Isaiah (Session 18) Chapter 52

so we're moving along here we are in the second half of the book of Isaiah we treat chapters up to 39 as unit 1 which we completed some time ago we are now in unit 2 which has a very different style and focus and there's a shift in themes that is no less remarkable than the difference in style and one of the things we're course leading leaning on is the great scroll the discovery and the Dead Sea Scrolls that was translated especially for us by dr. Peter Flint himself was the acknowledged expert in this area translating from the paleo Hebrew into English and that is a proprietary product of the International Standard Version Bible and so it's very interesting how in that Bible they relegate the Masoretic and the Septuagint to a variant position and they lean primarily on the Dead Sea Scrolls and give us a little different perspective and so we're taking advantage of that because we're going to introduce each section as you may have noticed by getting the flavor of it in the International Standard Version which gives us a better feeling for the flow of thought in Isaiah but we confine our expositional and exegetical comments we'll still anchor that as we always have with the King James Version because that's probably the one that you have in your hands so we'll go ahead here now the design of unit to this the the last half if you will of Isaiah is kind of unique from chapters 40 to 48 is the purpose of peace and from 49 to 57 is the Prince of Peace and then 58 to the end is the program of peace that's the millennium and all that it's interesting that both the first two sections have a phrase that sort of caps it off there is no peace saith you're evolving to the wicked and that little catch phrase so are the bookends for the first two of the three segments that we divide unit two into what's interesting is right in the middle of this is chapter 53 it's literally in the middle of unit 2 and chapter 53 is called by many the Holy of Holies of the Old Testament and so we are going to leave that we're not going to try to get into that to accept it in a token way tonight because we're gonna leave that for next time because it's going to be in many respects the capstone of our study here but we are right now of course in in while it's the last time we were together we were looking at chapters 4 9 through 51 which had expect an exploration of the role of China you may recall sinem that's missed by many of the the new translations strangely enough but tonight we're going to be in session 18 and we're gonna look at chapter 52 which is going to give us an excuse so to speak to look at the New Testament in acts chapter 8 you'll see why when we get there and it's next time that we have session 19 where we'll get into chapter 53 so you don't want to miss that and then the rest of the book will we'll wrap this up in something less and it took 24 chapters we'll see how that goes as we get into that so let's take a look at it as we always do in the International Standard Version first and awake awake clothe yourself with strength o tsiyon put on your beautiful garments o Jerusalem the holy city for the uncircumcised and the unclean won't enter you shake yourself from the dust and arise and sit on your throne o Jerusalem loosen the bonds from your neck o captive daughter of Zion for this is what the Lord says you were sold for nothing and you'll be redeemed without money for this is what the Lord says my people went down long ago into Egypt to live there the Assyrian 2 has oppressed them without cause now therefore what am I doing here asked the Lord seeing that my people are taken away without cause those who roll over them are deluded says the Lord and continuously all the day long my name is blaspheme therefore my people will know my name in that in that day they'll know that is I who speaks Here I am and how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings news of peace who announces good things who announces salvation whose sisters are in your God reigns listen your Watchmen lift up their voices together they sing for joy they will see in plain sight the return of the Lord to Zion with compassion break forth together into singing you ruins of Jerusalem for the Lord has comforted his people and he has redeemed Jerusalem the Lord has bared his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God the part depart go out from here touch no gun clean thing go out from the midst of her purify yourselves you who carry the vessels of the Lord for you won't go out in haste nor will you go in flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard he is called the God of all the earth and so that's a the the the the sweep if you will of this passions it's interesting to realize that's the how change the the the whole style is from the first from unit 1 which was judgment judgment judgment here we're celebrating in advance the redemption if you will of Jerusalem and so on let's take a look at the same passage now in the King James and a little look a little more closely in the King James Version in chapter 52 starting first one awake awake put on thy strength o Zion put on my beautiful garments o Jerusalem the holy city for henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised knee unclean shake thyself from the dust arise and sit down o Jerusalem Lewis thyself from the bands of thy neck no captive daughter of Zion and the first thing remember we had these awake awake this is the last of three of those so those are like markers so you begin to realize this whole thing is orchestrated almost like a musical piece here and we saw that in chapter 51 verse 9 and 17 and then and of course here the awake awake so there's a design evident here for thus saith the Lord ye have sold ourselves for not for he shall be redeemed without money for thus saith the Lord God my people went down a 4-time in Egypt to sojourn there and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause interesting phrase they were deemed without money see the redemptive coin for redemption was always silver and silver of course it'll eventually speaks of blood and so we like these symbols up at you can make an interesting word study of checking silver throughout the scripture and you'll find it linked with Redemption and remember when Judas threw this thirty piece of silver on the temple floor and declared I have betrayed innocent blood there's a the the silver blood thing is is late idiomatically metaphorically all through the scripture and so here though they're redeemed not with money but with blood and this was predicted early in the Torah when Abraham excuse me a Adam and Eve made their cloths of fig leaves remember that in Genesis 3 and God we placed them with clothes of skin teaching them that by the shedding of innocent blood they would be covered many people don't pick up on that very issue and all that even back there in Genesis 3 was pointing towards the cross and that you don't pick that up on your first reading Genesis but when you've read the whole Bible come back to it you begin to realize that cross is evident on every page there's another thing here in verse 4 I want you to catch on is this and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause who is he referring to who is Isaiah referring to Pharaoh exactly good for you and it's interesting that the Pharaoh that you know at the Assyrian is is is the affair Oh was not Egyptian he was an Assyrian and we picked that up by the way in Acts chapter 7 remember when Stephen before the Sanhedrin is giving his talk he speaks of that in a very about the pharaoh that knew not Joseph in in Acts chapter 7 Stephens basic point if you ever study acts 7 careful it's interesting to study the structure of Stephens presentation here's this young guy going through Jewish history for the Sanhedrin itself and he's he paints a speech you need to understand how he structures his speech he points out the history of Israel they always blow it the first time and get it the second time again and again and again and he gets right up to the rejection of Christ and they don't let him finish and it's it but you'll if you want to understand where he's headed just make it make an outline of his speech but he says something very because they they interrupt him and they stoned him of course but in acts 7 verse 7 verse 18 there's a phrase in the English another King rose which knew not Joseph speaking of Pharaoh see in the English you missed this but in the Greek you don't because in the Greek there are two ways to say another and if I say ellos or heteros two different ways if I say Olives I want another of the same kind if I say heteros that means I want one of a different kind you see if I say you're gonna what kind of sandwich you would like I'll give me another sandwich if I use olives I mean just like I had the previous one if I say hetero sir I want to I want to sandwich but a different kind get the idea see in the Greek they make that distinction in the English you don't see it so here in X 718 the word is used is heteros meaning the Pharaoh is ease of a different kind is the point and of course Isaiah in here in chapter 52 verse 4 tells you specifically that the Pharaoh was not Egyptian that's what Steven implies but he was a Syrian it's a very interesting study by the way for those of you want to peel off and do an intense study recognize that the first world dictator was Nimrod and the last world a dictator will be a an Assyrian we find that the Assyrian used all through Isaiah earlier and that we talked about it earlier and in Micah you'll find again and again again the Old Testament when it speaks of the guy that we tend to call the Antichrist he's always alluded to as an Assyrian interestingly enough let's move on to verse 5 now therefore what have I here saith the Lord that my people has taken away for not they that rule over them make them to howl saith the Lord and my name continually every day is blaspheme therefore my people shall know my name therefore shall they know in that day that I am he that does speak behold it is I and it goes on how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring us good tidings that publish with peace that bringeth good tidings of good that published the salvation that safe in design that Vai God reigneth thy Watchmen shall lift up the voice with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion notice the whole flavor of the passage it's looking ahead to the kingdom looking ahead when there's redemption and that that's going to that complexion is going to endorse there's a whole second unit here and if it says thy Watchmen shall lift up the voice and what Watchmen are we talking about here are these angels apparently they would be talking more about that as we go break forth into joy sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem for the LORD hath comfort his people he hath redeemed Jerusalem the LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God so this is focusing on the kingdom the kingdom is coming it's very interesting how how relatively rare it is in New Testament churches to really dwell on the kingdom as such it's it's it's tragic that so many groups really deny the the they're all millennial they don't take the Millennium seriously you can't get through Isaiah that's this is going to be an increasingly emphasized theme as we go into the 60s the the later chapters of Isaiah so we'll be running into that very thoroughly as we go but there's some verses in here that have a strange echo in the New Testament that I want you be aware of let's pick up in verse 11 depart ye depart ye go ye out from thence touch no unclean thing go out of the midst of her be clean that bare thee vessels of the Lord this is an instruction to somebody who's in an instruction to its to the person that's bearing the vessels of the Lord me that's strange for you shall not go out with haste nor by flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rearward now we're going to pick up on this because at this point there's a shift of focus and from verse 13 on I'm going to treat that as it's really part of the next chapter you'll see why I want to skip it now but I want you understand we're gonna really go out that next time let's let's see where this is going here in verse 13 say I personally suspect this is where the chapter break really should be because chapter 53 really starts a couple verses early in the previous chapter where Isaiah says behold my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high as many were astonished at the his visit was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men do you see the shifting gears here we were just talking about the the redemption of Jerusalem and so forth now it shifts it's talking about the suffering servant in fact it's going to describe him more vividly you'll discover then you'll find even in the New Testament and these four verses are going to be in the next session when we go into 53 it's all about the crucifixion of Christ behold my servant would be extolled or lifted up if you will remember he was made sin for us and the verse 14 should be reached in verse 14 the King James translators softened it because they didn't think you could handle the literal but many of the study Bibles will have that corrected in your in your Study Bible it'll be something like this so marred from the form of man was his aspect that his appearance was not that of a son of a man Wow that's something that we'll talk more about as we get into it next time but so that's a key passage and so that's all in your notes for those that wanted and he goes on verse 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations the Kings shall shut their mouths at him for that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider well by the way so shall he sprinkle many nations that would sprinkle the Septuagint Greek Greece's marvel that the the it'll surprise many nations and see this in in a number of other places it's a it's a it really is referring to a ritual sprinkling that which is done by someone who's pure any of this and so you can get into a whole study of the matter if you want but what I'm going to suggest here it's as if some of these verses were addressed to a particular person at a particular encounter and I'll let you come to your own conclusions after we deviate a little bit we're going to explore acts Acts chapter eight and that which they had not been told of shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider and I want you to judge yourself whether this ties to Acts chapter eight as we get into that you may recall when we closed at the previous session I told you not only to study chapters 52 and 53 as preparation I also asked you to review acts chapter 8 verse 28 through 39 and on what I asked you to do was to read Isaiah 52 and 53 imagining that you were the Ethiopian treasurer who we know that the Ethiopian treasurer was reading this passage but I want you to visualize yourself if you are that Ethiopian treasurer you've gone to Jerusalem to worship you're on your way home confused and you're reading that and that's that's the context we want to take a look at here okay let's take a city the Ethiopian treasure and I'm going to suggest there's an amazing treasure that's yet to be delivered that's going to be the real subject of our study here in Acts chapter 8 let's pick it up at verse 26 I'm going to suggest to you that the Holy Spirit is arranging a special encounter here and it's an encounter that is rarely understood by most people studying the book of Acts chapter 8 let's take a look at this Acts chapter 8 verse 26 the angel of Lord spake unto Philip saying Oh incidentally a little a little bit of background here Philip was up in Samaria a big successful reliable going on and God God takes him out of that the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying arise go toward the south onto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza which is desert and of course he God's is one of the five cities that the Philistines had and so forth but no give you a feeling of this Philip goes to Sumerian acts in verse five of this chapter and there are many that are healed there and there's a strange event with Simon the magician who believes and then Peter and John investigate that and they return after admonishing Simon about some things but then Philip is sent to the Jerusalem Gaza road and on that road he's going to meet the Ethiopian treasurer and this this event I think is has overtones far deeper than most people would be aware of if they haven't done the background so bear with me here I want you to get the flavor Philip had gone up to Samaria and the Samaritans are Jewish of a mixed background and they'd become Christians and Peter and John are sent there to investigate and they the believers there receive the Holy Spirit and Peter and John returned after admonishing Simon who had offered money for the spirit and we're getting that here it's not important our purpose but so I often call Simon the first TV evangelist but I'm going to believe that one alone so Philip sent to the gaza road and he's going to meet the treasure to the queen of Ethiopia and he's returning home confused so let's take a look at this in verse 27 a champion so Philip arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the ethiopians who had charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for the worship now he's now a little bit of confusion about this whole issue of of the a eunuch early in ancient times an officer of the court was made a eunuch to protect the harem but that term later on just becomes a term meaning a senior officer not necessarily one that's biologically impaired there but anyway so he's a Kia he's a key official of the Queen and he'd come to Jerusalem for the worship and he was returning sitting in this chariot he read Isaiah the prophet now the he this notice that what the Holy Spirit tells us there this guy had charge of all her treasure there's a specific piece of that treasure we're going to explore here that we don't want to overlook but he's returning home from Jerusalem confused he went there to worship and he's on his way home confused and one of the things I want you to speculate about is what was his mission why did he go there well to worship maybe maybe there's more to it than that and so there's a caravan we're dealing with here with the treasure of all the treasure of the queen of Ethiopia and again the word eunuch can just mean an officer it doesn't necessarily mean what it originally meant but that's that's not essential for our study here it is interesting that units were not allowed in the congregation of Israel and yet he went to worship and that that's provocative he was worshiping now what we're going to do right now is we're going to pause and you may recall when we were in session 7 we explored at that time the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy of the seat of mercy this is I want to now review a little bit refresh your memory of what we dealt with in session 7 these were relics with the future was a speculation then now everybody talks about the Ark of the Covenant you may know there's all kinds of theories there's at least some of them as where's the Ark of the Covenant some people feel it was taken by men elected to Ethiopia during summons apostasy that's something you can disprove but there are some people that hold that there the ark was not by the way in Herod's temple it was it had disappeared long before there is another theory that it was taken by Shishak and second chronicles 12 and that was the that was the theory that they made the the spoof movie Indiana Jones about them on that premise hidden by Jeremiah on Mount Nebo is another theory because it's mentioned the Maccabees hidden on the Temple Mount that there are many many people in Israel today that believe it's hidden under the Temple Mount that's the official rabbinical view by the way but people who've really studied it doubt that for a number of reasons many people believe the ark was taken by the Babylonians but there's no evidence for that but there is an interesting illusion in the text in second Kings 21 and especially second chronicles 35 that the ark was taken to Egypt during Manasses atrocities and Manasseh was trying to wipe out Judaism and the Levites took it out of the country and so we have Manassas rampage if you want to do your background on that at second Kings 21 and second chronicles 34 Manasseh was king and he tried to wipe out Judaism the Levites to protect Judaism took the ark out of there and he's replaced them by Josiah who discovers a copy of the Torah that they did not destroy he realizes how far far they've fallen and he organized a big Passover celebration and that's the context of second chronicles 35 and so in second second chronicles 35 we have some strange passages about Josiah and Pharaoh Necho that we'll look at here in a minute and then I'm going to suggest to you this will tie very clearly to the Ethiopian treasurer in Acts chapter 8 and we're going to talk a little bit about the role of the mercy seat which most people are not familiar with let's take a look at 2nd chronicles 35 starting at verse 3 a desire said unto the Levites that taught all Israel which were holy unto the Lord quote put the holy ark in the house with Solomon the son of David the king of Israel did build it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders serve now the Lord your God and his people Israel so here's a reference to the Ark of the Covenant in the days of Josiah which tells you that well that gets rid of a lot of those theories that we looked at earlier frankly now everybody assumes that when he's tells the Levites to do that they complied it never says they complied quite the contrary the evidences to the contrary but the point is we know that the ark is on the shoulders of the Levites they're traveling with it and Wyatt why is all this going on she'll not be a burden on your shoulders so that's interesting so the it doesn't say they complied the Levites had apparently taken the ark and the mercy seat which is on we tend to treat those as one thing but the really two things the mercy seat look we would look at it like a lid on the Ark of the Covenant they are both being transported by the Levites to get them out of the temple you get an out of Jerusalem in fact to get it out of country and there they sought protection in Egypt and by the way this is confirmed biologically this is not the speculation I'll get to that minute and so this is all they get they they resorted this to get it out of the reach of Manasseh who is trying to eliminate mosaic Judaism what you encounter if you get into this is a legend that it's promoted in Ethiopia that's not true it's the metalic legend if you will and the legend that they promote go something like this the queen of sheba visits solomon and in those days Ethiopia included Saudi Arabia so the Queen of Sheba was Ethiopian they had a son men like the first who grows up there until he's 19 then he returns to Ethiopia and he brought with him the Ark of the Covenant leaving behind a replica that's the legend okay now they and they apparently have been guarding this object that he brought there for over 2400 years that's the view this legend isn't just a furious legend they have put this in the constitution of the of the government of Ethiopia and so it's you actually actually fine now this was promoted by the early Kings in Ethiopia so they could claim Solomonic descent okay and so that that that's where that's its origin now we happen to know if you know your Bible you know that's not true because the saw that Josiah is much much later and the biblical record has the ark as a subject separate from all of this this is a legend that is and because most people who know their Bible know this legend can't be true they dismiss the idea that the Ark is 'm if you open what they overlook is that even though this legends not true the ark got down there by a different path and that's the surprise and you'll find it in the text so see this traditional legend is not compatible with the biblical record since the ark is referred to in the subsequent days of design as we just looked at it and again what's overlooked is that the ark may have arrived there by another series events which are alluded to later in that same chapter in second chronicles 35 and we'll take a look at this here Lilya second chronicles 35 starting verse 20 after all this when Josiah had prepared the temple he's trying to get organized this big Passover Necco king of Egypt came up to fight against kasha mesh by Euphrates so get the picture Pharaoh neck of Egypt at this time the Assyrian Empire starting to fall apart so Pharaoh Necho is going there depicted to get some assets so he came up to fight the Pharaoh Necho is going to fight against the Assyrian Empire which is an enemy of Israel got the picture okay and Josiah went out against him weird here your you know your enemy of your enemy is your friend should be you would think that fair necklace going against the Syrian Empire that Israel would be glad to see that happen know something very strange going on here Josiah went out against him and this puzzled fair an echo in verse 21 but he sent embassadors to him that fair Nicholson's ambassadors to Josiah so what am I to do with thee o thou king of Judah I come not against thee this day but against the house were with I have war I get notice what Pharaoh Necho is saying here for God commanded me to make haste for bear thee from meddling with God who was with me that he destroyed thee not notice the clintus surprised and the claim a fair neck oh he feels he's doing what God told him to do and what on earth is Josiah doing obstructing him one of the questions I have to ask what possibly would motivate Josiah to go against Ferran Eko he is just a few verses earlier asked the Levites to return the ark to where it belongs they didn't comply he's going as fair an echo because he wants that Ark back you with me so far that's the speculation let's see what happens here and so I'm not coming against thee this day but against the house were worth I war for God commanded me I want you to notice the next verse it's even more notice the next verse is not a quote from faroan echo it's a quote by the chronicler that's writing this nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him but disguised himself that he might fight with him and hearken not unto the words of NECO from the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo subtlety but it's important you notice that verse 22 is not part of the quote the Ferren echo it's a quote by the chronicler so if you take the Bible seriously you can take that as being true you with me feral neck was expressing a view he's this is giving a fact that he Harken under the words of an echo from the mouth okay wait a minute wait a minute how could Farrow Necco be hearing from the mouth of God this isn't a boast this is a comment of the chronicler well anyway it goes on then the next verse and the archers shot at Kings Uzziah and the king said to his servants had me away for him sir would it turns out josiah gets killed in that battle and the rest goes on the grieving the loss of this very popular young king's was i he was quite he was quite a guy good guy so that's the tragedy but how would pharaoh NECO here from the mouth of God because the Levites had set up the tabernacle on elephantine island which was the main palace of Pharaoh Necho in those days from the mouth of God okay I don't want you to notice verse 22 is the declaration of the chronicler not fair an echo that's a critical thing to get this in focus what are the issues here why did you sire persist attacking for an echo my presumption but it's my presumption that he was after the earth why did for an echo feel that God was on his side apparently the Levites had set up shop down there how did could Pharaon echo have had instructions from the mouth of God as the question you know when you study the passage broader you'll discover Josiah always got his instructions through the prophetess Hilda rather than the Levitical priesthood why because the priests the Levites were Goran so he gets his guidance from the prophetess Hilda and that's fine but it isn't the normal routine something's going on here now there's something else you need to know that most your commentaries failed a highlight Pharaon echo was another one of these Pharaoh's that was an Egyptian see Pharaoh was a title Pharaoh Necco guess what was in Ethiopia it's known as the Ethiopian dynasty so suddenly the fog is lifting here a little bit isn't it you with me and you can check that out encourage you do that what we've stumbled into here is a document in tradition and that in 642 bc elephantine island is an island in the nile that at that time was the headquarters of Ferren echo and it had worked for in a couple of centuries later at 4/7 470 BC it moves to town of Kirkus Island Lake Tana Ethiopia and then 330 it moves to accident will track this here and it's presently at st. Mary's of Zion Church whatever it is they've been guarding and and they believe it's dead if you opens believe it's destined to be presented to the Messiah when he rules on Mount Zion there's a whole chapter on this that we went through back in eyes in chapter 18 of Isaiah and it's also alludes in several other places there but I have three ten in other places so let's take a look at this so apparently the Levites to get it out of harm's way go down to elephantine island the headquarters of Egypt and seek protection from Pharaoh Necho an elephantine island was a fortified capital and the ark apparently stays there from 6:30 BC through about 430 BC about two centuries and that's documented archaeologically by the way and so it was an early advanced outpost of Egypt it was their southernmost border town the fortified installation serving as that first dynasty fortress it had military importance during the twenty fifth dynasty the so called Ethiopian dynasty and there was a temple do have ave that served the Jewish colony prior to the Persian occupations of 525 to 404 and you can find this confirmed in the official guidebook by the German Institute of archeology in Cairo back in 1919 1998 so this says this has that substance well it stays there for about two centuries then it moves down to Lake Tana way south is a gigantic Lake Lake Tana and it's full of a lot of islands and one of those Islands is Tana Kirkus Island and it stays there for 800 years until it and and then it finally and we visited that by the way several times and this is one of the monks they're showing me something he's very proud of and he has an easy-open Bible and in their Bible they have reckoning of Mary and Joseph and the baby visiting back if you know your your New Testament and they they have a record of them visiting Tom Curren Island and so they've then remains there for eight hundred years until it finally moves to Aksum where it presumably it's there still today and so it's a it stays there until they feel they are committed to guarding it until the Messiah rules on Mount Zion and when you go to Axum there's a place called the the st. Mary's Church of Zion it's a sort of an imposing fortress kind of thing but that goes down underground and there are tunnels all the way to the Dead Sea they've been guarding this thing for over 2,000 years so it's a they take that very very seriously and so a continuing trust twenty four hundred year history of a sink a relic guarded by the humans from his tenure in elephantine island back then botana cur'us Island Lake Tana and its present location and it's compound at Aksum and they believe that they've been charged to deliver to the Messiah when he rules it Mount Zion and that's that that's what drives them now it's interesting as you look at when we looked at Isaiah 52 and both eleven twelve the party party go out from vents touch no unclean thing go ye out of the midst of her be clean that's why a eunuch is a eunuch to keep him clean it's the idea that bare the vessels of the Lord for she'll not go out with haste or in my flight for the Lord will go before you the God of Israel will be your rearward so and oh yeah for that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider okay let's go back a check X chapter 8 here the Holy Spirit test says to Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot I understand there's a it's not a lone guy in a chariot like you see in the Sunday School coloring books he had protection he had a caravan he's that he's the treasurer of Ethiopia but he said go and join thyself to this chariot and Philip ran thither to him and notices and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said understand it's now what thou readest and he said how can i except some man should guide me and he desired philip that he would come up and sit with him you don't just walk up to that guy you have to be summoned but he he's anxious too because he's confused comes do you understand what you're reading how can I let somebody helps me you pick up on that visualize yourself we know from what's following that he's reading from chapter 52 and 53 of Isaiah but what it says there in that passage just ahead of the 53 part of it is to that there's something you you won't know you're gonna have to have explained to you see what CD see you I'm getting I'm not trying to make a big thing out of this except I want to sharpen your acumen to the tapestry the design of the scripture how this episode in acts 8 is an echo Isaiah 52 let's go take a look at this he heard him read that means he's reading it out loud that's interesting that's interesting you're reading out loud how can i except some man should guide me say okay the word guide there is a medical technical term it's authoritative teacher actually and he's reading the Greek translation of Isaiah 52 and 53 and both the eunuch and Philip are prepared by the Holy Spirit I believe that both of them are prepared for this encounter for some reason the holy spirit engineered this to happen and this isn't just a guy that he met on the road that didn't get saved that's currently certainly be true but something deeper going on here depart for me to go out from thence to touch no unclean thing go ye out of the misery see that's an instruction to the eunuch for that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider is the Holy Spirit choreographing this encounter I think so so let's take a look at this here get back in Chapter and activate now the place of the scripture which he read was this he was led as sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his Shearer so he opened so open he not his mouth in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth whoa the the Ethiopian treasure had gone to Jerusalem and what I what I assumed he'd heard that the Messiah had come he's gone there to check it out he gets to Jerusalem and finds out that the Messiah has been murdered he's been executed boy he's confused he's on his way home puzzled Philip supernaturally is brought into the picture do you understand what you're reading how can I listen and so what Philip is going to explain to him yes he was executed but he's risen again and he's coming back he gets the whole story from Philip not from the passage the passage describes it in a way but I mean he reads the passage he shook because the guy that he thought he understood to be the Messiah has been killed been taken from the earth and this of course is from the passage that we're gonna study intensely next to the next time and the you answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speaketh the Prophet this of himself or some other man and then Philip open his mouth and began at the same Scripture and preached unto Him what Jesus praise His Holy Name and as they went their way they came into a certain water and the eunuch said see here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized Philip said I'm glad you asked Philip said if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest Eastern said I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God what a declaration any commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him and when they were come up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing now the Holy Spirit went through some trouble there and I think it was more for that than a a person getting faith something much deeper here and I think this is a special encounter far beyond the obvious the spirit Lord caught away I'm always reminded as I'm the mayor's Road when they had that seven mile Bible study and they forced him to stay for dinner and as soon as it dinner and they see that nail prints in his wrists he disappears they they meet him later that night because they go back to Jerusalem and he shows up then of course that evening but it's a similar parallel here no sooner than what was done was done he was baptized the spirit Lord caught away Philip that must have been a weird experience for the Ethiopian pleasure because this guy apparently disappeared there's a passage in Zephaniah 3:10 it's one of several from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliant even this daughter my dispersed shall bring mine offering one of the destinies we find in the scripture there's a whole chapter 18 of Isaiah that deals with this but it's echoed elsewhere in the prophetic writings that Ethiopia has a a mandate to present a specific offering to the Messiah when he's on the the thing the word bring there by the way she'll bring bring offering to bear carry like in a royal Pizitz the term implying a royal possession the offering is actually a tribute or a present so Acts chapter 8 what was the Ethiopian treasurer visit why was he was in Jerusalem and why was a returning confused you've got to decide yourself and ponder that pray it through after being saved what did he report I believe the Queen had given him an errand he went to Jerusalem to check out has the if the Messiah has arrived we've got a tribute to present to him he gets there and finds the Messiah has come but he's been murdered he's on his way home confused what do you think he told the Queen she's saying it has the time come I think what he'd say was two words not yet from the tutoring that he got from Philip he knows that yes it was the Messiah yes he was executed he understood he apparently got tutoring about the cross and all that man and we're gonna we're gonna discover that all about thoroughly when we get to the next session so he told the Queen not yet so they're still waiting to deliver whatever it is they're preserving to a pending gift there is an unfinished piece of business here and and by the way it's not the Ark of the Covenant that may surprise gee Chuck I thought that's what you're building a whole case here no it's not the Ark of the Covenant exactly okay in Jeremiah 316 there's a verse that I'm guilty too of having quoted like so many people do and Jeremiah 316 there's an interesting verse it says and it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land in those days saith the Lord they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visit it neither shall that be done any more I'm among those for many years that leaned on Jeremiah 3:16 to just put off the table the whole issue of the Ark of the Covenant it says it's not gonna be it's not gonna be relevant that's not the issue so why bother why go through all these six theories and never even talked about no I I'd like everybody else quoted Jeremiah 3:16 very glibly to just you know get on to another subject what I didn't do is read the next verse let's see what it says see this is okay let's just take a look at the next verse at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all nations shall be gathered unto it to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart the issue isn't the Ark it's a throne really what's that all about let's find out what it's about the throne of the Lord what is that the mercy seat we think of it as the lid of the ark no it's always described if you're studying the Torah described separately yes it happens to sit on top of it we look at it as a lid on this thing no it's always described separately it's made differently and has a different destiny distinctive destiny the ark is no longer the focus of the work of the Jerusalem of Jeremiah 3:16 says it'll be replaced by the throne of the Lord as all nations shall be gathered to it that's what it says the ark Lamar seat are two separate objects in scripture always treated separately the Holy of Holies is defined by the presence of the mercy seat most of us don't miss that we think it's defined by the president the Ark of the Covenant no there was no Ark of the Covenant in Herod's temple it had been lost by then okay in Leviticus 16 verse 15 it talks about Yom Kippur right that's the holy of the Day of Atonement in dealing with the Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16 it says then shall you kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the and sprinkled upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat there's a little phrase here that most people miss unless you've studied very very carefully and one of the things I'm hoping you'll take away from this episode that we're dealing with here is a respect for precision precision they shall sprinkle it upon the mercy seat we can understand that we're familiar with OB visualize a the high priest once a year after great sir only once a year and only him he goes in every great sermon on preparation and he sprinkles the blood on the mercy oh and before and in front this is the only place in the Torah that's mentioned strange he sprinkled upon the mercy and in front of the mercy seat apparently on the floor in front right Wow what's going on here it only shows up one other place and we'll take a look at that and before the mercy seat in Ezekiel 43 speaking of the the temple that occupies the last nine chapters The Book of Ezekiel Ezekiel says I heard him speaking unto me out of the temple and a man stood by me and he said unto me son of man the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the children Israel forever and my holy name shall the house of Israel nor more defile neither they nor their kings by their whoredom but or by the carcasses of their kings in high places strange little phrase he has in here the only other place that shows up said unto me son of man the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet do you get the picture of the spin maybe just a metaphor but the picture is being printed here is you've got the Lord sitting on the mercy seat and the the the in front of it is for the blood for the soles of his feet see one thing we all miss and all the artists I've seen that render the cherubim on the top of the mercy-seat they all know that the there's two cherubim with wings and the wings touch what they fail to understand is the design where they the angel on this side has his wings up and it's the it's his right hand and the others left the touch and what the two together make is a seat you with me it's a mercy it's the seat of mercy and apparently the pit Burt if you put Leviticus 16 and as equal forty three together the picture you get it's as if the Lord is sitting there literally you follow me strange and this all speaks to the bringing of the blood the sacrificed animal and the mercy seat in payment of the sins of people I've done once a year on the specific day known as Yom Kippur Jesus Christ known as the Lamb of God shed his blood as the ultimate sacrifice of sins that's what the mercy seat and dissipates the mercy seat is uniquely suitable for his throne because it's that seat of mercy that makes his kingdom possible do you see the the the relevance of then this verse is a prophecy specific to the second coming of Christ known as the messianic reign in this verse it's that God speaks from the temple and from the throne don't confuse the tabernacle of David with the Temple of Solomon the temple is a temple for priesthood the tabernacle of David was a palace for the King and if the tabernacle of David you want to be alert to in terms of your eschatology it's a place where he will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever and Isaiah 65 and in mercy shall the throne be established and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David judging and seeking judgment and hasting righteousness don't confuse the tabernacle of David with the temple Solomon and we're going to be exploring exploring these concepts more we go into the coming chapters of Isaiah all the way to 66 most of what we know about the Millennium does not come from Revelation 20 it comes from Isaiah 65 66 and so on we'll get it beginning into all of it Matthew 25 verse 31 when the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon what the throne of his glory the issue is not the Ark of the Covenant it we use that metaphorically connotative leaves the whole package know the key thing is that mercy seat the throne of his glory and we see in zechariah zechariah 6 and speaking on the saying thus they speak of the lord of hosts saying behold the man whose name is the branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he showed build the temple of the Lord and he shall build the temple of the Lord and B shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne and she shall be a priest upon his throne you see the priest in the throne tied together their unique unique unique this throne is thrown both as king and as priest both the only object in all history is suitable for the front of Christ is the mercy seat that made its kingdom possible and this suggests that the mercy seat may have a distinct place in Biblical prophecy as it relates to Christ's second coming and he shall rule and reign on the earth in the temple on Mount Zion and it may be that the mercy seat rather than the Ark which will be the special gift of Ethiopia to the Messiah when he rules in the kingdom see that's the issue I'm suggesting possibility from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my supplements even the daughter of my despair shall bring mine offering and again that's a royal possession of tribute okay in that time shall the present be brought into the lord of hosts of a people tongs it goes through you that's an echo from Isaiah 18 you may recall okay to be at the present be brought there's a couple of there's over a dozen verses that allude to Ethiopia presenting a special gift and it's not the Ark of the Covenant it's the seed of mercy that defines the Holy of Holies it's not that we understand that the Ark of the Covenant is disintegrating it's made out of wood covered with gold and it's kept in a marble carrier there but it's the but the mercy seat is solid hammered gold and it has a presumably I meet you a future function here well what we're going to do next time we'll pick it up in the is V verse 13 of chapter 52 we'll treat that as the beginning of next next session look my servant will prosper he will be exalted lifted up and be very high just as many were astonished at you so was he marred in this appearance more than any human and his form beyond that of human semblance so he shall startle many nations Kings will shut their mouths at him and for what they had not been told and they will see and what they had not heard they will understand what on earth is that about look the next time we're gonna look at the Holy of Holies of Old Testament next to in the next session Isaiah 53 is so provocative that the Ashkenazi Jews remove the chapter from their Bibles fortunately though the Sephardic Jews they're either Ashkenazi or Sephardic it's the two branches like branches of Judaism the safar judge did not and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 included a copy of Isaiah 53 and of course that would created quite a courage for controversy goes right in the middle of this complete scroll there 53 was much to the embarrassment of the Ashkenazi who had separated and this was written back in 700 BC it's mentioned in all four Gospels Isaiah 53 Matthew 8 mark 15 Luke 22 John 12 all mentioned this as well as the epistles acts 8 we looked at that and of course romans 10 in 1st Peter 2 or other other places it's the this 53 is the crux literally the pun intended of Old Testament prophecy Psalm 22 describes it such detail the bones the thirst the piercing the hands and feet the humiliation the ridicule the cash you know it's the first and last words of what occur there are all recorded in Psalm 22 seven centuries before the fact Wow because I'm 53 the lamb slain in our stead you will see a description of the crucifixion of Christ in Isaiah 53 that is as eloquent as all of Paul's epistles wrapped in 112 verses that will shock you when we get into it next time and of course it starts a couple of verses early as I mentioned those chapter divisions we were in instituted in the 14th 15th century by there in fact anyone get to Zechariah 12 at the second coming they're gonna look upon me whom they've pierced this is all going to come into their focus next time so the unit 2 has the purpose of priest the Prince of Peace and the program of beasts and these first two of course are bookended as I mentioned before but right in the middle of the unit two thirteen chapters in and thirteen chapters before the end is chapter 53 so what I want you to do next time is study carefully just a little 12 versus patient study Isaiah 53 carefully and I have a question a challenging question for you to answer in what way as I fifty Isaiah 53 not yet been fulfilled that may surprise you and probably I'm guessing probably one chapter one pastor and five will pick that pick up on that what is there about it that is not yet fulfilled takes a little insight and so with that let's borrow hearts for a closing word of Prayer

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Length: 59min 31sec (3571 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020