#4 Book of Isaiah 8-10:4 by Chuck Missler

we're in Isiah last time we talked about encryption we talked about chapter 7 and the politics that are revealed by the hidden encryptions in the first part of chapter 7 we also talked about the famous prophecy of the virgin birth and verse 14 in chapter 7 first time the virgin birth is hinted at is genesis 3:15 when God declares war on Satan and of course the prophecy and Isaiah is the dramatic one we dealt with that last time and if by memory serves me correctly we got through the end of chapter 7 right by the way I sometimes kid you know I always say that the book of Isaiah is written by Handel right and obviously I'm being flippant but because I made that crack a couple of times I thought gee I better do a little homework and turns out Handel right of course I'm raring flirting too is this famous piece called the Messiah we've we usually hear that around one of the major holidays either Easter or especially Christmas turns out in about the 1730's Handel did start undertaking biblical themes to install and Israel and Egypt and other things in 1741 get the 1741 Handel was invited by the Duke of Devonshire to Dublin to write a piece and this piece of music which I think a full score if you listen to the whole and not just excerpts but the whole thing takes about three hours he wrote that in two weeks so you guys thought you were under pressure with deadlines you know now I'm not that impressed because he had a lot of help on the lyrics not kidding of course is quite a piece okay so we're in handle chapter 8 and chapter 8 Isaiah takes up again again to get the context here Isaiah is writing to and about Jerusalem and Judah the southern kingdom and by the way I like to put something else to bed here too as you know after Solomon there was rare bone and there was a civil war rebel and Jeroboam had their differences and the nations split in two we have the northern kingdom which is known as the house of Israel and where the southern kingdom known as the house of Judah we classically visualize those two portions of the nation as 10 tribes to the north and two tribes to the south Judah and Simeon to the south and the ten tribes in the north and of course as you know the Northern Kingdom Israel fell into idolatry more quickly if you plot the sequence of Kings it goes from bad to worse they made some areas of capital they worshipped idols God kept warning them through a variety of prophets and things and about 722 BC the Assyrians conquer them take them slaves and that's the end of the northern kingdom you never see it again there are many prophecies in the old and the New Testament that says they're going to be reunited and of course that's millennial the southern kingdom the house of Judah as it's called has its succession of kings and they're not a lot better but there's an occasional one that shows a little more class than the others but ultimately they decline and about a century after the Northern Kingdom Falls the southern kingdom falls in Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon now one of the things I keep running into and I'm sure you have to if you haven't you will there are those that talk about the lost ten tribes of Israel and from that conception in literature emerge all kinds of rather interesting ideas that have just one small problem they're not true there is no such thing as the lost ten tribes honor if you've heard that how many have heard about the ten tribes of Israel okay I'd like you to go with me into second Chronicles about chapter 11 now this is right at the time that Raya Boehm and Jeroboam are having their big problem ray Obama being the king of Judah the House of the south and Jeroboam leading this revolt of the bunch of the north will pick up the context say about verse 14 of second chronicles 11 for the Levites left their suburban lands in their possession and came to Judah and Jerusalem get the context now first of all recognize that the nation of Israel was divided territory by tribe in other words when Joshua entered the land they finally conquered the land they divvied the land up by lot and certain areas were allocated to the various tribes that's one of the reasons why genealogies are so important in the judaistic situation because you never really sold land when they speak of a sale they really mean a lease because there were circumstances under which the land that was sold could revert back to the family the Jubilee year being one of those mechanics and another thing being the right of the redeemer the kinsman redeemer a kinsman of the family that sold it could if he performed the necessary axes detail on the exterior of the scroll would be able to redeem the land for the family and the best example of that is the Book of Ruth in which that whole issue is a major part and it's very important to understand the Book of Ruth or you'll never understand Revelation chapter 5 with the seven sealed book and what Jesus Christ is doing acting at our kinsman redeemer we talked about that last time because of the virgin birth and so on so when you think of the Northern Kingdom of Israel that included the territory that was originally allocated to ten tribes Judah represented the house of Judah represented the territory allocated to Simeon and Judah and frankly part of Benjamin because Jerusalem's actually right on the edge there now bear in mind the Levites did not inherit land they inherited cities if he recalled from from the allocation in Joshua and so on the Levites were a tribe apart they did not have military service and they didn't have land to inherit the Lord was their inheritance they did have certain cities allocated to them now get the picture Raya Boehm has under his territory Jerusalem the priesthood the true worship the northern kingdom is rebelling is driven by idol worship as the war starts what do the Levites do they abandon their cities and go south to Jerusalem because their equity of course is with Jerusalem the temple and all of that so verse 14 the Levites left their suburban lands their possession and came to Judah and Jerusalem for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priests office unto the Lord but we go on verse 15 and he appointed for himself that is Jeroboam the king of the north he pointed for himself priests for the high places and for the goats and for the calves which he had made bear in mind the Torah has no place in his he's idol-worshipping he set up his own priesthood system he's abandoning the tories abandon the whole tradition from Moses and the rest but verse 16 is the one you might want to mark to return to when these issues come up because after the Levites after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers so they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made ray balm the son of Solomon strong three years for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon the point I'm trying to make is under those conditions what happened the faithful to the Torah in the northern kingdom migrated south because that's where the true worship was going on they were uncomfortable with the widel worship so they abandoned the northern lands and went south I don't think the scripture says this explicitly but I also infer that those in the south that were not faithful that wanted to seek idols migrated north so years later when the Assyrians finally capture when God puts the northern kingdom into judgment it isn't that they are ten pure tribes that are captured by the Assyrians but rather a collection of the nation Israel that were apostate follow me so there really isn't a cogent crisp collection of of wonders called the ten tribes got lost in history and re-emerged in Britain to become the throne of britain and all of that there's a whole doctrine called british israel ism and it's interesting it's provocative but it's just not true other than that it's funny so that keeps coming up when we talk about the northern ten tribes it's really erroneous that's a that's a tragic label just like when you talk about the west bank that's a term of israel's enemies you and i should use the term Judea and Samaria in any case so much for them ten tribes but to get the picture now Isaiah is talking at a time but Assyria is emerging as the dominant world empire we read in Chapter seven the early part how Syria don't confuse Syria with us area Assyria is further to the east al-assad be afraid he's but Syria and the northern kingdom conspired against Judah but God through Isaiah told not to sweat it they won't even exist for very long so what what Isaiah is going to do now and that chapter eight is pick up this theme and talk about the overthrow of Syria Damascus and the Northern Kingdom the house of Israel its headquarters is Samaria and he will do this for chapter eight and nine again just like the last time right in the middle of this dirge of judgment based on the local politics emerges some interesting little elements that constantly surface in the Book of Isaiah that go far beyond the local scene but let's jump in chapter eight verse one more of the Lord said unto me take a great role and write in it with a man's pen concerning may hair shall Hodge boz boy Isaiah did not have a facility naming his kids but the meaning of the name the previous one meant a remnant shall return this one means the translation is not a lot of help plunder speed ahthe and the booty hey Steff I wonder what the kids in school said about it I suppose it means haste makes waste those of you one do some background in this the historical background that Isaiah is talking about is also mentioned in 2nd King 16 and roughly in that area in 2nd chronicles 29 but in any case Isaiah has two sons and they're both named prophetically the first one he took with them when he went to Ahaz and made this prophecy about the the virgin birth the idea of naming him the remnant shall return was intended to be a light at the end of the tunnel kind of label because on the one hand Isaiah is saying hey there's going to be a huge judgment coming on the other hand a remnant will return and the kid was named to keep that in front of of everyone bear in mind I use a ax again to remind you is high rank many the prophets came from the rural communities Isaiah was the opposite he had access to the court he has direct access to the king he was on in the basis of the high priests the vocabulary of Isaiah is greater than any of the other writers no Testament it's very eloquent almost every element in rhetoric emerges in Isaiah from poetry to alliteration you name it you make a list of all the techniques of writing and they all show up in eyes Anthony it's the high ground of Hebrew writing but in a case 7 Isaiah has these two kids that well first of all he's naming this one before he's born he says take a great role write in it and with a man's pen concerning Meijer's tal Hajus baz wow that's a I don't think I can do that twice verse 2 and I took with me faithful witnesses to record Uriah the priest and zechariah the son of berechiah and or whatever so in other words he writes this beforehand and then he says i went in unto the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son and then said the Lord unto me call his name by my hair shall allow hodge baha'i I can hear your mother calling ya verse 4 for before the child shall have knowledge to cry my father and my mother the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria the Lord spake also unto me again saying for as much as this people refuses the waters of shaloha that go softly and rejoice and resin and Ramallah Sun now therefore behold the Lord and goes on let me explain a little bit the waters of shallow that's waters a piece it's idiomatic of welcoming the waters the peace and rather than that they rejoice in resin and Rimowa sun which the people are favoring this alliance that he has was trying to cook up with resin who was the king of Assyria and Ramallah son who was the that was Pekka who was the king of the northern kingdom which God was saying don't get into those alliances you don't need to I'm going to take care of it for you verse 7 now therefore behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river now this case the rivers d Euphrates and on the east side of the phrase was Assyria this is the Empire emerging and that Empire would be used by the Lord to conquer not only Syria but also the northern kingdom that occurs in about 722 BC up upon the waters of the river strong and many even the king of Assyria in all his glory and he shall come up over all its channels and go over all its banks and he shall pass through or into Judah and shall overflow and go over he shall reach even to the neck and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land o Emmanuel and so on verse 9 is regarded by most experts most commentators as a shifting of gears it could fit into the whole dirge he's talking about here and yet the scope of the language seems to go far beyond the particular thing that Isaiah is dealing with it says associate yourselves in the King James or maybe more precisely make an uproar o ye peoples and ye shall be broken in pieces and give ear all ye of far countries gird yourselves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird yourselves and ye shall be broken in pieces take counsel together and shall come to naught speak the word and it shall not stand for God with us the take counsel together also means by the way devised a device for God is with us for the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way the people saying say II not a confederacy or more precisely a conspiracy to all them to whom this people shall say a confederacy neither fear either fear nor be afraid in other words Isaiah and his supporters are getting a lot of criticism because they're selling a very unpopular view I'll tie something is back when we get to chapter 9 because there's an Armageddon tone to this too and I'll come to that but the primary reference here is the issue of the Assyrians the fact that Isaiah is saying don't make a confederation but rather let the Lord deal with it if you want an application verse from the evening verse 13 fits pretty well because the council is stanked defy the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread I think we're all guilty of seeing spooks fearing other things and what Isaiah is saying which is the same thing that's 1st peter 3:15 says and also i was able to pick up this emphasis later in this book is the idea the only one you should really fear is the lord himself sanctify the Lord set apart the Lord of Hosts himself let him be your fear and let him be your dread and he shall be for a sanctuary but for a stone of stumbling and for our rock of offense to both of the houses of Israel for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that language sound familiar yeah the reason it does is that that comes up in Romans chapter 9 and first Peter chapter 2 those phrases are if you're familiar with both those epistles both Peter and Paul draw up on Isaiah and if we cracked each one of these phrases in the New Testament we take would be page turning all evening you as you go through Isaiah you'll find if you've never read Isaiah you'll find major portions of it sound awfully familiar and that's because the New Testament writers draw up on it so frequently we'll take a couple of examples forthcoming here a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel so you know this is a case where the word Israel is used for the whole nation that's another thing I want to caution you about is the word Israel can be used denotative Li to be the northern kingdom the name Israel can also be used connotative Li to mean the whole nation and the house of Judah of course being even though it's a tribe it speaks of the house of judah the southern portion of the kingdom a synonym for the northern kingdom which is sometimes called israel is also ephraim of the ten tribes involved in the north Ephraim was the dominant one so the word Ephraim the tribe of Ephraim is often used as the label for the whole northern house so be alert to that but in this case we have the stone of stumbling who is the stone of stumbling Jesus Christ you betcha and the rock of offense one of the things you can do sometime when your spirit Roger take a concordance and do a study of either stone or rock throughout the scripture and it's one of those places that will teach you it instruct you you'll get the flavor of the fact that these 66 books written by 40 authors over thousands of years are a single message system and again one of the examples of this of course is the use of idioms if you want to give it a fancy name to impress your friends they call it the principle of expositional constancy and all that means is these idioms are used whether it's by Moses or Isaiah or Paul or whoever consistently same idioms are used in general with consistency as you know my main preoccupation with the scripture is that the sixty-six books are a designed message system I believe every number every place name every detail is there by engineering by design and one of the great discoveries is to recognize to discover that every page every story every detail every genealogy is designed as an as an integrated whole and every detail in this book and every page points to Jesus Christ that's a glib generalization but the discovery of how vividly that's true is one of the great exciting things about the book to realize that it transcends time and space not only is it a singular message system but it has its origin from outside our time domain it demonstrates His divine origin by writing history before it happens not just the ancient history but history that we're seeing unfold before our very eyes whether it be the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem the rebuilding of the city of Babylon 62 miles south of Baghdad or whether it's the emergence of a European super-state what-have-you it's all laid out and that's what makes it breathtaking it's one of the things that make it breathtaking jesus said in Matthew 5:17 I cannot come to destroy the law but to fulfill it he says one yacht or one tittle shall pass until all be fulfilled a yarder tittle being a crossing the T or dotting of an I of the Hebrew script the rabbi's have an expression that we won't understand the text until the Messiah comes when the Messiah comes he will not only interpret the passages you'll interpret the words in fact he'll interpret their very letters in fact he won't even interpret the spaces between the letters and as you know when I first heard that I thought was a colorful exaggeration but the more I study the more I discover that it's very literally true and it's exemplified by Matthew 5:17 and 18 but here again is one of those one of those ways you can start to sample that take the term stone or rock from Genesis 1 through revelation 22 and you'll discover it all ties together the climax of that infighting is first Corinthians 10 where Paul really elaborates on that that the rock in the Old Testament the wilderness wanderings speaks of Jesus Christ when Daniel sees his vision in Daniel chapter 2 the stone that was cut without hands might in the image same stone stone rock it speaks of Jesus Christ you get more mystical you take the term blood the first seven appearances of the word blood in the scripture lay out the whole redemptive plan God's plan for redemption can take almost any one of these words and an a word study following it through will be revealing okay verse 15 and many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken bind up the testimony seal the law among my disciples and I will wait upon the Lord who hides his face from the house of Jacob I will look for him behold I am the children whom the Lord have given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwelleth in Mount Zion so again Isiah alluding to these two children one of which speaks of the remnant shall return the other one speaking of the coming judgment the taking of spoil that's feminine verse 19 and when they shall say unto you seek unto those who are mediums I think the term today would be channelers I love this passage is great and unto wizards that peep and that butter you know it's hard to improve on the King James it might be when they shall say unto you seek unto those that are mediums and unto Wizards that peep and mutter should not a people seek unto their God should they seek on behalf of the living to the dead how absurd it is you know it's interesting you know as I grew up and as I was reading the Bible or anything I could never quite relate to some of these injunctions you go to Deuteronomy 18 in fact we probably should just to emphasize what's being talked about here turn to Deuteronomy 18 I could never relate somebody thinks they sounded so medieval so archaic I never dreamed I never dreamed I never thought see the day when the widespread major topic among the so called intelligentsia are those same topics new labels we call them Chandler's the new age what-have-you it's new labels for the same old heresies dangerous stuff Deuteronomy 18 verse 9 when thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone who maketh his son or daughter pass through the fire or who uses the divination or an observer of times a phrase referring to what we call today astrology knowing others or an enchanter or a witch or a charmer or a consult or of mediums or a wizard that's the ones that go peep and murder I guess or a necromancer for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord that God drive them out from before thee I don't if you've been paying attention to the materials that are being distributed or the exercises in the instruction that go on in the California schools to your kids but they're taught in school officially in this state especially but across the country - I think to understand how to find their spirit guide there are all kinds of exercises that are encouraged in the early grades in school developmental presumably exercises that are setting them up for this kind of thing if you haven't gotten into it I encourage you to do some homework find out what's going on in school but be prepared for a shock as to what word the kind of conditioning the kind of programming that's going on on the kids emerging out of our schools in the state frightening these things are called entries by the technicians you may recall the movie The Exorcist and remember when water Martin was starting to do some research on William Blatty to debunk it he was startled to find that he'd read on his homework that while he didn't agree with it with movie went and the ending particularly it was interesting that that was based on a case study several put together valid research how did all that start obviously the movie took some dramatic side roads but the main point is is a valid case study in New Jersey and it's interesting what starts all that a Ouija board these things are dangerous fooling around with some of the New Age things are dangerous it's not just question of heresy and the diverting or heterodox approach to life or whatever there is far deeper than that far more frightening than that dangerous stuff and if your interests in this area there's obviously a number of experts one of the ones that impress me is the writings and tapes by Johanna Michaelsen that's how Lindsey's wife's sister bright lady a lot of background dynamite stuff I love one of her recent tapes that their title of the tape is can you truly find a happy medium bright witty gal lots of solid background she's got a book about the children lambs to the slaughter and any Christian bookstore ask for the writings of joini Michaelson and take a look at them I think you'll find them very competent quite provoking very scriptural okay moving on verse 20 to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them and they shall pass through it greatly distressed and hungry and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God and look upward and they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness dimness of anguish and they shall be driven to darkness we can spend a lot of time on this because obviously I had a local application to the judgment that was coming on on them that Isaiah was focusing on it doesn't take much spiritual insight to recognize there's a second application in a global sense forthcoming in the 70th week of Daniel sense in the judgment that's that's coming let's keep moving because in Chapter nine it starts with nevertheless I'll count that part of chapter eight or continuation thereof we'll keep moving here nevertheless the dimness shall be such as was innervation at when at the first he lightly afflicted that suit King James we'll come back to that lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and afterward did more grievously afflicted by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in the Galilee of the nations now that verse you can make something of it if you like but let me save you some time the word afflict in the Hebrew can be alternately rendered so in the latter time he hath brought honor on the way of the sea I know it sounds strange to our ears but afflict an honor it's a subtle subtlety of the Hebrew that the the actual sense of the verse may be quite different than you get it as it would read in the classical English now to get at this so you don't think I'm just you know making this up turn with me to Matthew chapter 4 the first eleven verses are very familiar to you I'm sure it's the famous temptation of Jesus Christ as it's called and you know you know the three temptations were Satan tempts Jesus Christ and each misquoting the Word of God by the way so recognize that's one of Satan's favorite tricks now that reminds you of course and your notepads to put acts 17:11 I would mention that awhile but I'll make sure you're kept conditioned to that Acts chapter 17 verse 11 Luke tells you not to believe anything chuck Missler tells you right it says that acts 17:11 speaking of the Bereans these are more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received by they embrace the word turned on great then he goes to Brienne's the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica they searched the Scriptures daily to prove whether those things be so and so I want to remind you that's the capstone of our ministry you know you've got to distrust neath adequately to do your own homework and I'll throw enough heresy out to make sure you do but in any case but in case Satan of course misquotes in the first four verses three times and Jesus answers him each time quoting it's interesting that Jesus seems to quote most of the time from the book of Deuteronomy one of his favorite books so I commend the book to your study book of Deuteronomy is exciting but we're going to pick at verse 12 well verse 11 of course the devil leaveth him but the angels came and ministered to him in the verse 12 1 now when Jesus had heard that John that's John the Baptist was cast into prison he departed into Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the Seacoast and the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali that's the first link now you see that when we speak in Isaiah of Zebulun and Naphtali unless you've got a Bible map you may not know what area there are tribal names with the referring they're used geographically here well it sits on the Sea of Galilee you see because that's where Capernaum in all it is so in other words up leaving Nazareth which is westward he moves eastward to the galley area I came to Alton Capernaum which is upon the Seacoast in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying the land of Zebulun the land of Naphtali by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan the Galilee of the nations the people who sat in darkness saw a great light unto them who sat in the region and shadow of death light of sprung up that's the quote and he goes on from that time Jesus began to preach and say repent for the kingdom of heaven his hand he is going to Israel and that's often confused because this is often quoted because it's the Galilee of the nations the galilee area was regarded by the jews at somewhat Gentile area and across the sea of course he had Decapolis he had a lot of the Roman cities and so forth so this it wasn't really Jewish if you will and you may recall that the cynical phrase emerges in the Gospels can any prophet come out of Galilee remember that phrase and the person who said that the Pharisee who said that hadn't done his homework because there are two prophets that of the Old Testament came out of Galilee God met him at Jonah and a guy by name of Nahum it's interesting that both those prophets have their ministry to Nineveh capital of Assyria the more you think about that the more stranger it is I mean in the Old Testament we have a ministry to the Gentiles see normally in the Old Testament you have the focus is of course Israel and things as the impact Israel but twice we have a prophet raised to go to nineveh jonah as you recall goes not only does he go there reluctantly to say the least but then when he has a revival he's upset about it first of all I didn't want to go in the first place that didn't work so when he finally does go he runs around town with the dourly saying forty days and comes destruction that's a real sales pitch isn't it the king of Nineveh repents and the town puts a cloth in action they repent so god forestall as a judgment watch Jonah's reaction I knew you'd do that he wanted a judge he had no use for the nether by there they were his enemies you know I suppose the analogy it's probably not a far-fetched one is to have a Jewish prophet sent to the Nazis say didn't want to wouldn't be too exactly excited about going but then when they repent there say that really tease him off thing so about a hundred years later name is called to go to nineveh and they get the judgment but they're both interesting they both out of Galilee anyway this is this passage in Matthew alludes to that and lifts off chapter 9 verse 2 on as we talked about the other thing I want to mention was that Matthew if you notice there's a slight difference in language Matthew is quoting from the Septuagint now one of the things and it's not that big a deal here perhaps one thing I want you to keep in mind that the book of Isaiah that you and I have was translated into Greek three centuries before Christ was born about 25 BC they started they finished about 270 BC the fact that it was in black and white threes almost three centuries before Christ was born will be very important to us not just because of the Messianic prophecies but because of some other things also that Isaiah will lay out for us and breathtaking detail as we move but let's keep going so I don't must use my time here verse two the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they dwell in the land of the shadow of the death and upon them hath the light shined and of course that was the quote we just finished reading in Matthew verse 3 now it's multiplied the nation and increased the joy in the King James it says not increased but most scholars believe that's an error there's a very subtle detail on one of the Hebrew letters that changes the sense of it and many of the experts believe that that is one of the subtle errors it actually turns out that with the knot in there you can make a sense of it it has an impact but the best scholarship comes a down on the side as the word not is not there it's one of those those details but without I spoke by the nation and increase the joy they rejoice before the according to the joy and the harvest as men rejoice when they divide the spoil for thou has broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of the shoulder and the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian now that may get confused the rod of his oppressor that that phrase in the Hebrew is equivalent to taskmaster when I use that phrase of course that echoes a little more of Exodus 5 and all of that when Moses came from Midian remember and had his dialogue with yul brenner you know okay now by the way there it's interesting that in verse five for every battle of the warrior is confused with noise the garments are rolled in blood and this shall be with burning and fuel of fire it's kind of interesting that if you start studying the Battle of Armageddon not just in Revelation 16 but also in the Old Testament those same three elements are there your reference of course Revelation 16 sorry about verse 14 in Zechariah 14 13 this idea of the armor and tumult that makes sense Isaiah 63 is going to talk a great deal about Jesus Christ blood stains as he fights for his people in Isaiah 63 and it's also ties to Revelation 14 20 the idea of being rolled in blood is very vivid as we get to Isaiah 63 and in the burning in the fuel of fire and all of that is reminiscent of Isaiah 66 and joelle - we're going to talk enough about that later when it gets much more the main theme so I won't badger it now other just to mention that some of these same patterns are emerging in the language of Isaiah early here verse 5 for every battle of the warrior is confused with noise the garments are oiled and blood and this shall be the brain field those three the structure of that sentence is very much the structure of those prophecies about Armageddon but all of this is sort of rushing through lightly because we're going at plenty of this before Isaiah but we're now going to encounter as Isaiah does two verses that leap out at you as two of the most elegant verses in the Old Testament they are rich with significance by the way a couple of things when you're in Israel you would come across the idea that one reason they did the Jews did not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah is because he didn't bring them their temple you see and it's interesting they're setting themselves up for one who is going to be accepted in Isaiah who will bring them their temple okay but part of that whole idea is today they argue that the Messiah isn't the son of God he's just a great leader that's their conception is altered the idea that the Messiah of Israel is to be the son of God is clear in the Psalm Psalm 2 makes the hammers at home well all through you can make a whole study of the predictions of the Messiah the footbag called the footprints of the Messiah in the Old Testament that he indeed is the Son of God those passages right here before us verse 6 and 7 of Isaiah you've heard it a dozen times you've seen it on Christmas cards and it's tragic that sometimes the most familiar verses are the ones we skip over because we don't really catch everything that's there let's try to look at it freshly for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given let's just start with that it's very typical in Hebrew poetry to have two ideas in juxtaposition you and I think of poetry and sense of sound or meter and the Hebrew does to occasional but that's not the emphasis the emphasis in Hebrew poetry is the juxtaposition of ideas you notice that a lot install through the Proverbs they're all structured that way they seem to say the same thing twice two different ways sometimes they're the same thing twice and sometimes they're the opposites but they're always two ideas in juxtaposition Psalms you see that too with the proverbs probably is the most people tripping the English well here you have for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given for a Jewish kind of sounding phrase but recognize that's not the same thing for unto us a child is born that speaks of his humanity front to us a son is given john 3:16 for God so loved the world right that he gave us is gonna begun son it's right here in the first few sentence a child is born a son is given it's an echo in a sense of Isaiah 7:14 that we spend time one less time the virgin birth that goes on and the government shall be upon his shoulder when did that happen when did Jesus Christ have the government on his shoulder or thing I remember in his shoulder was a cross huh when Jesus Christ the government on the shoulder don't think he did that's yet future and be on the alert for the heresies that are again emerging in the Christian Church these are heresies that almost destroyed human history the last 19th centuries the idea that God is through with Israel nonsense those argument should have ended on May 14th of 1948 God is not through with Israel Paul spent three chapters in Romans hammering that home set aside temporarily isro's blinded until the fullness of Gentiles be come in come in we're number Romans 11:25 we quoted all the time for blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in what does the fullness of the Gentiles the church come in where and as I've mentioned several times but I'll just hammer it again I believe God's dealing with Israel and the church is mutually exclusive Church was I started to literally rejected the kingdom the church will be complete before God once again takes up Israel Jesus Christ is coming back he's coming back twice once for his church and once for Israel it's going back to rule the world through Israel strange idea there are people around selling all kinds of heresies that the promises to Israel devolve on the church because Israel rejected her messiah she forfeited those promises and those promises now are the church they speak of spiritual israel and so forth seventy three times and the new testament Israel is mentioned always nationally always was one that's maybe a little great but seventy two of the seventy three clearly nationally national Israel Jesus Christ speaks twice in seven or seven churches of those that would call themselves Jews an or not those that would make the church Israel which is not Paul divides the world into three categories Jews Gentiles and the church if you're in the church you neither Jew nor Gentile you're in his body don't get confused in that point Jesus Christ says those who say they are Jews in or out are the synagogue of Satan that's revelation chapter 2 verse 9 he says the same thing again in Revelation 3 chapter verse 9 so be on the alert for some strange ideas that are widely sold widely sold on TV and radio and tapes and books don't be conned by the Reconstructionist the Dominion theology if you want to do your homework in this area one of the outstanding books is how Lindsey's road to Holocaust those doctrines led to the Holocaust in Europe and those doctrines are going to lead to the Holocaust again that's going to make the last one looked like a small beginning you often see on in Israel never again sorry wrong Daniel in Chapter 12 says there would be a time of trouble yet future that the world never seen never would see again and Jesus quoted that as being yet future from the time the abomination of desolation in his private briefing to his disciples back to 24 or 25 the secret briefing gave to Peter James and John and Andrew and to keep the key verse of that is verse 15 when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet highly technical thing but to learn what it is do your homework that ushers in a time of trouble that the world has never seen to that day it's interesting of course to use crucified 38 years later the Roman legions that are Titus Bayesian level the city it's interesting that Caligula ordered us to put his image in the Holy of Holies he tried that would have been the abomination of desolation Petronius found out the reaction of the jews and decided not to do it Caligula ordered his death when he found out he obviously was angry Caligula died the message at sea that got to Judea on collegians death preceded by some strange set of circumstances the the the order for Petronius is death and so he never was executed but it's interesting that the Romans tried to execute a abomination of desolation those never pulled it off domination desolation never happened it's going to happen and then television coverage is predicted news at 11 verse 6 the government shall be upon his shoulder well it's a strange idea is that a New Testament I do you bet it is let's look at Luke chapter 1 verse 32 and 33 I've mentioned this before but I'll keep it in front of us because there are those that are going to try to confuse you on this subject when Gabriel is telling Mary about the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 1 in verse 32 he says the Gabriel sent tells Mary he shall be great he shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David that's not the throne of God the Father that he's on now is the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for a thousand years that what it says forever not ever than ever to take candles virgin I was Kingdom shall be no end what's a thousand years 1000 years the interval between the resurrections and the interval during which Satan is bound different issue how long is G out long does Jesus Christ reign over the house of Jacob and why is it called the house of Jacob see don't get confused about Israel as 12 tribes Peter wrote his letters check them to the twelve tribes of Israel in the lost ten tribes anyway enough of that back to chapter 9 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 Father of eternity to be precise the everlasting father and the Prince of Peace some people say there's four titles because they say it's wonderful counselor that sounds me because it makes a neat little package and aspects to accept they're both nouns wonderful counselor and so on when was Jesus Christ called wonderful boy gotcha huh judges 13 judges 13 this is where you murmur and say oh yes like you remember see okay you all know the story of Samson or at least part of the story of Samson his parents were told supernaturally beforehand that he'd be born Manoah as father gets a special announcement verse 8 minoo entreated the Lord said o my lord let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born and got hearten to the voice of manoa and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field but manohar her husband was not with her the one made haste and ran told her husband behold a man hath appeared to me and who came unto me the other day Minoo arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said art thou the man who spoke to them he said I am interesting phrase I am I'm always alert to that because that's the voice of the burning bush not necessarily here it may turn out to be but I'm just be alert to that because when jesus said to the Pharisees before Abraham was I am we miss what he's dead but the didn't they try to stone him because he was declaring to be the voice of the green bush and manoa said now that they words come to pass how shall we order the child and how shall we do under him the Angels Lord said under Monell of all that I have said unto the woman let her be where she may not eat of anything that cometh through the vine neither let drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing all that I command did her show let her observe manoa said unto the angel Lord I pray thee let us detain me until we shall have made ready a kid for thee and the angel Lord said unto Manoa though thou detain me I shall not eat of thy food and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering thou must offered unto the Lord for Manoa knew not that he was an angel of Lord and Manoa said unto the angel of Lord what is thy name that when thy sayings come to pass we may do the honor that's kind of interesting the angel normally would say gee don't do me honor do I worship the Lord only but this angel is it relax it's like the one in Joshua 5 he allows a certain degree of deference here doesn't he interesting the angel Lord said unto him why ask us thou thus after my name seeing it is what wonderful that's my suggestion my conjecture not a hard sell but I believe that this is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ by pretty incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ and it goes on you can read the rest of the story of Samson on your own his name called wonderful now you can you can take that many ways another way to say that another answer if when was Jesus Christ called wonderful I'd say the first few verses of the Gospel of John in the beginning was the word capital title who is it Jesus Christ all things are made by him without him was not anything made that was made he is the creator of the universe here on our minds I we often visualize watch God the Father somehow Jesus we see him as the Redeemer boys he's the creator himself it says so clearly in John chapter 1 he was crucified on a cross of wood yet he made the hill on which stood his name shall be called wonderful counselor boy that's easy lots of places that you can point to Jesus Christ is counselor but let me give you an unusual one proverbs chapter 8 and this is perhaps a little speculative but it's conjectural but the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs extols wisdom the real subject of chapter 8 of proverbs speaks of wisdom but it personifies it in the first person singular and there are some scholars that feel it is idiomatic of Jesus Christ but any case he is the counselor on it goes I mean there's many places that that is expressed the mighty God the word is L there's many places that the title of God the name ll this or L that alludes to Jesus Christ but we've just read one of them last week remember Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name what emanuelle okay and it turns out anyway that's the mighty God now the next one's a little confusing the everlasting father on the one hand Jesus says I and the father are one at the same time John also in his first three verses gospel makes clear that there's distinction between them what that translation should say is the father of eternity the father of eternity you and I have no capacity to imagine or even conceptualize eternity and as I've mentioned several times that I remind you we all live in timelines we tend to think of time as linear and absolute because we do our little timelines in school on the blackboard we start the left go to the right with a little line of birth to death whatever and so when we come to conceptions like eternity we think of a line that starts at infinity over there and goes to infinity over there we think of an eternity as having lots of time well that's tragic because that's not what eternity is all about attorneys being outside the time domain altogether in modern physics we know that time is a physical property you tell me your mass and your acceleration and what gravitational field you're in and you hit then we can relate to your time in the absence that there is no time we talked about that in Genesis God created the world in six days were they 24-hour days I don't know but in in Exodus chapter 20 verse 11 it clearly he intends us to understand them as 24-hour days whose 24-hour day is God's who is around Adam wouldn't didn't drop today five but day six excuse me right that's when the clocks sync so on our clock it's 15 billion years or pick your number in God's clock at 6 days so the whole issue of how many days does it has to do with an ignorance of Einstein's theory of relativity it's relative tell me the mass of God and his the gravitational field is in and we can talk about his time line that's our own ignorance you talk about fate versus free well are we predestined it or do we have choice hey that issue only comes because we're within a half a dimension of time we live in three spatial dimensions high with length and a 1/2 a dimension of time I say half a dimension because we can move forward and look back we can't look forward to move back tap a dimension right how many of you remember tomorrow if I get any hands I want to see you later but see the whole paradox that we think of as a paradox because we're within the time domain if you've had any training in paradox resolution the way you knew that as you go up one scale the meta system if you will that problem goes away once you realize you're outside that God is outside time altogether well the benefit of Einstein's general theory and without the benefit of modern physics hji inside many years ago dramatized exactly this issue with what is now known rhetorically in the field is Ironsides door he apologizes that he's going down the hallway sees the door over the door it says whosoever will may enter he looks at it he has total free will he can go through the door not he decides to goes to the door on the other side of the door he encounters a banquet room it's an elegant table set as a place he goes he looks there's a place card with his name on it they're expecting him blows him away he looks back at the door he just came through and over it says on his side says four ordained before the foundation of the world two sides the same door one is see from within the time domain one from outside no paradox not from but not in those terms when did God first start dealing with you before the foundation of the world Ephesians 1:4 you and I have no ability to grasp that Paul tried hard he spent six chapters and fees trying to get it through but there's no way that we can really appreciate a father of eternity a title of Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace we're familiar that one lots of reasons Romans 5:1 reverse on that or Luke 2:14 what did the Angels say I heard some commentary I've checked it to say that angels never sing only the redeemed can sing well maybe I don't really buy that because there was one angel that had elegant singing voice and will encounter him in Isaiah 14 there's a chariot boom that got into a lot of trouble verse 7 of the increase of his government there shall be no end upon the throne of David upon his kingdom to ordered to establish it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this zeal of Lord of Hosts the jealousy of the Lord of Hosts and from here if you like you into a study of sanctified jealousy Paul talks about that his jealousy for you as believers in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 for those of you want to start on that track trip and go down that road Isaiah 9:6 and 7 we see that on Christmas cards has always intrigues me what with such a popular verse and yet boy is it pregnant with insight in terms of God's whole plan God's overview in two little verses from the virgin birth the incarnation of Jesus Christ to the government of eternity interesting as perhaps also amplifies oh Jesus Christ said when he said all power is given unto me we read that in Matthew 28 near the end of Matthew's Gospel we probably have no conception of how far that really reaches but moving on verse 8 the Lord said a word unto Jacob and it lighteth upon Israel and again you have those two words when Jacob's name was changed interesting how in the scripture when people's neighbors have changed they generally stick when Abram was changed Abraham and Sarah - Sarah from that point on that's the way they're always referred to Jacob not so when he was in the flesh they called him Jacob on those rare occasions when he was really walking by the spirit he was called Israel as a human as an individual it's always interesting we always have the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob praise God for that if God can justify Jacob there's hope for all of us Lord sent unto a sent a word unto Jacob and hid lighteth upon Israel and all the people shall know even ephraim and the inhabitant of samaria see again Ephraim is used as a synecdoche that is as a generic for the Northern Kingdom and the inhabitant of Samaria that say in the pride and stoutness of heart the bricks are falling down but we will build with hewn stones the Sycamores are cut down but we will change them to Cedars therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of resin against him that resin being the king of Syria and join his enemies together the Syrians before and the Philistines behind and they shall devour Israel with open mouth it is Isaiah again continuing the this dirge of the judgment coming on the northern kingdom we find a phrase then at the end of verse 12 for all this his anger is not turned away in his hand is stretched out still don't misunderstand that phrase it's not this hand is stretched out for saving its his hand is stretched out for smiting we tend to reach that you know that this hand is stretched out we generally somehow impute to that you know our New Testament perspective no no no in this case it's a judgment thing for all lists his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still don't visualize a hand of grace visualize a clenched fist if you will or something and if you want to get the idiomatic now the reason I emphasize is that phrase occurs four times you'll see in the English this the stanzas of Isaiah we'll see this in verse 12 verse 17 verse 21 and chapter 10 verse 4 the first four verses of chapter 10 really seemed to be more properly conceived as part of chapter 9 bear in mind again chapter divisions are man's addition about the 14th century 15th century and another little ground-rule you'll discover as you study the Bible that more often than not the chapter divisions are in the wrong place if you're reading a critical chapter pick it up a verse or two from the previous chapter it'll be instructive even such famous passages like 1st Corinthians 13 start a versus early we're going to see that NIH's eya 53 the ha the Holy of Holies of the Old Testament Isaiah 53 you really start two or three verses earlier in chapter 52 so recognize always keep in mind that chapter divisions are man's editing often done with an incomplete perspective so they're just their convenience but they're nothing more than references don't attach too much significance to the chapter breaks anyway we're down at verse 12 for the people turneth not unto him we smite of them neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in 1 day and we're going to compare this day in nineteen when we get there I won't measure it here but there is verse 15 one of these little hints that's going to be meaningful to you those of you that are students of the book of Revelation North verse 15 the ancient honorable he is the head the prophet who teaches lies he is the tail these are idioms that are strange to our ears because it come the emergence of a different cultural background but again the book of Revelation is in code the writer the book of Revelation assumes you have a full command of the rest of scriptures old and new Testament every phrase in the book of Revelation is in code every one of those codes are explained somewhere else in the scripture and one of the evidences of the integrity of the design of these 66 books is that if you study the book of Revelation thoroughly competently you'll take you into every book in the Bible every book in the Bible but when we encounter these phrases in the book of Revelation it sounds strange or bizarre it's only because we're not familiar with the idioms of the oil Testament and as we go through Isaiah we're going to pick up several that will really give you a totally different insight in the book of Revelation don't misunderstand every place that I have screwed up and there been many of them if you listen to my early tapes I make the number of mistakes every place I've made a mistake is because I didn't take it literally enough by now you've gotten only pretty well you know I'm a nut on this I really am an extremist in that sense even to the encryption thing we talked about last time every place in scripture I see a prophet read another prophet he always takes it literally when Daniel reads Jeremiah he takes him literally and I've sold that for 20 years and my early tapes in Revelation I talk about revelation 17 18 9 guilty of indeed there are some allegorical aspects to revelation 17 18 but the literalness of the city of Babylon being rebuilt I was blindsided on I gave intellectual assent to the possibility but I didn't really embrace it and how stupid if I'd done my homework on Isaiah 13 and 14 Andrew and Jeremiah 50 and 51 I'm quickly of course redoing those masters but it's interesting whenever I've made a mistake it's because I didn't take it literally enough and when we get we're short we will we'll get to Isaiah 13 and 14 again here shortly it's going to be a grabber in terms of what Saddam Hussein has been up to and what the real significance of the Persian Gulf situation is it's got nothing do with Baghdad it has do with 62 miles south city called Babylon it's literally being rebuilt and fulfilling the details of isaiah 13 and 14 Jeremiah 50 and 51 and I will obviously develop that when we get there but here's the insight the ancient and the honorable in other words the reliable prophets the ancient the Honorable he is the head and the prophet who teaches the lies he is the tail now those are idioms are a little strange to our ears yet remember those because in the book of Revelation you've got all kinds of torment that are in the tales relate to 9 and so on so bear that in mind as you go in those forages verse 16 for the leaders of those people cause them to err and they who are led of them are destroyed you know I can't help but think how and I'm hoping most of you in this group are well instructed so you can just chuckle with amusement and the characters I try to use euphemistic words I'm on a public platform of the so called Jesus Seminar you know I suppose if they cast enough votes maybe God would resign I think it's a these guys who have fancy degrees who have stature in sorts in some academic community who have no concept of what the Bible is all about well Jesus really didn't say this well wait a minute most of what he said were quotes from the Old Testament what do you do the Old Testament the one thing that really comes home is if you're going to buy the package buy the whole package don't start cutting scissoring it or all unravel what makes the Bible exciting is its integrity every word every number every place name every detail ties together in ways that were just now discovering in the original text and what have you so anyway what scares me is how they're going to be held accountable you know it's one thing for you and I to make a you know an error or a blindside on some subtly it's quite another to be unabashedly apostate to unabashedly publicly before audiences of millions cast clouds on the words of Jesus Christ we call him our kinsman redeemer we need to remember what the kinsman redeemer really was all about you and I look to Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer because he's redeeming the land to Israel he's redeeming us to the Father fantastic the kinsman redeemer is also the Avenger of blood in the family if there was an injury of the family the kinsman redeemer was the one he's the Avenger of blood that the guy was fleeing to the City of Refuge on and we're going to see that presented in Isaiah as we get later in the book for the leaders of this people cause them to err and they who are led of them are destroyed remember Jesus said if someone caused the least of these the speaking of the children there it would be better if he had never been born better if a millstone was hung around his neck and so forth remember those the strong language didn't mess around verse 17 therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young man neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless or widows for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer and every mouth speaketh folly and here's that phrase again for all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still in other words it ends another stanza verse 18 for wickedness burneth as the fire shall devour the briars and thorns and shall Kindle in the thickets of the forest and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is a land darkened and the people shall be as the fuel of fire no man shall spare his brother and he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry and she'll eat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm rough stuff Manasseh Ephraim an Ephraim and Manasseh and they together shall be against Judah for all this his anger has not turned away but his hand is stretched out still there's one more stands of the same kind of dirge here we'll take the four verses of chapter 10 as part of our study of 9 woe unto them who decree unrighteous decrees and who write grievousness which they have prescribed to turn aside the needy from justice and to take away the right from the poor of my people that the widow's may be their prey that they may rob the fatherless what will ye do in the day of visitation and the desolation which will come from far to whom will ye flee for help and where will you leave your glory without me they shall bow down unto the prisoners they shall fall under the slain for all this his anger has not turned away but his hand is stretched out still and he's going to continue then and talk about the judgment coming up on Assyria and then he'll talk about the remnant returning and so forth we'll stop there for tonight rather than start getting into that next time we'll talk about knowledge chapter 10 will face this judgment on Assyria we'll jump into chapter 11 chapter 11 has a lot to say that will be useful to your understanding book of Revelation because it deals with idioms for the Holy Spirit that are very unique to the Old Testament very foreign to our ears in the new and that will help illuminate several things in the book of Revelation he'll also talk about the return of Israel the second time the first time was after Babylon the second time started in May 14th of 1948 talk a little bit about that we probably take the occasion to review the passage in Ezekiel predicts the very day that Israel was reestablished as a nation and the very day that the city of Jerusalem on June 7th Phelan's at Star of David so we'll talk about that a little bit next time you'll notice as we move through Isaiah it gets more and more contemporary right now we're obviously heavily hitting this judgment on Assyria you and I have sort of a passing interest in that because its history there are a few places where it echoes of coming judge in the future but they're sort of veiled at the moment but it's interesting you know we sit here and we hear Isaiah prophesy and hammer away it has and the people of what's coming and we can't help but sort of smugly from the comfort of our own chair of saying gee didn't they listen didn't they see it was coming I mean after all they had plenty of warning right wait a minute gang the Bible says that at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ there's going to be a super state emerging in Europe Daniel - Daniel 7 Daniel 9 on it goes right now we're seeing the sovereignties of those nations coalesce : the others we have a super state in Europe a population three times the size the United States industrial might that is the classic Heartland concept for control of the planet Earth emerging in Europe while all this is going on that's kind of interesting the Bible says well all this is going on the Soviet Union is going to arm our allies that list the Allies they're all in place the Persian Gulf is not over yet the Soviet allies of both Syria and Iran are sitting there Gorbachev has he's the wild-card there they have a military that's at least three times the size of ours we're very proud of our military and we have a right to be they did an incredible job but let's back up a minute gang they had six months to move the supplies they planned a strategy against a opponent that has the economic prowess of Kentucky they were against a leader Schwarzkopf said it eloquently you know he's he's incompetent leader and we had plenty of time to plan it if something starts to emerge again you're not have six months to move supplies in you may have two weeks so it's a different ball game let's take a look at our military it's excellent you know as a Naval Academy guy I have to admit that in my time the defense establishment very cynical about our defense establishment I stand back in awe and impressed I have profound respect for what they pulled off the really great but let's keep it in perspective if the Soviets start playing in the game you've got some other things to consider one hundred million Muslims in their constituent base a third of the population or Islamic they're going to play for the West no way we got an economy that's in real trouble but the other military as I say two or three times the size of ours it's a solution looking for a problem they haven't played that card yet what's your Anya do haven't played that card yet while we're watching Iraq what's Syria done take over eleven the Middle East is a long way from being finished and Ezekiel 38 is in place all the allies are in place Ezekiel says that Russia is the one that's going to arm them they have the technology in Ezekiel 38 is in place interesting well that's all going on we also see as part of the scenario the literal city of Babylon is going to re-emerge as a major world center it's not a major center yet but it's being rebuilt how fascinating don't confuse the fall of Babylon in 539 BC with the destruction of Babylon as described in the Bible that's never happened it's got to happen yet it will happen in 73 - Daniel it's emerging Saddam was saying they spent 19 years rebuilding the city it's starting a long way from where it needs to be but it's happening the Bible three times in the New Testament says the third temple will be rebuilt Matthew 24:15 Jesus makes it the centerpiece of his confidential briefing his disciples Paul talks about in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 John talks about in Revelation chapter 11 the temple the literal temple right now we've got the best scientists Israel has trying to figure out the exact location is at north or south there's arguments both ways it's interesting but the point is it discussing it they got people scanning the world for the right kind of marine snails to raise the purple and the blue that main ancient Levitical ways when we're there we actually saw the wiring diagram for the temple can you believe that electrical wiring diagram and so forth it's happening are they actually in bricks yet no but they've trained 200 priests in for you Shiva's that are ready to officiate they've made the implements are they building the temple tomorrow no will it be a week a month a couple years I have no idea but it's happening soviets happening Europe's happening Israel's happening Soviet Union is yet to play their card what does that mean it's that one thing not in one little Czech verse because of some theory or some chart or some obscure calculation from the book of Hezekiah chapter 3 nah I'm that's just a rhetorical device hums don't go look for Hezekiah what does that mean for you and I you know we glibly all of us here we've been told about Jesus coming and we embrace the Bible we've committed ourselves to Jesus scrub off there's anyone in here who has not committed the lives of Jesus Christ see me afterwards really I'm going to take for granted most of you in some way have already done that but wait a minute gang where are we today right in the middle of the climax it's brewing it's happening first of all the tribulation is the last half of the 70th week of Daniel in a seven-year period that seven-year period is defined by a treaty that's going to be enforced by the coming world leader this dramatic fabulous guy that the world will embrace and everybody will be deceived even the very elect if it were possible now in the 70th week of Daniel is defined by that treaty he can't enforce that treaty until he comes to power he can't come to power until he appears publicly and Paul tells us in 2nd Thessalonians 2 that he cannot appear publicly while we're here the church is gonna be called out first the pre-trib mid-trib the post-trib pre-wrath all those positions are inadequate because they don't address the real issue and the real issue is that the rapture of the church occurs before the 70th week of Daniel can even begin if you really understand God's overview God's plan for Israel and God's plan of the church they're mutually exclusive and God is getting ready to deal with Israel you can see it left and right that means time is short now the question is what does that do for your priorities in mind well one thing it does is it's got you out here on an evening to study Isaiah God for that I hope that's just the beginning you know one of the things that we all are admonished to do and I certain encouraging that's to read the Bible everyday devotionally five minutes a day a chapter pick your program whatever but stick with it devotionally great because that's what God will deal with you it's the dialogue you pray to him you'll to answer you typically not always but typically in the word that's his approach to communicate to your life your decisions your details that's all great but I have another strong suggestion and I'm really convinced that we need to talk about this a little bit there's something else I'm going to challenge you to do all of us have a hobby some of us have cameras some of you fly our planes models sports golf shooting hunting we all have hobbies my suspicion is you know more about your hobby than your profession because it's a labor of passion your first love whatever it is collecting stamps there's some area that you find satisfaction in that you probably know more about than most people would know normally right because your hobby I'm going to give you a challenge gang I'm going to suggest you make the Bible your hobby for a while not just read devotionally not just come to a Wednesday night study that's great but make a commitment to yourself between you and the Lord to learn this book these 66 take one of the time whichever one sort of spread draws you into instead of blowing 20 bucks on dinner down the street drop by a bookstore pick up a commentary and read it find out those authors that you sort of rap with we all have our favorites as I mentioned to you before I've had the privilege by the grace of God to be tutored by three of the greatest guys in the biblical fundamental world I've been an intimate friend with Walter Martin before he passed away for some almost 20 years my partner were the ones that brought him out to the west coast and of course Hal Lindsey and I our intimate friends for 20 years as you may know and of course Chuck and I I've had the privilege of being close to him for also about 20 years so I've had the privilege by the grace of God to be personally tutored by three of the greatest guys that you could dream about if you were having fantasies about how to really learn the Bible right and I try to boast or brag I'm going to come to another point you can have the same privilege to be personally tutored by those three guys or anyone else you happen to respond to you can do it at your home in your car while your commute or in your workshop on Saturdays while you're cleaning up to the bench or whatever it's called cassette tapes I've over the years had more people tell me they've learned more in six months with tapes than they have in 12 years of Christian schools and seminary together about the Bible and one suggest to you that this is God's Word it's supernatural it'll impact your life but don't just read devotionally you should do that don't misunderstand me I can't find they're quite the right word I'm tempted to say master it but of course you can't I don't really mean that but I'm saying really learn the Bible book by book take a book Daniel or Isaiah or Matthew whatever the Lord leads but master it study it really understand it find out what the Bible really has to say it's your only hope of understanding CNN as things start happening because they don't know what's going on they don't even know what an Arab is most people don't it's not genealogical it certainly can't be and certainly isn't Geographic what it really means is Islam you know so that's another thing that we'll be talking more about as we go here what is Islam really all about but my suggestion is time is ripe you know you would have gotten a whole different perspective Persian Gulf crisis that if we'd really been on top of isaiah 13 and 14 10 jeremiah 1551 before saddam hussein was moving you've got got you guys like Baker and so where they're gonna solve 4000 years of history by running around having a few meetings nonsense find out what the Bible really says because first of all it's not going to be very long you're going to run into Daniel you want to be able to say hey I read your book let's stand for a closing word of Prayer let's bow our hearts father father we praise you we thank you Father for the privilege you've given us gathering together in the name of Jesus Christ we thank you Father for your word we thank you father for the extremes that you've gone to provide us your word and to bring us here to this encounter to be confronted with our living Lord Father we just ask that you would endow us with your Holy Spirit to draw us into your word we'd ask your father also to help us as we study your word to discover those unique things you would have of us that we might be more responsive to your will in these days father help us to discover that unique Minister you have it for each and every one of us in these days that we might grow and grace the knowledge of him but more father that we might be more responsive to your will in our lives that we might be more pleasing in thy sight a hole Lord our strength and our Redeemer amen

Channel: NarrowPathMatt714

Views: 72,561

Rating: 4.7156706 out of 5

Keywords: Chuck Missler, Jesus, God, Morality, Creationism, Truth, Evidence, Book Of Isaiah (Religious Text), Isaiah (Saint), Isaiah, Logic, Book Of Isaiah Isaiah, Intelligent, Belief, Book Of Isaiah, Chuch Missler

Id: tXpklePt8OU

Length: 75min 21sec (4521 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 23 2013