Dr. John Oswalt, Isaiah, Session 6, Isaiah 9-12

[Music] [Applause] this is dr john oswalt in his teaching on the book of isaiah this is session number six isaiah chapters 9 through 12. [Music] a delight to see each of you here thanks for coming let's begin with prayer father we rejoice in your presence here we thank you that you have come to reveal yourself your will your purposes thank you thank you that you have revealed yourself to each of us in so many different ways thank you that you have revealed yourself above all in jesus christ thank you for the promise of eternal life that is ours because he has come and lived and died and risen again thank you help us as we study this portion of your scripture tonight to see more clearly who you are what you want to do in the world and what you want to do in us in your name we pray amen this section that we're trying to cover this evening is a complex one and i've tried to lay it out again for you here the entire section chapter 7 1 through 12 six is no trust ahaz refuses the challenge to trust god and receive the sign of his promise in seven one to fourteen as a result because he trusted assyria instead of the lord judgment is coming we talked about that last week but i've said it before i'll say it again several hundred times before next june god's intended last word is never judgment his intended last word is hope and so we move from the darkness that we saw at the end of chapter 8 last week to light the light of hope but then he goes back and we'll talk about this tonight what's going on here and i've called it the real issue what's the real issue that we're facing here is it israel and syria in their attempt to force us into a coalition or is it assyria and the answer is no not either of those the real issue we'll talk about here and then god announces i think in the light of the real issue assyria is going to be judged yes assyria will be used to judge you but assyria herself is not going to escape judgment and then once again the branch chapter 11 and finally the hymn of trust on the basis of what god has done for us through the messiah so tonight we're going to try to cover from 9 1 through 12 6 and that means we all need to fasten our seat belts as i said a moment ago chapter 8 closes on that very very grim note verse 20 20. let's start with verse 20 of chapter 8 to the teaching and the testimony if they'll not speak according to this word it's because they have no dawn they'll pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry when they're hungry they'll be enraged and they'll speak contemptuously against their king and their god and turn their faces upward and they'll look to the earth but behold distress and darkness the gloom of anguish they will be thrust into thick darkness if we refuse god's revelation there's nothing left for us but darkness but that's not where god wants to stop straight on into chapter 9 verse 1 there'll be no gloom for her who was in anguish in the former time he brought into contempt the land of zebulun and the land of naphtali now those are the two northernmost tribes who are in the way of assyria as they come this is where the first assyrian depredations were to take place there in the northern kingdom in the former time he brought into contempt the land of zebulun and the land of naphtali but in the latter time he made glorious the way of the sea the land beyond the jordan galilee of the nations and you remember where jesus primary ministry was conducted in galilee of the nations the very place where the darkness began to consume the land that is the place where god would send his light that's the god we serve yes we may bring darkness upon ourselves by our refusal but that's not where god intends to leave us he intends to shine his light upon us so then we have in those next verses the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them as the light shined so we see here then this promise the promise of the light that god is going to shine now what is this promise look at verses 4 and 5. what's the promise what's he going to do away with he's going to do away with warfare right this whole situation is faced with this monster assyria coming with the instruments of war israel and syria are saying we've got to combat him with the instruments of war and the promise here is this one is going to do away with war the solution to the world's promises excuse me the solution to the world's problems is not going to be solved with war oh my oh my who's this going to be this is going to be a child no no no no no this is going to be the incredible hulk this is going to be monster man he's going to come and beat up all of our enemies a child what are you talking about now notice right through here children who goes with isaiah to meet ahaz shayar yashub only a remnant will return what's the promise a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you'll call his name god with us go into the prophetess and shall conceive and you shall name the child maher shalom the praise speeds the spoil hastes children children children children what's god saying in all of this messiah but but why should the messiah be presented as a child oh yes but i mean presumably he could have come bingo as a full-blown human being but god we need power as we conceive it the weakness of god is stronger than our strength he has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the strong he has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and it's running all through here unto us a child is born now there are people who say well that what that's that's talking about hezekiah hezekiah is the child we're talking about here who's going to be born to king ahaz there's one primary reason why that's not true look at the end of verse 6. who is this child wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end no we're not talking about hezekiah the hope of the world is not in any hezekiah however good a man hezekiah might have been that's not what we're talking about so here's this just sort of snapshot yes you've brought judgment upon yourself but that's not god's intention now before we leave it let me ask you one more question what did they do to deserve this nothing nothing the grace of god does not depend on anything that we humans do we need to underline that again and again and again if there's hope for us it's not because we're going to somehow get our house in order our only hope for us is that god breaks into our darkness with his light and that's the good news all right let's move on because very suddenly and and isaiah is marked by two things that are contradictory one is transitions where you flow so easily from one section to the next you're not quite sure where one ends and the other begins the other thing that he's characterized by is no transitions and look here look at 9 8. now remember you've always got to keep it in your head especially at this time israel can be used in two ways it can be used of the entire nation and it can be used of the northern kingdom and you've always got to be asking yourself which of those is intended here notice what 8-9 how they read the lord has sent a word against jacob it will fall on israel [Music] and all the people will know ephraim and the inhabitants of samaria which of the two is it it's the northern kingdom isn't it here it's referring to the the enemy to the north the enemy brother that is threatening judah now as i point out in the background here this is a poem from 9 8 to 10 4 which is very carefully structured it's got three and four verse stanzas four of them and each stanza ends with the same refrain look at verse 12 the last sentence in verse 12. what does it say for all this his anger is not turned away his hand is stretched out still now hebrew does not have a word for fist that's what we're talking about for all this his anger is not turned away his hand is stretched out still all right look at the last sentence of verse 17. there it is again isn't it the last sentence of verse 21. there it is again and now the last sentence of 10 4. there it is again probably the reason that whoever it was who put the chapter divisions in put a chapter division in at 10 1 is because that one begins with woe the other three don't but clearly the poem is 9 8 to 10 4. so there are some things going on that god is angry about and that his fist is raised now what are these things look at that first stanza 8 9 10 11 and 12. arrogance arrogance who say in pride and in arrogance of heart the bricks have fallen we'll build with dressed stones the sycamores have been cut down we'll put cedars in their place now some of you may be aware there is a phenom in the publishing business right now a guy has written a book on this interestingly enough the day after 9 11 i no it was not it was not john edwards but someone rose in the senate and quoted this verse well i think it's edwards who did it later uh when when the uh when the memorial was it was daschle who did it first and john edwards then did it second both of them were quoting it without any knowledge of the context it's arrogance so fine the bricks have fallen down we'll rebuild it with dress stone god says good luck so the the author of this book then has said ah these verses are talking about america now and i'm sorry but no these guys misquoted the text and in that sense if we say it in pride we are liable to the same kinds of judgment but it wasn't written to talk about us okay so there's number one arrogance and we've talked about this before we'll talk about it many times before we're done here is the fundamental issue who is god right through this book that issue comes back and forth and you remember i hope what i've said that in many ways chapters 7 to 39 are an outworking of the first three verses of chapter six the nation is to get a vision of god like the man got a vision of god and the man saw god high and lifted up not humans so here's the number one issue number one we've got to come to grips with who god is and who we are second verses 13 through 17. mel is saying false teachers false teachers rulers who are lifted up and puffed up again this is an issue that we will talk about over and over during the course of our study this tendency of ours as human beings to exalt human leaders and expect them to solve our problems that's highly appropriate to october and november of 2012. i don't care who you're voting for but if you think either one of those guys is going to solve our problems not going to happen not going to happen so number one arrogance putting ourselves in the place of god number two exalting human leaders our hope is in god and yes we may feel strongly one way or another about who should get elected it's interesting though listening you know it's very clear whoever gets elected this country is in desperate danger [Laughter] if you're a democrat the republicans are going to ruin us if you're a republican the democrats are going to ruin us we're going to get ruined either way you like it so what's number three yes the land is scorched manasseh devours ephraim ephraim devours manasseh together there against judah violence and cruelty and what's the last one oppression oppression lack of justice now i don't know whether there is an intentional progression here or not but it is kind of interesting if you do think that humanity is the answer to everything then it's pretty easy to exalt human leaders and expect them to solve your problems and when they don't do it the result is violence and cruelty all built on oppression and injustice now what's going on here as i said oh the issue is assyria no no no no the issue is israel and syria against us trying to get us into a coalition against assyria the issue is political the issue is military the issue is god says the issue is what are you going to do about me are you going to love when you're not loved are you going to practice justice when all you get in return is injustice the issue is what are we going to do about god and his torah that's the issue that's what we've got to face god is saying and the focus on israel here is in a way saying because your northern enemies are not coming to grips here they're under judgment you don't need to be afraid of them coming back here to the promise that isaiah made those those nations are going to be gone before this child that was would be conceived today would be 12 years old both those nations are going to be gone it's god you've got to come to terms with in that light then we're ready to move forward to the next step now again i'm i'm pushing kind of hard to get through this if you've got questions comments observations please make them please do any questions on or comments or observations about this section yes recently they have delivered this book to many of the top leaders in yeah it's it's just astounding to me that we christians are fattests just like everybody else tyndale house publishers has a warehouse full of left behind so what will be the next phenom so yeah if god can use it by all means but it's it's just fascinating to me uh how we can get caught up in these things all right let's move ahead then if we will make god our focus and make him the key to our living then we don't need to be afraid of the assyrians in chapter 10 beginning with verse 5 we have god's announcement judgment is going to come on israel and syria judgment is going to come on assyria now the fascinating thing is according to verse 5 and verse 15 what is assyria god's instrument god's instrument the rod of my anger the axe now suppose i were to say that's what islam is for us as christian america how would you respond to that i hear an amen [Laughter] well there might be it seems to be a danger of overextending because this is not we aren't we call ourselves a christian nation but we're not really a christian nation we're a hermitian of christians so i would i would uh sort of question the idea that our home that islam is a god's instrument for all of the united states i think it is an instrument for christians in some ways yeah yeah i think i think you're right you you can't make a one-for-one america is not directly equivalent to israel we're not the chosen people [Laughter] see me afterwards [Laughter] yeah i agree i agree but the issue is the issue is can god use a worse group to punish the better group and the answer is yes that's exactly what he said to have a cook habakkuk said god why why aren't you judging the unjust and god says you think that's a problem guess what i'm bringing the babylonians and havoc says no no you can't do that and god says watch me so again as we look at geopolitics we've got to constantly remember god is behind the scenes to work his good purposes and if he needs to use our enemies he will oh yeah i again i'm i'm not uh i'm not i'm really just trying to make the point that as we look at our enemies we need to consider the possibility that god is at work i hesitate to say this because it makes you seem like you're soft on a muscle for something but i think the 911 is example getting our attention i sure did sure did okay okay so god is saying you see assyria as this terrible threat to your existence you've got to solve the problem of assyria and god says hey assyria is the rod in my hand you've got to come to grips with me and let me take care of assyria so what does assyria think it is doing assyria thinks they're winning the idea that they would be the instrument of the god of this little country of judah is ludicrous yeah hey i'm like a guy getting eggs out of bird's nests the birds can't do a thing they can't even flutter and chirp but verse 12 when the lord has finished all his work on mount zion and on jerusalem he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of assyria and the boastful look in his eyes yeah yeah god can indeed use the more wicked to punish the less wicked but the more wicked are not going to get away with it and that's again what god said to habakkuk my moral law has not changed the day will come when they too will stand before the bar of justice you don't need to be afraid of it the issue is get your focus in the right place we've talked about trees and forests here look at verse 18 and 19. what do trees represent here don't read the footnotes how about false powers yes trees in the book are used in two different ways one is abundance stability fruitfulness the other is arrogance pride power that's how it's being used here we assyrians we're like a great forest and god says you're the axe in my hand i'm going to take the ax to you the remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child here we are again that a child can write them down now remember at this time isaiah's time assyria has been the dominant force in the world for 200 years 200 years waxing and waning but always assyria was the issue let me think about that in our own terms something has been a dominant power for two centuries whoa and now they're in their last ascendant and this crazy man isaiah says god's going to cut them down in a moment they came to their greatest strength in 650 and within 40 years assyria did not exist you don't want to mess around with the i am again it's easy for us standing back at this distance to say oh yeah a syria rose dominated the world and fell no but when you're in the middle of it they've been here forever they're going to be here forever god is the one who's here forever and his child messiah whose kingdom will have no end assyria is nothing but a rod in my hand now i'm not a prophet i cannot say with the inspiration of the holy spirit like an isaiah could say well this is what that means can't say that but i can say on the basis of the scripture god is in control of history and nothing that happens is going to be a surprise to him he is going to accomplish his purposes they may not be very pleasant to us but he is going to accomplish his purposes and we can live with confidence i had the privilege of speaking to tale university's chapel this morning if i go to sleep up here don't wake me up but i looked at those 1200 kids and thought what are they going to face before they're my age their generation is at this point the most unchurched generation since any numbers have been being kept and we look at england i've been reading some of the sermons from kazakh the great great holiness conference and evangelicalism is a teensy tiny fragment one or two percent almost as almost as insignificant as christianity in japan but god is in control of history and therefore we can live with confidence yes along that line when i think of my grandchildren they're going to be exposed to an ever-increasing aggressive secularism here in society but what disturbs me sometimes is that we christians sort of act like we're afraid yeah right yeah precisely what should i think about it should be confidence it should be confidence we're going to trust god we're going to live for him and god will be able to use those who trust in him for his own good purposes all right let's look onward in the middle of chapter 10 verses 20 through 27 god comes back and talks to the hebrew people verse 20 tells us what's going to happen what are they going to do when the remnant comes back they're going to rely on the lord instead of relying on assyria the one who struck and again you you sort of see isaiah saying this is crazy why would you trust assyria to deliver you from your two northern neighbors assyria is the problem but the day will come the day will come when you'll come to your senses and you won't rely on the assyrias of this world you'll rely on the lord so that's one thing he says yes right now um even most jewish yes so he says don't be afraid verse 24. now again that's easy to say but i think it speaks to the question that you raised mel uh if if you're looking at this situation where because of your refusal to trust assyria is going to come and flood you right up to the nose don't be afraid and we sort of say well it's easy for you to say god but that's what he says and that's where as we face an uncertain future as we face unimaginable changes god says don't be afraid don't be afraid i am in control the last part of chapter 10 is a picture of an army coming down the central ridge toward jerusalem again it's it's one of isaiah's classic graphic illustrations the villages that are listed here are in order from north to south and so he comes and and the way it's written just gives you this sense of urgency and inevitability he's come to ayath he's passed through migron at mcmaster stores his baggage they've crossed over the past at gaba they lodge for the night rama trembles gibby of saul is fled cryolodo daughter of golem give attention o poor anatoth madmana is in flight the inhabitants of gabim fly for safety this very day he will halt at knob knob is the hill to the north where hebrew university is located today looking over jerusalem that's knob that very day he'll halt it knob he'll shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of zion the hill of jerusalem no behold the lord god of heaven's armies will lop the vows with terrifying power the great in height will be cut down the lofty will be brought low he will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe and lebanon will fall by the majestic one right overlooking jerusalem and god says that's enough so is the awesome power of this enemy army is that the reality you've got to come to grips with no god is the reality with which you have to come to grips and if you do you don't need to be afraid scholars debate whether this ever happened in fact we have no record that it did uh i think it's literary i think i think isaiah is simply trying to make the point you think it's inevitable you think there's no escape yes there is god is the reality not the enemy army that being so then we come to chapter 11. remember chapter 6 verse 13. how long do you want me to preach this way lord till the whole nation is burned down until it is a field of burned out stumps but chapter 6 verse 13 the holy seed is its stump so once again we're asked to think about reality oh my the mighty forest of assyria that's the reality what is the reality according to 11-1 there will come forth a shoot from the stump of jesse little green helpless shoot step on it and it's dead that's the power of god that's the power of god a branch from his roots will bear fruit god what is your solution to the incredible problem of cosmic evil fifteen-year-old virgin who's pregnant what she's a princess huh no she's a refugee girl you're kidding me god no i'm not out of the stump of jesse come a shoot that's our god that's our god who uses the little things and the least things now i don't know the answer to this question i pose it anyway i wonder why he says from the stump of jesse and not the stump of david again in chapter 11 verse 10 we've got the same thing in that day the root of jesse yeah but they're just trying to help people who don't know who jesse is okay jesse is the grandson of a jew and a gentile boaz and ruth david is the great grandson but yes i think that's a real possibility what i read that it could be a slap against ahaz and uh maybe even hezekiah yes yes i think i think there may be uh i think that's a possibility these guys are saying we're the house of david nothing bad can happen to the house of david and it's as though isaiah says hey it's not david david is no magic rabbit's foot it's the promise of god that goes back behind david and farther back all the way so i think that's a possibility um there are others as well yes well could that not represent also new life a new kingdom that is coming to be because i mean although jesus is of the living but this is a new kingdom mm-hmm okay okay the suggestion is this is a new kingdom it's not merely contained in david it's a new kingdom that jesus is bringing yeah sign of weakness [Music] okay david is strong he's the king he can do it jesse is nobody he's just a farmer yeah i think all these are possible um and we don't know the final answer but again those are the kinds of things you need to think about when you're doing bible study why is it there i've said it not recently but many times there's nothing here by accident if it's here it's here because god has something to say to us now why do you think the emphasis on spirit in verse 2 the spirit of the lord will rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the lord what do you think is the point there it's a spirit okay okay it's the spirit that strengthens and empowers but but why emphasize that the messiah is going to be full of the spirit fruit all right the fruit of the spirit is in contrast to the flesh okay okay okay he's not a king who's going to rule in human power in the power of the flesh he's going to rule in divine power but did not the spirit of the lord come upon david with samuel most anointing him yeah clearly clearly i think that point is being made this guy this child this baby is not going to rule according to the norms of human kingship according to the norms of human power all right let's let's push on the but that begins verse 4 signals a contrast between verses 3 and 4. what is the contrast there the method of his judgment yes yes he's not going to and again i think this reflects this emphasis on the spirit he's not going to be ruled by the surface he's not going to be ruled by appearances he's going to be guided from within with righteousness he'll judge the poor he'll decide with equity for the meek of the earth he will strike the earth with what the rod of his mouth how do most kings strike the earth with their scepter with their sword what's the point here the power of the word the word and uh we're not going to take the time but the note is there revelation 19 15. talking about the lord's return says he's going to strike the earth with the rod of his mouth so john the revelator under the inspiration of the holy spirit is picking up and saying yep here's what we're talking about now again you have a graphic illustration the wolf will dwell with the lamb the leopard lie down with the young goat so on and so forth i was helped years ago thinking about this passage when c.s lewis said i don't think we're talking about literal things here if we were the lion would have to have a dental job a lion's teeth are made for tearing meat he can't chew grass but if it is an illustration what's the point of the illustration peace peace yeah tying back in to here conflict competition violence these things that seem to be endemic to humanity he's going to change as i said to you before one of the reasons i am a pre-millennialist is i do want to see the earth when jesus rules it i want to see the earth as it was intended to be they will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountains says verse 9. that verse gets repeated exactly in isaiah 65 when he talks about the new heaven and the new earth why for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the lord chapter 6 the earth is full of the glory of the lord and his ultimate goal is it will be filled with the knowledge of the lord we'll all know him he wants to be known so then verse 10 in that day the root of jesse who will stand this version says as a signal for the peoples look back at chapter five the vineyard of bitter grapes and he says in verse 26 he'll do what he'll raise a signal for the nations far off whistle for them from the ends of the earth behold quickly speedily they come now the the word that's used here is a banner uh some virgins say an ensign but it's the idea of a flag so in chapter five god runs a flag up the flagpole to call the enemy nations to come and destroy his people now in chapter 11 in that day the root of jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples of him shall the nations inquire and his resting place will be glorious he says it again in verse 12 he will raise a signal for the nations and assemble the banished of israel the messiah is going to be the flag that god runs up the flagpole he called the nations to come and destroy his people but that's not his ultimate intent in the end he's gonna the messiah of his nation will be the one who calls all the nations to come chapter two to learn god's torah on his mountain john that vision is thrilling to me because we think of the flag yes yes yes yes and so he talks about the nations will bring back the captives and ephraim won't be jealous of judah anymore rather they will attack the enemy nations one of the things we're going to see throughout this book is the nations have a choice they can either come and worship god with israel on mount zion or they will be israel's slaves those are the choices which is it going to be there verse 16 there will be a highway from assyria for the remnant the remains of his people as there was for israel when they came up from the land of egypt if you'll come to grips with god you don't need to be afraid of the assyrians they're going to be judged and your messiah will be the flag calling all nations to come and if they will experience the glory and the knowledge of god trees banner highway these are these are three of the themes that occur over and over and over again through the book so verse 16 there will be a highway from assyria for the remnant that remains of his people yes yes if you trust assyria the day will come when it will turn on you and destroy you but that's not where god means for it to end one day he intends to bring you home again from assyria from egypt from the ends of the earth and we of course have lived to see that happen simply unthinkable these people were dispersed all over the world beginning 1700 years ago every effort has been made by virtually every people they've lived among to exterminate them they have maintained their identity against all the odds and now they're back in their land i'll say it numerous times israel today is 90 atheist we do not need as a nation to justify everything that israel as a political entity does on the other hand on the other hand i'm convinced god still has his hand upon them and we better not mess with him yes so there's you know this was about a year ago of course as we're seeing the things yeah i i think uh i'm i'm very leery of what you see on youtube i i think uh um a whole lot of misinformation uh i i someone sent me one this week that was just incredibly bad and and the guy an evangelical who was simply telling the facts of jesus having named the antichrist you can guess who the name is and he said you know i'm just telling you the facts and he had seven facts six and a half were wrong and the other half was misunderstood so i'm very very leery of what i see on youtube okay let me talk about twelve one to six and we'll be back on track remember we're not meeting next week we will meet on november 5th that's different from the schedule we will not meet next week we will meet on november 5th okay so what's the result god has come in his messiah he has come to deliver his people you will say in that day i'll give thanks to you o lord for though you were angry with me your anger turned away that you might encourage me when you see comfort in the bible think encourage that's very unfortunate comfort for us is a warm fuzzy oh you're so nice no the word is put steel in the backbone your anger turned away that you might encourage me behold god is my salvation what i will what trust trust yes so i refused to trust him instead trusted my worst enemy brought judgment on myself but god graciously gives his messiah with forgiveness [Music] encouragement and salvation and so so i will trust him i should have trusted him in the first place but i didn't now having reaped the results he comes in grace i will trust and not be afraid for the lord god is my strength and my song he has become my salvation that's a quotation from moses song on the other side of the red sea with joy you'll draw water from the wells of salvation and you'll say in that day give thanks to the lord call on his name make his deeds known among the peoples yes chapter two you have a mission chapter four you're going to be cleansed and made clean why for the sake of the mission sing praises to the lord for he has done gloriously let this be made known in all the earth believers can't keep silent shout sing for joy o inhabitant of zion why for great in your midst is the holy one of israel the holy one the transcendent one unlike any other who has given himself to israel wow he didn't have to do that but he did the holy one of israel of israel the holy one every time you encounter that phrase in isaiah think about those two polls he's the holy one of israel transcendence imminence okay i can't seem to quit at 8. but thank you so much we don't meet next week we will meet on november 5th and we'll talk about chapters 13 and 14. uh the the study guide is out there on the table if you didn't get one when you came in this is dr john oswalt in his teaching on the book of isaiah this is session number six isaiah chapters nine through twelve you

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Length: 68min 13sec (4093 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 25 2018