Isaiah 8 - The Stumbling of Israel

okay isaiah chapter eight let's get through the lesson tonight isaiah 7 was significant and for verse 14 and the prophecy of emmanuel you've heard the prophecy before only three times in the bible is emmanuel brought up that word and twice in isaiah chapter seven and chapter eight and once again in matthew 1 appropriating that prophecy to jesus and his birth okay and so isaiah 7 14 obviously a messianic prophecy in the context of isaiah 7 speaking about ahaz who is the king of judah you recall and he was fearing the confederacy of the samaritans the northern tribes and also the syrians who were confederate against judah the southern tribe and so there are some double wrongs going on there that we talked about last last time and uh because of that fear ahaz is going to make some some some errors here and we'll see that tonight as well but the prophecy was that for ahaz not to worry about the the invasion of the syrians and the sumerians because god would preserve judah and he'll presume jerusalem preserve this remnant which has been this theme throughout isaiah this remnant the believing group will be saved because they are god's people and so isaiah 7 14 that messianic prophecy there about the the virgin that shall conceive and bear a son and call his name emmanuel god with us and before he knows the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good the land that thou art boris shall be forsaken of both her kings and so that was the prophecy before this child knows how to discern good and evil right which is a few years you know then those those kings will be taken out of their position now that prophecy in itself uh raises questions people are going well who is that emmanuel back then and we have no indication of who that is some people say well it's the sun in isaiah chapter eight and there's a couple reasons why that can't be and we'll cover that tonight as well but uh definitely speaking about jesus we know that matthew chapter one jesus is the fulfillment of that but back then what good is it to ahaz of course ahaz refused the sign initially so when god said ask me a sign he said no and so the sign he gives is actually to the nation of israel it's for that nation for them to realize that no matter who comes against them god will keep his promises to them so this is idea and so even if you apply to jesus in the density the distant future it's going to be this prophecy that even though you're surrounded by enemies okay you're not going to be destroyed because this manual has to come right it has that application but it also has this application of uh whatever child this is speaking to back then uh it being born just a few years just in a short time is the is the implication there that those kings will be removed now isaiah 8 i bring all that up because isaiah 8 gives another sign and another son that gives more specifically when those kings and the the the threat will be removed okay and we'll get to that in the first three verses here so isaiah chapter eight verse one in seven eight nine these three chapters really go together so you have to recognize the context now isaiah seven is the introduction that's emmanuel isaiah eight it flushes more out of that emanuel and that salvation in isaiah 9 even further you know who that emanuel is but isaiah chapter 8 verse 1 moreover the lord said unto me take thee a great role and write in it with a man's pen concerning mahershal which is the longest name in the bible unless you think psalm 56 is a name and you can go look that up for yourself but this is the longest name in the in the scripture however being careful to read and not read into the verse so it's not there it's not yet a name in verse one okay read what he says there take a girl right in it with a man's pen concerning maha shalom the child is conceived and god speaks to him again in verse 2 and or verse 3. okay this word may here shall be four different hebrew words is a statement it's this compound word okay and that's what it is uh in many eastern cultures middle eastern coastal eastern cultures names meant things like not just a meaning but an actual phrase my wife has friends over in china even today who take upon themselves western names and they don't pick paul or sarah but they pick things like apple and cloud and you're going those aren't names at all they're things but this concept it's just a word it's a phrase even and so this is what would happen so this is a word here a hebrew word which god told isaiah to write on this great scroll now there's a couple things to take from this verse first of all where it says write take the great school and write in it with a man's pen that phrase specifically describes how inspiration works second timothy 3 16 says all scripture scripture is what's written down is given by inspiration of god and people will retort and say well don't you know man wrote this yes that is the doctrine of inspiration that god used men to write down his words yes and so isaiah 8 verse 1 describes that pretty good where the lord said to isaiah take a great rule and write it with a man's pen so here's a man using a man's pen to write down what god said that's what inspiration is okay so that's just a your that's your theological lesson for verse one yeah isaiah verse one there uh but notice where it says a great role and of course the man's pin there you say what other kind of pin is there well he's talking there about uh the common man type of thing it's not like a nobility or a king's pen that's like well only the language of the nobility can understand but in you know write it so that everyone can see this public thing you see a similar thing in habakkuk chapter 2 or habakkuk has told the same thing to write this write this prophecy on this billboard so to speak right so take this great role this banner and write this mayor charlotte baz now this word is what soldiers would cry out after they defeated their enemy and they the vault so to speak and the riches are there to be spoiled the soldiers after the the war is over and they've defeated the enemy and now the spoils are theirs the riches are there they would try this in order to say now it's time let's go get the spoil right and so this is what the word means uh you'll see in verse four we'll see what the application is a verse yeah verse four but it has to do with this being swift to spoil or being quick to get your prey get your prize right and so this is what soldiers will cry so isaiah puts this up for everyone to see okay and they're afraid that they're going to be spoiled right they're going to be taken they're going to be conquered isaiah's prophecy is going to be that no those guys are going to be conquered and it's going to happen quickly which was contrary to the political and social perspective of what was going on you know this is a small little two two southern tribes around jerusalem there and they were very scared of the much larger 10 northern tribes especially when they aligned with syria you know and there's just this this fear that we cannot resist this right and of course what they had forgotten which isaiah it will do with is that they are god is with them right which is what emanuel means god is with them right and so isaiah 8 verse 1 he writes this down and then in verse 2 it says i took unto me just so that people would know that i this prophecy this this word this thing is uh occurring before the actual event which is testimony here and so that can be authenticated he takes it to him fate faithful witnesses to record uriah the priest and zechariah the son of jubera and so what's interesting about this it says he takes two faithful witnesses here now you could take from that um that the law required two witnesses which is true all right but also you're thinking here well who's uriah you look at second kings chapter 16 you have to turn there now you can read the story of uriah where he was actually the high priest during the days of ahabs and he was just as wicked as they has and we'll see why in a little bit because when a has consorts with the gentiles in order to defeat his enemies uriah helps him build a uh idolatrous altar to burn burn sacrifices on so not exactly the most pure high priest there is of course that was after these events in isaiah verse 2 but he takes to this faithful witness why is uriah the priest a faithful witness well first of all the faithful could refer to the law and that he's fulfilling that but could also be because this is not someone friendly necessarily to isaiah and his cause right and so not only that but he's an esteemed person in in judah he's the high priest and so it's not somebody dragged off the street say hey or sign this for me and record this it's uriah the high priest and secondly is zechariah now this is not the same zechariah as we have a book in the bible that zechariah came much later than isaiah prophesied this he wasn't even born at the time but there are many other zechariahs another case for us to explain that there are people with the same name throughout your scripture okay so there are a few different options people say it could be uh the the in-law of ahaz as his wife's father was named zechariah there was also a levitical priest named zechariah either one would be people on esteem that would have been known in judah okay and so you have that but he has these faithful witnesses to record what he wrote down in this great role with man's pen mayher shall hashbat is this phrase of being conquered and i'm going to take the spoil swift to spoil and verse 3 and 4 describe this prophecy and so in verse 3 and i went unto the prophetess the prophet as being his wife and she conceived and bear a son then said the lord to me so see in verse 1. he says the lord said unto me in verse three the lord said to me there there's like two things that he said the first thing he said is write this on a roll right and then later he after he goes in the prophets and she conceives then it says then said lord to me call his name the same thing mayor shalom the thing i told you to write on that roll call your son that right and so the the the role said you know swift to spoil the spoiler's gonna be quickly taken right and in verse three now he says this is your son's name and then verse four he says here's the why you should call your son this for before the child isaiah's son 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 so there's the explanation of both the word on the scroll and the son's name okay and it also gives us a more specific timing a prophetic timing of when these things will occur whereas the emmanuel prophecy we don't really have a record apart from jesus hundreds of years later who that was but it did say you know in the time if when they conceded when the child was born it would be a few years right before the kings were removed but the kings before that so it could be you know five ten years right but here in isaiah 8 the child is conceived and now we have nine months until birth and one some people say two years before they start saying mama and daddy right so there's a very limited time frame here before this is supposed to be fulfilled and you'll see that's exactly the case when you read second kings of how soon this happened and ahaz's reign okay and so what's going to happen is that assyria will come and take away the spoil or take yeah we'll take away the spoil and the riches of damascus the capital of syria and the spoil of samaria the northern tribes of israel okay those are the two the com the group that ahaz was fearing and god says here that because of isaiah's son's name and by his time he starts calling isaiah daddy you know those the riches will be spoiled by those two by the king of assyria so you see the specific specificity of this prophecy here he names who's going to do the spoiling names what they're going to spoil and he names when they're going to do it very specific and very brief right there's no cloudy language here so if you want to study prophecies and how they work this is not a bad example of it very specific and very immediate what we're going to see then is in isaiah chapter 7 when it talked about judgment in isaiah 5 and talked about judgment those judgments that god's talking about against the northern tribes of israel are going to be confirmed in isaiah 8 by this son and also the hope that we saw in isaiah 7 of that remnant and we've seen throughout the first six chapters this remnant hope is also going to be fleshed out in chapters 8 and 9 by isaiah's other son remember his first son that he took to talk to ahaz in isaiah 7. his name was shira jashub uh his name meant a remnant shall return okay and he'll come up again in chapter nine so after northern tribes are are wiped out and after the southern tribes are all but wiped out the prophecy is a remnant shall return which implies that they're going to be taken away first right so there's a lot of teaching here in the name of isaiah and his sons which we'll see about later let's move on then to verse five oh before i move on let's deal with how uh that prophecy of emanuel is not the same son as isaiah people say well that that son isaiah 8 or isaiah 7 when it says the virgin shall conceive and bear a son this is the same person in chapter 8. well the woman the prophetess isaiah's wife in chapter 8 was not a virgin she had already had a son whom isaiah had taken with him in isaiah 7 before the prophecy okay so this would be his second son in isaiah 8. now this is where the argument comes in well that word virgin doesn't mean virgin it just means a woman and so you see that's if people think isaiah 8 is the fulfillment of isaiah 7 then they're going to change that word virgin to something else okay so just keep that in your mind um it doesn't have to be fulfilled isaiah 8. the reason why they connect them of course is because there's very similar language about a a woman shall conceive and bear a son and his name means something and you see emmanuel show up again in chapter eight and so they they make that connection um the other reason why they're not the same as the timing of it the prophecy in isaiah 7 spoke about when the child discerns good and evil isaiah 8 the prophecies before he can talk okay and so the timing of the prophecy given to the person is different and so the consequences aren't aren't the same okay time difference between the child isaiah 7 and the childhood anyway that's just for your benefit knowing that they are different people say well isaiah was married twice that that's why the woman in verse chapter eight's a virgin there's no evidence in the scripture for that to be the case they're trying to justify they're changing isaiah 7 14 to not talk about jesus so they can say he was married twice um which of course raises other issues about isaiah and his ability to be faithful in his marriage but anyway isaiah 8 let's move on to verse 5. so the lord spake also unto me again so you say many times here reminds you of paul when he says i'll come to visions and revelations of the lord right many times the lord's speaking to isaiah here isaiah verse 5 lord spake also unto me again saying for so much as this people refuses the waters of shaloa that go softly and rejoice in resin and rebellious sun now what's all this about this is where you have to understand the geography and you gotta understand the people we defined uh wasn't lastic was two weeks ago in isaiah 7 who ramalia's son was remember that that's the king of the northern tribes of israel pica it's the one whom should not be named he was named once in isaiah 7 and then every time after that it was always romalia's son or maya's son which is an insult not to name the person that always say you're your daddy's boy type of thing um and so it's always that he's the king of the northern tribes of israel and resin of course is the king of syria not us syria but syria damascus okay syria and assyria are different and so he says here as much as this people refuses the waters of shaloa that go quickly and rejoice in resident amalia's son talking here about the the the people of the northern tribes who remember the last time we dealt with the fact that they were supposed to be god's people too right and though shiloh the word shiloh and shaloa are different words it does remind you of that and shiloh was where the tribes west of jordan went to the tribes that were east of jordan to make sure that they they realized we're all one people here and you've got to obey the law just because you're the side of the river doesn't mean you don't obey the laws and uh the the eastern tribes there the manasseh and gad and they set up a a witness a stone you remember the altar of ed no we got no ed's here tonight but ed is a biblical name and uh is a witness is what the word means it means witness and they hit up this altar of ed to testify and the witness was from the eastern tribes that even though we are separated by these mountains and this river river jordan right we are one people and we will serve your god and we won't serve other gods and so this was the nation was 12 tribes the nation was the whole land and when it was established that was the case but very quickly there started to be these divisions between the north and the south the east and the west and much of the north much of the the country became apostate uh so much so that during the time of solomon as we covered before solomon's son rehoboam had the kingdom was split in rehoboam and the wicked jeroboam right and from then on you had two lines of kings okay so in isaiah 8 and verse 6 for as much as this people refuses the waters of shalom is a stream that is coming from jerusalem right which is interesting may that that may uh remind you of something else in revelation where there's water flowing out of jerusalem but there's a stream crying out jerusalem that actually fills uh what in the new testament's called the pool of siloam that's the same word shalom in shailua it's the same thing so the pool of siloam is is filled by this stream it's this soft stream it's not a raging you know white water rafting river it's not that sort of thing it is a small stream just a trickle yet it fills that pool and this is the water out of jerusalem and so what he's saying of verse 6 is that jerusalem is being refused the tribe the northern tribes are refusing the god of jerusalem right that's what's going on here they're fusing the water of shalom and what they're doing is turning to they want a more powerful force and that's why they align themselves with the gentile syrians to do that to be bigger to defeat the southern tribes okay which was wrong twice once they aligned against gentiles exactly that they aligned against their brothers in the southern tribes and we covered that before so as much as this people refuses the waters to lower that go softly and rejoice in resident rebellious son that is that they're not rejoicing in the god of jerusalem even though he is it's a soft water stream there but it's rejoicing in resin the syrian king and and and ormalia's son in verse 7 then now therefore behold the lord brings up upon them the waters of the river the great river there in the middle east was the euphrates and so it brings upon them the waters of the river strong and many even the king of assyria and so because they refuse the waters are so low the soft parts are shallow from jerusalem god's going to bring strong waters upon them they don't want the soft water they're going to get the hard water they're going to get the big river okay and the big river remember we we dealt with before in isaiah uh it was at seven yeah it was seven where there will be a hired razor that god will use to shave the faces of these people isaiah three four and five dealt with that sort of thing too there'll be this this this this group this country it's been identified as the assyrians that would be used against israel right we see it here again and more importantly tonight to keep in the back of your mind that we'll see in isaiah that these two main characters at least for the first part of the book of isaiah is judah and jerusalem and assyria or the assyrian the king of assyria and the kings of judah and this is going to be a prophetic type of christ and the antichrist the assyrian and the assyrians will be like the antichrist in his confederacies against the messiah emmanuel in his city that's that's going to be the outcome of this theme that goes throughout isaiah and so as we see here that god's going to use the assyrian to combat those apostate in israel it's very interesting to think about that in the future sense of revelation where it talks about the antichrist and getting the mark of the beast and what's going to happen to those in israel who don't believe they're going to align themselves with the antichrist and they're going to against the smaller believing remnant who are going to be running for their lives at that time right and so you this is all picture and a type of what will happen in the future but it's also immediately relevant to what's happening in in the political sphere at that time so he says god's going to bring the the river the strong mini even the king of assyria that's what the river stands for is figurative of and all his glory and he shall come up over all his channels go over all his banks so the king of syria is spoken of as a river here and like the river river flows and the river just you know you know is huge and abounds like that this is the king of series it's going to overflow and just flood everything and take it all over right and it says in verse 8 he shall pass through judah and he shall overflow and go over so you see the pass through there so he's not going to drown judah but he is going to pass through judah and he the judas the southern tribes he shall overflow and go over he shall reach even to the neck now if water reaches to your neck are you drowning not yet you're almost there that's the right answer it goes to your neck your head's still above water but i mean that's a lot of water folks i mean you better get ready to dog paddle or something and so this is what's about judah so assyria the northern tribes the river is going to come and it's going to wipe them out it's going to go through and wipe them all out it's going to spoil them okay but it's also going to pass through judah to do so and it's going to pass through judah even up to the neck head of israel was jerusalem and so this passing through judah judah being the southern tribal region jerusalem being the capital city means that assyria is going to come through that southern southern tribes and it's going to the waters go up to the neck which means all that's going to be rain is the head which is jerusalem and that's what you're going to see in judah's future is that syria is actually going to take over the southern tribes except for jerusalem the city of david and they'll be the only thing left standing there you know and they'll be having that fortress and the walls around the city and that'll be their defense you know with god of course but you'll see there there are different stages to this captivity in this takeover of the land it's first the northern tribes then they come into kind of the towns and the southern tribes in the rest of the southern tribal area and they're just surrounding jerusalem have you heard that language before in luke where jesus says when you see the enemies compass jerusalem that's not the first time they do that they've done it many times before which again shows you the amazing nature of the bible and that that the people of israel how in the world do they continue to persist when that's happened like that typically when a civilization goes down to one city and the whole world's against them they get wiped out pretty quick and they're gone i mean there's so many civilizations that you have we have no no idea existed because of this sort of thing and there's a remnant here that we conquered those people and we have no record of their greatness or glory or anything uh israel was small in number throughout their history and yet we see that they have continued for thousands of years and the bible says that's because god has the covenant with them that's what that says that is also something the world has to has to answer for just like now in 2020 the world has to answer for the presence the coming of jesus and who he was 2000 years ago well why and who how they also to answer for israel i'm not talking about 1948 today but just in history who why and how how do these people persist it's an ongoing question why and there's no answer except that the bible provides that god is a covenant with them okay so isaiah 8 in verse 8 he shall pass through judah and he shall overflow and go over he shall reach him into the neck and the stretching out of his wings and now the metaphor is that assyria is like a giant bird he's going to seek his prey right and if his wings shall fill the breath of your land right that means first of all he's getting ready to eat your whole land out but secondly if you can see the wings the shadow of the wings on top he's right on top of you you know god sometimes is referred to as an eagle right eagle's wings it's going to protect you which means he's right there this this this bird is coming to to eat the prey remember the the name fellow hash baz it means hasten to the prey he's getting ready to chomp down and so it's talking about the whole land notice in verse 8 at the very end there you see that word emmanuel he stretches out his wings to fill the breath of thy land o emmanuel what's what's emmanuel mean god with us but here it's referring to the land isn't it it just said shall fill the breath of thy land o emmanuel emmanuel's land but which land has god with them well it's israel but specifically in the context the southern tribes of israel right because we started before how the northern tribes god's given up i mean they're they're done they've been judged they found wanting you know they're going to be destroyed the southern tribes they've still got some time now they also will be destroyed but they've got some time here and so this land which is god's land of where god is with them god's no longer quit those northern tribes they're gonna be wiped out he's against them but god is still offering signs of protection to ahaz right he's still there with isaiah saying look people this is what we need to do there's going to be a remnant remember the remnant god's with them right and so this is the land emmanuel that emmanuel god with us refers to god's people in god's land right we can if you talk about today in the body of christ the church in this dispensation which is a mystery in isaiah 8. isaiah's not talking about us and you think about well doesn't emmanuel apply to us too like god's with us right well folks it's a little better than just god with you okay know you not that you are the temple the holy spirit he dwells in you right the covenant for israel is that he would dwell in the land with them god with him mystery is that he dwells in you you know that's different no land needed right and so that was a great mystery that we now know but even still being god being with you in the land was a great thing okay so we have in in verse eight then a reference to emmanuel and the king of assyria coming to uh to destroy uh the northern tribes look at verse nine associate yourselves oh ye people and you should be broken in pieces now in verse 9 and 10 there's a little controversy about who is speaking here and ultimately it doesn't matter who you end up saying it is there are a few different options people say well who's associating who's speaking and who's telling who to associate some people say it's isaiah telling judah to associate uh someone's got their google maps on uh some some people say that it's the antichrist or it's the assyrian speaking about the other nations right or some people say it's it's isaiah taunting the northern drive so there's these players on the board and you're trying to figure out who's speaking it doesn't it it works pretty well and you persuade in your own mind to think of it like this where in this next two verses there's actually a back and forth where the enemies of god's people say one thing and then the response from isaiah and the remnants the other okay however you make it it's not greatly important it's still the same application it says associate yourselves oh you people come together right associate yourselves align each other so obviously in the context there's a there's some area and syria that are together right but look at the second part an ishmael broken in pieces now that's not really good instruction it's not like if you're telling your own army associate yourselves we've broken a pieces right so it's obviously either a back and forth you know someone's responding to that that instruction or someone's taunting you know go ahead gather together but you'll be broken in pieces right he says give ear all your far countries all the the he the nations right gird yourselves you know get yourselves equipped and you should be broken into pieces so you see that gird yourselves and you should be broken in pieces take counsel together work together and it shall come to nothing come to naught speak the word let's do it say it have a voice right and it shall not stand is the answer why where god is with us which is interesting because he doesn't say emmanuel in verse 10 but it's the same thought isn't it he said emmanuel in verse 8 which means god with us and here the reason why the council of these nations and the count and the association of these nations and all the girding up and preparations for war will come to nothing against jerusalem is because god is with them that's the response it's not because they're stronger militarily it's not because they're they're more cunning politically it's not because they're economically larger and this of course is a theme throughout the scripture it's because god is with them right and of course you heard that a thousand thousand sunday school lessons you know god is with them god that's the reason why we tend to forget that of course in our flesh the spiritual lesson is that you know in our flesh we didn't think well it's because of the things we've done that's gotten us thus far well maybe the only reason why you know the benefit you have in church or the benefit you have in ministry or any benefit you have it all in your life is because of how you've trusted god and what his word says and that's the spiritual application and so you have to acknowledge that be thankful for that uh back here literally god was with the nation with that covenant with with judah and so that's what that's saying this is a reference to that remnant and so if syria and samaria came against emmanuel came against the southern tribes of the city they would be destroyed taking that application that type to the future remember the antichrist versus christ if the antichrist comes up against the city of christ against emmanuel literally emmanuel um it's not gonna happen he's gonna be destroyed right you see that in revelation the the great war the antichrist comes against christ and christ wins you know so see this foreshadowing this prophecy of the future not only just back here and so a lot of times where back in the old testament the angel the lord delivers the city in fact this will happen with hezekiah hezekiah is in the city and the whole southern tribes around him are all taken by the the syrians and the northern tribes are gone to the assyrians they're taken captive and hezekiah is in the city and he's fearful because i have just one city here uh but it is the city of god and hezekiah was a righteous king remember and he was told by isaiah as well as we'll study to don't fear god will protect you and it got so so bad that the enemies were right at the door remember in one night the angel of the lord killed 185 000 of them and they left right so sky didn't have to do anything and so this is this is contrary to the teaching contrary to man's thought in general but also contrary to the admonition god gives us this dispensation and that you need to prepare and provide and and make your plans but for israel under their covenant like david could go out and say we're god's people he could be fearless because god promised right well be careful you know what god promised and who he promised it to because you might see a goliath and say well i'm i'm an ambassador of christ and you know what he might slay you because god's grace means you get eternal life it doesn't mean you're going to kill the giants you know but israel's kingdom that is what that meant this was their land and god promised it to them and if they claimed the god of israel they would win you say and so this is what's happening here as well there's an actual land an actual city this is not metaphorically referring to the the the cities of your dreams or something this is an actual city that god promised to defend and so you can't forget that it's easy to take these spiritual applications from it um look at second chronicles chapter 13. i think chronicles 13. let's look at this example chronicles 13 of of this this happening this goes all the way back to solomon uh solomon's sons rehoboam and jeroboam i was talking about earlier in that that split and rehoboam was the rightful king of the entire land of israel but jeroboam and his wickedness you know and those who followed him were trying to take control of jerusalem they wanted to dethrone him take over the whole thing well because they couldn't do it what ended up happening was there was just a split there was two but their intent was to take it over jeroboam and the northern tribes were going to take over rulership of jerusalem and southern tribes even though that wasn't their right and so that chronicles 13 is the story of this how abaya actually speaks out against jeroboam who is at the doors of judah at the doors of jerusalem here in verse four abbaya stood up upon mount zimmerman which is in mount ephraim and said hear me thou jeroboam in all israel so their armies are against them right he says ought you not to know that the lord god of israel gave the kingdom over israel to david forever even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt remember the davidic covenant god promised to david there's also this covenant assault that he made with them but the point was you guys know that the kingdom's not yours it's to the city of david the son of david yet jeroboam son of nibath the servant of solomon the son of david is risen up and hath rebelled against his lord and they are gathered unto to him vain men the children of belial and have strengthened themselves against rehoboam the son of solomon uh when rehoboam was young and tenderhearted and could not withstand them and now you think to withstand the kingdom of the lord in the hand of the sons of david and you be a great multitude and there are with you golden calves which jeroboam made you for god so they're serving false idols and things and he's talking about them casting out their priests in verse 9 and their disobedience to the law in verse 9 and 10. in verse 10 it says as for us the lord is our god and we have not forsaken him and the priests which minister unto the lord are the sons of aaron and the levites wait upon their business we're doing what god told us to do you're not they burn to the lord every morning and every evening burn sacrifices and sweet incense the show bread also said they in the order upon the pure table the candlestick of gold to lamps there we do everything god says but ye have forsaken him the universe 11 says and behold god himself is with us for our captain and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you o children of israel fight ye not against the lord god of your fathers for ye shall not prosper this is the warning what's his warning god is with us not with what you're doing you're the children of god too you're the children of israel so stop that's what this warning is right because he's with us not with you which means you're not going to prosper we're going to win even though abaya and his armies were a lot smaller than jeroboam and his armies i mean imagine we talk about the northern tribes of southern tribes how many north 10. let me try two one really i mean benjamin wasn't that great and levi's didn't have an army or nothing so it's just like judah that's why it's called judah it's like really just one tribe but yeah it's real really small so again you see the smallness versus this this multitude that comes against them and then it says in verse 13 but jeroboam caused an ambush an ambush to come up behind them so while he's talking here jeroboam goes around to ambush him right and so they were before judah and the ambush was behind them before and behind them jeroboam had him surrounded and when judah looked back behold the battle was before and behind and they cried into the lord they were they were stuck and this is great political strategy here a military strategy rather then the men of judah gave a shout and as the men of judah shouted they didn't shoot their guns they didn't slang their slings they shouted and as the men of judah shouted it came to pass that god smote jeroboam and all israel before abaya and judah and the children of israel fled god delivered them into their hand and he says in verse 17 500 men were slain half a million what did you to do nothing they they yo god said in the law obayah said them said we're god's with us not with you god with us emmanuel he's with us not with you you're breaking the law you're not doing what's right you're not going to prosper every natural evidence was to the contrary jeroboam even ambushed him right all they did was shouted at the lord half a million people died right that's how god works when he's working in the circumstances of this world you don't say well god has worked because the factories in america produced guns and bullets and we've got the largest military because the taxes have gone up for the last 50 years we have the largest you know that's not how god works god works like that when you're when you're weak god's strong and his people shout the reason why that's not happening today because god doesn't make a covenant with america he made a covenant with them and so we do have to prepare you say and that's a good thing anyway i just wanted to show you that that's what that looks like so in isaiah this is hundreds of years after chronicles 13. what a hash should have done is what abaya did right stood his ground despite the the the surrounding military might and said god's with us right and you can't go any further right what's gandalf say thou shalt not pass right he got it from the bible that's where that came from but anyway isaiah 8 that's not what ahaz did of course a has uh was subject to his fear in in idolatry and all that and and refused the waters of shalom and jerusalem refused the god of jerusalem right refused that even though it it seemed weak to trust god right and not to count your military might that's what he did so look at verse 11 chapter 8. he says god is with us for the lord spake thus to me with a strong hand instructed me that i should not walk in the way of this people the people the people in judah the people in the north the people who are saying confederacy compare confederacy isaiah stood in the minority maybe the extreme minority politically by saying we should not try to seek help from the greater powers around us we shouldn't go to the egyptians we shouldn't go to the assyrians we shouldn't go to anybody else we have god and they're going are you foolish right look at this great army that's passed against us you see just like they did with david remember david glad and all that so it's the same story over again and isaiah says that god told me with a strong hand not to walk in the way of this people saying say not a confederacy to all them whom this people shall say a confederacy neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid don't fear their fear why look at verse 13 sanctify the lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread see israel has a covenant with god a law covenant whereby if they do the covenant god is their defense right if they don't god's against them right that's the covenant so it's a fearful and dreadful thing to fall into the hands of an angry god right that's what pastors in the past have preached that's a covenant relationship with god that description letting god be your dread and fearing the lord because of this covenant relationship that he'll come against you is not the way god operates in the world today in this dispensation of grace he's offering grace to sinners right he's not against us he's for us right romans eight says this there's nothing that could separate us from the love of christ today so it's a different operation you better know how god's operating in the world and and one way to do that is to listen to the people whom god has spoken through isaiah is god's prophet paul was god's apostle in under grace so anyway he says i'm not with uh we should not walk on the way the people who say confederacy to join up you know to strengthen our numbers because that's not going to be trusting god okay um matthew 8 26 you remember when jesus was in the boat and the waves were rocking and the disciples and he says why are you fearful ye of little faith right the fear had to do with their faith of course at that moment it had to do with their faith that jesus was the son of god i mean the son of god is here he's not just gonna drown in a boat right he's there that he could help them and that's actually a fulfillment of psalm 117 other places where that happens where he has control over the waters that's where they said what kind of man is this who calms the seas right um but back here in isaiah 8 the idea of their fear had to do with not trusting that god would keep his word to protect his city his people the line of david that they'd be annihilated you know that's not that's not what's going to happen okay so they need to trust that first peter 3 14 and 15 dustin spoke about this last tuesday is referenced here look at first peter 3 14-15 [Applause] peter writes now it's not a coincidence by the way that peter is writing to the remnant of israel and isaiah represents the remnant of israel in isaiah 8. first peter 3 14 but if you suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled but sanctify the lord god in your hearts now isaiah 8 says right neither fear ye there fear nor be afraid sanctify the lord of host himself let him be your fear he's quoting isaiah chapter 8 right he's talking to the remnant and quoting a passage talking to the remnant very appropriate right but he says it in verse 15 saying that the lord god in your hearts be ready always give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear and this is where you bring the apologetics out and the christian scientists right and you have an answer to respond according to the philosophies of the world in the science of the world no no no your hope is in what god said he would do and the answer that you ought to provide that colossians 4 says be ready for an answer too is according to what god's doing what he said he would do right yeah sure study the science understand things in the world that's not where your hope's at you see your hopes what god said he would do right and so if our hope is in the lord that he will eventually have a kingdom on this planet or his hopes in the lord that he'll give us resurrection then where's the sting of death folks right and so that's the answer why aren't you afraid of dying well i have an answer because god promised to resurrect me because christ rose from the dead that's the answer you provide for the hope that's in you right peter is saying well peter why are you so hopeful because god promised the kingdom and i met the king and the king is going to return that's the answer he gives it's not did you know that the human brain weighs eight pounds you know and it's like and this is amazing you know that is amazing but that's not the answer to your hope you build your hope on these things then you're gonna have another scientist that comes out with their report scientific studies i hope that you've learned the last three months are not as infallible as people have said they are right i mean they're helpful but they're not infallible they even admit that when you show the mistake they say well that's how science works well this is not trustworthy then it's right use as much as it's helpful otherwise you discard it right that is not how you use the bible the bible is helpful and infallible it works all the time to whom it was written to right so it's a very different thing to determine truth and to determine what we're trying to find out by discovering with our fallible lies that's a very different thing but our culture these days you know worship science so christians have replaced the answer god gave them what the answer the scientists give them they think we'll give our hopes and that's that's not that's not what he's saying don't get off track here the fearful is not the way of the faithful is what isaiah is saying right don't fear their fear those who have faith in what god has said don't fear things that are contrary to what god said right there are things that we fear obviously but not a contrary to what god said would happen okay revelation 21 8 the first thing that lists there regarding those who will have their part in the lake of fire are the fearful the fearful and unbelieving will have their part in the lake of fire the fearful i mean he doesn't list first murderers or you know slayers of men and it's it's fearful and unbelieving right because if you would trust the lord or what he said right it would alleviate some of the greatest fears that people have right and i'll leave you all of them but the greatest ones for sure so there's your application from isaiah 8 verse 11 through 13 there judah was told not to associate with assyria and the politicians were asking well is this what the that's not the majority opinion isaiah and this is not safe isaiah you're making unwise unsafe choices but isaiah wasn't concerned with whether it was safe or popular he was concerned with whether it was right whether it was the will of god which is a different type of questioning right you see this happening the last three months as well the current chaos and present crisis it's just like there's questions of is it safe and is it the majority of what everyone else is doing or wait a minute what if it's wrong for some people and they've said it outright it doesn't matter if it's wrong everybody's doing it and it's safe whoa whoa whoa and so over and over again as the weeks have gone on i've thrown it in there and i've thought about preparing just a whole lesson on it the end does not justify the means the end is good but the means have to be good too it has to be all right all right you can't do it wrong to get right that's the problem with the riots recently right there's not a problem with speaking a voice against unjustice and oppression that's right but it's wrong to steal and destroy those who come in and steal and destroy does it there's there's right and wrong you see well it's for a good cause that's the end justifying the means and that's not true you have to do right to get right and that's the only way you end up right otherwise you ended up in a not so right place but i'm preaching again i have to get back to the context isaiah 8 verse 14 he says don't fear ye there fear nor be afraid sanctify the lord of hosts not sanctify means hallowed right which brought to my mind matthew 6 and the prayer that jesus gave his disciples to pray during that tribulation where he says our father who art in heaven have be thy name why would that be like in the prayer well it's just religious sounding you know just trying to praise god you know yeah okay but actually it's an instructive it's an instruction they need to sanctify the lord of hosts first peter 3 says sanctify the lord in your hearts one way to do that is when you pray hallowed be your name right i'm gonna sanctify you in my heart quite literally okay say the lord of hosts in your hearts let him be your fear let him be your dread and he shall be for a sanctuary and this is one of those popular verses in chapter eight he should be for a sanctuary uh but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the house of israel for a generous snare to the inhabitants of jerusalem he shall be for a sanctuary sanctuary is not what you cry when you looking for some sort of safe place sanctuary is a holy place it's sanctified a separate place right what we're meeting in now is not a sanctuary i know churches call it that but this place these walls in this room is not especially holy you however have been sanctified in the lord the holy spirit dwells in you so if you want to call anything a sanctuary in the church you are the sanctuary in the church because god dwells in you that's the teaching today but in the old testament there was a sacred place in an actual building right and here he's actually teaching the spiritual principle that the lord himself is where you need to hide yourself the lord himself is where you need to sanctify make him the holy thing don't make the number of your armies the holy thing he shall be for a sanctuary he'll be your protection your defense some people have said that the sanctuary here it can be said to be a stone of help right and in contrast to the stone of of offense so there's a stone of defense and i'm going to protect and the stone of offense i'm going to hurt i still either fall on you or the stone will be your protection and your guard and your your sanctification and this of course obviously speaking about jesus because of the quotations of the new testament that speak about that um where it says the lord will be a stone of stumbling notice in verse 14 for both the houses of israel do you see that he says there'll be a stone of stumbling for for a rock of offense to both the houses the bible's specific okay we talk about the northern tribes the house of israel the southern tribes the house of judah and when it tells you both houses it means both houses and so it's not just the northern tribes that fall and the southern tribes are all good the southern tribes fall too and by the way when you see this account of the northern tribes fall and the southern tribes fall there's a remnant that follows the message of i didn't mention it to you the word made flesh that's jesus right but what was isaiah told to do write a word then two verses later that word was conceived right that word was made flesh ordinary birth but you see the principle the shadow there the actual thing was the word of god made flesh and those who followed him they wouldn't stumble at that stone right he's the stumbling stone he's immanuel all over here you see a messiah through here right also all over here you see the fall of israel and the believers in israel and you also see the antichrist all throughout here what you don't see in isaiah is the church the body of christ but you see all the players the same players in jesus earthly ministry you see the northern tribes have fallen away by the time jesus had come right the southern tribes were a mixture some were following the gentile nations and others were just hoping for something and here comes jesus the emmanuel right this stone and the choice is either going to make me your sanctuary you're going to sanctify me or you're going to stumble over me in luke 2 when simeon the prophet held baby jesus and he said this this this baby will be for the rise and fall of israel jesus said i did not come to give peace but a sword he came to divide the nation between those that would stumble over him and those that would sanctify him right those who would follow him those who would trust the water of shaloha right and those who would want a stronger military might right i like the romans for example right so what would happen if israel were looking for a stronger military protection trusted the romans over this so-called king right well at first that so-called king dies right but what happened to the romans and israel destroyed jerusalem remember just like back here ahaz is going to trust assyria and at first assyria helps him but then assyria comes back and destroys him right it's the same thing and so you see both houses of the lord here or both houses are going to be stumbled stumbling and the context like i said between jerusalem as syria but also speaks of those future jews and romans the principle perhaps here is that belief doesn't look for power but looks for the promise right it looks not for strength but it looks for salvation and you see this passage and also isaiah 28 when we get there quoted by paul in romans 9 33 when he says that israel did not get that which it sought for why because they didn't seek it by faith remember the last chapter isaiah 7 he says if you if you believe you'll be established in isaiah 7. isaiah it's the same thing you got to trust you got to receive you got to believe in this emmanuel okay in this stone of sanctuary to sanctify the lord first peter 2 says the same thing how there were those in israel that stumbled at that stone but he calls that remnant of believers because you are the royal priest to the chosen generation you are that the you're standing on the rock right not the sand you you're standing under what peter says but to those in israel that rejected him they stumbled at that rock so peter uses the same language talking about the remnant that isaiah does back in isaiah 8 verse 14. the beautiful verse here um he says he'll be an offense to both the houses of israel for a gen that's a trap right a jinn for a snare to the inhabitants of jerusalem right and uh so you're going to trust him or not hezekiah falls into that trap a little bit at first he trusts him and god helps him but then he his faith falters and it becomes a jinn so the same god the same words it goes back what we were saying before the lesson today god's words rarely change he has progressively revealed things but in the it's more frequent that the circumstances of our life changes right and to know that god is saying the same thing means our faith and our focus should be on the same thing right and that's what establishes you through through storms and circumstances isaiah 8 down in verse 15. it says many among them shall shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken many among whom the inhabitants of jerusalem both houses of israel many shall shall stumble and fall be broken be snared and be taken now look at matthew chapter 21 verses isaiah 8 talking about the messiah the king right talking about the antichrist this is this is all end time stuff foreshadowed this is end times back in isaiah 8 because this is the last days of the nation they're about ready to be destroyed remember the prophecy of the sun there just in a few years the northern tribes are going to be spoiled then a few years later they're going to be taken out of the picture and judah will follow afterward it's the the next generation with jeremiah and those guys that jerusalem gets conquered i'll get to math 21 eventually matthew 21 is a popular passage here and you've heard it frequently taught as if this is referring to the rapture and that is so wrong okay there is a place where the church resurrects and is taken off taken away and catches the lord catches up with the lord in the air matthew 21 is not talking about the mystery church or the mystery rapture or anything like that matthew 21 though does use the language of isaiah 21 verse 39 they caught him and cast them out uh that's what i want this is not what i want matthew 20 maybe i'm looking for when they're taken away is it 24 thanks 24 39 that's what i want thank you as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came it's interesting isaiah uses the same flood language right there'll be some great waters that come and overflows them and until the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the son of man be then shall two be in the field and one shall be taken and the other left two women shall be grounding up the mill the one shall be taken and the other left watch therefore for you know not what hour your lord doth come isaiah 8 in verse 15 many among them shall stumble and fall be broken and be snared and be taken that's the prophecy they're taken what are they taken with this is not the rapture folks they're taken because they've stumbled at the stone and they're being destroyed it's wrath matthew 24 is talking about the wrath of god on the planet and some get destroyed and others don't right and what will guarantee you not being destroyed during that tribulation is if you trust god if you're in that remnant if you're part of that believing group you'll be supernaturally protected in mark 16 you'll be able to drink any deadly thing pick up serpents you could have the power of healing right not for you it's for them but you see the but there'll be some that will be taken just like isaiah 8 says back in in isaiah and ahaz's day there'll be many will stumble and fall and be broken and snared and taken but when's the stumbling of israel happen in the new testament when jesus died jesus came and he died that's they stumbled over that cross right but he still had an opportunity right remember stephen and peter preached to them he said you stumbled over that you can still believe you can still repent he hasn't come back yet when does israel fall they stoned stephen they stumbled on the cross they stoned steven what's next isaiah 8 15. they're broke and snared and taken that's the wrath folks that's tribulation and wrath that happens there that's what jesus was talking about matthew 24. that will be taken right and you read in the context what he's talking about there about the day of the lord which is the day of his wrath a day of darkness right isaiah 8 the very last verse and this passage talks about they shall be driven to darkness it's talking about the fall of israel the removing of light from the people anyway let's move on here this is the next section in verse 16 the next uh six verses deal with this removing of light from israel from jerusalem which is a similar thing that jesus spoke about i am the light of the world and i am here while i'm here you need to believe in me because when i leave the light's gonna leave and you may not have access to the light right so what's happening isaiah 8 there's a manual in the land god's with them and where god's going to remove himself from them isaiah 16 because not only the northern tribes but judah is going to be confederate with assyria right and uh you go back there and read second king 16 where a has let's let's do that real quick like the second kings verse 16. to show you what what ahaz did here to cover to try to protect himself so kings 8 or 16 down in verse 7 6-7 at that time resin king of syria recovered elath to syria and drave the jews from elath and the syrians came to elath and dwelt there unto this day so they they're coming down towards jerusalem towards judah in verse seven because of the sphere a has sent messaged messengers to tig left police or king of assyria saying i am thy servant and thy son come up and save me out of the hand of the king of syria he's telling this assyrian king to save me he should be turned to his god saying save me but he says save me out of the hand of king of assyria and now to the hand of the king of israel which rise up against me ahaz how did he pay this pagan king took the silver and gold that was stepped to the lord i i didn't get the response i i i hoped i thought you'd all go you know that's not supposed to be right there oh no you're taking the house that's that's the problem it's this is defiling god's house in the old testament he took silver and gold that was found in the house of the lord and the treasures of the king's house and sent it for a present to the king of assyria he actually willingly sent it to a pagan king now why would he do this the assyrians were a huge empire they're a huge army and this tiny little jerusalem right so i mean he's going to give him whatever he can you know he's not trusting that god is with him down in verse 8 ahaz took the silver and gold we read that verse 9 the king of assyria hearkened unto him but the king of assyria went up against damascus and took it and carried the people of it captive to kerr and slew resin killed one of the kings spoiled the other ones and they were done that's the fulfillment of mahershala is right there swift to the spoil as soon as they had said come there's no problem with the king of syria he got done quick right so you see that's the fulfillment of isaiah's second son right there and in verse 10 king ahaz went to damascus to meet to glass polisher so he was afraid of damascus before but now ticklish pleaser is in control and he's his servant he goes up there and he saw an altar those that damascus now is this altar going to be an altar to god no it's not and the king a has sent to uriah the priest to fashion the fashion of the altar and the pattern of it according to the workmanship thereof and uriah the priest built the altar and it goes on to talk about how they sacrifice things on that altar so this is where ahaz is bringing idolatry back to jerusalem okay and so this is this was the response um and eventually you read down through the chapter there where it says the assyrians come back in the next couple chapters and they because they saw the gold and they saw the things that he has gave boil the rest of it they come back to jerusalem and destroy it back to isaiah 8 verse 16 because of their refusal to trust the waters of shalom to trust emmanuel to trust isaiah isaiah writes bind up the testimony seal up the law and among thy disciples this is the only time in the entire old testament the word disciple shows up the the word disciple refers to like a student a follower one who adheres the teachings of and so there are people not just isaiah but there were other people apparently a small group that adhered to the teachings of isaiah which had to do with the god of israel bind up the testimony seal the law among my disciples and by the way these disciples would take isaiah's book 66 chapter and would carry it into the future right they would pass it on the disciples they'd carry to the future where isaiah's prophecies would be then in context we talk about this in our introductions but the last 26 chapters of the book are events that happen after isaiah is dead so he writes his prophecies gives them to his disciples then later they start reading these things when they come back from babylon saying how did isaiah know about the king of babylon how did he know about what's going to happen with return he was dead but he wrote about them generation before you say so he said seal up the law and the testimony give it to your disciples and i will wait upon the lord that hides his face from the house of jacob i will look for him notice two things here isaiah in this remnant group is waiting on the lord okay they're waiting on him they are not wailing against him we'll see later the other group is cursing god but these people are not even though they're going to be taken captive and the promises they're going to come back the promise says god is with them even their captivity but he says i will wait upon the lord and the second thing is that the lord is hiding his face from the house of jacob this is the time there's a time where god hides his face right and number six the prayer to god is let your face shine upon us you've heard the prayer right well if god's not he's hiding his face from you the what's not what's not on you light he's not shining on you right and so the light's being removed his face is going away um jesus was that light in the new testament he is the light right but he says i wait upon the lord who hides his face from the house of jacob and i will look for him i'll wait for him this is what the remnant always does they don't look at the circumstances they look at god's promises look what god said and they trust that all right verse 18 behold i and the children whom the lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in israel jesus said a wicked and adulterous generation looks for signs why is that because they were given the light of god they had the law they had the prophet everything it shouldn't have been a time of darkness they're looking for some or who's got the flashlight what does proverbs say thy word is a lamp unto my feet right if they were following the word there should have been light where they were going but they didn't know where they were going they're looking for signs now god in his grace has given them signs like in this great darkness we read about isaiah chapter 1. he's given them isaiah and giving them his sons again a sign of ahaz remember ask me a sign ahaz says no because i'm giving you one anyway now for your sake everyone else's right so god's given them even though they're not walking in the light he's throwing flashlights at him here's the sign here's the sign and they refuse those things too but he says i and the children whom the lord hath given me are for signs and wonders in israel from the lord of hosts which dwelleth in mount zion of course isaiah himself his name means jehovah's salvation we covered that before okay his first son is is named meaning the remnant shall return that's a sign his second son the meaning is you know don't worry your enemies going to be spoiled pretty quickly right um and so we have these signs in their names but also in the way that they live remember they weren't to fear like they feared and so you take the spiritual application that you know even today christians not your children and your family ought to be different than the way the world thinks because of the words that god's given you there's the preaching go and preach that lesson you know but you can preach the spiritual application isaiah and the remnant back here were different they were for signs and wonders in israel israel rejected him okay let's look at something here look at hebrews chapter 2 verse 13. you're going to like this isaiah says that he and his sons were for signs and wonders remember when jesus came he came performing signs and wonders that's because israel was lost remember the lost sheep of the house of israel that's why you came forming signs and wonders to people who aren't lost you don't need signs and wonders you just turn to the book and you tell word you open the map right in hebrews chapter 2 is a quotation of isaiah 8 verse 13. talking about jesus being made flesh and it says in verse 11 both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren saying i will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while i sing praise unto thee and again and here's isaiah i will put my trust in him and again behold i in the children which god hath given me you see that hebrews 2 was talking about jesus and the children god gave him isaiah 8 talking he says me and the children god gave me so you think oh that's that's obviously his son and then in the chapter yeah but hebrews says jesus had children i'm not i'm not da vinci code here i'm not doing that look at john 17. jesus wasn't married but john 17 john 17 6 remember the prayer that jesus prayed this is the true lord's prayer going to matthew 6 he just taught his disciples to pray that one jesus could never pray that for real but in john 17 this is the real prayer jesus prayed to god the father and he says in verse 6 i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gave us the me and they have kept thy word how did jesus know that god gave them why were these people given to him i mean what made them different than others what's they say they've kept your word right they followed jesus they believed in him it wasn't because they had a position in israel it wasn't because they were true israelites of you know a heritage of some sort because they kept his word right verse 7 now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee they believe me when i say that i came from you i have given unto them the words which thou gave us me and they have received them and have known surely that i came out from thee and they believed that thou did send me you see that that's the definition of these children drop down a little bit here to verse 12. while i was with them in the world i i kept them i kept them in thy name those that thou gavest me i have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that's judas that the scripture might be full scripture isaiah 8 the children that you gave me says seal up the law bind up the testimony okay god has given me children me and children for signs jesus himself was a sign his children are assigned so the his disciples his followers were for signs and wonders okay in israel down in verse 19 it says and when they shall say unto you seek unto them that have familiar spirits unto wizards that peep in that mutter should not a people seek unto their god the temptation here is that you're going to seek other ways to hear truth familiar spirits wizards that peep and mutter right and isaiah says shouldn't you seek after god for these things this again is what happens when people are desperate they're looking anywhere for a solution anywhere for some information for truth and they forget that look you have the word of truth on your lap god has spoken right um george williams commentary says when men are in fear and need of direction they prefer spirit wrapping to bible reading is how he said it but it's true people are afraid they don't know where to go they for some reason much prefer people who prognosticate and predict right the wh the whys of the world than god who is the author of truth who knows them from the beginning who has spoken to you they think that's foolish for some reason right but this is what god has said to do to listen to him and trust him and so it says in 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 testing the false prophets testing the source of information in the same context we talk about signs and wonders he tells you how to know if those signs and wonders are from god so you want to know when people are saying well god's doing signs and miracles wonders today well it's not a bad test in verse 20 even though it's not talking to you in isaiah verse 20 but even still this would be a step in the right direction it says look according to this word look at the word of god if it's according to the word of god then okay but if it's not then they're false there's no light in them okay peter talks about that in second peter 1 he the test of the prophets was to look at what was written he says there's a more sure word of prophecy than to trust what i saw and what i felt right people want to trust their feelings and what they see with their eyes so you see down in verse 21 they shall pass through it these unbelievers the no light they'll pass away like blind leading the blind right they'll pass through it hardly bested in hungary and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry they shall threat themselves and curse their king and their god and look upward so when they fall into more trouble they're going to see that as an excuse to curse god you see this in in a flesh yeah when times get even worse because of the choices that they made and this is the problem it all begins with they're believing a lie right people turn away from god because they have a false idea of god and truth and that false idea leads them into more trouble then they turn and say god doesn't work i'm going to curse god we didn't have the right idea in the first place right you were stuck in roman catholicism or pentecostal charismaticism or some other false religion and that's not god right and they they get frustrated with it they get more hurt this is the same situation they had a false idea of where to find information they weren't seeking the true god and they fall into more harm and they turn to god they curse them they curse their king and their god and they look upward cursing and that's why they're looking upward not for help but you know give god the finger it's like it's not going to help in verse 22 they shall look into the earth they look up they look down and behold trouble and darkness dimness of anguish and they shall be driven to darkness so this is the fall of israel and judah those who stumble at the stumly stone those who fail to look at the word of god to trust the word of god to realize that god was with them right so you see this you see this fulfilled in revelation 9 20 and revelation chapter 16. i keep trying to give you some reference to revelation because that's one reason why we're studying isaiah to give us some insight to this book that's supposed to be clear and i hopefully you see that becomes more clear when you do so revelation 9 verse 20 the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands and they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone wood which neither can see nor hear in their walk neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries or the fornication nor of their thefts they didn't repent right revelation chapter 16 in verse 9 and men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of god which has power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory people read that and they say well why would why would people want to trust god when the middle of this wrath i mean god's like punishing them here and why that's just to make them turn to god is kind of evil you go back and read isaiah and you get the context god has for millennia held out his hand in long suffering for people to be saved they have consistently refused it and in that statement that thought that god is just suddenly punishing us right is the thought of blindness i mean you've totally ignored what god has said before right but they're cursing god in revelation 16 he's coming back he's giving them plagues and wrath and all that and they're cursing him they're not looking for help they're not repenting they're just cursing him okay so anyway that's isaiah 8 we'll pick it up in isaiah 9 next week as we talk about the king of kings there the the child born unto us in isaiah 9 verse 6 and 7. any questions god we thank you for isaiah we thank you for the history lesson and the examples that we can learn from the scripture that men haven't really changed and we thank you that you don't either and your love and your mercy and your grace and that you've given us things we don't deserve and we thank you for the love you've you've committed toward us and your son christ jesus to die for our sins we thank you for the wisdom you teach us in your word and i pray as we continue through isaiah that we would learn to magnify you in prophecy as we've learned in mystery amen

Channel: Grace Ambassadors

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Length: 73min 56sec (4436 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 04 2020