Through the Bible | Isaiah 3:1 - 5:7

[Music] well we're glad you're joining us this evening and you know it is I have to say it's a little weird being in the sanctuary here all by myself the building is no fun at all until the church is here that's the truth of the matter this building is just this big empty warehouse with nothing in it but I have to say it gives my our great joy to know you're all with me as the Holy Spirit's in your place in your house and we're able to just open up our Bibles and search the Scriptures tonight what a joy to be able to you know look at what the scriptures say now I was looking at some of the news items even of today probably not a great idea but the reason I bring this up is because you guys are all seeing the same the same headlines as I am you know let me just give you a few three billion people now down on lockdown three billion people in the world on lockdown patients charged with attempted murder for failing to self isolate politicians jockeying for tests find proximity to President as fastest route hospitals consider Universal do not resuscitate orders interesting you know governors say massive federal bail bailout will fall short the economy has already looked totally different from previous age we're talking about different age now is what we're in you know rural America rural America watches pandemic erupt in cities as fear grows people could be charged to intentionally spread the virus could be charged as terrorists now how government can track social media posts to enforce quarantines supermarkets install protective barriers between staff and customers that's not about idea fired Americans and unemployment websites crashing today well California looked like Italy soon Water and Power will be shut off for businesses that don't close banks suspend mortgage payments which that could be helpful for some Treasury it begins Treasury negative interest rates the mayor of New York says half of New Yorkers will get infected morgues are right now near capacity Congress hides a bailout bill from public sick troops are not being tested Chicago Mayor warns those who go outside to exercise risk arrest can you imagine if I read these headlines you know even two three months ago you and I thought oh no the world's coming to an end I mean morgues being filled to the brim that's not a great thing to talk about and and some people say that's just you know some people want to say I don't even want to hear about that stuff as long as I'm healthy we're good to go and and some people are just kind of wringing their hands not knowing what to do but tonight as we look at Isaiah one of the things it's tricky is we're like I said on Sunday where we are in the bible is where we're at in life and Isaiah has got a lot of heavy stuff and you know it's funny to me too to deal with some of these topics Isaiah's talking about in the days we're living and and yet the thing is no matter where you are in the Bible there's great hope and there's always the answer ultimately that will come so if you feel a little depressed in the first part of our study don't don't let that get to you there's always it always ends good all things work together for good for those who you know are called those who love God those who are called according to his purpose we know that but but Isaiah the prophet man he's got some heavy words and the reason of his heavy words let's go ahead and turn there Isaiah of course is where we are in chapter 4 chapter 3 I should say and chapter 3 and and 4 we looked at a little bit on Sunday and we're gonna kind of dial those in tie up some loose ends in chapter 3 and and and 4 and try to get as far as we can tonight but here Isaiah the prophets talking about the coal that we're gonna come to Jerusalem and to Judea the southern two tribes of Israel the ten northern tribes are different different discussion really I guess but but he's starting to dial into Jerusalem as we get further down into this narrative of Isaiah and the problem is the people are exceedingly wicked and they blown off God they've forgotten God they were very comfortable they were very wealthy and now Isaiah's saying man it's all going to come down it's interesting because we Bible prophecy guys or have you know guys that are interested in Bible prophecy churches kind of seem to have lost a lot of interest in it but we've been saying things are gonna get worse before they get better so when bad things like this happened it's not like we're like one see we told you guys we're not really saying that but what we are saying is this is that which the Bible says would happen that there'd be pestilence and disease in the last times and men would you know run for cover this is stuff that you know is not that far-fetched when it comes to what the Bible actually says that the last days would include so could this be the last days it could be or it could just be like we said last week some of those birth pains this sort of you know ripple through time and they get more intense and more frequent the closer it comes to the coming of the Lord you see that's the thing don't forget the whole story is is things get bad and and then the next thing on the list is the rapture of the church and we don't know how bad it will get before we're raptured and we do think as Bible students we see where things are gonna get worse and then an ultimately horrible and that'll be during the Tribulation Period seven years called the tribulation how bad will it get as sneaks up to the seven-year tribulation period I don't know we don't know how bad it'll get but what we do know is we put our trust in the Lord and and and it is interesting that Jesus told us that pray that you be counted worthy to escape all of these things and I I'm an escapist I love the idea of escaping all the tragedies and trials of the tribulation period so I'm ready I'm looking up I hope you are too I hope you're looking for the Lord's rapture of his church where we'll take take to the air and be with him forever that's gonna be a glorious day so the timeline of events things get bad and they are getting bad it seems as you look at the world scene and then we any time the rapture the church can happen then once the rapture happens that's when everything really falls apart I should say that they've pretty much fall apart and then at the three-and-a-half year midpoint of that seven-year tribulation that's when the Great Tribulation happens and by that time two thirds of the planet will die the Bible tells us you know and you know you can almost picture that kind of apocalyptic biblical sort of narrative with some of the headlines we're having right now I mean it's not that hard to imagine it was two months ago but now you kind of think wow this this really this biblical narrative really could happen and really I think forgive me if I sound insulting but you have to be kind of thick to read the Bible and not see that the Lord has been generously lovingly warning us of these days that these times would come and you know there's gonna be this buying and selling without using cash and you'll have something in your hand or in your forehead where you'll buy and sell and you know in Sweden they're already doing that more than 20,000 people have been given a chip injected into their hand and they can you know pay their bus bills they can go shopping they can do so they can buy stuff out of vending machines with their little chip just scan the chip you know and don't have to pass any Korona around you know and you know it's it's it's it's really something how the more history unfolds the more that cashless society of the book of Revelation just makes total sense you can see how it's going to be brought into being and in kind of a very real way but all of these things are you know coming Jesus said these things are coming but don't let your hearts be troubled you know so so what happens here with the Book of Isaiah is he's talking about you know Jerusalem and Judea and the Jews but his gaze goes past that and that's something we saw last week as we were seeing him start to talk about the Millennial Kingdom see after the rapture of the church then there's the seven-year period called the tribulation and it's at the end of the seven years where Christ is going to return they're seen the rapture is not the second coming don't be confused that's where we the church goes to meet the Lord in the air the second coming of Christ is at the end of the Tribulation Period that's that's where he will return with ten thousands of ten thousands of his Saints that's us we're already with them why cuz we were raptured and also those who died before us who are believers will be there with Christ in his return and that's where the Battle of Armageddon you know is wrapped up that's where you know there's an end of everything end of sin end of sickness and disease the Lord's gonna come and rule and reign in righteousness and there's going to be peace unparalleled throughout all of history there's gonna be no greater time than when Christ rules from Jerusalem and that is gonna be a fulfillment of much of what Isaiah is gonna be pointing us to tonight when Christ comes that Millennial Kingdom thousand years of peace and prosperity on the earth well what's going to happen at the end of the thousand years well that's a long story but I'll give you the Reader's Digest version ready at the end of the thousand years Satan will be loosed once again he'll be tied up and in a busou and abyss he and his demons but they'll be loosed at the end of the millennium just for a short season and we can talk about why that's gonna happen there's reasons but it'll only be for a very short time and then ultimately Michael the Archangel will bind up Satan and cast away forever after that so there's a short season at the end of Millennial Kingdom but then there's a new heaven that the Lord will make and a new earth and there we will live happily ever after that's the way the story goes so rapture the church is the next thing on the list bad things happening all the while then it gets really bad the first three and a half years of the tribulation we're with the Lord in heaven then the last three to half years horrible tribulation I call it the Great Tribulation the greatest part of the tribulation and then the return of Christ's second coming at the end of that Tribulation Period and then the Millennial Kingdom that's the way I read the Bible that's what I see in Scripture and you'll find people that have varying views on that and different opinions on how the order of those events and we as an in-house debate and their Christian people who have different views on how the Bible explains it and we've looked at other views and other studies but just for point of reference the the prophet Isaiah is going to point us to that Millennial Kingdom when Christ comes and rules from Jerusalem so that's kind of the stage being set in fact if we back up a little bit do you remember that we saw that you know things were bad in chapter 2 where it says in verse 19 in our last week study of chapter 2 they shall go into the holes of the rocks into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty when he arises and shake terribly the earth that reminds me of Revelation chapter 6 verses 15 through 17 that talks about men kings great men's poor men slaves all hiding for their lives that's when Christ comes the day of the Lord and they'll intervene and it's gonna be a bad scene well so Isaiah is talking about his his people locally but also he's looking out long-term too so we'll show you where that happens so when the Jews are rebelling against God he continues about here's what's gonna happen to you guys the Jews for their their horrible behaviors he says in chapter 3 verse 1 and remember this was during the time of tiglath-pileser the Assyrian who was you know besieging Jerusalem there was horrible things about to happen Isaiah says in verse 1 chapter 3 for behold the Lord the Lord of Hosts which is like the lord of armies death take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water here in verse 1 he's talking about famine that there would be famine in the land during that time the stay is the storage the storage of the staff the storage of the bread the storage of the water he's basically mentioning famine and drought now what's interesting is in the 13 times in the Old Testament that the Bible speaks of drought and famine 13 times famine and drought all of them are interestingly judgements from God in the Old Testament there wasn't just you know oh my didn't rain this year and our crops didn't grow I wonder why that happened in the Old Testament every time there's famine mentioned of the 13 times they're all judgments of God coming upon man and that is interesting because people ask that question you know well what about this coronavirus is this the judgment of God I think we have to be careful because we don't know what he's doing we we can't misrepresent the Lord this could be we talked about this last week this could be the Lord just correcting humanity week but as he judging us well when that happens that's going to be the Tribulation Period when God's wrath is poured out upon a christ-rejecting sinful world he could be judging in the sense of correction or even you know redirecting course correcting I should say the Jews that's what he's trying to do here to get them back on course so they're gonna enter into this famine and it goes on verse 2 the mighty man and the man of war the judge and the prophet and the prudent and the ancient the old the old men the captain of fifty and the honorable man and the counselor and the cunning artificer or you know the artist and the eloquent orator and I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them what is this saying it says all there there's all these mighty men that are warriors and artists and you know orator x' and all these you know the guys that are the state's been the leaders but he says I'm gonna let little children rule them and let babies be over them do you ever get the sense that some of our leaders seem like children act like children man if you're watching what's going on in Washington right now there's some very childish behavior going on if you're watching this bill that they're trying to pass and stuff they're trying to stick in this bill while people are hurting and needing some real help there's all kinds of foolery going on and it just strikes me as very childish sort of behavior and and this is what the Lord said would happen to the children of Israel that your leaders will be like little babies wearing diapers leading you even though there's mighty men everywhere and talented people gifted people they're not going to be the leaders it's gonna be these these babies this this is quite relevant I think for today we see that happening largely today and it says in verse 5 and the people shall be oppressed every one by another and everyone by his neighbor and the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient or the old person and the base against the Honorable you know basically there's gonna be like even class warfare you know where the rich are beaten down the poor or the poor are trying to beat down the rich there's gonna be people oppressing one by another every child every one by his neighbor every child behaving himself proudly against the old people did you see the news you know of these spring break partiers down in you know Florida and and they were being told go in you know go inside stay you know social distancing and they were all out there just partying down now the news this week is showing how many of them are getting sick and a large group of them are getting sick those the party Spring Breakers and you know it was it was it's sad because they they're the ones who are infecting some of the older people the Spring Breakers may not get this coronavirus in a you know the the kovat 19 virus - a strong dose of it but it for the elderly who they're passing it on to and around they're the ones are being it put a danger they could care less about the old people and and and there's even some talking about like like that headline that I read you the old people are gonna die they're gonna die like that there's some people actually talking about that not a great world view but that's the world view of Isaiah's time same the thing that we're seeing here it's almost like you can see these last days of Isaiah and the Jews in Jerusalem and and in Judea this it models the last days of the world as well not just in localized Jerusalem but really the whole world we're seeing sort of a ripple of Bible prophecy you could call it a dual fulfillment of Bible prophecy that happens a lot in the Bible well it goes on in verse six when a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father saying thou has clothing be thou our ruler and let this ruin be under thy hand in that day he sware saying I will not be an healer for in my house is neither bread nor clothing make me not a ruler of the people this is interesting what's this thing this is the King James way in the for in verse six when a man takes well his brother in the house of his father saying you have clothing be our ruler it's almost like if you have nice clothes you get you're qualified to be the ruler over the people and that's another thing we see not only our babies ruling but people that are popular and have the nice clothing hey you got nice clothes you be our ruler like clothing makes the man or makes the woman that's kind of what's being said here you've got clothes you be our ruler I see Hollywood yeah isn't it funny how many Hollywood elite thinks that their political science experts isn't it amazing that a lot of Hollywood people think they're spiritual advisors and if they know something about God when they really don't but they've got nice clothes and they are being tapped to be our leaders and our spokespeople and stuff like that and man you've got fools leading people that's what this is talking about hey you got clothes you lead us but the person with the closest I can't lead I'm not going to do that verse 8 for Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen because there tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory why are all these things happening they get this right because their tongue speaks against the Lord and their doings their actions not only their words but their actions are contrary to God God forbid that we are a part of that in these last days where we're saying yeah we're gonna live and we're gonna do things opposed to God we're gonna go against his word we as Christians man we got to be those that hunger and thirst after righteousness and will be filled if we do that will be empty if we go with the world well that's what these people were doing they were speaking against the Lord they were acting out against the Lord to provoke him in his eyes of Gloria says here verse 9 the the show of their countenance death witness against them and they declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not woe unto their soul for they have rewarded evil unto themselves say he to the righteous that it shall be well with him for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings woe unto the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him verse 9 speaks of them flaunting their sin do we have people that flaunt sin in our culture people that celebrate sinfulness we have parades of the gay pride parades and we wonder why we're messed up we in Hollywood our movies celebrate all kinds of vile sinful stuff and and our world boasts of our you know depravity and we were proud of our sexual promiscuity and and we laugh at you know addiction and sinful stuff that we just got a mock and we we shake our puny little fists that God wondering why things aren't working out if God is love why do bad things happen to good people meanwhile or a bunch of bad people done a bunch of bad things celebrating our badness and we scratch scratch our heads wondering why the corona virus is going rampant I just see kind of a sort of a dim sort of worldview there the Lord has been lovingly warning us run from sin be sure of this your sin will find you out the Lord lovingly warned us of this very thing and he says that to the righteous it's gonna go good with you it's all gonna work out for the righteous but it's gonna go really ill verse 11 for the wicked that's just the way it's all gonna end if you want to know how the story's gonna end there it is the righteous will bread I'm I'm not very righteous I still sin remember imputed righteousness saved by God's grace if you've accepted Christ and repented of your sins doesn't mean you're perfect it means you're forgiven and the Lord looks at you and he deems you righteous you didn't deserve it you and I see our own sins on each other but God hides his face from your sin but he loves you and he wrote he robes you in his righteousness the righteous those have accepted Christ and repent of their sins men it's gonna go well with you but for the sinner the person who's you know wicked it's gonna go ill with them and the reward of his hands are gonna be given him in other words whatever that man sews that's what they're gonna reap so what the Bible says well verse 12 chapter 3 goes on as for my people children are their oppressors and women rule over them oh my people they which lead the Kazi to err and destroy the way of thy past it's the leaders that are leading them down the wrong path that is so bad here the 'the lord is pointing it out verse 13 the Lord stands up to plead and stand us to judge the people the Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof for ye have eaten up the vineyard the spoil of the pours in your houses what meanie that beat you you beat my people to pieces you grind the faces of the poor saith the Lord God of hosts man there was just this inequity of leaders who were evil and they were beating down the people that were poor and oppressed God sees that and he doesn't appreciate it and he's gonna mess he's gonna mess up those people who are horrifyingly evil he's gonna he's gonna mess them up it says here and we'll see how bad well he goes on at verse 16 moreover the Lord says say f be because of the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes walking and mincing as they go and making a tinkling with their feet this idea of mincing is walking and sort of a freely suggestive manner sort of you know a feminine sort of lure kind of walking that's the idea here of mincing as they go verse 17 therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head the daughters of Zion and the Lord will discover their secret parts we talked about this on Sunday talking about sexually transmitted disease will be given to these women there they'll have this wound of a scab of something on their head sounds pretty horrifying and it says that verse 18 and that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet and their calls and their round tires like the moon the chains and the bracelets and the mufflers apparently it was cool to put a Midas muffler right around your neck and that was really attractive in those days no I don't know you know if you want to read by the way the New International Version sort of modernizes all these trinkets and things for you you that are interested in what the ladies were really into wearing in those days the NIV kind of nails it down it has to do with everything from veils to headdresses like the round tires and all this stuff it's not Goodyear it's it's these these headdresses and veils and ornaments of jewelry necklaces bracelets and anklets and stuff like that these were these when we're decked out dressed up to the nines but we're gonna see underneath all that fancy stuff is just a bunch of gross yucky stuff I'll never forget I won't name any names because some of you might even be watching years ago years and years ago probably I'm say 30 years ago tad and I had a fun kids camp we probably had 150 kids at this big campout and we're at Camp Bradley on the beach and band in Oregon great camp we had a blast bunch of fun and there was a particular group of girls that were probably six you know like their right six seven years old it was it was it was the primary camp you know first second and third grade but so they were like six seven year old girls but man these girls were particularly given to makeup and frilly little dresses and fancy little shoes and it was really funny because they looked like little princesses running around the camp you know everybody else had dirt on their faces and we're running in the sand and we're just having a blast and all this stuff but these frilly little girls look like little petunia is walking around it was really cute but it was kind of funny because we were doing a lot of dirty stuff you know camping and stuff but as the camp progressed we noticed that these frilly little girls they there was a particular smell that was coming from them quite quite powerfully and it was I don't know how to say this it might just have been one of the most horrifying smells that I had ever smelled in my life and I have a sensitive nose but this was this was serious and it got so bad and we'd asked the girls girls you know did you know and that we made sure the counselor to make sure everybody took their baths and got clean and stuff because we're I got to do what we got to do and you know the girls we said go go take a bath a shower whenever and the girls they did but man the smell just got worse as the camp went on and we marveled and wondered well finally we had to figure it out it because their room the room that their the cabin that they were in there you could smell it before he even walked up to the door and somewhere like something's gotta give so the counselor went in and started looking around and sure enough we found what the problem was you see on the first day of the camp we went out to the beach and found a bunch of fun stuff and and these girls they didn't let us know but they wanted to take some souvenirs from the beach and they found some dead crab and some dead starfish and some I think they even had a dead fish that they found and they hid them in their dresses and they brought the dead fish and stuff and stuck it in their luggage and their fish was there in the luggage marinating all their clothes and their cabin for quite if it was a hot summer at that time too so so these dead fish and clams and crabs and stuff by the time we found it it was it was the most horrible horrible smell you could ever imagine and so when I when I read this doubt by the way once we got that all figured out it was all good we got the girls all cleaned up and by the time we turned them back to their parents it was it was good thank the Lord but these women are not gonna work out that good there's a smell they've got all this fancy gear but suddenly it's gonna start to stink check it out it says in that day verse 18 the Lord will take away their bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet their calls their round tires the moon the chains bracelets the mufflers the bonnets the ornaments of legs and the headbands and the tablets and earrings the Rings and nose jewels the changeable suits of a parable apparel the mantles the wimple 's veils the crisping pins the glasses the fine linen the lids and the veils again if you read the NIV and I forgot to bring my I was gonna bring my NIV snippet so I could read that to you but I forgot but you can check that out online or whatever it's easy but all those things and it says in verse 24 and it and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink and instead of a girdle a rip or rent instead of a well set hair baldness instead of a stomach ER the girding of sackcloth and burning instead of beauty man burning instead of beauty that reminds me of a wedding that I did when I was having them light the unity candle you know the bride was here the groom was here the candle is here and as they were lighting she leaned down to light and her veil leaned into the flame and suddenly that that tool you know that stuff that's made them it goes up like like cellophane like fire just her veil caught on fire and I was gonna like whoa and it just lit up you know well the husband quick thinking the husband-to-be he Pat's out her face like and he gets the fire out and then she looks at me and she's got this big hole burned in her veil she looks at me bewildered and and fortunately she was okay but her veil was gone pretty much this whole and so her face was like this so when it came time to kiss the bride I didn't have to have her you know or him lift the veil he just kissed her through the hole that was burnt and her veil was it was it was quite a scary deal and but she was okay um but that's the idea of burning and instead of beauty it'sit's not gonna be a good thing that these decked out women they're gonna end up bald stinky and even their clothes will be turned in from beautiful clothes to sack cloth instead of a girdle that's holding everything in pop it's gonna rip and they're they're gonna be bloated is the idea bulk bloated bald stinky and it says they'll be wearing sackcloth which is the cheapest material you could find and not comfortable and burning instead of beauty what about the men well says here verse 25 die men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war and her gates shall lament and mourn and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground and in that day verse 1 of chapter 4 seven women shall take hold of one man saying we will eat our own bread and we're our own apparel only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach what reproach their stinky bald bloated state and they're asking these guys to take take him in one guy for every seven women that's a tough ratio right there and when we looked at that on Sunday these women wanted to be linked to a man only a name but not in their food they ate and the clothes they wore and we saw a beautiful picture of that if you missed it on Sunday that we need to eat his bread the bread of life Jesus and we need to wear his robe of righteousness and our sin and our stink will be washed and covered and and will be blessed as he's the bridegroom and we're the bride we looked at that on Sunday but it says there's they're kind of tugging on this guy saying take away our reproach all of our you know problems and so verse 2 of chapter 4 in that day shall the branch of the Lord mark that that's important the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel there's some who escaped who would that be well you know there will be in Isaiah story a very small remnant of Jews that will not have been involved with all this idolatry and sinful wickedness and there will be a few that will escape and and Isaiah's gonna talk about them but you can also see Isaiah's gaze go past into the future where he's talking about a whole nother group of people and I believe he's talking about the Gentile Church where the Jews have rejected the Messiah and the Jews or in their sin now you understand it's not that the Jews are done God's not done with the Jews he still has a love and a plan for the Jews but it was the Gentiles who would eventually be the the escaping so there would be some who escaped this and it was those who were declared righteous by this branch of the Lord down now let's talk about this those that escaped are gonna be part of this glorious day in that day the branch of Lord the word branch there for you Bible students should be sort of a signal because several of the prophets talked about the branch of the Lord and that is none other than the Messiah in fact in Isaiah chapter 11 we read about this same branch verse 1 it says there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse who's Jesse the father of David and out of David there would come another branch eventually which would be Jesus the son of David and he's called a branch and he will shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of Lord will rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding and counsel might and knowledge and of the fear of the Lord in Isaiah 11 verse 1 it talks about this same branch in jeremiah 23:5 we read about that same branch it's it's it's the branch which is Jesus none other than Jesus Christ jeremiah 23:5 behold the days will come save Lord that I raised unto David a righteous branch capital B and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice on the earth in his days Judah shall be saved Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness or Jehovah sidqa noon you see this branch of Jesse is the one that Isaiah is talking about Jeremiah also chapter 33 verse 15 of Jeremiah and Zechariah the Prophet in Zechariah 3:8 he's talked about being the branch this branch is a theme you should be aware of the branch of David it starts out a small weak little branch that's very fragile and that would be Jesus who became a man and was crucified but while they tried to destroy that little you know fertile little plant branch it would become a mighty mighty vine that no one could mess with and ultimately that would be the vine that Jesus talked about where he says I am the vine and you are the branch you are the branches now this idea of the branch is so important to understand this is a theme because it carries on all kinds of pictures for example the branch is Jesus this little root of David that springs up and becomes the king of kings and the Lord our righteousness if you're a replacement theology proponents if you believe God's done with the Jews and he's hacked that Jewish vine out you got a problem because the Jews there they're the part where that vine comes through if you the vine that you and I have been grabbed it into Romans chapter 11 tells us that you and I are been grafted into the vine of the Jews and Jesus was a Jew you gotta remember that and so when you hack the Jews down and say that God's done with them then why wouldn't he hack you down either and how are you gonna live if you're not attached to the Jews we've been grafted into that it's a it's a fundamental flaw of replacement theology if you say God's done with the Jews then he's done with you too guaranteed and it's bad theology to say God is finished with the Jews read Romans nine ten and eleven it'll tell you exactly the words of why you shouldn't be a replacement theology proponent where God has done with the Jews and part of that links to the branch of Jesus Christ the branch the Netzer is the Hebrew word in many of these places and it's an interesting word that we'll study when we get Isaiah 11:1 but none nonetheless here in Isaiah we see this this branch that's being talked about the branch of the Lord verse 2 of chapter 4 marked that because we're gonna cross that a lot as we keep reading through the Bible but what happens when that branch comes beautiful and glorious the fruit of the earth shall be excellent that's we're talking about the Millennial Kingdom the branch of the Lord when he comes that's what we're talking about the Millennial Kingdom like in Isaiah 11:1 jeremiah 23:5 it's all talking about when Christ comes and he's the Lord our righteousness where her rule and reign and make all things right that's the Millennial Kingdom here's where Isaiah starts to reach into that Millennial Kingdom dissertation and we can learn so much about that so there's a remnant that escapes but they're linked to the branch that's the Gentiles that they accepted Christ or Jews very very few Jews have turned to Jesus but any Jew or Gentile they're no longer Jew nor Gentile they're called the church we're connected to the branch and were saved through Jesus Christ but getting out of myself verse 3 and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy notice how they called them holy it's not this says that he is holy that's what the church is called we're called holy declared righteous everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem verse 3 and verse 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning and the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion that's true slim in the Temple Mount and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and a shining of flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat and for a place of refuge and for cover or covering from the storm and from rain what's happening this is where Isaiah goes way past this Jerusalem and Judah and TIG laugh placer and the Assyrians way past that now he's talking about when Christ comes and rules and reigns and what's what's one of the characteristics of the Millennial Kingdom when you get to the Millennial Kingdom do you want to be a tourist or do you want to be a tour guide it's up to you and being a good student of scripture you'll be able to explain what's happening like some of you I'll get there and go whoa what's going on others of you will be like wow this is the pillar of fire that was very much like the pillar of fire that went with Moses and the children of Israel as they were wandering that a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day and it seems that in the Millennial Kingdom that's going to be reestablished there on the Temple Mount pillar of cloud by day to represent the glory of the Lord and a pillar of fire by night and not only will it represent the glory of the Lord it says here but it says in in verse 5 it says that glory the shining of the flaming fire by night it shall be a defense or a covering the Lord will rule and reign from Jerusalem but there's going to be this burning fire at night pillar of cloud by day that's gonna be during the money on Kingdom when Christ's is ruling from the throne in Jerusalem and that's just gonna be there this is this almost sounds Lord of the Rings this with pillars of fire burning and kings reigning it's gonna be dramatic don't be a tourist be a tour guide learn about this millennial kingdom so all that to say this is when Israel will be restored as when Christ returns the Second Coming when does the second coming of Christ we talked about after the tribulation right at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom and that's what Isaiah is talking about well that's that's what we're gonna see here happening in a chapter four chapter five quickly we probably won't give this whole chapter tonight but I do want to start theirs it starts with a little song a little ditty at the front end of Isaiah chapter five Isaiah five verses one through seven is a poem now the interesting thing is Hebrew poetry oftentimes doesn't use a lot of the poetry tools and techniques that we use in modern times for example rhyming or assonance or alliteration we don't see a lot of that we see stuff like you know a caustic things where there's like the Hebrew alphabet letters a lot of times in Hebrew poetry we'll use the alphabet a is for Apple B is for boy c is for cat and they'll do these verses with the Hebrew letters but in this particular song this one kind of rhymes if you would or uses alliteration in in this little song of Isaiah chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 if you were to read it in Hebrew you would sense the cadence and rhyme to this which is interesting happy little song well not really it's kind of a sad little song we're seeing it seems that Isaiah is singing the blues here you might think it's happy at first but it's not let's take a look at this song here of Isaiah the song of the vineyard is what it's called so Isaiah says in chapter 5 verse 1 now will I sing to my a song of my beloved touching his vineyard my well-beloved hath the vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and also made a winepress therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes now what happened well notice the nature of this this this vineyard you know husbandmen or farmer comes and has a beautiful vineyard and it says a very fruitful Hill verse one so like this is this is the best possible scenario as far as the land it's this very fertile soil beautiful hillside and what did he do man he did all the work husbandmen or farmer could do if in your dresser could do he fenced it gathered all took all the stones and got all the rocks out of the land built a water tower in the middle made a winepress and it looked beautiful it was a perfect vendor and everything should have been great except for one thing when it grew grapes had brought forth wild grapes now some of you might be thinking cool wild grapes it's great no wild grapes are sour and they're horrible and you can't do anything with them the wild grapes are the worst and that's not what you want if you're a vineyard keeper you don't want wild grapes and so so this is the little little song so this little vineyard guy went out planted a vineyard grew wild grapes then listen what happens verse 3 and now o inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah judge I pray the twixt me and my vineyard what could have been done more to my vineyard he's asking the question what what could this vineyard what could we have done to keep these wild grapes from growing and souring and ruining the vineyard what could we have done that I had not done in it wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes had brought forth wild grapes poor unacceptable grapes verse 5 now go go - I will tell you what I will do with my vineyard I will take away the hedge there of the fence and I sit and it shall be eaten up and break down the walls thereof and it shall be trodden down I will lay it to waste and it shall not be pruned nor digged and there shall come up briars and thorns and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it for the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant and he looked for judgment but behold oppression for righteousness but behold a cry those last words by the way in verse 7 in the Hebrew text rhyme but basically the word for judgment is justice the Lord looks for justice the second word oppression which means you know the bloodshed instead of instead of justice there was bloodshed and then for righteousness there was a cry or distress so when the Lord looked to Israel that should have been the Lord says you were set up Israel you were set up for perfect I gave you a land flowing with milk in any I delivered you from Egypt I I set you up for total success but you produced sour grapes and and wild grapes so what am I gonna do I'm gonna lift the farmer says I'm gonna stop working in the vineyard and the walls will be torn down farms will grow up it's gonna become this barren sort of wasteland why because they were being horrible to the poor they were sinning and worshiping idols and the Lord uses this little song of Isaiah and explain the situation you see Isaiah's prophecy matches the other prophecies of the Bible like Ezekiel when the Book of Ezekiel teaches we'll get there when we get to Ezekiel's prophecies about how the Lord would scatter the Jews in Jerusalem in Israel and the Land of Israel would become desolate and God would let thorns grow there and that's what happened you know Israel was a total desolation you know it used to be called the land flowing with milk and honey but by the time the Jews were driven out in AD 70 by the Roman from that point on it just became a place of total desolation and it was that way for almost 2,000 years you know the Turks did some stuff you know the Arab Muslims came through and treated the land horribly and one of the things they did is one of the you know Turkish leaders taxed everybody of how many trees they had on their land and if you had a tree you were taxed according to your tree and there's a thing about taxes and if you tax the person who's being perdu productive well they start to not be productive there's kind of an interesting thing there so what happened everybody cut down the trees in Israel so bad was it that the the taxation on the trees everybody cut down trees and it actually changed the climate of Israel for hundreds of years and it became very barren and desolate Mark Twain spent a year in Israel in his lifetime and it's an interesting thing you can look online at Mark Twain's visit to Israel but the thing that he marvels at the most is how desolate the land of Israel is he says you couldn't find a green plant for miles there was no farms he said once in a while you'll see a Bedouin but even they were hard to find in the Land of Israel and and he and he spent a year just traveling around the desolation of Israel it wouldn't be really until you know the 1800s when the the Zionist movement happened and the Jews started moving back to the land because they were being you know killed in the other parts of the world empty Semitism so the Zionists the Jews said we got to get back to our own land because we're going to persecute it all over the world Theodor Herzl and you know others came back to Israel and they bought land from the various Muslims and groups that were there the Jews bought land you know people act like the Jews came and attacked everybody and got that land nope much of the land that they have they purchased with money good money how many of us can say we purchased our land from the Indians or whatever but the Jews they were the one group that much of their land was purchased with money and and then the land started to come back to as the Jews started to firemen today Israel is one of the top fruit and vegetable producers in it for much of the world much of Europe gets fruits and vegetables from this beautiful glorious land and what we're seeing is not only Isaiah's part of this song where God would make their vineyard desolate and destroyed but then Ezekiel talks about how he would you know remember the valley of dry bones there was much a deadness there and eventually the bones started clattering and you know the knee bone was connected to the thigh bone and all that stuff and eventually all these little skeletons came up and then the Lord would breathe life into those dry the dry bones and the Lord would gather his people back in Israel and the land would come alive again well that's happened before our very eyes in our lifetimes we've seen Israel come to life and and that's part of the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible which also tells us we're living in the last days do you see that Isaiah and Ezekiel and these prophecies they all go hand in hand this little song that we just read is the part of God saying okay Israel you want to do your own thing I'm gonna lift my hands of protection from office not that God destroyed them he just lifted his hands of because they didn't want anything to do with God God's a perfect gentleman he won't force his protection upon you but if you want to do your own thing Lord I'll say remember Romans chapter 1 the people that or neither thankful or giving glory to God did their own things and we're wise in their own eyes and you know practice homosexuality and did a bunch of sinful wicked stuff violence and all this stuff and the Lord says I'm gonna give you over to your own enticements it'll s give you over and give you over he says that over and over again let them have what they want it's not that God's gotta smash them he's gonna lift his hand of blessing and protection because people want to do their own thing that's what the Jews did that's what we often do culturally man we need the Lord we need the Lord to be our God our ruler we need to follow his plan his room I'm sort of reminded of the promises that God made to the Jews you know I mean in Deuteronomy chapter 8 let me just remind you stuff we studied a long time ago in Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 7 and this as I read it says for the LORD thy God shall bring you into the good land just like the vineyard poem we just read in Isaiah good land a land that has Brooks of water fountains and depths of Springs out of valleys and hills a land of wheat and barley and vine trees and fig trees pomegranates a land of olive oil and honey that sounds great that's where God was bringing them Israel but he says beware verse 11 of Deuteronomy 8 that thou forget not the LORD thy God in other words I'm setting you up for success go into the land flowing with milk and honey but don't forget God and not keeping his Commandments don't forget to keep his judgments his statutes which I command thee this day lest that when you eat and you're full of good food and have built goodly houses and dwelt therein and when your herds and your flocks multiply and thy silver and that gold is multiplied all the fast is multiplied then thy heart be lifted up and they'll forget the LORD thy God which brought thee out forth out of the land of Egypt and from the house of bondage and then in verse 17 18 it says and thou say in thine heart my power and my might have gotten me this wealth but thou shall remember the LORD thy God for he is the one that gave you power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant with how which he sware unto thy fathers as it is to this day what the Jews did is they were blessed out of their minds living in this beautiful place a land flowing with milk and honey and the Lord subdued their enemies during the reign of Solomon man it was like the roaring 20s you know kind of like we were a couple of weeks ago and then suddenly it all kind of falls apart and they think what's going on and they forgot the Lord their God and they thought their wealth and their prosperity was because of their own doing in their own might the Lord says you guys are you guys are gonna see the other side of that you see all this to say it gives me a couple thoughts first as we close tonight first I think of you know the Jews and their plight how faithful God was to his word he said if you don't want me I'll lift my hand of blessing and he did and for two thousand years they were scattered it's called the Diaspora and the Jews were treated horribly and it's been a bad season for them but God faithfully is regather Allah Jews and we see we see that it's a great prophecy of the Bible it's actually happening right now and he's faithful and all that with his church we see sort of parallel things where the Church of Jesus Christ in America a lot of us think we've gained our own wealth or we're in control of our lives if there's one thing coronavirus has done is remind us that we're not in control and that we're much more fragile and frail than we'd like to think we are and if you think you're a self-made man what's your 401k looking like right now and and you know do we really want to put all our trust in that or in our finances or the ability to have a job or have employees or have people come to work like these are interesting times that I think a lot of people feel very vulnerable and one of the things you and I can do is to respond to this scripture tonight by saying like in Deuteronomy don't forget the Lord it's the Lord that is the one who sustains us he's the one that gives us life and breath he's the one that we could put our trust in and the Bible says he will never let the righteous fall the righteous those that are the the people of God the Lord's got us and no one can pluck us out of his hand and so while there's kind of horrifying things going on around the world today with you know in Italy all the death and New York is now you know reaching those same levels of death as some of the things we're start with that we saw last week in Italy you know Seattle is death there's a lot of death we're seeing kind of crazy times but rather than freaking out one of the things we do is remember the Lord remember that he never lets the righteous fall remember that he has a plan and a purpose and while things seem to be going badly God is still in control and ultimately what we look for and what we rejoice about is the second coming of Christ when he rules and reigns on this earth I look forward to the rapture of the church - because man once we're taken up to be with the Lord it's all good from there but that's kind of a selfish thing the rapture or something I selfishly look forward to but there's a lot of people still that don't know Jesus there's a lot of people that will not be raptured and they'll be left behind to deal with the Great Tribulation that breaks my heart so what do we do in the mean time until the rapture of the church we should be busy about pointing people to Jesus Christ that they too can be called the righteous that they too will one day be a part of what God's plan is for this earth and be on the right side of this thing when Christ comes and rules and reigns from Jerusalem so this is what the Lord's doing the stuff we're seeing today should not surprise the Bible student one tiny little bit this should just be like yep this is what the Bible says and yep God's got us and we're okay and the Lord's got us we can be rejoicing and be happy sure should we comply with the laws yes even tonight I've got like five people here doing this whole thing with me and we all maintained a very good six foot distance of social distancing and we even have it even instituted a social distancing officer to make sure none of us forgot and we're all watching and I get it it's really we're doing exactly what the state of Oregon has asked us to do and you know we've locked down the building and no one's here and we're complying and and we're glad to do that to try to keep us healthy and safe and nobody gets sick we want to be a part of that answer not a part of the problem but ultimately you and I as Christians we know that Jesus is still the one that we're looking for we know these are just signs of the times we can put our trust to the Lord and not freak out man my prayer is that each one of you is you guys take in the truth of the word tonight that that just gives a calming to your soul God's in control he's not freaking out he's not what are we gonna do that's what the world is doing right now and we as Christians can say how can we help what can we do but we also know the answer is ultimately Christ so that's that's our study for tonight we'll stop there at the end of that because we've got an interesting section in Chapter five that is worthy of taking some time and careful consideration I don't want to race through the rest of chapter 5 so we'll pick that up next time would you pray with me let's all bow our heads together Lord we're so thankful for your word it does bring us all the answers of life all the things that we need to know it's right here in the book that you've given to us Lord how faithful your word is true and living and powerful it is Lord we're thankful that we can have that quiet confidence not in ourselves but in you Lord for the folks that are at home and just taking this Bible study and I pray that your word would be just soothing to their soul and just encouragement to their families Lord bless all the Athey creatures out there Lord for those that maybe are just tuning in for the first time tonight or Sunday I pray that you draw more and more people to yourself that more and more people would love you believe except be saved Lord bless those that are just looking for answers give them may they may they see that you are the answer Lord so bless my brothers and sisters tonight as we go our way and do our thing this Wednesday night Lord be with them bless them we pray in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Athey Creek

Views: 5,881

Rating: 4.9716311 out of 5

Keywords: Brett Meador, Bible, Church, Teaching, Study, Christian, Jesus, Micah DePaoli, Oregon, Through the Bible, m2-294, Isaiah

Id: CTEQ8ecvcaM

Length: 61min 17sec (3677 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020