Isaiah Lesson 20

The Hope of God’s Sovereign Purpose

Want to say good afternoon to everybody. It's awesome. Awesome to see you. Just in case you're wondering, from everything I've heard, we've got more snow coming this week. So it's been beautiful. But I wanted to I wanted to just tee this up with a passage in Psalm 57.

And Jeff, I want you to get Hebrews 416 ready. We're in a section right now where we're being encouraged through the prophet Isaiah, as God is allowing us to see the future of in his eyes of, of how, how his plans are going to unfold, and what his what his designs are.

And it is difficult. It is difficult to look around what's going on in much of the world, much of our country, and find, find reasons to be excited. But I want to say that there's, there's one amazing reason to be excited.

And that's because what we're what we're experiencing now is temporary. What we're experiencing now is it was seeing in part and God sees, sees in whole. Psalm 57, verse two, I cry out to God, most high, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

And one of the observations Jeff and I were speaking about earlier this morning was that because we have a sovereign God, our hopes become truth, our hopes become fact. If his will is what we desire, then we know that his will is going to come to be.

Give me if you would Hebrews 416.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of.

Need.

That is, that is probably one of the one of the most amazing and fulfilling words. And it's in Hebrews that it's not if, because it's when, when you're in, when you're in time and he draw near to the throne of grace and you will find help.

The nation of Israel, the nation of Judah is receiving input from God through the prophet Isaiah, because quite frankly, they have lost, they have lost the bubble. They have started to drift and they need to be corrected and they need to be drawn back.

And there are going to be times of difficulty. There's going to be time, God is a holy God. And because he's a holy God, he cannot abide sin. And so there is judgment because of that sin. But interspersed throughout this book are things like the coming Messiah.

There are things like promises of things will be, will be made right. We're in the midst of that right now in chapter 11. And so that's, that's where we're going. I'll just start out with one verse, then Jeff, you're going to open us in a prayer.

The wolf shall lie down with the lamb. And then later on, it says in verse eight, a nursing child shall play over the whole of the Cobra. And if you want to talk about things being made right again, there's some, some amazing, amazing hope there.

Pastor Jeff, open us please.

So Father, thank you so much that we have this opportunity to come and open your word. We pray that we would be encouraged to draw near to the throne of grace. As we approach your word that you would remind us of the coming millennium, which is a real and literal thousand year reign of Christ on this earth, where the child can play with the Cobra and the wolf can lay down next to a lamb.

God, we thank you that you will reign in righteousness and restore everything to Garden of Eden like conditions. And until that day, Lord, we pray that we would be found faithful in this world as it is, and even strive to better this world, Lord, that we would be lights in a dark world, that we would be salt.

God, so help us as we study your word in Jesus name. Amen.

The Peaceful Kingdom and the Curse of Sin

Amen. Pastor Jeff, you're going to give me Isaiah 11, six through nine, getting ready. Bob, I would ask if you would have first Timothy four, four ready, and Kimberly, Romans eight, 19 and 20, and Jeremiah 31.

Barbara, if you would have that ready, please. So go ahead and give me verses. Jeremiah, you're going to get Jeremiah 31. It's kind of 33 to 34. Yeah, it's about a third of the way down the page on my notes.

It will be down there. Okay, so give me verses six through nine,.

Please.

Okay. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze.

Their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the.

Sea.

Amen and hallelujah to that. Yeah. Filling in a couple of quick blanks in verse six, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. And then down to verse eight, the nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra.

What? Why are these things not happening today? Okay, we have an answer here, sin. Let's just be a little more pragmatic. Why aren't these things happening today? What would happen to the lamb? He'd get eaten up.

What would happen to the little nursing child? Get bitten by the snake. One of the things that I find intriguing on this little passage here is it speaks of the transition. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And at the end of each of the first five days, what did God see? What did he say? It was good. And then at the end of the sixth day, when man is created, he said, it is very good. Well, okay, it's not good for man to be alone.

Thank you. Boy, small group last night, I really, I kind of made a mistake. Laurie knows.

Pray tell, brother.

The week before we had care group, but it was on zoom because of the snow. It was a big snowstorm. And it did not have the same energy. And I'll be very honest, being able to look at your faces, see the body language, Kimberly nods, or sometimes Kimberly goes like this.

We were sitting alone, and everybody was on zoom. And I made the comment that it just feels so good to actually have people here with me that I can interchange with. And Sandy said, I was here.

Doghouse.

Yeah, dog. It's not good for man to be alone. All right, here's the deal. We do know that in the beginning, God created, and he saw that it was very good. And after he created man, it was very good. Okay, but he needed he needed to help me.

Then we know in chapter three of Genesis, things went upside down. And we know, we know that the temptation, and in fact, in a couple of weeks, we're going to be able to see how that all came to be. Because at one point in time, Lucifer, along with many of God's created angels, rebelled against God.

Lucifer said, I will make myself like the most high. And God said, you're out of here. And he sent him to earth, which means it had to happen after the first day, because there was earth for him to be sent down to.

All right. And, and he convinced Eve, and it didn't take a whole lot for Adam, all he needed was for Eve to say, Come on, babe, let's go this way. And he said, fine. Eve needed to be convinced, but she was, did God really say this?

Did he really mean that? And so desire took over from from devotion, sin came in, and creation was hurt. Not just Adam and Eve, but creation was was hurt. First Timothy 440, you have that Bob? Now taken into context, we're talking more about that we're allowed, we were not prohibited.

But it does say that everything God created was good. That's, that's in compliance with, with Genesis chapter one, except that a child cannot play near the hole of an adder, because there's danger there.

And a lamb cannot lay down next to a lion, because because there's danger there. Romans 8, 19 and 20, Kimberly, that passage gives me the authority to say that creation is in decay, creation is upside down, creation is been judged because of the sin of man, that creation groans because of it.

And so it is unnatural, but it's expected and understood that a by the hole of a cobra, and that a wolf can't lay down next to a lamb, because this is the decay, this is the destruction. So what God created at one point in time, which was good, and I would have to believe that before Genesis three, that well, okay, there were no children, but there was no danger of an adder.

And there was no concern that the wolf and the lamb, there was no concern for all of that. So we went from good, very good, to this point of decay and contamination, with the reality that we're going to go back to good.

The New Creation, the Hypostatic Union, and the Knowledge of the Lord

And what a, yeah, praise God for that. What an amazing knowledge we have for that. Jeff and I were working through a concept in one of my classes, and it talks about Jesus comes, the hypostatic union, fully God, fully man, without sin, tempted in every way, but yet without sin.

Jesus really was fully man. And that to the extent that man is dead in trespasses and sins, there's a void in who man is. Now at the point of salvation, we're made back into a new creation, but we still have this flesh.

And Paul writes, I don't do what I want to do and what I don't want to do that I do. And this conflict goes on. But there is going to be a time where we are now made new in the way that we are supposed to be.

There is a transition. It was good and very good. It's got a problem, but we do know that there is a time coming in. It then says that the earth in verse nine, give me verse nine again, if you would.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. And the first time I read that I had to go back and realize that it's not just talking about mankind, the earth, all of creation, all of creation will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.

We know from John 1 .10, it said that Jesus came to the world that he created, but the world did not know him. It then goes on to say that he called his own and his own did not receive him. But did you get that in verse 10?

It says the world did not receive. The world is contaminated from being able to understand and perceive God in James 2 .19. It gives one of the more important understandings of this reality of I perceive that there is a God as opposed to I accept that there is a God because in James 2 .19, it says the devil believes yet he trembles.

And in John 1 .10, it said the world did not know him. It's not that the world did not know of him or be able to see that there was him. In Mark 7, we have the story of the Gadarene demoniac. There are other stories like this, but I raised this one up because in Mark 5 .7, when Jesus is approaching the Gadarene demoniac, and he's going to relieve this individual of this legion.

He says, my name is legion because I am many. The Gadarene demoniac says, what do we have to you with Jesus, son of the most high God? He knew. He knew not only who Jesus was, but he knew that Jesus was the son of the most high God.

And going back to James 2 .19, the devil believes, you better believe he believes, but he trembles. It's not that the world doesn't know that there is God. It's that the world's contaminated perception of who God is prevents the world from even fully experiencing.

Jeremiah 31, hopefully that's.

The right verse. Correct. You see, there's a promise that.

There is a point time coming where not only the covenant and not only God's bloodshed, but there is a time coming when God promises that he will write the law on the heart and that people will actually know God, actually know, know God.

And I believe that this continues because it says here in Isaiah that the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. That this King of Kings, Lord of Lords, creator of all, there is a time coming when man will acknowledge him.

Creation will be restored to having a positive understanding of who he is. When will this happen? Okay. Rich says when Jesus comes back, you're speaking of the Parsia just before he inaugurates the millennial kingdom.

That's when Rich puts it out there. And Bob is saying new heavens and new earth. Why do you say that instead of the Parsia? We are not going to answer this question succinctly unless you have an insight to that.

I have an opinion. What's your opinion? I would weigh in that this is, I think, the millennium. But like I say, I.

Think. We do know that in the millennial, Jesus is going to reign. He will settle disputes, which presumes there are disputes, which presumes that there still is that vestige of the flesh, sin nature going on.

I'm of the opinion. And fortunately, this is not a salvific topic. So we can disagree. Yeah. I will never teach contrary to what Pastor Jeff says. I will give scriptures. But in this case, I think because there are still going to be disputes.

And at the end of time, Satan is going to be released. And he is going to deceive a lot of people. And there's going to be another war that there are unbelievers in the millennial kingdom. Those who are born during the millennial kingdom still need to choose.

I choose Christ or I don't. I think that that ultimate complete restoration sounds like the new Jerusalem, but I'm not dogmatically going to hold to it. And I will accept my.

Pastor's opinion. Good boy. Yes. Yeah, this is this is a.

Topic that if you really get into the depths of somebody's systematic theology book, you'll probably find variations of opinion. The answer as to when is this going to occur doesn't really drive, though, the impact and significance of this message.

And that's that it was good. And it did get contaminated. And all of creation groans because of it. It anticipates. And he came into his world and his world didn't know him. But there is a time. Hold on to it, my friends.

Hold on to it, because it may not be in our lifetime. But there is a time when all of these promises come to be. Scientists call it entropy, which is, by the way, one of the strongest proofs against evolution.

There's a second love. Yeah, absolutely. Well said. Give me 10 to 16, please.

The Root of Jesse and the Gathering of the Remnant

In that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples of him, shall the nations inquire and his resting place shall be glorious. In that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathos, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath and from the coastlands of the sea.

He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of a frame shall depart and those who harass Judah shall be cut off.

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west and together they shall plunder the people of the east.

They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab and the Ammonite shall obey them. And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and will wave his hand over the river with his scorching breath and strike it into seven channels.

And he will lead people across in sandals. And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Now, if you decide to place my question, when is this all going to happen into the context of this segment? Well, this last segment is really talking about second coming. It's talking not about New Jerusalem.

It's talking about second coming. So Jeff, you have some validity to your opinion.

I was trying to tell you. You guys didn't want to believe me.

It's kind of like, yeah, it's kind of like I had one opportunity to participate in drama when I was in... I had lots of opportunities. I only took it once when I was in high school. And I was on the stage crew for our school's presentation of Camelot.

And my big job was at the end of the overture, where the orchestra played a little piece of every song, you know, and the curtain is closed. I'm the guy who raised the curtain. That was so exciting. Not for me, for the people on stage.

Yeah, I mean, it's a... Think about this. And I love the picture that you just... You just sent me down a rabbit trail.

Yeah, you took it.

We know that there is this amazing restoration coming at the end of Revelation in chapter 20. And we know about the thousand year reign and Jesus is going to reign on earth. And we know all of that, that we're going to experience.

But it's the overture. It's the overture. And we can look at that, we can be excited about that. But it's the overture because when does the real play happen? When the curtain comes up, and we have the new Jerusalem.

And everything is made right for eternity. So thanks for giving me that one. Thank you very much. It says in verse 11, and we're talking about in that day the root of Jesse. So we do know that we're already talking about Jesus.

We talked last night, last week, and I was going to look it up and I couldn't find it. I spoke last week about back in the 70s, the Iron Curtain, the oppression of the Polish people was symbolized by the cutting down of a tree.

And there was a very famous picture taken of a tree stump. And in the middle of the tree stump, a little green shoot was growing. And it's symbolized that you can't kill the national desire, the strength of these Polish people.

The nation of Israel has been spread apart. And today, yeah, they're back in the land, but the restoration hasn't happened. And Satan is doing what he can. He saw Jesus crucified on the tree. There is coming a day that the throne of David is not occupied today.

Not yet. There's this little shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse. And we do know that it's Jesus coming and he is going to establish himself. Second Samuel seven, it talks about how God promised to David that there would be a throne that lasts forever.

And don't read that and look at today because it will last forever. Yes, right now, it appears though it's not there. We are in this second covenant. We are in the new covenant. We are waiting for the fullness of the Gentiles to come in and God is going to reestablish it.

And so what's going to happen is this root of Jesse is going to come up and it says that he is going to be a signal for all peoples, for all peoples. Now I was trying to consider what is a signal. A signal is something that perhaps tells you of something, a feature that's coming up.

It may tell you it's time to stop so that people can go in another direction. In this case, this signal is a call out to all people. When I was in the Navy, we would be in formation with many ships. And there were times where because of what we were either involved with, at that time it was the Russian Navy, or we were drilling and learning.

We kept radio silence. There was no communication by radio. Calling, you know, so and so here, here's the message. And so we would hoist signal flags up. And all the ships could see the signal flag, or we would use lights and we would use Morse code and send a signal out so that it could be heard.

There is a time coming where this root of Jesse is going to come up as a signal, all people will be able to see the reality of this signal. I'm sorry, a banner. There you go. It is this it is this proclamation.

It is this proclamation. And then it says, he is the one to whom all peoples will inquire. And I love that because it communicates and we now know that this is in the millennial kingdom because up until that time, and in fact, as we as we get into the depths of the book of Revelation, it is absolute defiant rejection of God and of his truth.

We have the Antichrist, we have his beast, we have we have so much as it is going to go on that is an opposition to Christ. What we're seeing right now is it's just it's the crescendo that's getting ready for it to happen.

But then there's going to be this time when all nations, all nations will come and inquire. They're going to know that he's the source of wisdom, they're going to know that in this king of kings sitting on his throne, his knowledge and his truth, and his everything else.

It said that he is the one to whom all people will inquire. Pastor Jeff is going to be going I think it's next week, you said? Yes. And without going into too much of a depth, there is a there is a debate of of holding true to certain doctrines and allowing certain compromises to infiltrate.

And Pastor Jeff is going to have the opportunity to stand and to hold true to truth and to refute some of these compromises scripturally. Because they're out there and unfortunately, how many of our churches have even gotten to the point of accepting these compromises?

It says that they will know that when they come to the Christ and they inquire, that's where they're going to inquire. And then it says that his resting place will be seen as glorious. You have the opportunity throughout your life and through the days of your life, to share a word of Christ.

A brother in the Lord was sharing the opportunity that was there and that unfortunately was missed. And in thinking about that, after the fact, it's like, why did I let that go? I mean, God put it, I do a lot of baseball.

Yeah, they put it on the tee. That's how you teach little kids how to play baseball. You put the ball on the tee and they hit the back because there's no curveballs, there's nothing. God put it on the tee and losing the opportunity.

What is really going to be exciting at this point in time is where Christ rests will be seen by the world, by all nations, as glorious. Luke 2, 29 -32. Bob, I'm going to ask you to pull that one out. In Exodus, it talks about this Shekinah glory, that as they set up the tent of worship and then eventually as they set up the tabernacle and as the Ark of the Covenant goes in and as all of the accoutrements are put in place, this Shekinah glory comes down and settles on and that's God's presence.

It's his very presence. It's not there now. In fact, coming out of captivity as they rebuild the temple, there's no indication of the Shekinah glory. But there is going to be a time where his very presence will be recognized as glorious.

Give me Luke 2, 29 -32, please. This man Simeon had a little bit of the curtain peeled back for him. And it's so beautiful. This man Simeon who desired to know God and the young child is brought in to the temple and Simeon sees him and he prays this prayer.

Mine eyes have now seen the glory of God. Now we as believers have that privilege through the Holy Spirit by the grace of God. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. But it says here unequivocally that when Jesus sits on that throne as the King of Kings in the millennial, all nations will come and inquire and his resting place is going to be seen as glorious.

Give me verse 11 again, please.

In that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathos, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

Okay, what's going to happen at this in this verse? What's going to happen? All right, now I got a I got a question with you because let's do a little bit of a timeline analysis. Okay, this revelation is pretty much expected somewhere around 713 BC.

It could be give or take, but it's pretty much recognized as being around 713 BC, which by the way is eight years after the nation of Israel is taken into captivity in roughly 721 BC. So the nation of Israel is gone.

But it's about 27 years before the southern kingdom will go into captivity. That's 586 BC. Okay, this is in the middle of the two of the southern King Judah still is there. They've been under siege, they've been.

But it isn't until 586, where, by the way, what ends up happening, we've talked about this before, the nation of Israel broke, broke with the Lord, and offered that which was unclean in the temple. And the Shekinah glory departed.

And now the temple was unprotected. And the siege takes place, and the temple is destroyed. But my point here is that in that day, he will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people.

At this point in time, Judah is not gone and what do they need to be called back for? Because they're not gone yet. This is God looking into the future and knowing what is going to be happening, because his people are going to be sent away in 586.

Now they're going to come back. But then, as time goes by, Christ comes in 70 AD, that's when the temple is destroyed. Things just go scattered. This isn't something God is going to be caught off guard with.

He says that in that day, he will extend his hand a second time to recover his people, the remnant of his people. Now this is a definite look back into when Jesus called his people out of Egypt. That's the first time.

Okay, this is the second time. And it has to relate to the fact that the tribes have been scattered. And if you go to Revelation 7, verses 4 -8, it is calling by name the 12 tribes that are coming back and will be sealed by the Lord God.

144 ,000, absolutely 12 ,000 from each of 12 tribes listed by name to be sealed by God. And he says in that day, he will extend his hand a second time. The first time coming out of Egypt, the second time he's going to be calling them because they're scattered.

Now, yes, there are people living in Israel right now. But the fullness of this prophecy is yet to come. And it starts to come when we get into Revelation. So now, give me, if you would, verses 12 and 13.

So, God is going to restore his people. And not only is he going.

To restore his people, but he is going to restore it into the full blessings of his intended fellowship between the tribes of his people. Now, you can go back and it's easy to go back into 2 Kings 12.

Rehoboam, Jeroboam, the sons of Solomon. Rehoboam with the southern kingdom. Jeroboam revolting against and taking 10 tribes with him up to the extent that they set up their own place of worship up into the north.

And the kings are bad and very bad. But you can actually go back to 2 Samuel in chapter 2, Ishbosheth. David's, no, Ishbosheth, Saul's son. Jonathan's son. You're right. I'm sorry? Not Mishibosheth. All right.

Nina, give me 2.

Samuel 2 verses 8 to 10, please. Chapter 2, verse 8. Ishbosheth. That's not Manhattan, that's Mannheim. Okay, that's good.

This is not, Rehoboam and Jeroboam aren't the first time that there's been a dispute over who's their rightful king. My point is that if you go to 1 Kings 12, 24, God's talking to the nation. Don't go to battle against your brothers, southern kingdom, northern kingdom.

It's God's design for his people to live in harmony. It says that God is going to restore his people. And it said that Ephraim, Ephraim is basically the northern kingdom, okay? Will not be jealous of Judah, the southern kingdom.

And Judah shall not harass Ephraim. He is, he wants them to be restored, not only bringing them all together, but restoring them into fellowship with each other. Give me 14, please.

Victory Over the Nations and the Highway Home

But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.

Okay, so now this is now God setting the stage where the nation of Israel is going to, is going to prevail over against the enemies of God, if you would. Joshua 1 9, God promised Joshua, when you go in, be of strong and of good courage.

I am with you, I am going before you. All right, so the reality that God is going to fight the fight. There's an interesting understanding in this one, though, because it says, and the Ammonites shall obey them.

As the nation of Israel is going into the promised land, what are they to do with the Ites? Destroy them. The Hebrew word there is harem. And it's, it's holy words. It's used in other contexts. It's used, harem is used in an exacting punishment, like Achan and his family.

The exacting of complete punishment, just punishment. But the concept of harem is also that the Jews are to destroy, completely destroy the Ites. This says, and the Ammonites shall obey them. For whatever reason, at this point in time, it's not harem.

It is defeat. But for some point, some reason at this point, it's, it's understood that there will be Ammonites left over, but the Ammonites will be left in obedience to the victorious God's people. Give me 15 and 16, please.

And the.

Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and will wave his hand over the river with his scorching breath and strike it into seven channels and he will lead people across in sandals. And.

16. And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. And.

This is the end of this story, because what's what needs to happen now as we approach the millennial kingdom is going to be a return of all of God's people. Under his authority and under his rule, there will be a return of God's people.

What, what he's going to do and what it says here is he is going to destroy all the water barriers that are in the way. He is going to make a dry path, they'll be able to walk as with sandals. So much like he did with the Red Sea, much like he did with the River Jordan, he is going to prepare a way.

And it says that he is going to be there. God's power is going to guarantee the fulfillment of his plan. Job 26, it expresses the heavens and the sea, everything obeys God. It's his creation. And Job 42, too, is going to say that no purpose of God can be thwarted.

And so what we have here is God calling his people back, God establishing his reign back on earth, God enabling his people to come back together to live in fellowship, no longer bickering. You know, like, like the brothers bickering that they, anybody have sons, you know how sons can bicker.

But living in harmony and in fellowship, and then be able to have dominion and victory. And all nations, all nations, seeing that where God resides is the place of glory. And he's going to make it happen.

He's going to set it in motion. Do you want to.

Give us a prayer?

Yes. So God, thank you so much that we have this hope. We know that this millennial reign is coming and the new heaven and the new earth. God, it is it is our blessed hope, the return of Christ and we look for him.

And God, even until then, we know that you are our banner Jehovah Nissi, you are a banner and we can raise you up Lord that we can lift up the name of Jesus to the nations even now. And individually, people can come to saving faith.

So we pray that as we go forth today, we would go forth to lift the banner of the gospel that we would go out in power by your Holy Spirit to preach the name of Jesus to the nations. In his name we pray.

Amen.