Through the Bible | Isaiah 1:1-17

[Music] well exciting times we get to begin the Book of Isaiah this evening so white you go ahead and turn there with me Isaiah chapter 1 yeah question how many of you guys read the first couple of chapters in preparation for tonight raise your hand nice that's good that's good that's good I love that story of the pastor this gave the assignment you know to his congregation okay before Wednesday night I want you to read mark chapter 17 and so the congregation got the next day and or next Wednesday and he said how many guys read mark job for 17 and you know there was like a few people and he said there is no mark 17 and all goes to mark chapter 16 I won't do that to you guys that's that's just mean but it does help I think to read ahead especially with the Book of Isaiah there's some heady kind of intense stuff and I think that sometimes when you read ahead you can kind of sort through it a little quicker as we're going through it together so something just to kind of think about but Isaiah is a book that's got all kinds of highs and lows and it's a little bit like a roller coaster even chapter one we will see has some real down points and then some real up points and and that's kind of the way this book is in the first half is mostly down the second half is going to be greatly up and encouraging and we did it sort of an introduction to the Book of Isaiah on Sunday so if you missed that you can catch up online and you know sort of here's sort of our introduction to the Book of Isaiah I think it is important as we looked at what this book is sort of gonna do we looked at the person of Isaiah we look at the passage of Scripture what it means we talked about the problems associated with Isaiah as far as the Bible critics and cynics we sort of looked at some of that stuff and we'll touch on all of those things as we continue to go through this great book The Book of Isaiah I mentioned on Sunday that there's two main divisions some argue three by the way you'll you'll come with all kinds of different things about the way you can divide up Isaiah we're gonna see a little miniature apocalypse coming up in just a few chapters tucked away in Isaiah some people pull that out as a section as well and we'll look at that but the two main divisions are chapters 1 through 39 and the theme judgment or as I mentioned on Sunday woe woe unto you woe unto you he's gonna say that a lot and then chapters 40 through 66 is you know the theme is salvation and comfort it'll say comfort II comfort you my people say if the Lord of Israel and we're gonna see that now one thing you have to remember as we go through the Bible that's sort of difficult I think sometimes is to remember that the chapters and the verses you know the numbers of the chapters and the verses they were introduced by a person not by the Holy Spirit they were introduced by a person in the 15th century do you understand that so for you know hundreds and hundreds of years there were no chapters and verses in the Bible now don't get me wrong I'm thankful for the chapters and verses you know we can say turn to Isaiah 53 you know and and it doesn't take us half hour can you imagine in the Bible times before you know or even you know in in New Testament times you'd say turn to the part of Isaiah that talks about Jesus and as you know you know all we like sheep have gone astray remember that so then they get the scroll up and they're like okay now by the way the scroll of Isaiah is kind of an interesting thing because it's huge we'll talk about that perhaps even as we get into it in fact the entire scroll remember I told you on Sunday they found the Isaiah scroll in Qumran they found really most of the Bible there in the Qumran caves back in 1947 there at the Dead Sea and they were preserved in these clay pots that were sealed and what a great find that was in Isaiah in its complete text was found there but interesting the scroll of Isaiah was ten point two inches high so the scroll itself ten point two inches high but 24 feet long and if you look at the pictures online you'll see the little tiny Hebrew writing it makes your eyes well it's kind of a big book and it's a big scroll long scroll 24 feet so can you imagine us turning in our Bibles if we all had Scrolls tonight thankfully we have books and praise Lord we have chapters and verses but the reason I bring up the chapter and verse thing is sometimes I think that because the chapter breaks are there we sort of stop and we stop reading when sometimes I think we were meant to keep reading we weren't supposed to separate certain things that are separated by chapters and verses and something just to tuck away when you're doing your own personal reading of Scripture is don't forget those chapters and verses were put there to help us but they sometimes you know like if you're reading chapters 1 & 2 in Isaiah are you really getting a complete thought and then the next day you do your devotions chapter 3 and you kind of forgot what was going on in chapter 2 some of these things weren't really meant to be divided and will will point some of that out the Book of Isaiah there's some kind of glaring I believe you know places where they probably should have broken it up a little differently but I'll give you a kind of heads up on some of that stuff but all about to say chapters 40 through 66 is is really about the salvation and comfort now we mentioned the critics and the cynics yeah you know I do I can't even really state enough how insidious and destructive the textual criticism has attempted to be about the Book of Isaiah Isaiah and Daniel job those are some of the Jonah those are some of the books that are most targeted by Bible cynics and skeptics and I mentioned you know the deutero Isaiah and all that and the tree - Isaiah and Sunday I'm not a proponent of that I believe the Bible tells us that it's Isaiah who wrote it what do you mean the Bible well it's not just here you know it says in verse 1 the vision of Isaiah who was the son of Amos that's what that that's what the book is ascribed to but also in the New Testament the Newt student authors said Isaiah wrote and and bunches of sections of Isaiah was would be quoted in fact in the New Testament there's no other book quoted as much as Isaiah Isaiah's the most quoted Old Testament book in the in the New Testament now it's interesting that Jesus quoted Jeremiah the Prophet more than any of the other prophets I love that because Jeremiah was sort of the what yuma and i might think of as sort of the loser prophet how many people were saved during Jeremiah's ministry zip zilch nada nothing and yet Jesus quoted from Jeremiah over and over again I love that Isaiah that was was we might put him more in the successful category where people did listen to him oftentimes and you know what would we have signed up Jeremiah to be a retreat speaker at Athey Creek the guy that was kind of the weeping prophet who was always depressed and nobody ever listened to him or we want somebody big like Isaiah I think it's great that Jesus quoted Jeremiah more than even Isaiah but Isaiah gets the the reward of the most quotations from the general New Testament and the writers including Paul the Apostle and will oftentimes show you where as we go through Isaiah where it was quoted in the news because it's kind of fun to see those links you know so this destruction of the duty deutero and trio Isaiah is just simply trying to diminish the authority and the authenticity of the book and not only do those people that say there's many Isis by the way it's not just the torino the ol finds so many that will even say there's seven or eight Isaiah's trying to you know fancy dance around all these amazing prophecies that just by Isaiah the prophet heard from God and he wrote it down it's just that simple and by the way when people say how could you write a book with such exact perfection telling the future it always cracks me up when people struggle with things like that hey if you can get past Genesis 1:1 everything else is a piece of cake in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth is it hard for God to give Isaiah the prophet he write this down is that a hard thing for God after saying let there be light the Sun pops into space that's a pretty big trick writing a book telling a guy went to write down no sweat God does that and he I believe he did that with Isaiah so forget these guys trying to explain away the miraculous nature of the end of the book of Isaiah I believe God does miracles and this is one of them just a little history in 1780 a German by the name of Cup was the one who's really started casting doubts or attempting to cast doubts on the Book of Isaiah especially chapter fifty fifty that was his main target and this was you know caused other people start writing papers you know there in the in the late 1700s and this diatribe sort of continued until 1889 a theologian named illage caved in and wrote a whole thing that really stuck much of the textual critisism that you hear today comes from that guy from the 1880s where he wrote against the Book of Isaiah but what I love is I gave you the sort of the shortcut answer to all that cynicism and skepticism and we find that remember in John chapter 12 where John the Apostle quoted isaiah twice both times one time he quoted from the beginning of the book of isaiah one time he quoted from the end of the book of isaiah and he said the same isaiah said and they quoted the different section that those guys the critics claimed are different authors so what you have to do is say you know cop you know this guy or or diligent and more about the Bible than John the Apostle who was taught by Jesus himself and not only that Jesus himself his first sermon came from the Book of Isaiah if the Book of Isaiah was a forgery don't you think Jesus would say mmmm I'm not gonna use that book if but Jesus must not have known who Wow it just slipped fast him some that's see that's ridiculous if you believe see this then it gets it gets down to the point and by the way Jesus referred to the most controversial sections of Bible Jesus pointed out Daniel the prophet talked about Jonah and the big fish all the stuff that you know everybody likes to criticize jesus said yeah that happened and Jesus talked about those things so when you those of you that are college students and those professors saying children the big fish never could have happened excuse me Jesus said it did so do you know more about Jonah in the well than Jesus and you say well Brett what does that accomplish well at least the guy has to say I think I'm smarter than Jesus and maybe some of the students will go that's something weird here something fishy going on get it fishy well all that to say Bible criticism man is it's alive and well and you know here's the sad thing honestly is it's not just you know Berkeley that's talking like this it's George Fox I'm just gonna say it there I said it George Fox there Fela the theological department hurts me when I hear what they're teaching you know if you want to go to George Fox and have great theology don't go to the theology department go to the engineering department and the math department that's what I'm told by the students like yeah those guys they understand logic and and you know reason but sadly a lot of universities and well Brett why are you calling out George Fox because I think there's a lot of parents that send their kids you know Bible believing kids to some of these Christian universities and then wonder why their faith is shaken or even non-existent and they become here's the term in or Portland irreligious why is that happening it's because they're they're not educating their and uh there's a none doctrine indoctrination that's going on that I'm deeply concerned about and I know there's still a few colleges and universities out there that are still trying to hang with the solid theology but they're few and far between and it's not just the colleges and universities it's the seminaries have you ever heard of seminaries referred to as cemeteries and the reason why is because that's the place where you know young faith goes to die because of text criticism and and stuff like that and I think that it's really sad to see what's happening and a lot of people scratch their heads why are our kids all walking away from Lourdes education if you want to call it that I'll call it indoctrination civilization but be that as it may watch out beware parents don't pay money for that kind of stuff that's ridiculous so Isaiah the prophet a powerful book very controversial book has been under great scrutiny zation but i believe it stands strongly that's why it's still here alive and well centuries after these wackos cop and diligent and I think it's it's like you know it's like trying to shoot an elephants with a BB gun the Bible will remain like Spurgeon said how do you defend the Bible defend the Bible how do you defend a lion you just let it out of its cage it'll do its work and that's that's the Bible it's gonna stand and it the Word of God will remain forever so you can be a goofy College if you want to you'll be long gone and the Bible will continue to remain that's the that's the beauty of it now Isaiah ministered over a there's a bit of a debate depends on how you view the reign of each King and how long each King reigned and then also when did Isaiah die and which King under was was Isaiah under when he died and when you piece it together some say 58 years others say 64 years but but either way it was a long ministry you know when you when you especially when you think of life expectancy by Isaiah's time was decreasing exponentially Isaiah had a long and full ministry so you know it seems from that most scholars agree it was around 7 62 BC to 698 BC about 64 years at the longest and we get a little bit of that from verse 1 where we read it on Sunday the vision of Isaiah the son of Amos which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah jotham ahaz and hezekiah kings of Judah now being the son of Amos he's not the same Amos of the Minor Prophets different guy different time period and different letter S and Z but but we really don't know for sure who this Amos was but there are some interesting things about tradition and when I say tradition the Jews in their writings and their commentaries they have things that they write about Isaiah whether it's true or not we have to kind of take with a grain of salt but some argue that Isaiah was the cousin of King Uzziah remember Uzziah was mostly a good King but tradition tells us that Isaiah was related to Zion and that's why he had sort of a royal blood and he had access to Kings throughout his ministry unlike some of the other prophets Isaiah had access that was a that was important in fact some argue historically that he was not only you know royal but maybe a man of certain rank he had sort of a stature and a rank among Jews now like I mentioned on Sunday his death was again according to Hebrew tradition that he was killed by Banasik remember Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah Hezekiah as a good King Manasseh was the worst King in Israel's history and he sawed him in half with a wooden saw according to Justin Martyr who wrote history as an ancient guy himself wrote about nearer history to his time than our time brutal brutal way to go but I believe that like we talked about on Sunday that's what's being referred to in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 37 where I remember the Hall of faith and it says that that that they despised and killed the prophets and some were sawn asunder many believe that Hebrews 11 37 is talking about Isaiah the prophet who was killed martyred for his faith a few things just to make notes of Isaiah was a contemporary Hosea and Micah many have noted that there's a lot of parallels actually between the vocabularies of Isaiah and Micah maybe they were friends and they hung out together because you hear them saying very similar things and there's some interesting speculation on that I mentioned on Sunday that Isaiah's the pinnacle of Hebrew language he employs every rhetorical device known to the the Hebrew language you know he uses epigrams an allegory metaphor and simile and all that stuff and he uses it quite eloquently I mentioned you know the New Testament Isaiah's mentioned by name as a person 22 times in the New Testament so he's a major character even in the New Testament as he'd been referred to just as a man and he's quoted tons in the New Testament and like I said Jesus preached his first sermon from Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 & 2 a part of me is i61 verses 1 & 2 that's where Jesus preached his first sermon there in Luke chapter 4 so that's kind of the stuff you need to know now he's gonna get out of the gate really fast he's gonna hit us hard right between the eyes are you guys ready strap on your safety belts there we go verse 2 here oh heavens and give ear o earth for the LORD hath spoken I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me the Ox knoweth his owner and the ass is master's crib but Israel does not know my people does not consider so what we have to understand is there's sort of a judge and a courtroom scene that we start out with and Israel is being judged by God the judge and who would be the jury in this case the heavens and the earth give he says you know hear o heavens give ear o earth for the LORD hath spoken and the Lord's gonna you know give the the charge and what does he say oh man you know I brought you up as children but you've rebelled against me man the pain of a parent the the pain of a parent when a kid rebels you know it's so it's so sad to see parents who have to deal with this and I think the Lord Deb and I thank the Lord all the time for you know that our kids have walked with the Lord and and I've done you know such so well this just being sold out and for the Lord and and we feel like we're spoiled to death and we thank the Lord daily just for our kids but as an old youth pastor you know and and a pastor now for a lot of years I've seen a lot of times where kids rebel and then who can say why you know sometimes I think it was the parent didn't really you know due diligence you know as a parent to train and teach but that's not always the case sometimes kids just rebel it's just what happens even in Ezekiel chapter 18 you remember when there was a saying in all of Israel that said our teeth are set on edge because our parents teeth are set on edge and so they had the same sour grapes sour grapes that's what they said and it was a sort of a way of saying I'm the way I am because my parents were the way I am you know I'm an alcoholic because my father was an alcoholic sour grapes sour grapes that's what they said it was sort of an idiom of Israel well God steps in and Ezekiel Ezekiel 18 and says do not say sour grapes anymore you say our parents teeth are southern edge so our teeth are southern and stop blaming your parents don't say that ever again the Lord says and the Lord says the soul that sins it shall die that's that's what God says is that any clearer I mean so everybody's responsible for their own sins and you know you can't blame your parents well I'm the way I am because of my parents read Ezekiel 18 but at the same time nothing perhaps is as heartbreaking as seeing a child that's in total rebellion against God and that's the image that God starts out the Book of Isaiah with man you're my children Israel but you've rebelled against me and you've gone your own way and then he even goes further into it by saying you know he says the Ox verse 3 the Ox knows his owner the asses masters crib but Israel does not know my my people they do not consider as an old an old farm kid you know we had cows and sheep and horses and you know rabbits and quail we had all kinds of little animals on our little farm but one of the things animals were really smart about is who feeds them and they know what as soon as you're walking out man the cows the cows started walking up the field as you're walking out early in the morning and they're waiting ready for that little book a hey you're gonna throw over the fence and and they love that and they I think they love you for that which is kind of fun about animals nothing like a dog you know dogs are great because they're so friendly and happy most of them but what would you do if you if you came out to feed your dog and your dog as soon as you come out and start snarling at you huh come on you're a golden retriever you're supposed to be nice you know and you're kind of bummed out you feed the dog he just snarls at you you set the food down and he startles and then and then you go to reach down again and he bite your hand he'd be like are you kidding me how would you feel by the way if you did that and then your neighbor comes over walks over and hands them a bone and he wags his tail and he jumps and he's all happy and he and he gets anything and he takes the food and then runs out and like a little it's his head up against his leg and and then and then you reach down her how would you like that time to put him down no I'm just kidding no I'm just kidding I'm sure we would never do that in Portland yep you know you say Brett that's a horrible picture but that's the Jews at this time that's what Isaiah is saying in fact it's kind of worse because an ox is noted for being dumb did you know the dumb is as an ox is a theme that not only is modern but it was in those days too he the Lord compares them to being dumb as an ox but even an ox knows who feeds him and as stubborn as a mule that's what the Lord saying here dumb is an ox stubborn as a mule in verse 3 the ox noses or nur and the ass his master's crib but Israel does not know my people do not consider they don't think about where their provision and help and hope and blessing comes from and they ignore that it's the Lord and Christian be careful so many times it's easy to complain and snarl and growl about the Lord's provision I hate my job whoa are you sure the Lord didn't give you that job should you be oh thank you Lord thanks for the job um you know I don't know if I like where I live or I don't know if I like my car maybe the Lord gave you that car you know it's an amazing thing how we can be so ungrateful and we can be so happy about everything else but when we when it comes to the Lord's provision man we become the rebellious children of God and that's the way the Jews were and man we can learn so much from Israel and now when we go through Isaiah we're gonna hear some brutal stuff about the Jews but you have to understand we fit right in our behaviors mirror the church mirrors the behavior of the Jews and we have to be careful about that so we need to learn the first thing we see is how we have to be careful not to be dumb and stubborn when it comes to being thankful to what the Lord has given us by the way this reminds me do you guys remember back in Deuteronomy when we were studying oh just a few years ago in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6 let me remind you what it said there and Deuteronomy 6 10 through 12 the Lord said it shall be when the LORD thy God shall bring you into the land which he sware to thy fathers to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give the great and goodly cities which you did not build and houses full of good things which you did not fill and wells that were dug which you dig it's not vineyards and olive trees without plant it's not and when thou shalt have eaten and are full than beware lest I'll forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage man the Lord sees this come and he's warning this all the way back in Deuteronomy about the people forgetting that man you didn't you didn't deserve these houses you didn't deserve these vineyards and all of you know trees and all this beautiful provision the Lord gave you this be careful when you get in the land that you don't forget the Lord who provided this as in and got you out of the bondage of Egypt here we are now in Isaiah hundreds of years in the future and exactly what the Lord said don't do now they're doing they've forgotten the Lord and there they are snarling at the hand that feeds them god forbid that were those people and so that's kind of how we kick off we got the heavens and earth the the jury as the Lord is accusing the children of Israel he goes on in verse four he says ah sinful nation a people laden with iniquity a seed of evildoers children that are corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the Holy One of Israel and to anger they are gone away backward some interesting phrases that make us think of other things they have gone away backward that makes us think of backsliding and that's exactly what the Lord sent you but you're in a backslidden state you were once walking with me now you slid backward in your walk and in your faith backslidden there's a there's a name that Isaiah's gonna employ twenty-five times in this book the name he says the Holy One of Israel that's the first time we hear that Isaiah likes to call God the Holy One of Israel that's one of God's names who's the Holy One and what is the Holy One the word holy means whole you can almost put that word in there lacking for nothing altogether perfect holy is the Lord and that's one of the things by the way when we get to heaven we're gonna see the beast in the four and twenty elders and we ourselves will join in holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come when we get to have and we're gonna see that God lacks for nothing we're gonna be so impressed with his perfection and Isaiah seems to already be impressed with that he says oh no the Holy One of Israel of that name that Isaiah employs but what have they done they provoked this perfect holy God it says here by being a sinful nation a people laden would you mark the word laden there the Hebrew word laden if you look it up it means of heaviness these people are burdened heavy with their own sin that's where I love Jesus in Matthew 11 when he says coming to me all you are weary and heavy-laden Jesus is the one who takes our burden and puts that load that's easy and that burden that's light but it's our own sin that's made ourselves burdened down you know it's amazing how we can burden ourselves down with sin and then stand around and blame God because our life is heavy it always amazes me how dense as an ox how stubborn as a mule we can be with sin people scratch their heads I wonder why or my relationship with my boyfriend so bad well I'm living with them and and I'm kind of you know we're just trying things out before we choose to get married I'm sure he's gonna ask me to marry me someday the girl says naively and she's wondering why the relationships so whacked and why she feels so empty inside and why the relationship is becoming less and less fulfilling the answer is really simple you're heavy laden with sin sin is not bad because it's forbidden it's forbidden because it's bad God doesn't want a girl and a boy living together before they're married because that's called sin because God says it's gonna mess you up and God loves you so much he gives you those rules and on and on we could go abortion people celebrate abortion and there you know the there's a whole group of people trying to argue for Late Late Late term abortion and and and here we have you know we have taken these innocent and you know little babies that are unable to speak for themselves and we continue to just say we're gonna have sex and we don't care what anybody says so when we get pregnant we're not ready just abort the baby and and that's just an evil nation that has taken up sinful action and we wonder why we're messed up we scratch our heads and wonder why you know there's sexually transmitted diseases all over the place and we wonder why relationships are and unfulfilled and we wonder why young people are so suicidal today and we scratch our heads wondering wondering wondering all the while the Lord says man if you do this stuff it's gonna mess you up sin will nail you you always get nailed by sin be sure of this the Bible says your sin will find you out and yet how many of us are so willing to gamble away and say oh I think I'm the one who's gonna be the exception to that rule and then we wonder why am i heavy laden why am i bummed out why are these relationships going so bad why did I hit my job why do I hate my life and all the while there's just simple things that we have chosen to do that were contrary to God in His Word and you know it's so sad when a culture just not only chooses to do stuff but we and then we celebrate we've become a celebration of sinful stuff and we parade and we march and we say look what we can do and who we are and all the while is the Lord is sort of looking at us like he does the Jews you're saying you're stubborn as a mule and you're dumb as an ox and you're heavy laden with sin it's amazing to me the culture that we live in that defends abortion and defends all other forms of sin the more we do that I think the more miserable we will become so what the Bible says is gonna happen and we can track it we know we as a nation shouldn't we be deliriously if materialism and wealth is what makes people really happy shouldn't we all be delirious with joy right now I mean we're the wealthiest nation around the world and we enjoy you know luxury like no other and yet we find ourselves some of the most miserable people on the planet how is that possible the answer materialism is not the answer as it turns out and it seems like the more you have the more you worry about it and it also turns out that the more you have and the more luxury you have the more you kind of start becoming open to sinful stuff and here Isaiah he's talking to Israel and he might as well be talking to the United States of America Oh sinful nation of people laden with iniquity the seed of evildoers children that are corrupters they've forsaken Jehovah they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger they've backslidden well he goes on in verse 5 why should you be stricken anymore you will revolt more and more the whole head is sick the whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores they have not been closed neither bound up neither mollified with ointment man lore saying you guys are a mess your wounds stink that's what he's saying there the putrefying sores they're infected they stink like the picture here it just doesn't get more pathetic the Lord asks this question rhetorically that I find interesting I've marked it in my Bible verse 5 why should you be stricken anymore the Lord said you don't have to be why why should you continue with this sort of lifestyle and behavior why should you keep doing this and the answer you shouldn't it reminds me do you remember there in Exodus remember that during the plagues I had a person come up after a service just last week and they said you know I was reading in the book of Exodus and something really struck me and I said what's that and they said when when you know Moses sent the plague of frogs to Egypt finally you know the Egyptians got sick of it and they said take away these frogs Moses okay well let some people go and Moses said well when would you like me to have the frogs leave and Pharaoh said tomorrow and she just said what the world is going on with that and I was like yes I love answering questions like this because I think there's a biblical truth there and that the answer is the Pharaoh just wanted one more night with the frogs you know it's so ridiculous if I were fair I'd be saying get these frogs right now Moses do your little trick can't Oh God and let's get these frogs out because the Bible says you know they were there are frogs in their beds frogs and their you know walkways and walking you know squishing frogs you know as they as they would walk down the street I guess in the land stink and they had piles of dead frogs everywhere that is frogs and it stank and they've been in bed with frogs craziness and yet most of when would you like them to be gone tomorrow and and and that's human nature just one more night with pornography one more night with infidelity one more night with abortion one more night oh we know it stinks and we know it's kind of gross and we know that but someday we'll get rid of it one more night with the frogs that's human nature right there and the lords ask you the same questions through Isaiah the prophet how long are you gonna do this like when did would you like to stop that's what he's asking here he says oh why should you be stricken anymore you don't have to be but he says you're sick from the head to the foot you're sick and you're wounded bruised putrefying sores it just doesn't get more pathetic than this picture of what we're seeing painted here by the Lord through Isaiah the prophet well he goes on verse 7 your country is desolate your cities are burned with fire your land strangers devour in it that in your presence and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers and the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in the in a vineyard as a lodge in the garden of cucumbers as a besieged City except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomora what's going on here if you recall Isaiah his ministry was largely at a time of prosperity in Israel because remember when we listed the Kings we noticed that there's really only one bad King Ahaz and the rest of the Kings were generally good Kings and remember what happened to Judah when the good kings were reigning do you remember what happened things were good so what is he referring to here now there's two opinions and I'll give you both of them and you can maybe do your own homework if you want but Isaiah speaking probably prophetically here perhaps about the condition of Jerusalem what's gonna happen in the future that it's gonna be desolate that this whole description of stress is gonna happen it's gonna be burned with fire because that did happen eventually but not really during Isaiah's reign as prophets if you'd call it a rain or a season that I should say but so some people say well what's he talking about he's talking of prophetically Israel because you're sick with sin and you're unwilling to you know give it up and you're rebelling against the Lord then you're gonna be overthrown by strangers your cities will be burned with fire your land will be devoured in your presence and and and then some might say well Brett I think he's talking about the northern tribes remember Isaiah saw the vision concerning Judah verse 1 but what are you talking about Brett well do you remember the civil war that happened early in Israel's history after you know Solomon his reign after that shortly after Solomon was gone rheya balm Jeroboam Ember the the nation of Israel split into two and there was the north and the south the northern ten tribes the southern two tribes the north was called Israel the south coast called Judah and that's where Isaiah did most of his ministry is in Judah in Jerusalem I guess so with me there so this prophecy is questionable maybe Isaiah was talking some say about 722 BC when the Assyrians remember the Assyrians and Rab Shaka and that whole time you know when the Assyrian was the world power they wiped out the learn tribes remember the northern tribes were dragged away into captivity with hooks in their noses and the Assyrians dragged them and and basically the largely the Jews were assimilated into a Syrian culture and the half Jew half Assyrian became a person called a Samaritan that's why the Jews hated the Samaritans because they considered them sort of a half breed of poser Jews who had a weird doctrine and when Jesus said we need to go through Samaria and he goes and talk to the Samaritan woman remember that everybody was stunned why would he talk to a Samaritan any good Jew would not talk to a Samaritan remember the story of the Good Samaritan the reason that started as a shocker to everybody because there is no such thing as a Good Samaritan in the Jewish mind and so for Jesus to tell this parable of a Good Samaritan what that's impossible they hated the Samaritans and it's because the Assyrians assimilated that northern ten tribes but there was a remnant of Jews that fled back down to the south during that Assyrian you know conquering 722 but the problem with that theory and you could you can ascribe to that if you want but the problem is that is the description here includes Jerusalem do you know that an idiom used by Jews is to call Jerusalem the place where in verse eight and says and the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage we're talking about Jerusalem there that's something you should mark and know the daughter of Zion is Jerusalem all the Jews know that and so the problem with this prophecy about what's going to happen is it's including Jerusalem so some say no it's not 722 BC it's 586 BC does anybody remember what happened then Babylonian captivity right remember there were three waves of conquering the Babylonians towards the Jews the final wave was 586 and that would be of course when Daniel Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego were taken into Babylon and Jerusalem was destroyed the temple was wiped out later seven years later esra near my my inaudible Bubba is what I call him for short remember those guys all repaired and restored Jerusalem because it was destroyed some would say that Isaiah is talking about 586 when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were dragged off into captivity and I personally believe that's the one that Isaiah is prophesying because of their rebellion verses 1 through 7 its then saying because that verses 7 8 & 9 is talking about what's going to happen and and there's there's an interesting little tidbit given to us about this destruction that it wouldn't be total destruction then the Lord would leave he says here did you see the language a seed of remnant back in that place now this was important he says because you will be like sodom and gomorrah you would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah had a the Lord not left a seed of the Jews there and you remember there were just a little tiny seed of Jews still hanging out even during the captivity there was a tiny tiny group after the captivity does anybody remember how many people came back from Babylon to sort of restore and rebuild Jerusalem just above 50,000 people that's a pretty tiny group that came back from Babylon if you recall our study of that that whole story but but all that to say the Lord says you could have been and maybe you can imply should have been like Sodom and Gomorrah but because the Jews even in their rebellion even in their sinful condition the Lord says I still love you and I still I'm gonna leave a seed a remnant why cuz the Lord still had a plan for Israel the Lord will never forsake Israel that's why replacement theology is so wacked when people say that God's done with the Jews and it's now the church that he loves that's just wrong teaching the Lord loves the church but God is not done with the Jew he still has a promise he's got an everlasting covenant with the Jew and that's why he left a remnant of the seed in Israel okay are you still with me now that's important because one thing you should know about the Bible is Israel is metaphorically referred to as Sodom many times in the Bible even though Sodom and Gomorrah not Israel they're referred to as that look at verse verse 10 he says here the word of the Lord ye rulers of Sodom give ear unto the law of our God ye people of Gomorrah what's Isaiah doing he's superimposing the name of sodom and gomorrah on you know israel he's talking to them and calling him sodom and gomorrah does anybody know what the sin was that the Bible tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for anybody pride that's right somebody like homosexuality nope there was almost sexuality going on in Sodom and Gomorrah of course but it was pride isn't it something about that that there's a link to pride in all forms of sin it's what Satan fell in pride but Sodom and Gomorrah was lifted up with pride and that's largely I think why God says Israel you're the new Sodom and Gomorrah it's not just here but in Revelation chapter 11 there's an interesting story there do you guys remember in Revelation chapter 11 there's a story about these two you know witnesses they're gonna come and you guys remember these witnesses he has the red book of Revelation they're gonna come during the Tribulation Period that's the church will already be raptured I believe will be up in heaven with the Lord but 7 years of tribulation over there it's gonna be horrible but the Lord's gonna send two witnesses that I believe are to Old Testament prophets maybe Moses and Enoch some say Moses and Elijah I don't know but two prophets from the Old Testament going to show up and they're gonna start preaching Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem and it says all the world will see this event how are they gonna see it easy now man YouTube you know it'll YouTube live I like like they're gonna see this the Bible says they're all be seeing this all at once what's going to happen these guys will be running around Jerusalem preaching and if anybody tries to lay a hand on them do you remember what they're gonna do they're gonna breathe fire out and they'll consume them people will die that's a crazy story habaneros ha ha you know or uh jalapenos whatever they're gonna breathe fire now the world's gonna hate them and there's an interesting thing about what the Lord says there let me just read you from revelation 11 verse 7 speaking of those guys and when they shall have finished their testimony the Beast of the Antichrist that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them those two witnesses and overcome them and kill them and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city now wait come on Brett they're gonna kill guys and just let their bodies lay in the streets who does that Oh Muslims did you know they do that still today they like to drag bodies around the streets and stuff that's what they do in some of these places um so it's not that far-fetched to picture this happening and all the world's gonna see this but it says their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where our Lord was crucified isn't that interesting where was Jesus crucified Jerusalem and here metaphorically the Lord says he they're gonna be drugged these dead bodies left in the street of Sodom and Egypt the place where Jesus was crucified that the ideas he's calling Jerusalem the Sodom and the Egypt Egypt is a type of the world Sodom and Gomorrah is a place of total evil and destruction by God now by the way that story gets even more weird you know people are gonna be making merry and rejoicing and giving gifts it's gonna be like Christmas the two witnesses are dead yeah you know they're gonna be passing gifts along and stuff and then suddenly as the cameras are watching these dead bodies lying on the street they're gonna stand up alive or back can you imagine what's going to happen there it says after three days and a half the spirit of life will return to them and they will stand up on their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them wow that's the book of Revelation now you know of course here but the point is Jerusalem is called sodom and gomorrah several times in the Bible metaphorically because of their sinful condition okay are you guys with me on that that'll help you with your biblical interpretation as you're going through the Bible the Lord does that in verse 10 hear the word of the Lord ye rulers of Sodom speaking to Jerusalem give ear to our law of God you people of Gomorrah verse 11 to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullock's or lambs or of he goats when you come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination to me the new moons and Sabbath's the channel that apart me the calling of assemblies I I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting what the solemn meetings an iniquity sin yep your New Moon's verse 14 and your appointed feasts and my says my soul hateth they are trouble unto me I am weary to bear them and when you spread forth your hands I will hide my eyes from you yay when you make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood whoo this is heavy so what's going on the Jews while they're doing all this sinful junk laden with iniquity doing all kinds of horrible worshipping of idols and all that stuff meanwhile they're dutifully going to the temple and worshiping sacrificing lambs and bulls and lifting their hands to God and incense speaks of prayer and God says guess what you're and since your prayer is an abomination to me you're lifting up for your hands it makes me sick I'm full that ideas he's full of it he's just and I'm so full of your hypocrisy of sacrificing lambs bulls and Rams and goats and you could care less about your sin boy this is a heavy heavy topic remember the old Keith greens on to obey is better than sacrifice it's referring to that time where you know God told through Samuel called told King Saul to wipe out the Amalekites completely and half of what God told Saul to do he did the other half he didn't do and that second half he used as a sacrifice to God and Samuel said what are you kidding me to obey is better than sacrifice what does that all mean sacrifice in the Old Testament was pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus the Lamb that would be slain on the cross and the Jews by just continuing in sin and blowing off the whole purpose of sacrifice to say we're gonna send it up Oh we'll do our little God you want some bowls lambs goats whatever you want some incense okay we'll light it up you want you want to hear it see us left France there's our hands but I don't know raise your hands the floor says I'm sick of that and that behavior is an abomination to me your New Moon's your feets your Sabbath's by the way that's what the Jews to this day hold the most holy is their festivals and feasts and new moons and Sabbath's but God says those things are horrible I hate them that's what God says why does he hate them because they were missing the whole point they were off just sinning it up partying down and then sort of you know wiping their feet on them the mat of religion once a week or at the time of the feast or the festival thinking they could just keep doing their junk and then and then think God's good oh we did our dutiful thing but we're gonna go back to party and see the Lord what a bummer it is when God's people play games with God and I think there's sort of a New Testament counterpart to this isn't there for every Old Testament story there's a New Testament truth and I believe it's it's it really goes to what Paul was talking when he said should we continue in sin and let grace abound he What did he say that that was the answer god forbid why cuz of this he's saying man you know we could as as you know the American Church we could just be as guilty as as these guys what do you mean Brett well we could be off sending it up we can do our you know sinful things and and just sort of wink at God's Oh so what I'm doing this sin and I'm practicing that other thing and I'm I'm doing all this junk but hey I'm saved by grace through faith so I can just keep sinning I'm sorry Lord and once a week we'll take communion at AC Creek and we'll come to church on Sunday even pay I'm a her Wednesday night Lord cut off I'm almost like a Holy Roller because I'm here on Wednesday night but if we're if we're doing this and then going out and just continuing and sin letting sin abound and then wiping our feet on the the grace like a doormat we're missing the whole point it's the Lord's kindness that leads men to repentance and if we're like the snarling dog who's forgotten what God has done to us how he's fed us if you would grace and mercy and he's given us every good and perfect gift for us to enjoy and we forget that and then we sort of go through religious motions paul says god forbid why would he say that because of this god says to the jews man you're playing games with me you're worshipping Moloch and doing all kinds of sexual perverse stuff with asteroth in the in the groves of the trees and you're doing all this junk and then you come and sacrifice a lamb and you think that's impressive to me the Lord says that makes me sick this is heavy heavy heavy heavy and I hope that we leave it there just for a second because man we shouldn't be guilty of that we should be mindful of what the Lord has done for us so on the roller coaster of Isaiah are we on a downswing right now I would think so are you ready for an upswing I always like it the up swings let's let's continue he says in verse 16 wash you make you clean put away evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow Lourdes is saying men you know you're a bunch of posers and here's what you really should be doing be washed and cleansed you good have you no compassion for the oppressed and judge the the idea of judging the fatherless means you know help them make decisions to to bring them in and help the orphan is the idea plead for the widow and then perhaps one of my favorite verses in the Bible there's a mole out of my guess but this is definitely one of them verse 18 the Lord says come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool Wow come now let us reason together I was planning on doing two chapters tonight but I don't want to rush through verse eighteen so I think we'll tackle that on Sunday that sound like a plan alright cool but that's really slow we're gonna be through the Bible in 40 years Oh we'll pick it up maybe but not tonight let's pray Lord we are so thankful that you are so more than reasonable even though our sins are as scarlet Lord even though we can relate to these Jews are being challenged so heavily here by the prophet Isaiah we sense in our own culture in our own world where we embrace sin and we laugh and we celebrate things that you call an abomination Lord forgive us I think of Daniel who really wasn't doing anything wrong but he prayed forgive us he prayed that prayer of confession in Daniel chapter 9 with such fervor forgive us we have sinned Lord we have to do that as a nation as well and we pray that you'd forgive us as millions and millions of babies have been aborted as homosexuality is celebrated and and even though your word says that it's called sin as Lord we churches don't want to submit to your word and call evil evil and and really Lord as your word says people would have itching ears wanting to hear what they want to hear but not really willing to hear the truth then in the last days there would be a famine in the land of the hearing of Scripture lord I pray that these days we live in that we your church would not be sucked into this vacuum of sinfulness Lord we see even as 2020 elections are ramping up seeing people with causes that are so ungodly seeing people that have an agenda that are so counter to what you tell us in your word we see Lord in our city of Portland human trafficking at a horrible level we see Lord the church in Portland many churches that have so far removed themselves from good doctrine and just believing your word as it is the perfect inspired word we see colleges and universities indoctrinating our young people even Christian universities so many bailing from good theology Lord forgive us especially Lord as we play the game of going to our churches and doing our thing Lord forgive us as a nation I pray for revival in the land I pray that you'd wake us up and that you'd help us to hunger and thirst after righteousness Lord even as you left a remnant there in Jerusalem if that's what's happening may we be that remnant we want to see revival but if it is the end if the rapture of the church is coming soon we want to be watching ready and waiting but we'd also love to see a revival awakening Lord where people see the error of their way and that we would wash ourselves as isaiah says that we'd reason with you Lord you're more than reasonable to take our sins though they'd be like scarlet and to make them white as snow what a what a beautiful compassionate work that you've done for us help us not to forget I pray that we wouldn't just be thinking about you and your word on Sunday and Wednesday but or may we walk with you every single day of the week I pray that we'd be tools in your hand Lord so we pray whether it's here at Westland or the folks in Sherwood tonight the people down in Salem or the folks watching at home Lord convict our hearts but do a good work Lord in these days of compromise and sin lord I pray that we would be set apart Lord you tell us come ye out from among them and be separate teach us what that means so Lord we pray your word would do its work tonight as we go our way and we thank you for speaking through your word by your spirit tonight in Jesus name we pray amen you

Channel: Athey Creek

Views: 26,557

Rating: 4.9119806 out of 5

Keywords: Brett Meador, Bible, Church, Teaching, Study, Christian, Jesus, Micah DePaoli, Oregon, Through the Bible, m2-292, Isaiah

Id: _G2rTL49GhY

Length: 61min 8sec (3668 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 26 2020