Isaiah (Session 7) Chapters 15-18

I want to welcome you to our study of Isaiah and this is the seventh session and we're going to explore chapters 15 through 18 and we originally thought we might go all the way to 19 but you'll see why I didn't want to shortchange 18 so we have a little surprise for most of you as it comes into the into all of this but we're going to explore now the world powers see the earlier chapters of Isaiah referred to forthcoming judgments but in rather broad terms and what he's going to do now from chapters 13 through 27 we're going to he's going to deal with prophecies representing the world powers and their downfall now what's going to make this difficult is co-mingled in these prophecies are some near-term issues that happened a long long time ago but also will catch clues here and there that the scope of his horizon comes to the end times so sorting that out is a non-trivial exercise and most expositors have very different views on the details but the main implication of all of this though is to get across that God does not permit the wickedness of those who have set themselves against the Lord and against his anointed and those who oppose his people will not go unpunished and that's the theme that Isaiah is going to hammer through here and we're gonna see prophecies concerning the nations from 13 to 27 we saw Babylon last time and we also had that got a glimpse to the origin of all evil in that passage 15 and 16 were deal with Moab we're going to talk a lot about Moab here shortly and in chapter 17 we're going to deal with Damascus which is really an idiom for all of the Assyrian Empire actually then we're going to talk in chapter 18 we're going to encounter Ethiopia and that's going to have some surprises for most of us I believe but then then we'll come each if tanned later on Edom and arabia and the palestinians and tyre and then the last few chapters 24 through 27 are called by expositors as the little apocalypse it's going to sort of summarize God judgments against the nation as a whole and it's very interesting to realize that the nations involved were clearly identified and so that we'll get away we will get stay away from other speculations now we'll continue our practice here of glimpsing these passages in the is V simply get a feeling for this the flow the is the International Standard Version Bible which is just coming out that's a good job at the flow and I think you'll see that and it'll also unravel a few of the confusing transferred translations in the King James as we go here but let's just take a look at the first four verses of chapter 15 in the is V it's about Moab's impending judgment a message concerning moab for her in moab is destroyed in a night and moab is ruined because earrin mob is destroyed in a single night Moab is ruined he has gone up to the temple into dibban to the high places to weep over Nebo and over Madiba Moab wails his head is completely bald and every beard is shaved off in its streets they wear sackcloth on its rooftops and it squares everyone wails and falls down weeping and continuing hezron and Aleeah cry out their voices are heard as far as Jay has therefore the loins of Moab cry loud it's heart quakes for itself my heart cries out over Moab her fugitives flee as far as or as far as egg laughs shell a Shia and for at the ascent to loot if they go weeping on the road to her own name they cry they raised a cry of destruction the Nimrod waters are desolate the grass is withered its vegetation gone there is no foliage left there for the wealth they have acquired in what they have stored up they carry them away over the Arab body for the cry is gone out along the border of Moab her wailing reaches as far as a glam her wailing reaches as far as beer aleem the demon streams are full of blood but I will bring upon demon even more a lion will pounce upon those of Moab who escaped upon those who remain in the land Wow so that's the flow now tragically many of those place names there was about nine of them thrown at us there many of them they're not sure where they are today they clearly were in their region that's east of the Jordan and they were subject to severe attack by the Assyrians and so Moab God is using the Assyrians to to to punish Moab is what is the broad picture here but let's just look at it in the King James and see if we can untangle some of this the burden of Noah because of the night era of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence because in the night tier of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence see chapters 15 and 16 are going to do of course with Moab and the judgments on them and so some of the passages refers to the near term back then but others are going to be more distant and of course the the difficulties just as you explore the expositors they they differ on the details and occur by the way is a crack on the mountain peak about 10 miles from the southeast corner of the Dead Sea give you a rough picture here and but what we should really do is stand back and recognize that where did Moab start that it descended from the eldest son of lot and his eldest daughters incest you may remember that from Genesis 19 and on the way to the promised land the Israelites were opposed by Balak the king of Moab so they were adversary adversative if you will in fact he was the one that hired Balaam to curse Israel if you remember all that from numbers 31 and so on during that hour period of the judges Eglon the king of Moab attacked Israel capturing Jericho and holding Israel and subjection for 18 years and that's in judges three and under David later Moab was conquered and compelled to labor on royal projects and so forth and so the Book of Ruth centers on Ruth herself was a mobile ammo - if you will that's what links that the family of David to Bethlehem so you need to understand the Book of Ruth fitting in there David took his parents there when he was pursued by Paul and for Samuel 22 and there's going to be more judgments on Moab we're going to see that in Jeremiah 48 and so forth and we're going to encounter that again the next chapter of course it's interesting though after all that said they they were friendly and then enemies and so forth for reasons that are not clear Moab is among three that elude the thumb of the Antichrist in Daniel 11 41 and Moab is mentioned as one of those that somehow escapes his thumb if you will and so they initially were very friendly but like Edom they became an enemy of Israel and that's why this this is being laid out by Isaiah here but it mean also important to understand the in 840 BC more than a hundred years before Isaiah's prophecy measure the king of bulb erected a steel a plaque if you will which was discovered in 1868 at DeBaun three miles east of the Dead Sea and with the with only a few small exceptions if it the language that it's inscribed in is virtually identical with ancient Hebrew and so it's about three and a half feet high about to two inches in breadth and thickness rounded top and so forth and it's written in paleo Hebrew characters and it was set up by Mesha as a record of memorial of his victories it records his Wars his armor in its public buildings and his wars against honor ambushes mentioned in our text here and this inscription is a remarkable degree supplements and corroborates the history of King Mesha in second Kings three for what it's worth and so there's a it's in the Louvre today it's a block of black basalt and it bears the inscriptions of all what we just said and you can view this in the Louvre but anyway let's move on now with Isaiah 15 he has gone up to by Jeff and to dab on and high places to weep Moab Hill howl over Nebo over Madiba and in all their heads shall be baldness and every beard cut off and those are some dos both symbols of both the shaving off was a form of mourning if you will demon by the way is where the white stone was found and madiba belong to reuben by the way by jeff is actually a temple to shimoff the the sacred to the Moabites and these other Nebo you remember that's from number from deuteronomy 32 in their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth on tops of their houses in the streets everyone shall howl and weeping abundantly and and hashbrown shall cry and lela their voice shall be heard even to jaha's therefore the armed soldiers of Moab will cry out his life shall be Grievous unto him and his bond is also about 20 miles east of Jordan so we have a rough idea that geography but many of these cities are really still in doubt my heart shall cry out for more of his fugitive shall flee and does ondas or a heifer of three years old for by the mounting up of lukather and the weeping shall they goat going up for the way of horror or name they shall raise up a cry of destruction and Zoar you may remember was spared for Lots sake back in Genesis 19 it probably is at the very south tip of the Dead Sea is where it's believed to be for the waters of NIMH room shall be desolate for the hay is withered away the grass faileth there is no green thing there for the abundance they have gotten them that which they have laid up shall they carry away to the brook of the Willows and the cry is gone round about the borders of bawb the howling their oven to a climb and the howling their oven to Berlin and the waters of dem and shall be full of blood and I will bring more upon demon lions upon him that escaped if of more then upon the remnant of land and it goes on we're not through yet in chapter 16 using the ISV as an overview here to send a lamb I'll explain that in a minute but said the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sayla by way of the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Zion like fluttering birds like an abandoned mess so are the daughters of Moab at the Fords of the Arnon River give us advice reach a decision cast your shadow as if night had become high noon shelter the fugitives and don't betray a single refugee let let the fugitives from Moab settle among you be a shelter to them from the destroyer when the oppressor comes to an end and destruction is ceased and the Marauder is vanished from the land then a throne will be established in gracious love and there there will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who seeks judges seeks justice and is Swift to do what is right we've heard about Moab's pride so very proud he became his arrogance his pride and his insolence therefore his alone get the flavor here obviously their eyes AEA's pronouncing dire judgments on moab and much of that happened in history and yet you find references through here that are clearly ammonia speaking of the throne of David and silver we were talking more about that before we're through here therefore let Moab not wail let everyone wail from Moab lament and breathe deeply for the Royal remains of kir Haresh for the fields of Heshbon whither as well as the vines of signa the rulers and the nations have struck down its choices vines which once reached chaser and pushed to the desert it shoots it should spread out and pass over the sea who well let's take a quick glimpse of the King James rendering of this Sanji a lamb to the ruler of the land from Sayla to the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of zion you need to understand by the way that there was a time that they that David extracted a tribute from them in terms of lambs number of lambs so Sundy the lamb is an expression referring to sending tribute and they didn't by the way that's one of the reasons they're getting clobbered here but that's where that phrase may sound strange to us it's really an echo of history because that was the way David extracted tribute and they were but they revolted in Isaiah's day and attacked with the ammonites and so but it makes reference here to say 'la and Sayla is another word for Petra Petra was the capital if you will of Moab it is well known because there's a very narrow way to get in to the valley it is literally a it's called the seat but it's just it is so narrow that it makes it very easy to defend that's what it's called the word means sheepfold by the way Petra or Basra are terms for a sheepfold and when you get through that is a very spectacular things that you run into it's a very it's very worth this is looking back that's the crack that you came through to get into the valley of the Petra Petra Valley so it's worth doing by the way if you're planning a trip to that part of the region let's move on here for shall be that as a wandering bird cast out of a mess so the daughters of more I shall be at the Fords of Arnhem and take counsel execute judgment make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday hide the outcast beret not him that wondrous and so hide the outcasts see this is this could be it's not clear it could be an echo of something yet future because that is the place where the raiment are going to flee that are that are when Jerusalem under attack by the Antichrist the remnants going to flee and find refuge in Petra and we'll look at all of that when we get to Isaiah 63 because that remnant will be the target of the second coming of Jesus Christ believe it or not that's all in Isaiah 63 so we're going to explore that in detail when we get get there let mine outcasts dwell with emo Abbe be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler for the extre extortioner is at an end the spoiler seasons the oppressors are consumed out of the land hiding from the face of the spoiler and in mercy shall the throne be established now see the sudden shift of focus here the throne that did not exist the throne of David did you know is is yet future the immerser shall the throne be established and he shall sit upon and in truth in the tabernacle of David judging and seeking judgment and hasting righteousness this is one of the illusions that make makes this so difficult because through but what sprinkled through Isaiah's prophecies against Moab are echoes so to speak in advance of the end times and this comes up incidentally in the book of acts in acts 15 it becomes a point of discussion and when James is chairing the council there refers to Amos nine eleven and twelve referring the fact that the tabernacle of David was going to be reassigned least that's yet future that's your future so here's illusion right in the middle of Isaiah and in mercy shell the throne be established and he shall sit upon it in truth and the tabernacle it's a look ahead as a form of Solace if you will the tabernacle of David and so and we're going to talk more about this this evening when we get to chapter 18 and that really surprised probably we'll talk more about the throne here if you look at Matthew 25:31 it's big solution 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 we somehow don't visualize Jesus sitting on a throne we know he's coming back and in power and all that but he's gonna be sitting on his throne it's a remarkable the focus that's on that in the scripture and the throne of his glory in Zechariah 6 it makes this and speak to him save us say that speaketh the Lord of Hosts saying behold the man whose name is the branch who's that then has erine right okay that's and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord even he shall build the temple of Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon what his throne and he shall be a priest upon his throne interesting commingling of ruling a priesthood together that's the only three people that are labeled that way Melchizedek of course Jesus of course and us yeah you're right I received that motions coming from the audience guys have done your homework and I says let's pick up Isaiah again about verse 6 here in 6 in chapter 16 we have heard the pride of mob he is very proud even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath but his lies shall not be so therefore shall Moab howl for Moab everyone shall howl for the foundations of Kiriath shall ye mourn surely they are stricken for the fields of Heshbon and languish and the vine of sibling and the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants the rove there come even unto Jesu they wandered through the wilderness her branches are stretched out they are over the sea now picking up the is fee for the next section here where I wear Israel's gonna weep for Moab picking up verse 9 therefore I weep with the tears of jeiza for the vines of Zima I drench you with my tears o Heshbon and hail EF for the shouts of joy over your summer fruit and your grain harvest that ended joy and gladness are taken away from the orchard in the vineyards people will sing no songs no chairs are raised no Ventnor treads out wine in the presses because I put an end to the shouting therefore my insides moan like a liar for Moab and my innermost being for cure parish F when Moab appears when he arrives upon the high place and comes to the sanctuary to pray he will not prevail this was the message that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past but now the Lord has spoken again within three years like the years of a contract worker Moab's glory will be brought into contempt in spite of all its great multitude and its survivors will be very few and have no importance the Z is V carries the flow a little more easier to understand the thing let's take a look at the King James though therefore I will be wailed with the weeping of J's ur and the vine of Simha I will water thee with my tears o heshbon and ilya i for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for the harvest is fallen then gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field and in the vineyards there should be no singing neither shall there be shouting the preterist shall tread out no wine and their presses I have made their vintage shouting disease wherefore my bowels will sound like a heart for Moab and my inward parts for cure Harris and shall come to pass when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray but he shall not prevail this is the word that the Lord had spoken concerning Moab since that time but now the Lord has spoken saying within three years as the years of a hireling and the glory of Moab shall be condemned contemned and all that great multitude and the remnant shall be very small and feeble and it was within three years that Sennacherib wipes out Moab so that strangely enough has an echo in the in the history here but moving on to chapter 17 we're going to change subjects now we leave Moab behind us confusing though it may be and take a look at Damascus which was the capital of Syria or the Assyrian Empire a message about Damascus look Damascus will cease to be a city instead it will become a pile of ruins one of the most frequent questions I get these days is that destruction in Isaiah 17 about to happen maybe could be at the same time that passage could be just a rhetorical device speaking of the fall of Assyria back then so you can make too much that there's no there's no other cross-reference here to really get too dogmatic about that from a prophetic point of view but let's move on the cities or our rule will be deserted they will be devoted to the herds that will lay at rest the terrorism will be no more the fortress will disappear from ephraim and royal authority from damascus the survivors from Iram will be like the glory of the israelis declares the Lord of the heavenly armies and you know the is-3 likes to speak of the lord of the heavenly armies somehow I still prefer the King James the Lord of Hosts but that's guess I'm a throwback for me anyway let's look at it the King James here the burden of in masses the old Damascus was taken away from being a city and it shall be a ruinous heap now Damascus makes the boast that it's the oldest continuously inhabited city on the planet earth there's a number of places that make that claim and it may be true it is challenged by some scholars but the real point is is that there are many people expecting Damascus to receive this destruction in our current days so just be aware of that whether the right or not who knows but be aware of that there was an early fulfillment this incentives approaching invasion but verses 12 through 14 in this chapter do look forward to a final invasion and battle so that's what people build their anxieties on if you will first day of the city has ever are forsaken they shall be for flocks they shall lie down and none shall make them afraid the fortress also shall cease from afar I am the word by the way is the largest component but used as a synecdoche of the whole northern kingdom if you will that God is using the Syrians to judge as you know and the kingdom from Damascus and the Semin of Syria he fryin Kingdom from Damascus and Roman of Syria and they shall be as the glory of the children Israel saith the Lord of Hosts let's continue in the is V from verse for honor and it's the time for weakness of Israel says at that time jacob's glory will have become weakened and his strong flesh will turn gaunt it will be as if the harvesters gather standing grain reaping the ears by hand or it will be as if the grain is harvested in the valley of Rephaim which is a very strange term as the word meat can mean death if you will nelli of the death nevertheless gleanings will remain in Israel as when an olive tree is beaten two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches four or five left among the branches of the fruitful tree declares the Lord God of Israel well looking at the King James here in that base will come to pass that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean and in verses four seven and nine we're going to encounter a phrase in that day and that seems to refer to the situation mentioned repeatedly throughout the first portion of Isaiah the invasion of Iran and Israel by the Assyrian army that's justifiable and yet it may be yet a glimpse looking even further ahead and it shall be as when the harvest men gathered the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm it shall be as he that gathered ears in the valley ephra in her fame and thereafter word rough I aim is a tribal name and you know it's one of the four tribes that Joshua was told to wipe out every man woman and child they were apparently Nephilim and so the word itself is ambiguous and can mean it's translated differently by different people in different places so be careful with that one but let's move on with verse six yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it as the shaking of the olive tree two or three berries at the top of the outermost bough four or five and the outer most fruitful branches thereof saith the Lord God of Israel so even of the King James we pick the flavor of this alright I think but let's move on with the verse seven at that time men will look upon their maker and their eyes will honor the Holy One of Israel they will not look upon the altars the products that their own fingers have made and they will have no regard for the Asscher up holes or incense altars asher up holes were wooden poles that were phallic symbols if you were part of a pagan idolatry so let's look at king james here at that day shall a man looked upon his maker and his eyes shall have respect for the holy one of israel he shall not look to the altars the work of his hands neither shall you expect that which his fingers have made either groves or images the word grows typically refers to the astra the the phallic symbols that characterized the pagan worship but there again we have this at that day is that a second coming phrase possibly near fulfillment isn't so neck ribs approaching invasion but verses 12 through 14 that we're going to encounter look forward to the final invasion so that's what makes these passages difficult to get too assertive on because they're they commingle the past the future verse 9 at that time their fortified cities that they are banded because the israelis will be like the doesn't like that the israelis didn't like that's that's an i as v term because of the israelis will be like desolate places of the forests and hilltops there will be desolation for you have forgotten the god of your salvation if not remembered the rock that is your strength whose the rock we know who that is right okay therefore even though you plant delightful plant sowing them in imported vine seedlings at the time that you plant them carefully making them grow the very morning you make your deceide to sprout your harvest would be ruined in a time of grief and unbearable pain wow that's the message to the nations in general in that day she'll has strong cities be as Forsaken bow the uppermost branch which they left because of the children of israel and they shall be desolation vs. 9/11 Josephus points out that the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus the trees were cut down by Titus during the siege of 70 AD and during the Turkish Miss rule later alone was denuded of trees because the Ottoman Empire taxed trees stupid and that's why their trees were they denuded the the land and restoration began by the British and of course was intensified by the returning Jews see the land only yields to the Jews by the way that's another whole study you can undertake anyway moving on because that was forgotten God of thy salvation it's not been mindful of the rock of thy strength therefore the shalt thou plant pleasant plants and shalt set it with strange slips but in the day that thou shalt make that plant to grow and in the morning thou shalt make thy seed to flourish but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow then picking up the ISV for the rest of it here how terrible it will be for many peoples who rage like a roaring sea that's a how funny and often accused of the Gentile world the the sea when it cannot write the nations are like to see though it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt will give that Isaiah read deals with that in this 55th chapter but getting back here oh how the uproar of Nations is like the sound of rushing mighty water how they roar the nations are or like rushing of many waters but the Lord will rebuke them and will and they will run up far away chased like shaft down from the mountains or like the thick dust that rolls along blown by a windstorm when the evening arrives watch out sudden terror by morning they will be there no longer so will be for those who plunder us and what will happen to those who rob us so these are words these are words from Isaiah when they fit is is a mystery let's look at it the King James will to the multitude of many people which making noise like the noise of the Seas and like the rushing of the nations that make a rushing like the rushing of the mighty waters and that's a phrase you see all through the scripture of course the nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters but God will rebuke them and they shall flee far off and they and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind and like a rolling thing before the world wind you know from my perception I think the King James is flows well we can pick it up pretty well they is free is helpful but King James seems to do a good job here and behold even at Eventide trouble and before the morning he is not this is the portion of them that spoil us and the lot of them that robbed us well now we are in chapter 18 and we're going to shift gears here a little bit this is one of the places I have to admit that is V really bails us out of a mess because the King James translation of chapter 18 is well you'll see pretty peculiar the IFC helps us through this very well I believe the word in the Hebrew is cush by the way and the and this is one anyway this is this is a passage in which the IV really prepares the quaint King James and I want you to be pay attention to the apparent provocative global role of the Ethiopians portrayed here now it says woe to the land of worrying wings that is beyond the rivers of cush I'll come I'll explain that when we get to the King James a little better which sends envoys by the sea in papyrus boats over the water go swift messengers to a tall smooth-skinned nation to a people feared far and wide a nation that meets out punishment and oppresses whose land the rivers divide all of you inhabitants of the world you who live on the earth when a banner is raised on the mountains you'll see it when a trumpet sounds you'll hear it now before we even get into King James and we get distracted here I want you the woe here is how it's not necessarily a negative it's just oh it's a toy it's a quote to the land of worrying wings it fascinates me to see the commentators deal with that sentence and I can tell that the commentators have never been pthey Opia because it speaks of the it's the land of the worrying wings and they have all these weird speculation as to what that means let me tell you when you land if you've been to Ethiopia and you land at the airport one of the first things you will buy for about a dollar is sure a little-little pole with a horse tail on it that you keep the flies away with there are places in Ethiopia the Flies are really annoying and you just you you get you take I didn't bring I have one in my office and as fat didn't have one I was going to I would have it here to show you how you use it back and forth to keep the flies away it's and and when I was in Ethiopian one of our several trips there I had a hat that I got from my Australian friends that has the little corks on it and everybody made fun of me what are you doing nothing they quickly found out I didn't have to buy a Swisher because those things keep the flies away which is what they're designed to do so it's very amusing to me because as you read all the different commentators with a very bookish kind of responses they obviously hadn't visited because any one visit knows exactly what it's talking about here and which says genres by the sea in papyrus boats they still make their boats their bullrushes we were in them to get over to Tyler course Island I'll talk about that in a little bit go Swift messages to a tall they're very tall smooth skinned they don't have hair on their skin as a nation the Ethiopians to a people feared farm when Ethiopia has a long military history short far and wide a nation that meets our punishment and processes those lands the rivers divide all you and happens to get this those first three here all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth when a banner is raised the mountains you'll see it when the trumpet sounds you'll hear it DC's Isaiah is calling all of our attention to Ethiopia here let's see what comes next here for this is what the Lord told me Isaiah says I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place like dazzling heat in the sunshine like a cloud as do with the heat of harvest for before the harvest when that season of budding is over and the sour grapes ripen into mature grapes he cuts off the shoots with pretty knives clearing away the spreading branches as he lapsed them off that's kind of weird he's pruning before harvest what could that possibly mean that's your assignment to figure out and they will all be left for birds of prey that lived on the mountains and for wild animals birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them and all the wild animals will pass the winter feeding on them really okay I get verse seven it's the latus old this is a short little chapter but I want you to pay attention to verse 7 it's the last verse at that time tribute and offering a special offering will be brought to the Lord of the heavenly armies from a tall and smooth-skinned people from a people's feared fallen wide a nation that pizza punishment oppresses whose land the rivers divide that's a phrase that introduced this chapter from first one that's st. though it's just an echo of those same verses the tribute will be brought to the Lord to Mount Zion the place that bears the name of the Lord period that ends the chapter what on earth is going on there's a specific gift or offering that's going to be given to the Lord when he rules on the on Zion do you hear that okay now let's take a look at the King James you'll see this is one of the places the ISV does a much better job at the translation the King James is a little clumsy woe to the land shattering those wings which is beyond the rivers of if you know shadowing those wings is a strange wish worrying with the wings is the way that's why you buy your Swisher when you land at the airport and so and and the the term oho is is misleading it's it's a it's a it's a calling to attention the self ambassadors by see even the vessels that bullrushes upon the water is saying go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled what to a people terrible from the beginning there here there too and they should meet it out in trodden down whose land the rivers as well it's astonishing to see the various x+ speculating what this might be referring to and so this is where the is v does it the bull rushes by the way are what you make papyrus out of and they actually make their boats out of that we went in one of those boats were to get to come I'll show you that in a minute which the rivers have divided or traversed okay by the nation have scattered and peeled that's a dandy phrase what's that mean well it turns out scattered is Marshak in the Hebrew it can mean the drag cease prolong continue it actually can mean to beat all that's not obvious you follow me but that's what the ISV people recognized and and peeled no polished seward smooth tall ends with that characterizes the Ethiopians if you've been there the Ethiopians are smooth skinned tall and attractive they also have a history of being lawyers very effective warriors belongs history successes nor fair from at all and smooth-skinned people from a people feared foreign words with the is V validly translates the Hebrew so this is one of the place that the King James of leaves us in a thicket of confusion so all the it and I get verse three all ye happiness of the world he dwellers on the earth see II when he lifted up an instant on the mountains when he blow up the trumpet hear ye this is of something of worldwide attention that's going to that's leading up to here all the world are going to take notice for the Lord said unto me I will take my rest and I will consider my drawing place like a clear heat upon herbs and the cloud of do in the heat of harvest and so who's taking a rest here Lord Lord said to me I won't take my rest interesting for me before the harvest when that bud is perfect and the bursar grape is ripening the flower he shook was cut off the sprigs and pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches really pruning before harvest they shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains and the beasts of the earth and the fowl shall summer upon them and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them and we get to verse 7 in that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of heart of Hosts other people scattered and peeled from a people terrible from the beginning hither to appear a nation made meted out in the trade and under foot whose land there was this world to the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts bones so Ethiopia's gonna appears as a representative the whole world doing a homage to the true God and this tribute that they're going to bring will be brought to the place where the name of the Lord dwells Wow okay what's that all about the present the present the whole the seven versus hila climax with verse seven this present and the word of Shae it's a it's the gift it's a gift offered as homage is what the Hebrew implies and it's going to be brought to the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts the Mount Zion and that gives me a little excuse here to take you on a little insert if I may and I want to do a tutorial insert here on the Ark of the Covenant which is course been popularized in fictional nonsense but it's what is also associated with that is something we overlooked the seat of mercy we think of it as the lid of the ark no it's always separate the Ark of the Covenant the seat of Mercy is on a lid but it's it's always defined as a separate item and we tend to overlook it we tend to lump those together and call it the Ark of the Covenant together are these relics with the future is my question for you tonight there are six theories about where the Ark is today you realize the in Herod's temple the temple during Christ's ministry had no Ark of the Covenant in it it had disappeared long before and scholars argue about where it would some say it was taken by men alike to Ethiopia during Solomon's apostasy and that's the theory that the Ethiopians have that legend is in their Constitution by the way it happens be non biblical and because most people who realize it's non biblical thus dismiss the whole idea of the ark being Ethiopia because because of that they overlook something else I'm going to show you taken by Shishak that's what the movie that was the theory of the movie that the Indiana Jones movie was used that particular theory for their little excursion some in second Maccabees is it seems hidden by Jeremiah and Mount Nebo but that's not inspired from the some the rabbis today will argue that it's hidden under the Temple Mount somewhere and the most people feel it was taken by the Babylonians during the days of Nebuchadnezzar there's reasons that probably didn't but the one that everybody overlooks is that it was taken to Egypt during Manasses atrocities after Hezekiah the time of Isaiah that we're dealing with Hezekiah Hezekiah is going to die he will be succeeded by Manasseh Manasseh tries to wipe out Judaism he makes reading the Torah a capital crime he burns all copies of the Torah fortunately one was overly hidden in the temple it gets found but but well while Manasseh is doing his atrocities something very strange and overlooked has occurred we're gonna take a look at that and so his rampages you'll find in second Kings 21 I won't take the time here and you know we're gonna deal with that we get the second else in second chronicles 34 but what happens is of course unless it but after Manasseh comes a young and 8 year old kid but if Josiah and jazz I as he grows up is a good guy his heart's in the right place and the high priest discovers a copy of the Torah hidden away in the temple that everybody had overlooked brings it out Josiah reads it and is overwhelmed by now I think he's in his 20s by then but he so he calls for a revival Passover Passover is coming he's they're gonna observe it properly and that's all in second chronicles 35 and that's your chapter that I should have had you read for this if I knew I could get this far in our thing here and so so we're gonna look at Josiah and Pharaoh Necco and we're gonna look at the Ethiopian treasure in acts 8 that's it and we're gonna talk about something else that everybody overlooks the mercy seat that's our study a little in our excursion here where are we headed here in second chronicles chapter 35 verse 3 it reads and he that is desire said to the Levites that taught all israel which were holy unto the Lord quote put the holy ark in the house which 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 this is the king telling the Levites to bring the ark and put it back where it belongs that means it's not in the temple right why is it not there we don't know we presume reasonably that during the ravages of Manasseh the Levites took it and hid it to keep it from being destroyed by Manasseh got it out of the temple out of town under the protection of Egypt and we're gonna look at that but it was it shall not be a burden on your shoulders that means the Levites are carrying it somewhere it's in Traverse that was the proper way for it to be carried under the shoulders of the Levites now it doesn't say they complied most people who who teach from that passage assume that they did what he told them to do no it doesn't say they implied in fact it says just the opposite you'll see shortly here the Levites have had apparently taken the ark and the mercy seat of course with it out of the temple out of Jerusalem in fact out of the jurisdiction atrocities of Manasseh and who is attempting to eliminate mosaic Judaism and they put themselves they went to Pharaoh Necco for protection now there is a legend that you need to know about that's not true that the Ethiopians to this day cling to in that that queen of sheba when she visited solomon in those days ethiopia concluded saudi arabia so the queen of sheba was a theo peon they had a son men elect the first as he might be called who grows up there until he is 19 then he returns to ethiopia and he brought with him the Ark of the Covenant leaving on a replica behind that's the legend they have now we know that the ark was around after those days so that can't be correct you follow me that's not biblical I'll show you why it's not biblical now they have but the Ethiopians have been guarding this relic they've got for over 2400 years the legend has been included in their constitution it's actually incorporated in their constitution this legend why because it serves to ascribe Solomonic descent to their early kings it's from this legend they can claim Solomonic descent for hell yeah then they do that to this present day okay no this legend is not compatible with the biblical record because the Ark is referred to in the subsequent days under Josiah that little phrase in second chronicles 35 is one of the many reasons why scholars reject the belief the legend that the Ethiopians cling to to this day they understand that what everybody overlooks is they may actually have the ark but not by the path that they've been taught okay what's been overlooked is that the ark that may have arrived there by another series of events that are in the text and they're in fact this in the same chapter we're gonna take a look at that when you get to second chronicles 35 go from verse 3 skip down to verse 20 and notice what happens after all this when Josiah had prepared the temple and he's getting ready for his Passover celebration right Necco king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates and Josiah went out against him let me explain what's going on here the Assyrian Empire this giant Empire is starting to come apart Pharaoh Necho is bringing up arms against the Assyrians so he's attacking the enemy of Israel right but Josiah goes against him against firown' echo which as I went out against him why that's crazy the enemy of your enemy should be your friend no he's attacking for some reason some undisclosed reason Josiah is attacking for an echo what is for an echo do next verse verse 21 but he sent embassadors to him saying what have I to do with thee thou king of Judah I come not against me this day but against the house were with I have war for God can and it made to make haste for bear thee from meddling with God who is with me that he destroyed me not get to get the strange pictures going on here Farrow necklace going against Assyria this Empire little Judah is coming against parallel neck oh he said what are you doing I'm doing what God told me to do oh wait a minute how can he know that I'll tell you let's go connects first Zac I'm not against thee this day but against the house you were with I have war for God commanded me to make haste for worthy from meddling with God who is with me that Easter I want you to notice verse 22 verse 22 is not part of the quote by fair an echo it's a comment by the chronicler 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 Necco from the mouth of God and came to flight in the valley of Megiddo so Josiah encounters necklace forces the Megiddo and Josiah gets killed and the rest of the chapter by moans this great king that's his end but that raises something see the archer shot at King Josiah and the King said to his servants have me away if I'm started he dies but wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute what on earth is going on here why is Josiah going against Ferran Eko and the answer is obvious when you think about it he wants the ark back that's where the Ark turns out to have been sent by the Levites and that's been confirmed Ark logically by the way but I want you understand that Necco heard from the mouth of God how do I would Necco say when you study the passages about Josiah you'll discover Josiah always learns God's will from hold of the prophetess why isn't he dealing with the Levites because they're out the ARCIC out it's not there they set up shop in the elephantine I of the capital of Egypt at that time and that's that's where Necco is getting his word from the they set up shop then Levites did notice that verse 22 is that this declaration of the chronicler not the pharaoh Necho so what are the interests here why did Josiah persist attacking for an echo why did Ferran echo feel that God was on his side how could Ferran echo have had instructions from the mouth of God that comes from the biblical text not from his quote why did you say I rely on the promise holder rather than a Levitical priesthood those are questions I'll leave you to think see if there's any alternative answers and by the way I don't want to sandbag you here I shall tell you one more thing Pharaoh Necco was not Egyptian he was Ethiopian that's interesting isn't it variants for a lot of reasons and he was Ethiopian now there is a documented tradition and we checked this out we actually went there and talked to our geologists and so forth in 642 BC at an elephantine island eg Egypt the Levites set up the tabernacle in 470 BC it moves to tell Icarus island which is a which is one of the many many islands on this gigantic lake called Lake Tana in Ethiopia and then 330 it moves from there to Aksum where it is today whatever it is they've been guarding that's its history and it's presently in a fortress which is known as st. Mary's of Zion Church I'll show you that picture that and apparently whatever they've got there there it's destined to be presented to the Messiah on Mount Zion now if you track this out follow me here apparently the Levites to get it out of Manasses realm take it under Pharaoh Necho and his headquarters in those days was on an island on the Nile called elephantine island it was the fortified capital of Pharaoh Necho and it was it was located there for 630 BC and it stays there for virtually two centuries okay then an elephantine island by the way was an early advance of up was Legion southernmost Bordertown fortified installations serving as the first dynasty fortress it was very important during the 25th dynasty which is known as the Ethiopian dynasty by the way and the temple to yo neva they served the Jewish colony prior to the Persian occupations of 525 to 404 that is actually all in the elephantine official guidebook from the German Institute of archeology in Cairo 818 of 1998 and we actually went there and I won't give you the long story there all of that is in our materials we have a we have a briefing packet on the seat emergency or sea and so forth well it goes from elephantine island then to Lake Tana there's a huge lake in Lake Tana and on that Lake there is an island called tonic Turkish island and so the monks won't let anyone on there you have to make very special arrangements to get on there even the History Channel had a tough time getting on there when they did their little thing it remained there for 800 years on Tana curcas island and it might be interesting some of the pictures there this is the head monk they are showing me his Bible and we were we had some special arrangements made for us to be there we've been there a couple of times and what's interesting when you look at their Bible there they proudly point in their Bible is a visit by Mary Joseph and the baby to the island while they're there yeah that kind of kind of fun in it that's I mean that's their that's their in their in their Bible but anyway they move to Aksum then and so and there it's been an axiom ever since and it's been pretty and it's predicted that it's in a place that's called st. Mary's Church of Zion once a year they have a ceremonial thing they do in January but they don't actually have the real thing out the Guardian never leaves he stays there first entire life this young boy that when he dies will take his place and they've been doing that there's a whole procedure but anyway they celebrate a thing called the special holiday where they celebrate and once you get the picture of tens of thousands of Ethiopians and white sheets that are believe their me vertical celebrating what they think is the birth it's the baptism of Christ they take this thing take it down to the water take two days for 24 hours a day for two days they sing in the spirit on the hilltops and then that continues for two days while they take this thing down to the waterfront and then back we have a whole thing they do Tim cat every year and but what's fascinating try to get the picture this these are Levites celebrating the baptism of Christ ceremonial them is metaphorically interesting interesting and they don't have any eschatology all they know is what they have they didn't to the Christ and there's a whole story behind that I want to you but there's a continuing trustee or 24-hundred history of the sacred relic guarded by the Ethiopians I'm from the elephantine island down through the tunnel Kirkus Island Lake Tana and to its present location at Aksum and so and they they believe now that special offering by Ethiopian is also mentioned in Zephaniah chapter three verse 10 and there's a hint of it in several of the Psalms you know for years what I did like most guys I dismissed all this stuff because of jeremiah 3:16 I'm guilty of doing the same thing everybody's done they come to Jeremiah's experience you come to pass when he be multiplied and increased in the land in those days saith the Lord they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant the Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visited neither shall that be done anymore I quoted that verse in a number of Bible studies many many years ago like most people did as a way of just dismissing the Ark of the Covenant issue issue altogether what I didn't do is look at the next verse read the next verse at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord really and all the nations shall be gathered unto it to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of the evil heart the subject changes the Ark of the Covenant is not remembering or what's the issue is the throne the throne Wow what are we talking about the throne and it doesn't occur to people that the mercy seat will be the throne of the Messiah in the Millennium that's my premise and so the throne is there so it's interesting when you look at Leviticus 16 15 when Yom and Yom Kippur when the high priest goes in and sprinkles the blood on the on the mercy seat says then shall you kill the goat in 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 Bullock and sprinkled upon the mercy seat oh and there's a phrase there what would and before I always missed that everybody does they sprinkle the blood between the cherubim obviously on the mercy seat right sprinkle upon the mercy seat visualize that gold hammered gold thing see the Ark of the Covenant is wood covered with gold is falling apart it's old it's because it's the lid is we would think of it the mercy seat is hammered gold it's solid but it has two cherubim and some and nobody knows the configuration they all presume that they they know that the the wings touch not necessarily both of them I'll come back to that and and they sprinkle blood there and also before well that doesn't come up until you get to Ezekiel 43 we're talking about the Millennial temple nor zekiel says I heard him speaking with me out of the temple a man stood by me and he said under a son of man the place of my throne 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 no more defile neither shall they nor their kings by their whoredom or by their carcasses of the kings in their places not a strange phrase here on my throne and the place of my soles of my feet does that tie to Leviticus 16 15 and that's why he they sprinkled the blood between the cherubim and in front of them for the soles of his feet just to see just it's a there was none you know once a year at Yom Kippur and clearly the mercy-seat is what makes the immerse the see diversity is what makes his kingdom possible how appropriate for him to rule from it during that that's my suggestion Zephaniah 3:10 says and beyond the rivers of ethiopia my supplements even the daughter for I disbursed shall bring mine offering there's another allusion to that there if you will bring to bear a carry like a royal possession you know and Mincha a gift a tribute a present and so forth well all of us sounds kind of colorful this is just a supposition until you get to Acts chapter 8 and I won't take you through that we're running out of time for that but remember the Ethiopian treasurer he's on his way he's been visiting Jerusalem he's on his way home confused and supernaturally Phillipa snatched out of the big revival going on Samaria comes down there to connect this guy and he says do you understand what you really how how can i unless someone explains the two he explains to him that yes see what he said he's gone to Jerusalem because the Messiah has been reported when he gets to he finds that his eye has been killed he's on his way home confused can't compute he's supposed to present something to the Messiah when he ruled them as I has been killed the Lord supernaturally has Philip join him and explain what he's reading from Isaiah 52 and 53 get your Bible pretend you're the Ethiopian treasurer and read those chapter 52 and 53 there's something that's going to have to be explained to you it says and it's in Philly explains that he's yes he's been killed but he's coming back and the if yo pictures of Jesus there's some water can I be baptized hey so why was he returning confused that's why after being saved what did he report to Candace the queen of Ethiopia she dispatched him to go there he's on his way home confused what does he tell her my sister doesn't bundle and say I'll have a suspicion I think he said to her she says has the time come and he says not yet he was that he was sent to check out as the Amazon is Isaiah ruling from his eyes come but is he ruling from sullying not yet maybe absolutely and when he does I believe the Ethiopians are going to live what they've been storing and they have no idea what they don't realize the critical thing is not the Ark of the Covenant it's the lid as we would call it it's a seed of mercy well for your next session so I would have more time to develop that that itself could spend a couple hours just on that topic but I couldn't let you put your toe in isaiah 18 without sharing that with you and so but i want you to prepare for next time by studying the chapters from 19 to about 23 I don't not quite sure how far we will get we will try to move long Isaiah 19 this is a subject of some very very bizarre legends and I'll share that with you when we get there in the meantime let's stand for let's bow our hearts for a word of Prayer

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Length: 60min 24sec (3624 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020