Out of the Desert | Isaiah 31-35 | Gary Hamrick

today we're gonna look here Isaiah chapter 35 I'm gonna read the whole chapter don't worry it's only ten verses so don't wig out like what's he gonna be done I have another service behind you so I got to watch the time anyway but ten verses is all it is I'm gonna read all ten verses here we go Isaiah 35 verse 1 the desert and the parched land will be glad the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus it will burst into bloom it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy the glory of Lebanon will be given to it the splendour of Carmel and Sharon they will see the glory of the Lord the splendor of our God strengthen the feeble hands steady the knees that give way say to those with fearful hearts be strong do not fear your God will come and he will come with vengeance with divine retribution he will come to save you then will the eyes of the blind be opened the ears of the Deaf unstopped and then they will then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongues shout for joy water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert the burning sand will become a pool the thirsty ground bubbling Springs in the haunts where jackals once lay grass and reeds and papyrus will grow and a highway will be there it will be called the way of holiness the unclean will not journey on it it will be for those who walk in that way wicked fools will not go about on it no lion will be there nor will any ferocious beasts get up on it they will not be found there but only the redeemed will walk there and the ransomed of the Lord will return and they will enter Zion with singing everlasting joy will crown their heads gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away as far as they're in pray father in heaven how good it is to just come into your house and settle our hearts before you as we begin a new week together on this Sunday and we just want Lord for you to use this chapter to speak to our hearts to minister us today and I trust that you know exactly for whom this is intended you're a gracious loving father and we just thank you for a chapter like this that brings encouragement to tired thirsty Souls and we give you praise and thanks together in Jesus name and everybody said amen well Isaiah named a prophet that's because he often speaks and then writes prophetic things and in chapter 35 here Isaiah is writing prophetically now Bible scholars will tell you that a lot of times when you read prophesy particularly in the Old Testament it has a dual meaning that is to say that a lot of times you read Old Testament prophecy it has both a near and a far interpretation in other words Biblical prophecy often contains an immediate and a future context and that's what's going on in this chapter so let me just briefly talk about the future context and then we're gonna primarily be looking at the more immediate context of this chapter the future context is this Isaiah is writing about the Millennial Kingdom most Bible scholars are agreed that what he's driving about here is very unusual because it doesn't fit with the current events of Isaiah's day and Isaiah's day the Assyrians are threatening to come against and have already taken Israel to the north now threatening the South Babylon will eventually come and take the south a southern kingdom God's people will be dispersed although God always knows where the Jewish people already regathered them and is still regather his people but that said that this doesn't fit with that context because Isaiah is talking about a bright day a glorious day a happy day a day when gladness and joy overtake people and sorrow and sighing flee away a day when the desert blooms when there's great flute fruitfulness in the land and so most Bible scholars are agreed that what he's writing about here in future prophetic terms is about the millennial kingdom the time after Christ returns to earth and when he rules and reigns from Jerusalem for a thousand years it'll be like this everything is going to be in people are gonna be rejoicing it's going to be a grand and glorious day of joy and peace so that is the far prophetic context and the reason why Isaiah writes this way about how things that were once barren a desolate like a desert or once again become fruitful is because the Millennial Kingdom follows the tribulation revelation 6 to 18 gives in great detail about how the earth will be devastated by God it's going to be God's last call for people to wake up and respond to him but in the process it'll take a tremendous toll on the earth and among people the earth have become devastated it'll end up being basically like a wasteland just just a barren desolate land but part of what will happen when Christ returns is that he will cause all that which is barren and desolate and like a desert - once again bloomed that the difficulty in the hardship and the tribulation is over now Christ has come onto the scene and so that which was desolate barren and like a desert will bloom again and God's people who have come through this tribulation and God the Saints who have returned with Christ who rule and reign with him will now be entering Zion with singing and gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away so that is and yes and amen to that that is going to be a glorious day of rejoicing and how wonderful will be during that Millennial Kingdom that's the future interpretation of this chapter but now there's a more immediate context to this story - we all go through desert experiences from time to time this chapter has another narrative that is meaningful for us even now from time to time all of us will experience the wilderness when life gets tough and our spiritual lives seem dry and we feel feeble and weak just like the people are described in verses 3 and 4 in this text feeble and weak and fearful life has a way of creating similar conditions and this chapter not only describes the redeeming work of God in response to the tribulation that will come upon the earth that's future this chapter also describes the redeeming work of God in our lives in the immediate in the present tense Isaiah 35 is an encouragement to us that God is a God who brings forth good things out of our desert experiences that he is in the habit of rescuing restoring and redeeming lives out of dry desolate places he will make the desert bloom once again and he will replace the sorrow and sighing with gladness and joy now it's been said and I have found this to be true in my own life and I'm sure many of you could agree to this it's been said that everybody's in a storm to some degree you're either in a storm or you've just come out of a storm or you're heading into one I don't know where you are among the three you know maybe if it's okay now but trust me at some point life has a way of throwing curveballs and you might end up in a storm at some point or maybe you're just now coming out of one you're just kind of recovering from it or now you're presently in one today's Bible study is going to be for those of you in a storm or those of you heading into one and I know listen not all of us are in that place but you might want at least take some notes and tuck this sermon away for at some point you're likely to get into a storm in your life and it's a good thing to remember that God is in the habit of rescuing redeeming and restoring people through their desert experiences in the early 1900's there was a couple by the name of Charles and Lettie Kalman who were faithful missionaries to Japan and China early 1900s they faithfully served for 18 years on the mission field until Charles Cowen took ill and his declining forced the couple to return to the United States where mrs. cowan took care of her ailing husband for six years until he died in 1924 she suffered with him because she watched him die slowly in tremendous pain and agony and during those six years that mrs. cowan was her husband's caretaker she just pressed into the Lord even more and she threw her life experiences in her heartache of watching her husband suffer and then eventually died and also to record the fellowship the sweet fellowship she had with the Lord through that very difficult time she wrote a book of daily devotionals that was first published in 1925 called streams in the desert it's still published today more than 90 years this book 366 daily devotional readings first published by missus Lettie Kalman in 1925 still in publication today birthed out of her own personal desperate desert experience watching her husband die taking care of him in the last six years of his life but she wrote of the tender in wonderful ways that God ministered to her like streams in a desert and this book of daily devotionals she said was inspired by reading right here in Isaiah 35 verse 6 then will the lame leap leap like a deer and the mute tongues shout for joy water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert here's a sampling of some of the things that Lettie kalman wrote in her devotional book streams in the desert quote never look ahead to the changes and challenges of this life in fear instead as they arise look at them with the full assurance that God whose you are will deliver you out of them hasn't he kept you safe up to now so hold his loving hand tightly and he will lead you safely through all things and when you cannot stand he will carry you in his arms she also wrote this quote Christians with the most spiritual death are generally those who have been taken through the most intense and deeply anguishing fires of the soul if you have been praying to know more of Christ do not be surprised if he leads you through the desert or through a furnace of pain she also said this trust God's Word and his power more than you trust your own feelings and experiences remember your rock is Christ and it is the see that absent flows with the tides not him she also wrote Jesus Christ is not my security against the storms of life but he is my perfect security in the storms he has never promised me an easy passage only a safe landing end quote I'm gonna refer to some other things that she wrote this is a wonderful devotional book if you don't have it you should consider getting it but first in our Bible study here from Isaiah 35 I'm going to share with you four things that God brings out of the desert out of our own desert experiences there are four things that Isaiah writes about here that come as a result of our going through the desert verses 1 & 2 look again at verses 1 & 2 he says the desert and the parched land will be glad the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus it will burst into bloom it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy the glory of Lebanon will be given to it the splendor of Carmel and Sharon and they will see the glory of the Lord the splendor of our God note that they will see the glory of the Lord the splendor of our God the first thing out of the desert come God's glory and splendor think of all the many times in the Bible and perhaps even in your own life when God's glory and splendor was most on display I think you would agree with me that it's when he himself strong on behalf of his people because they were facing some difficulty crisis or impossible situation how else can we really see the glory and splendor of God but that we go through from time to time difficulties where his glory and splendor then is revealed think of different examples in the Bible think of the Israelites when they left slavery after 400 years in Egypt God miraculously delivers them and then they get stuck at the border of the Red Sea and Pharaoh changes his mind and brings the army of Egypt against them and now they're stuck with great fear but trapped between the Red Sea on one side and Pharaoh's pursuing Egyptian army on the other and this is what God spoke through Moses saying if you people just stand still you're gonna see the mighty hand of God and God did rescue them and God parted the Red Sea and God took care of the pursuit of the Egyptian army but it was in this moment of despair and fear that God showed himself strong and if they hadn't gotten in that situation which obviously got allowed providentially they would never have seen then the display of God's power sometimes the difficulties that we go through are an opportunity for God to display his goodness and his power and the glory and his splendor think about Hannah in the Bible here's Hannah in the book of 1st Samuel unable to conceive she couldn't have kids it was the cry of her heart she would go into the temple of the Lord first samuel 111 and she had one simple prayer look upon your servants misery and remember me and she prayed that over and over and over again finally it says in 1st samuel 120 so in the course of time hannah conceived and gave birth to a son but it wasn't immediate it was in the course of time or long many years of agony just waiting and waiting and waiting why is it sometimes that god delays so that his glory and splendor can be displayed sometimes god is not immediate in the way that he responds to us because in the waiting in the delay there is the opportunity for the display of his glory the splendour in the New Testament there was a man born blind sitting in Jerusalem begging Jesus's own disciples looked at this guy begging and said to Jesus who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind see in those days they believed this false doctrine of the law of retribution that every element and every problem you have in your life must be due to sin either yours your parents or somebody's and Jesus responds and corrects them in John chapter 9 he said neither this man nor his parents have sinned but this happened that the power of God might be displayed in his life now he was an adult man and he'd been blind all his life he's gone many many years blind until this one moment then that jesus heals him mix a little mud and spit together tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam and then he can see and his eyes are open but all those years he was waiting and begging and seeking God but if he hadn't experienced the waiting the blindness how would he have ever seen the glory and the splendor of God even Paul the Apostle Paul in his own life went through something that is unnamed in the Bible some condition that he just simply describes as my thorn in the flesh the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 12 that he prayed to God three times take this away from me take it away from me whatever the condition was and God responded by not taking it away but by saying my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness so sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want but he reveals his glory in the fact that he's a keeping God and God said to Paul this may not go away but I will never go away either and I will keep you through it and I will sustain you through this and when Paul realized that that he responded there in 2nd Corinthians 12:9 and he said therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me that is why for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses in insults in hardships and persecutions and difficulties for when I am weak then I am strong and Paul okay this may not go away but God's gonna reveal his glory and splendor in my situation in my desert experience because he's a keeping God who will sustain me in all these examples and many more in the Bible these people would never have seen the glory and splendor of God if they hadn't been in a difficult or impossible situation the same is true for you and me we can't really experience the full extent of God's glory and splendor without trials and tribulations in life that's one thing that comes out of the desert number two we see here in Isaiah 53 out of the desert comes God's strength look at verses three through six verse three he says strengthen the feeble hands steady the knees that give way say to those with fearful hearts be strong do not fear your God will come he will come with vengeance with divine retribution he will come to save you and then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the Deaf unstopped and then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy now I want you to notice in my Bibles I just started to underline all the different parts of the body that are mentioned here in these verses in verse three we have hands and knees and verse four we have hearts in verse five we have eyes and ears and in verse 6 we have tongues so we have hands knees hearts eyes ears and tongue this is like the divine equivalent of that nursery rhyme about head and shoulders knees and toes and so we're singing here in Isaiah 35 well in other words it's God's Way of saying that I will strengthen every part of you every part of you from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet letti kalman in her book streams of the desert would write this you said quote God knows that you can withstand your trial or else he would not have given it to you his trust in you explains the trials of your life no matter how severe they may be God knows your strength and he measures it to the last inch remember no trial has ever been given to anyone that was greater than that person strength through God to endure it end quote out of the desert comes God's strength he will uphold us with his righteous right hand he will never fail us he will never leave us he will never forsake us when you feel like you are at your absolute end of the rope God is there stronger still holding us number three out of the desert comes God's refreshing you'll notice verses six and seven a lot of part of verse six says water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert the burning sand will become a pool the thirsty ground bubbling Springs now again in your Bible is highlight or underline all those different words used to describe the same thing water then also in verse six streams in verse seven pool and Springs so you have all this reference here to to liquid the water water streams pool springs and water we all know this as a matter of survival we all need water to survive in fact depending on the conditions scientists doctors say that a person can't go more than a few days or at most one week without water it is a matter of survival but water is also something that soothes isn't it water is has a very soothing element to it you know like an outdoor water fountain or a lake or a pond or just the sound of the ocean how many of you loved water you just loved the soothing just love what I'm married to a woman who she loves water oh my goodness oh this girl at anything a pool a stream a river a lake the ocean and he it's like crack cocaine to her I'm just telling you what she just loves anything water anything water so about ten days ago we we were up in Michigan visiting with dr. Emerson and Sarah egg remember they came here in November and led the love and respect conference and Emerson wrote the book love and respect and and and teri and I just connected with them real well so they invited us up to their place in Michigan for a few days this summer said hey why don't you come spend a few days so we went was first time we've been to their home and it's a beautiful home and they live on a lake just outside of Grand Rapids in Michigan and and we didn't know that and as soon as we get there Terry sees the lake it's just oh I mean we dropped our suitcases we never even made into the house she went straight down to the lake it's like Oh a lake or a house in a lake oh and then she looked at me son why couldn't you write a book Wow the respect portion of love and respect just went away so she's she's loving a lake and she's and she's swimming and she splash in and and she's and then she swam she's I'm gonna swim to the other side her like it's like two three football fields in width and she swishy swam the whole way just loving it and and I'm on the I'm on the bank of the lake good are you okay because I can't swim across a bathtub you know and so I'm just like are you okay she goes I'm fine I'm just loving this so she swam all the way there and then swam all the way back no problem she gets out of the lake and she goes she looks at me and she goes this was the best day of my life hello how about when you married me no I'm gonna write a book I lost her to a lake that's the name of the book that's just that way she is and once in a while she'll say to me like I just I need water I need water I need water so one time we were down by in the Shenandoah River over at watermelon park if you ever go down to watermelon part you can get into the Shenandoah River we're down and I'm looking around and it's not like the cleanest looking thing you know because there's I see like wrapped up used diapers I don't like this is not no reflection of watermelon part by the way where's the camera I love you water Miller Park anyway it was a little nasty and so she's like yeah we got to go let's go wait in it so we're going in and we're in the water and we're up to it you know like our waist and and just just to get water okay this guy comes buying it in a bass boat he's been fishing and so I yell at him I said hey you caught anything just having a conversation he said yeah I got my quota I said your quota he goes yeah you know there was like a chemical spill years ago upstream and you weren't allowed to take more like two fish out of it every month you know that right we're like swimming in chemical waste so I didn't know that thank you sir I mean but this is her she's like it doesn't matter its water it's wonderful now I've got like six toes on one foot it's ridiculous so water is a necessity we know it we need it for survival but there's something also very soothing about water very soothing about water and every time here in this passage I say it writes here about water streams pool and springs notice what it's up against every single time it uses a different word it also has to do with something that is desperately needing it like the wilderness water will gush forth in the wilderness streams in the desert burning sand will become a pool thirsty ground a bubbling spring because that's the good thing of our Father that out of dry and arid places God will bring times of refreshing to sustain and soothe us God knows how to do that for us like nothing and no one else can number four out of the desert come joy and gladness to replace sorrow and sighing look at the way that this chapter ends in verse 10 where he says and the ransomed of the Lord will return and they will enter Zion with singing and everlasting joy not temporary but everlasting joy will crown their heads gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away I looked up that Hebrew word where it says overtake them gladness and joy will overtake them it's actually a military term it's the idea that God will hunt us down with his gladness and joy I don't know about you but I just love that thought of just being overtaken like it surprises me like I'm walking down a road like oh joy and gladness wow it just kind of overtakes you like like it's just God just just jumping all over you with gladness and joy and replacing sorrow and sighing now notice he mentioned sorrow and sighing here because life isn't as a Christian and in general but even as a Christian it's not about the absence of sorrow and sighing okay it's not the denial of sorrow and sighing like it's not there the very nature of the desert means that there will be sorrow and sighing but that God in His mercy will eventually bring joy and gladness where there's sorrow and sighing God will eventually do that you know I I have to admit in 30 years of ministry I've heard a lot of stories about difficulties and hardships and heartaches and sorrow that a lot of people have gone through and I don't pretend to walk in their shoes in many ways I'm grateful for the ways that the Lord has spared me up at to this point of some of the tragedies and heartaches that some of you have gone through and the truth is after visiting with enough of you have been through some of the deepest darkest things I think it is true that a person's life is forever changed when some unexpected tragedy strikes but God will help you to laugh again and God will help you to live again and God will help you to love again and there are times that you just have to hold on for dear life to the promises of God Lettie kalman in her book streams in the desert said quote joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth Isaiah 35 is about how God inserts himself into the devastation of our lives and says I will restore you you will recover and there will be rejoicing again in your life I'm gonna end by reading a poem that Lettie cowman wrote in streams in the desert listen to it let it minister to you it is easy to love him when the blue is in the sky when summer winds are blowing and we smell the roses nigh there is little effort needed to obey his precious will when it leads through flower-decked Valley or over sunkissed Hill it is when the rain is falling or the mist hangs in the air when the road is dark and rugged and the wind no longer fair when the rosy dawn has settled in a shadow land of grey that we find it hard to trust him and are slower to obey it is easy to trust him when the singing birds have come and their canticles are echoed in our heart and in our home but is when we miss the music and the days are dull and drear that we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear and our Blessed Lord will give it what we lack he will supply let us ask in faith believing on his promises rely he will ever be our leader whether smooth or rough the way and will prove himself sufficient for the needs of everyday amen father we thank you for your word that you are a God who causes the desert of our lives to bloom once again and you were the God who overtakes us with gladness and joy you were the one who strengthens the weak and the feeble and the fearful because you were a gracious father you know that we are but dust you know that we are frail Lord and you know that this world often takes a terrible toll there are some here a part of this Bible study who have been through so much and are presently going through so much and there are others who have been through so much and they can look back and testify to your grace Lord I pray for those who are in the midst of a desert right now feeling like they're wandering in a wilderness that you would show yourself strong to them Lord that you would uphold them with your righteous right hand that you would strengthen them and carry them when they feel like they cannot take another step we thank you that you are always faithful that you were always there than you were always loving and then you were always on the throne and no matter what is happening in our lives good days or bad days rough road or smooth you are there by our side to help us to finish well father I pray that you would encourage the discouraged today that you would strengthen the weak that you would Minister your love and grace to every heavy heart and that we will leave here today knowing we are carried safely in the arms of our loving father who said I will never leave you nor forsake you we pray these things in Jesus matchless name and all God's people said amen amen god bless you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 5,556

Rating: 4.9304347 out of 5

Keywords: streams, Desert, Gary Hamrick, Calvary Chapel, Cornerstone Chapel

Id: Pbozh824Eko

Length: 33min 49sec (2029 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019