evil (verse 20)
Self-conceit (verse 21)
Corruption (verses 22–23) associated with intoxication

Finally, in Isaiah 6 - he says - just get rid of them all:

11....cities {will} be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Isaiah 5 woe sins are explained in depth here:

[link to www.bibleoutlines.com (secure)]

He made a promise, that this would always be their land - so the last verse is to keep that promise:

Isaiah 6

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return...

In Isaiah 7 we get the first of many prophecies about Jesus:

14 ...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Up to this point we know that Israel had split into 2 kingdoms.

One being the northern, the other the southern.

What is happening in Isaiah 7 - is the northern kingdom allied with King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram to launch an attack on Jerusalem in the southern one.

To begin with we have an example of the created trusting the creature rather than God.

As the combined armies of Israel and Syria approached Jerusalem, it looked like everything would be lost. Ahaz was challenged to trust God when things were bad, and it looked like soon, all would be lost.

God tells Isaiah to go to Ahaz and not fear that they will attack:

Isaiah 7

4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted....

Instead of believing and trusting God, King Ahaz and his people react with terror. They are shaken and fearful in their hearts.

God says to Ahaz - ask for a sign - as proof - that no harm will come to you or your people...

Ahaz - essentially refused this offer...

Meaning, he didn't trust God enough for this sign.

But, God gives him one anyway; a prophecy about the virgin birth...

And, the northern country (ephraim) will cease to exist.

8...and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

Ahaz thinking himself wise - made a foolish decision.

He decided to trust the assyrians (a fierce and cruel people) instead of God.

He began worshiping their idols and false gods.

The assyrians saw this as a weakness and eventually destroyed Judah - leaving a remnant behind.

God removed his blessing from the land, and now the remnant struggled to survive.

Its hard to imagine a country exiled as many times as Israel still exists.

How many times was Israel taken?

usatoday:

Jerusalem has been captured and recaptured at least 20 times.

It's been claimed by about as many countries and empires, and by three of the world's major religions

I'll be skipping chapters up to 10

With the exception of 8 - another prophecy concerning Jesus:

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

God throughout the chapters says - He can't be a hypocrite and punish one nation for their idols and false gods - he has to be just and apply same criteria to all.

Because he is using the Assyrians to enact these judgements all the nations are fearful of them.

With all their victories - it was bound to happen

The Assyrians gave themselves the credit

When all along it was God using them:

Chapter 10

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

Well, Assyria is just as guilty as the nations they conquered, and it doesn't go unnoticed their kings heart has swelled with pride and haughtiness.

God says - I'm going to do the same thing to you - you've done to other nations:

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he {Assyrian king} saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

God tells the remnant the assyrians left behind, they had no reason to fear them anymore.

Chapter 10

27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

And the remnant turned their hearts to God...

The last invasion of the assyrians happens at nob - before they can reach Jerusalem.

God cuts them down like trees in a forest and only a few soldiers remain.