THE STORYBOOK VERSION OF ISAIAH
This story comes from The Book of Isaiah End Time Edition available on Amazon
The first layer of scripture is the storybook layer which children can understand. Most people struggle to understand the storybook layer of Isaiah, so that’s why it has been included at the beginning of this book. Think of it as the picture on the outside of a puzzle box—seeing the picture will help you solve the puzzle. The storybook version of Isaiah was written for both children and adults.
WRITTEN BY
MARK HIGBEE
** Chapter references have been added in [x]superscript. **
CHAPTER 1
My name is Isaiah, it means God is salvation in Hebrew. I am the son of Amoz. The heavens and the earth are my witnesses that the Lord has spoken the words which I have written for you. Hear O heavens, and give ear O earth, for thus hath spoken the Lord. [6]In the year that king Uzziah died about 742 BC., while in the Holy of Holies in the temple, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with seraphim standing behind him. His glory filled the temple. The doorposts shook and the temple filled with smoke as one of the seraphim said, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!” When I heard the words holy, holy, holy, I knew that it was the Lord that I saw on the throne—being thrice holy is reserved for the spiritual level of Jehovah.
The seraphim have three pairs of wings, one pair to veil themselves so they can’t be seen, another pair to hide their location, and lastly, one pair to travel at incredible speeds to wherever they need to go. They are known as the fiery angels. “Woe is me! For I’m undone—because I’m a man of unclean lips! I dwell among people with unclean lips! My eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts,” I said barely able to speak.
One of the seraphim flew towards me, he grabbed a lump of hot coal from off the alter with tongs—he placed the coal in my mouth and said, “Lo, this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged!” I couldn’t believe it, all my sins had been forgiven. I no longer felt afraid to be in the presence of the Lord. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” said the Lord—his voice was like the rushing of many waters. “I, here am I—send me,” I said.
Now that I had been forgiven of all my sins, I wanted nothing more than to help others received what I had received. “Go and tell this people: you hear, but you don’t understand. You see but you don’t perceive. Make their hearts grow heavy. Make their eyes tired until they finally can see. Wear out their ears until they hear. Help them understand in their hearts so they will repent and be healed!” said the Lord.
“For how long my Lord?”
“Until the cities are desolate without inhabitants and the houses without a man. Until the land has been ravaged to ruins.” I felt a tear coming to my eye—it wasn’t looking good for the people of Israel—desolation meant they would not repent. The Lord continued, “You must preach until I have removed the few that are righteous far away and sent them on an exodus from the city centers. Only a tenth of the people will survive, and the rest will be burned. But like the stumps of a great oak tree, the few that are righteous will live.”
CHAPTER 2
Many years have passed since the day that I saw the Lord in the temple. I have preached most of my life but only a remnant has [10]returned to God—sadly this history will repeat again during the end time. [1]The Lord’s people don’t know or remember from where all their blessings come. They are distracted by the glitter of Babylon which has made them spiritually blind. They seek the god of entertainment more than they seek the Lord of hosts.
[1]The ox and the donkey knows who feeds them, but Israel does not. [1]During the end time, just like in my day, many saints are like the people of Sodom and their leaders are from Gomorrah. [59]The Lord will not answer their prayers because their transgressions have separated them from their God and because they have blood on their hands. [1]The Lord will not accept their offerings. [1]He will not hear their prayers until they pass through tribulation and return to Him, then He will [55]pardon abundantly.
[1]Sins that were once as red as scarlet can be made white as snow and though they were crimson they can be white as wool. Having your sins white like wool is better than snow, because snow melts and can blow away while wool is longer lasting. [44]The Lord will blot out all the sins of those who return to him an enter their names in the book of life.
I’ve seen your day, and darkness or lack of faith covers the earth because so many don’t believe they can be healed, they cannot see, they will not hear. [62]One day you will hear people say that a redeemed and a holy people live on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem—these are they who return to the Lord, and have their sins blotted out.
I was given a great vision from the Lord and shown the [46]end from the beginning. From the [25]counsels of old before the world began to the very end when the earth is re-created into a [66]new earth and receives a new heaven—I saw everything.
Using events from my own life combined with the vision, I have written a book. [29]The wise and learned man will say: I cannot read this book—it is sealed. If they give the book to an unlearned man he will say: please read this for me, I am unlearned. [29]People who pay homage to the Lord only with their mouths and have hearts that are far from him will not understand my book, because they are spiritually blind.
[29]But a marvelous work will go forth among men and the Lord will astound the people with new knowledge. The wisdom of their wise men shall perish. The Lord will send a [42]light to the world covered in darkness. That light is faith and hope in the one true God. [29]The blind will see out of obscurity and understand my book, those that murmured will learn the doctrine.
CHAPTER 3
[7]A long time ago, the Lord commanded me to visit king Ahaz, the son of Uzziah.
“Go and meet Ahaz and take your son, A-Remenant-Shall-Return (Shear-Jashub). Meet the king at the conduit of the upper pools in the highway of the fuller’s field,” said the Lord, “say to the king: listen and fear not! Do not be fainthearted. The son of Remaliah and the rulers of Aram will not help you against the Assyrians. Their tails are smoking, their fires are almost out.”
It was true Pekah the king of the Northern Kingdom was not a righteous king, the Lord wouldn’t even say his name, instead he disgraced him by calling him the son of his father.
I could understand why king Ahaz might seek to rely on the Kingdom of Aram (Syria) and the Northern Kingdom—he was not a very righteous king and had little faith in the Lord.
Under the Davidic Covenant, a righteous king was promised divine protection, even from the likes of the Assyrians. I guess he had forgotten all of king David’s victories. I knew instantly that the Lord wanted me to remind the king of the Davidic Covenant. It’s why he wanted me to bring my son. His name was sending the king a message that only a remnant would return if he didn’t listen to the Lord.
The upper pools is the place where all the Davidic kings were anointed, this too was sending the king a clear message that he should rely on the Lord and the covenant he had made with David. The Lord had promised that as long as the people and the king were righteous, a descendant of David would occupy the throne.
“Tell the king that the Syrians and Ephraim are conspiring against Judah they seek to put in a puppet king in Judah that they can control—they want to install the son of Tabeal,” the Lord said.
I knew the word Tabeal means not good. The purposed ruler would not be a descendant of David breaking the covenant the Lord had made with David.
“Tell the King to ask God for a sign to know for himself that you speak my words,” said the Lord.
“I will not tempt the Lord,” the King replied after I had delivered the Lord’s message.
I could not believe that he would dare quote scriptures in his faithless response. What pious hypocrisy!
“Listen to me O house of David! It is one thing to weary men and another to weary God!” I replied—my voice grew louder with each word. The king should know better, I specifically used the words O House of David to remind the king of his responsibility in the Davidic Covenant.
“Since you will not ask for a sign I will give you one: Behold a young woman will conceive and bear a son and his name will be God-Is-With-Us (Immanuel). He will eat honey and butter and refuse to do evil. He will choose to do good. Before the child has come to age and refused evil, the northern lands that you abhor shall lose both her kings.
The Lord will bring upon your house the king of Assyria. It will be like those terrible days when Israel was split into two kingdoms. The Assyrians will send your people into holes in the rocks and they will seek refuge in the bushes. The valleys will become desolate. On that same day, the Lord will use a razor to shave the heads and feet of his hired help, and he will consume the beard! That razor is the king of Assyria! Your lands that once brought forth great harvests to feed the people will become brier patches full of thorns and will be full of bandits.”
I was a little surprised at the words coming out of my mouth. The Lord was telling the king that he would be replaced because he would not listen. His son would eat honey and butter while those that did not rely on the Lord would have little or no food to eat. Of course, that son was Hezekiah, I will tell you more about him later.
Heads shaved meant the people would be slaves and the beard consumed meant the Assyrians would kill the political leaders or the heads of the people. It was a well-known tactic of the Assyrians. Once they conquered a land, they would kill all the political leaders and make slaves out of the survivors. They moved their slaves to foreign lands and made their enemies leaderless, making it difficult for conquered nations to mount any kind of organized resistance.
I told you the story of king Ahaz because history repeats. There will come a time when the Lord’s people will once again forget the Davidic Covenant and seek to do things their own ways rather than relying on the Lord for his divine protection. The Lord’s divine protection is only offered to righteous covenant keepers.
CHAPTER 4
The Assyrians conquered the northern lands not long after the Lord had me deliver his message to king Ahaz. The people of the Northern Kingdom are known as the lost ten tribes because they never returned to Israel as a people. [54]Their righteous descendants will be gathered once more during the end time because the Lord will remember his covenant with Abraham.
King Ahaz never repented and chose to serve as a vassal king under the Assyrian king. He was replaced by his son Hezekiah about twenty-five years later. I was an old man with Sennacherib the king of Assyria began to fulfill the second part of the prophecy that I delivered to Hezekiah’s father.
[36]It was in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah when the Assyrians came up against the defended cities of Judah and took them. The king of Assyria sent his servant Rabshakeh with a great army of 185,000 men to Jerusalem while he stayed with his army in a siege against the fortified city of Lachish. The Assyrian army was so large that the King had the luxury of dividing his forces.
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah the overseer of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah Asaph’s son, the recorder went out to meet the Assyrian.
“Tell your king Hezekiah that the great king of Assyria says the following: in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? Do you trust in the broken reed of Egypt? If you lean on them, the reed will pierce your hands. It always turns out bad for any that are stupid enough to trust the Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Hezekiah had chosen not to follow in his father’s footsteps and serve as a vassal king to the Assyrians, instead, he had chosen to put his faith in God and the Davidic Covenant—he knew that he could not be a righteous king if he was controlled by a wicked one.
The Egyptians had the strongest military in the region much greater than the kingdom of Judah’s, but as the Assyrian indicated, they had proven themselves to be unreliable allies.
“If you say that you trust in the Lord your God is it not his high places and altars that Hezekiah has taken away? I would even give you two thousand horses to fight against us if you had the riders to sit on them. Without even two thousand riders of your own, how can you begin to trust that Egypt will send chariots and horsemen? I come without your Lord to destroy this land. Even so, your God has told me to come,” the Assyrian said with a smile.He spoke in the language of the Jews. It was obvious to everyone that in his mind the defeat of Jerusalem was inevitable. “You can speak in the Syrian language, we understand it. Please don’t speak in the language of the Jews where the people on the walls can hear,” Eliakim replied.
The Assyrian smiled, and then he laughed uncontrollably.
“Do you think my master sent me to speak to only you and your king? No! He sent me to tell all those that sit on the walls that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine!”
From the Assyrian’s remarks, it was obvious that they didn’t know about the tunnel Hezekiah built to supply the city with fresh water. The king had done everything he could to fortify Jerusalem, he had even paid the Assyrians with gold from the temple doors.
The Assyrian turned to face the walls of Jerusalem.
“HEAR THE WORDS OF THE GREAT KING OF ASSYRIA!” he shouted, “DON’T LET HEZEKIAH DECEIVE YOU!”
Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah remained silent, following king Hezekiah’s instructions.
“He can’t save you! Don’t listen to him,” continued the Assyrian.
“He will say that the Lord will surely deliver us. He will say that this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. The king has authorized me to make an agreement with you. If you will come out of the city everyone shall eat of his vine and from his fig tree. You will drink water from his own cistern until you arrive in a new land like your own with corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards! Beware of your king! Has any god delivered the lands out of the hand of the king of Assyria? No god has delivered any of the lands! What makes you think your god can deliver you?”
When the Assyrian finally finished his speech, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah returned into the city, rent their clothes, and returned to Hezekiah to report to him all that they had heard. When Hezekiah heard the report, he rent his clothes and went into the house of the Lord to pray. It was then that Hezekiah sent his men to find me.
[37]“Hezekiah says that the day of trouble is upon us. The Assyrians have rebuked the Lord, but his children don’t have the strength to do anything about it. It may be that the Lord heard the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria sent to insult the living God. Pray that the Lord has heard for the remnant that remains,” they reported.
“Say this to your master: thus saith the Lord. Be not afraid of the blasphemous words that you have heard. I will send a blast on him and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Thus saith the Lord: the king of Assyria shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there. By the way that he came, he shall return, and he shall not come into the city, for I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake,” I replied.
Whenever the Lord says he will do something for my own sake it’s because he has made a covenant that he cannot break.
1On the night of the passover an angel of the Lord went forth into the camp of the Assyrians and [37]smote 185,000 when they arose the next morning they were all dead corpses.
Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and returned the way he came. He dwelt at Nineveh. His own sons killed him with a sword just as the Lord prophesied while he was worshipping a false god in the house of Nisroch.
While the victory at Jerusalem was a miracle, the land of Judah was in ruins just as the Lord said it would be. The land of Judah will not return to its full glory until after the House of Israel has been gathered and the day of vengeance has passed. Like my son’s name says, only a remnant returned—only those that relied on the Lord and his servant Hezekiah.
_________1. https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-messiah-who-was-not
CHAPTER 5
[38]About three days after the angel of the Lord destroyed the great Assyrian army, my friend king Hezekiah became sick unto death. The king asked to see me. I told him what the Lord wanted me to say.
“Set your house in order, for you will die and not live,” I said.
It isn’t easy telling people things they don’t want to hear, especially friends and family. Hezekiah didn’t say anything, he nodded and bowed his head. It was obvious that he did not want to die—and rightly so, as he was a young man.
“Remember O Lord, I beseech thee! I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart. I have done that which is good in thy sight,” Hezekiah prayed with tears in his eyes.
I left thinking about my friend. Hezekiah did have a perfect heart and he did walk in truth before the Lord. Despite being a king with many temptations he was a righteous man. Very few kings could resist the temptations placed before them. He destroyed all the high places where many worshipped false gods. He cleaned up the temple by removing idols placed there by his unrighteous predecessors. Because of his faith in the Lord and the Davidic Covenant, Jerusalem was spared.
Before I was gone, and still in the middle of the court, the voice of the Lord came to me, “go and say to Hezekiah, thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father. I have heard thy prayer and I have seen your tears. Behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years. I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city—and this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken.”
I understood! The Lord had promised Hezekiah that he would be delivered along with the city and Hezekiah had reminded the Lord of his promise.
“Behold, I make the shadow cast by the afternoon sun on the dial of Ahaz recede ten degrees it has gone down. So the sun reversed its descent ten degrees on the dial which it had gone down.”
By telling Hezekiah that thus saith the Lord God of David and that he would defend the city he was making sure that the King understood that it was because of the Davidic Covenant that the Lord gave him fifteen more years.
As you can imagine, the King was very happy to receive the news—I’ve included some of his writings.
“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness, but thou has in love delivered my soul from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee and death cannot celebrate thee—they that go down into the pit cannot hope for truth.
The living, the living he shall praise thee as I do this day! The father to the child shall make known thy truth. The Lord was ready to save me! Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the House of the Lord!”
CHAPTER 6
[5]In my vision, I saw a vineyard that was on a very fruitful hill. As you might guess, the vineyard represents people, and the fruitful hill represents a choice land.
“What more could have been done than I have done for my vineyard? It should have brought forth grapes but instead it brought wild grapes!” said the Lord.
“I will tell you what I will do with my vineyard. I will take away the hedge, meaning my divine protection, and it shall be eaten up. I will break down the wall and it shall be trodden down. I will lay it to waste! It shall not be pruned, not digged, but there will come up briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to not rain on it. For this vineyard is mine and the men of Judah are my plants. Instead of righteousness, they brought oppression.
Woe unto them that look to find shelter going house to house until there is no safe place! Many houses will be desolate without inhabitants. The vineyard will yield very little in the harvest.
Woe unto you that raise up early seeking wine or the entertainments of Babylon from morning until night and regard not the Lord and the mighty works of his hands! My people have gone into captivity to their devices and their entertainment, sports, and work—they have no knowledge. There are few honorable men left.
Hell has enlarged herself and opened her mouth so those drunk on their devices and entertainment may rejoice as they descend into it. The mean and mighty man shall be humbled while the holy ones of the Lord shall be exalted.
Woe unto them that pull their iniquities behind them as if they were in a cart.
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own site.
Woe unto them that justify the wicked! Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil!”
Every time the Lord uses the word woe he is telling the people that they are cursed for not keeping their covenants. Many men, women, and children during the end time will forget their baptismal covenants and instead of obeying the commandments and putting God first in their lives, they worship the false gods of Babylon by spending most of their time seeking to be entertained or watching things that take them away from the Lord. Their idols or devices command them and they bring forth [5]wild grapes!
The anger of the Lord is kindled against those that have forgotten him and he will stretch forth his hand and the hills will tremble—he will lift up an ensign in the nations from afar. Just like the king of Assyria during my day, there will be a king of Assyria in the end time that will come like a roaring sea and the land will be filled with sorrow and the light in the heavens is darkened. None shall rest or sleep, they won’t even be able to take off their shoes to take a break. The armies of the king of Assyria will come like a whirlwind. The Lord will send the king of Assyria to destroy Babylon and all those who will not return to him!—He will use the wicked to destroy the wicked.
CHAPTER 7
In the last days, the Lord will raise up a [41]righteous man from the east and make him a ruler over kings. The Lord will hide this servant in the [48]shadow of his hand until the time is right. His own people will not know him and he will be [52]marred by them. There is much confusion regarding the servant and servants that I saw in my vision—let me help you understand. There will be the servant as an individual and he will lead the servant as a nation. Together they will all help prepare the way for the Lord to dwell on the earth. The servant nation is made up of righteous descendants of Israel that will be gathered together by other servants under the leadership of the man from the east, they will be called saviors on mount Zion.[Obad 21]
The Lord has called his servant to be a light to the Gentiles, he will be a [55]commander and a [42]lawgiver. Some understand that it is the servant nation that will be a light unto the gentiles, both the individual and the nation fulfill this prophecy. The servant will [49]gather Israel, lead the righteous on an exodus to avoid Sodom and Gomorrah-like destruction, [14]defeat the king of Assyria, and [44]build a new temple in Jerusalem. By doing all these things the Servant will be the second Elias that restores all things and prepare the way for the Lord to come and dwell among his people. Despite all my warnings, many Gentiles will reject the Lord’s servant because they don’t have eyes that see, and ears that hear. Spiritual blindness caused by the worship of false gods will cause many of the Lord’s people to not recognize the servant. This is why it is so important that you search my words so you will be able to recognize the servant and all the things that will happen during the end time.
Most of the Lord’s people in the last days are blind because they spend most of their time worshiping the false gods of Babylon. They believe they are righteous and will be protected by the Lord if they follow the counsel of their [9]leaders who are just as blind for the same reasons. You cannot rely on the leaders of Jerusalem, rather than relying on the Lord they will make a [28]covenant of death and be trodden over by the scourge which is a metaphor for the end time king of Assyria. All the righteous people of the world whether they be from the house of Israel or not if they make the [55]covenant of life by returning to God and keeping his sabbath day holy, have the promises of [56]life. The Lord’s house will be a house for all people.
The end-time [10] king of Assyria will gain power over all the earth—the [13]Lord has called him to destroy the wicked. The Lord has commissioned the Assyrian to destroy Babylon. He is the beast in the book of revelation that will implement the mark of the beast. He will come from a far land in the north as an overflowing scourge, a river going over its bounds, a raging sea. He will tread the people down in the streets and will even kill children, he will spare none. Like the flood in Noah's time, he will destroy the wicked and preserve the righteous. [13]The Lord will punish the world for their evil, but for the righteous few, he will send his sanctified ones his mighty ones to gather them during the day of his wrath. They are the [49]Gentile kings and queens and they will bring the righteous sons and daughters to Zion where only the [62]redeemed and holy are allowed to enter.
[10]At first, many people will think the Assyrian is amazing they will follow him like he is a demigod. Many of those people are the Lord’s people, whom I call Jacob and Israel.
When I write to Jacob and Israel, it’s usually to call them to repentance and to lecture them about idols. These people don't put their trust in God, because they are spiritually blind. When things suddenly take a turn for worse and the destruction and bondage begin only a small remnant these people turn to back to God and survive. The Assyrian will boast in the temple that he has become a god! He controls the entire world.
My message for the people in Zion and Jerusalem which is a more righteous spiritual category of people is much better than the one for Jacob and Israel. These people have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb and, they are people that are willing to live by Zion's standards.
“Fear not the Assyrian, he will smite you for a while, but I will remove the yoke of his bondage. This bondage will be for about three years. The Lord says I will do battle for you, I will fight for you and the victory will be like Gideon's victory at Midian. Your enemies will suffer, they will eat their own. The [14]Assyrian will be killed and lay in the streets unburied.”
This is my favorite part... the Assyrian ends up in Shoel which is the Hebrew word for hell or the underworld. When he gets there he will be mocked by other political leaders... they will say aren't you the guy in the temple that said you were the god of this word? The moral of this story is, if you don't rely on God and are spiritually blind, you will probably not survive the king of Assyria during the end time...
Most of you are not a Zion people yet! You fit into that category of Jacob and Israel where only a remnant will return. So my message to you is: REPENT! STOP worshiping idols so you are no longer spiritually blind. Wake up before it’s too late! Prepare for the day of the LORD!
