Isaiah 3, God's Gun

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Isaiah 3:1-4:1 God’s Gun

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You're reading from Isaiah chapter 3 verse 1 actually all the way to chapter 4 verse 1 Hear the word of the
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Lord For behold the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah Support and supply all support of bread and all support of water
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The mighty man and the soldier the judge and the prophet the diviner and the elder the captain of 50 and the man of rank
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The counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms and I will make boys their princes and infants shall rule over them and the people will oppress one another and Everyone his fellow and everyone his neighbor the youth will be insolent to the older and the despised to the honorable
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For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father saying you have a cloak
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You shall be our leader and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule and That day he will speak out saying
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I will not be a healer in my house There is neither bread nor cloak. You shall not make me leader of the people
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For Jerusalem has stumbled in Judah has fallen because of their speech and their deeds are against the
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Lord Defying his glorious presence for the look on their faces bears witness against them
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They proclaim their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it Woe to them for they have brought evil on themselves
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Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds
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Woe to the wicked it will be ill with him for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him my people
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Infants are their oppressors and women rule over them Oh my people your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths
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The Lord has taken his place to contend He stands to judge people's the
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Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and the princes of his people It is you who have devoured the vineyard the spoil of the poor is is in your houses
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What do you mean by crushing my people by grinding the face of the poor declares the
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Lord God of hosts? the Lord said Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk without stretched necks
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Glancing wantonly with her eyes mincing along as they go tinkling with their feet therefore the
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Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts and That day the
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Lord will take away the finery of the anklets the headbands and the crescents the pendants the bracelets this and the scarves the headdresses the armlets the sashes the perfume boxes and the
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Amulets the signet rings and the nose rings the festal robes the mantles the cloaks and the handbags
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The mirrors the linen garments the turbans and the veils Instead of perfume.
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There will be rottenness instead of a belt a rope instead of well -set hair baldness instead of rich robe a skirt of sackcloth and branding instead of beauty
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Your men shall fall by the sword and your mighty men in battle and her gates shall lament and mourn empty she shall sit on the ground and Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day saying we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes
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Only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach May the Lord at his blessings to the reading of his
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Holy Word. Well the great theologian Al Capone Once said you can get further with a gun in a kind word than just with a kind word.
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I Never used a gun to get my way, but I have noticed that when I have actual power of some kind I Get more attention.
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I tend to get what I want more so than if I'm just asking for a favor Power has a way of focusing people's attention than a simple
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Dan a simple, please doesn't have Was soon about a week or so after we bought a new car the only time
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Mary and I've ever bought a brand new car The air conditioner broke down It was summer. So I wanted it fixed right away and I made an appointment at the dealership
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And at the right time I brought the car to have it fixed You shouldn't take long But when
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I got to the garage there at the dealership the mechanic said he had too many other cars to take care of And so he wouldn't be able to get to it for several days
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That we would just have to leave it with him and he'll get to it when he can And I tried to explain I made my reservation
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This is a new car. It was our only car. We needed it to get around He wasn't moved at all.
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He was gruff. He was uncaring. I Didn't get mad. I just remembered
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I Had some power. I remembered that there was a law that required dealers to replace a new car when the first 30 or 60 days whatever it was and so I simply parked the car and Went out into the lot, you know with all the other new cars
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I started looking and then soon a salesman came along and very politely asked if he could help me and I explained what had happened
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And and that I was now looking for a new car to replace the one I had bought a week or two earlier.
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I Could almost see the series of thoughts going through his head like that's absurd. You can't do that, too
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That's horrible. You can do that, too. I better do something fast. So he doesn't do that He could see us leaving him
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Sticking him with a slightly used car with a broken AC and driving off with one of the perfectly new cars
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So with the greatest courtesy He said he'd take care of everything He had the mechanic work on our car immediately and even let us borrow his personal car
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So we could go have lunch while they repaired it man Now it would be great if we lived in a world where people did what was right simply because it was right
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And where they didn't have to be threatened or regulated or forced To do it
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But they would just do it because there were nice people, but we don't live in that world When it came to getting my car repaired,
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I got a lot further with a tough law and a kind word Then just with a kind word
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That brings us to this passage Isaiah 3 now there aren't a lot of kind words here
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Or just one verse of kind words the the rest of it is a promise really a threat a
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Threat that There's a gun To us. I think that's the surprising part of this chapter that God has a gun
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Now God threatens here in this chapter to take away what we shouldn't have with his gun What we shouldn't have our confidence in so that we would take hold of what we should have our confidence in that's the that's really
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The main purpose of this chapter that we would stop putting our confidence in the things
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That God has given us and put it in the God who gave us those things and normally that's what we would want to dwell on in this
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Going through any chapter. What's the main point? But here I think we're The way that God is pictured is so it's present the way
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God has presented to us is so radically different from what we today assume God is like that we need to we need to get into Isaiah's assumptions and learn them before we can really even learn what
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I Say is saying in this chapter. So first, let's notice that God does
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Threaten that God comes Armed Well, Albert Moller the president of the
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Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said that it polls showed that most modern Christians say they are tired
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They're just sick and they don't they're sick and tired. They don't want to hear any more hellfire and brimstone sermons
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But when they're probed about it, most have never even heard one The assumption today it seems that God has confined himself
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To kind words That's all he has. He has no gun. He's no tough laws. He has no punishment
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No force that will eventually compel obedience. He's kind of like a parent
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You know the modern idea parents today try to inspire your kid with a pep talks and compliments, you know
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Fill their heads about how smart they are How great they are how good they are that you can do anything you set your mind to on and on But who never actually makes the child do what he or she should do
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What this actually produces? Maybe they have a good high self -esteem But what this produces is a child with a lack of respect for what for the parent
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You know mom dad tells him to do thus and so they're not gonna enforce it what applied to God It produces a lack of reverence for God Now every generation has those who use their religion to excuse their sin
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But what's particularly bad in our day is that even among churchgoing people? There's often little real trembling what
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Isaiah will later near the very end of his this book will call trembling at his word
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Little real understanding of who we are dealing with when we claim to be a follower of Christ Whose name we are using?
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When we talk about God But this passage in Isaiah 3 and in the first verse of chapter 4 reminds us that God is indeed heavily armed
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Yeah that yes, he has kind words but he has a gun and He's prepared to use it
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He begins in verse 1 with a statement for Because and then for behold means like look pay attention for because of what he's just said
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I think at the end of chapter 2 where he said stop trusting in people Because you're not doing that You are trusting in other words
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You are still trusting in people in relationships or in family or in the government or in your business
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Whatever it is and the money they provide because you're still doing that then behold on the way to look pay attention to this
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It's right before your eyes. It's already happening Not all of God's judgments are in the distant future understand
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Not all are after our deaths Sometimes to see God at work judging and punishing all you have to do is behold open your eyes look and see
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You know in Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address in 1865 just about a month before he was killed
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He interpreted the Civil War still going on near the end But it's still going on is that God is requiring from the
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United States one drop of blood for every drop of sweat stolen from the slaves That in their day that wasn't revolutionary because I think people understood the
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Bible much better than about a hundred and fifty years ago That what was going on before them for for behold look see this is
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God's judgment Today, we almost have no understanding of that The Lord God of hosts
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Isaiah goes on to say is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply
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He says it knows it is present tense is going on right now again, it's not all future It's happening now indeed some judgment happened right before their eyes the
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Assyrians came Into their land just storming through plundering and killing and destroying town after town
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They they crushed Judah's second largest city like Ish and they flaying alive
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The leading men and killing many others they laid siege to Jerusalem And they looked like they were going to do the same thing there kill almost everybody flay alive
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Hezekiah and Isaiah himself. So when Isaiah is telling these people trusted God he was as we heard
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Sunday Wednesday night He was putting his own skin on the line literally So the
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Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem and in chapter 1 remember in chapter 1 Jerusalem is compared to a lonely
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Ramshackle shelter out in the middle of a fully harvested field and now he says that's going to be taken down to the process of Judgment has already started just look and see and then he described in some detail what
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God will take away First their support and supply and actually that's the same word there support and supply
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Just first ones in the masculine form and the other is in the feminine form It's kind of a figure of speech
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Like maybe we would say we have figures of speech mean like everything You know lock stock and barrel and we take everything completely, you know whole kit and caboodle kind of like that It's a way of emphasizing the point of Isaiah bearing down on it he's saying that everything you leaned on all the things you depended on and Sawed everything you live for instead of God Whatever it may be but the masculine things like weapons armies muscles forces fortresses business
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Whatever maybe today's sports This cash whatever are the feminine things the relationships family business homes
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Wardrobes decorations comforts all of it God is taking them away and this actually happened in history in the year 701
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BC the Assyrians came in they did enormous amount of damage And it looked like they were going to destroy
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Jerusalem, too But at the last minute God had mercy on them God heard the prayers of good
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King Hezekiah and God also heard the scornful words of the Assyrian general Who I who compared the
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Lord to the any of the other false gods of the nations around them that general stood before right?
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at the wall of Jerusalem Mocking said I have any of these other gods of these other nations Rescued their people and to the point that your
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Lord. He's not going to rescue you either God didn't like that. He took it personally
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So God rescued Jerusalem He did not complete the judgment that was begun here.
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There was already going on here but the threat he made Still stood and a little over a hundred years later in the year 586
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BC. God made good on everything here He pulled the trigger and sent the Babylonians in to finish what the
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Assyrians had started and we have a whole book of the Bible sort of Meditating on what
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God did at that moment the book of Lamentations God did it.
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He knows he's saying God is saying here. I'm doing this. This is my doing From the beginning
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God takes responsibility for this It's not as though God just kind of you know, as we often interpret today God allowed it to happen
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He just passively stood back and didn't interfere with it happen Now it certainly is not that God was
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God wasn't just carrying them through the rough times and he couldn't do anything to prevent the Assyrians a
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Completely powerless to stop to art alter the circumstances just there to offer, you know Some emotional solace as they're going through this rough time.
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No, this is this that's not the God of the Bible Certainly not the God of Isaiah and Isaiah all these things happen to them are
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God's works He might raise up the Assyrians the
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Babylonians Whoever but but they are doing his will They don't even know it
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They might give you know They probably give the glory to Marduk or whatever their false gods were they they had yet it was still the
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Lord's doing in verse 1 God said it is the Lord God of Host Lord the
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Adonai God Yahweh, he's the personal name for God from Exodus 3 of host of these armies
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Billions millions of angels at his beck and call the Almighty who is taking these things away and this
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Assyrian army the Babylonian army are just One of his hosts one of his armies.
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He uses Assyrians or Babylonians hands Uses their hands to do the lifting for him the taking away for him
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But it's still God's work so he's pulled the trigger and Isn't he then a
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God to be feared I Once spoke with a lady who said she was mad at God Presumably because she lost her singing voice
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She had no doubt She said that there are many ways to God Being the great theologian that she was that we can each do our own thing and then he will love us
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That's just the way God is He's just so lovable, but he's she's still mad at him I don't understand how that all works
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We can be assured of that that she said I doubt she had any concept that God could be mad at her
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Probably just never occurred It's perfectly fine for her to be mad at God Because after all God had allowed her singing voice to be taken away.
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Never mind that she was a chain smoker That might have something to do with it. Now some modern
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Christians would tell her probably the good advice that be common today You know, don't be mad at God He didn't take your singing voice away
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He had nothing to do with it that happened because you smoke too much as you're doing He doesn't he wasn't in charge of that.
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He let you you had your free will and God couldn't do anything about it He doesn't now, of course, he doesn't mind you being angry with him because he likes you being honest
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That's sort of the standard spiritual advice given today, but but think of that that in light of this chapter
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Now first of all, the one thing that gets right like modern Christians We can say, you know, you didn't you need to take responsibility for what you did
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You smoke too much and that caused you to lose your voice Okay And in this passage in the second half of verse 9
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God says they're woe to them to the people here They have brought evil on themselves
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So when we talk about the sovereignty of God that doesn't mean that people's actions their choices
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Don't have any consequences that it's just kind of no matter what I do God's gonna do what he wants to do. No, we don't believe that They have brought evil in themselves.
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We do bring evil on ourselves But you know what we could say back to this lady, but you're if you're kind of rude
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You're partly right She's blaming God You know, you are partly right
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God was behind it. You know what? You're right. God was behind it God did take your singing voice away Perhaps he was so disgusted with hearing you sing in church choirs, even though your heart is filled with self -righteousness
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Because you're so haughty that you think you have a right to be angry with God Angry at him for bringing on you the consequences of your own actions
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Perhaps he was so disgusted that he decreed that your singing voice be taken away Now you better deal with that or he's going to do something much worse to you
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You could probably put it better than that Now that's very hard advice in our day, but it's but it's through that understanding
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Maybe put better than that but kinder than that but it's through that understanding through understanding that God indeed controls all things
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That he does sometimes bring hard things on us sometimes to discipline us sometimes to Train us to suffer wrong patiently sometimes to be simply like Job awestruck as We hear
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God humble us by asking us, you know, you're angry at me. Where were you?
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When I laid the earth's foundations Exactly. Who do you think you are? it's through that that we gain real humility a real reverence for the true
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God a genuine knowledge of the God We say we trust
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Be careful though Don't think you know like Job's friends because you can take this in the wrong way and be like Job's friends something bad happened to someone else well
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They did something to deserve it. I'm not getting it. So I must be doing fine. No, don't go that don't go that way
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Use this principle when bad things happen to you and something you trusted in is taken away that perhaps you were trusting in the wrong thing
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But don't conclude like it's some algebra equation Everything has to come out neatly all the time don't conclude when others suffer that they got what's coming to them no sympathize and Tremble that the same could easily happen to you
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That a tower could fall on you or Pontius Pilate could have you killed with your sacrifices
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It's those that have this real reverence who aren't flippant about his grace Those who are those are the righteous
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Who are dressed in verse 10? Verse 10 is everyone's favorite verse from this chapter.
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This is the only promise of hope in this entire chapter These are the kind words verse 10
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And that's what we got inspired it. I noticed that in one study Bible That I saw this was the only verse with any comment on it
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It says pass over the rest camp here because once again, we like to to only see the kind words
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Let's ignore that gun. He has in his hand but it is here that we should be it is here and we should be thankful for that is here because When this judgment comes on Jerusalem The righteous will be affected too.
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So some will be tempted to think Look at those righteous neighbors. We have they're suffering.
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So, you know, they're running short on food too in this siege They're their sons are dying too.
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And you know, we're getting hit by Babylonian arrows The righteous suffer along with everyone else.
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So what good is it to suffer and to be righteous? There's truth in that the righteous do suffer in this world
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Jesus said we will have tribulation when their judgment finally fell on Jerusalem the righteous prophet
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Jeremiah For example suffered along with everyone else in some ways he suffered worse He was nearly killed by the mob because they didn't want to hear him.
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He's thrown into a thrown into a cistern He was kept in prison. He suffered the same scarcity of food along with everyone else
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Even though even though he had warned them for years to repent The things that caused the judgment to come on Jerusalem Jeremiah had been telling them don't do them
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Repent of them. The Lord will be merciful to you if you if you stop it He had been telling them that the judgment would come if you continue the way you're going and yet this
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Same bad consequences that came on Jerusalem came on him because he was there If God chooses to judge the
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USA for its sins now Likely all of us in some way will suffer along with the rest even if we don't at all agree
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With the sins that that bring God's judgment That we shouldn't imagine that our religion is an escape hatch doesn't work that way in Scripture frequently the righteous have to suffer many of the same consequences as the wicked when
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God brings judgment on only people Lot may have escaped Sodom, but he lost everything including his wife
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I'm sure that there were righteous people as well as wicked in the Twin Towers when the airplanes crashed into them on September 11th but they all suffered together and That's the reason for this promise in verse 10 in times of calamity the righteous suffer, too
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Okay, that is you know, that's sad. That's horrible It shouldn't be that way
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But in God's decree it is so I guess it should be and for for a reason we'll find out later But but God reminds us as when we're in that situation when suffering comes on us, even though We haven't been
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Helping the sins that bring the judgment God reminds us that eventually it will be well
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With the righteous with us Even if for now it appears that we're reaping the same punishment as the wicked around us in the midst here in this chapter of this nearly unrelentingly harsh chapter
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In the midst of all that judgment God turns to his people I was his judgment on on you, but God turns to his people the true faithful Israel Boarding in Christians the remnant
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Isaiah calls them later who are who truly reverence and love him
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Missed all the judgment. He turns to his people it and nods and says It'll be alright
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You might suffer For a while, but in the end It'll be alright
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You'll reap from your righteousness Today We have people who want to insulate others, especially their children from any of them of the bad consequences of their choices
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You know the kid chooses to not study but squander his time always playing video games and the result is guess what?
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He gets poor grades But we blame the teachers or the school system
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They're not spending enough time or enough money on the on the kids. It's whatever. It's not the kids fault
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Indeed we create a whole system in which the kids rarely suffer any consequences for their choices and if they do
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There's always someone wailing about how unfair it is for them even if they
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Spend so much time playing Whatever some game some video game several years ago.
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I went to a be white football game to see the band, of course In which be why was getting getting beaten? Okay, what's what's different same old thing and just but just before the end of the first half
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They scored a touchdown and they showing some signs of life. It might be a comeback might be possible
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They might come back in the second half, but then just before halftime something happened I don't know exactly what some perceived offense or some punch was thrown or whatever and nearly the entire
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By football team storms the field trying to get into a brawl Okay, football players trying to fight is ridiculous because they all got these pads on they can't really hurt each other.
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Whatever Yeah, but after the dust settles, you know The rule stated said the referees that in such a case when one team storms the field
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That team forfeits the game So it was over that they lost no, come back and Later that night.
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I saw a be white parent complaining Not about their undisciplined brat storming the field but about how unfair it was that they suffered for their actions
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This mother by the way of a player probably didn't understand that it was just that attitude that created the
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Character that caused the brawl probably didn't get the connection whatever but in their view of the school system the state the referees
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Everybody whatever they're not supposed to have any weapons any punishment anything against any transgression you indulge it
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That's the common attitude today now here here God is very different God says he did it
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He didn't just allow it. He Perpetrated it. He punished he used his weapons
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These things did not come by chance Not bad luck. God wasn't just passively sitting back letting quote free will, you know
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Take over he took away everything from the people everything the good like their bread and water to the bad like they're superstitious
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Magicians he stripped them of some of so much that they were they were put in the humiliating position
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Of having children rain on them over them because no one else want to be in charge They wouldn't humble themselves before the mighty
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God. They wouldn't do that. The Lord God of hosts. He's called it again This is exalted title again repeated with billions of forces at the snap of his fingers.
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They wouldn't humble himself themselves before him So they are going to be humbled
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God will humiliate them. He'll make them so desperate that the mere possession of a cloak who has a cloak.
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Uh -huh. Somebody has a jacket That make qualifies him to be a leader The problem is that the people are so shameful.
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No one wants to be their leader So the guy with a jacket he said no way. No, thanks. I don't want the job
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You know, I'm not Don't want to be associated with you people Imagine a nation so humiliated that you can't even find one person who wants to be in charge and The few leaders they do have our misleaders at the end of verse 12.
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It literally says those who set you, right? Probably means the priest or maybe the so -called prophets most of them false prophets
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We're supposed to be setting them right teaching the right way to go those who set you right are wrong They're teaching you the wrong way to go
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Because they rebelled against the Lord's right rule. They will have oppressive rule We have some of that today, don't we people who should be setting us, right?
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they're the leaders in the government or in courts or in churches who are
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Wrong in verse 8. He sums up. What is the cause of all this judgment their speech and their deeds are against the
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Lord defying his glorious presence Now elsewhere in this chapter.
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It describes their sin as oppressing the powerless as Grinding the face of the poor in other words work for me work for me to make harvest more and then they don't pay them
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Because because they can always bribe the judge who? Who won't enforce any law against them they were getting rich off the bent backs of the poor
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And not giving them what they deserve as they were doing that they're probably thinking to themselves
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This is the way things are done No, I was on top of the heat way. I'm doing what the world does look at the rest of the world, you know
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Rather be a hammer than a nail We all know the real golden rule.
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He was the most gold rules But God says in verse 8 that they're not just against the poor
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They are against him to be against the poor is to be against God And to defy his glorious presence
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So maybe Abraham Lincoln was right About what the Civil War was all about you think? But profit ahead of justice as a sin against the
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Lord in our day Something that justice for the unborn is less important than winning elections. I'll maybe talk a good game, but you know
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They want to get reelected. So they're not really gonna stand up For justice Even some people who recognize the full humanity and rights of the fetus still think that Saving them is less important than protecting their jobs that it's not something that they want to be bothered with But God is bothered by it.
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He says what we do to the least of these we do to him So here you grind the face of the poor you defy his glorious presence
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The leaders were oppressing not just the poor But the
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Lord But guess what? They were supported by encouraged by cheered on by another group of people
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Starting in verse 16 all the way to the end chapter 4 verse 1 God turns from condemning the leaders for their injustice to Those people at home were just so happy that what their
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What their husband or their fathers brought home for them from their oppression the daughters of Zion The women verse 16 begins with a telling because the reason his judgment is coming but because they are
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Haughty they those women they enjoyed the fruit of injustice They like the comforts they got from cheating the poor didn't care where their husbands got it from they were just so happy when he came through that door with You know a coach handbag that cost $10 ,000 or whatever it is
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They were emboldened by it They thought they deserve well, we deserve our luxuries
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If the immigrants or the poor the slaves whatever if they starve, it's just too bad for them
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So like their fathers and husbands, they like the luxuries that the oppressiveness earned them
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They took it as a sign of success as a sign of maybe of God's blessings the Lord's on our side That's why he's given me these diamond rings and these scarves and all this stuff
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They didn't think they could be touched in verse 16 they are described as walking with outstretched necks
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Just like the rulers in verse 9 the look on their face just the look on their face bears witness against them
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They're not ashamed They're proud of their things
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Proud of their new cars their fancy vacations their expensive clothes their gadgets
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In our day They would be proud of being able to live a life of immorality because if they do happen to get pregnant they can always conveniently
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Get rid of the result Hearts are so hard that there's no sense of guilt One of the most frightening things for anyone frightening for the person's soul
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Particularly is when someone is able to sin and have no sense of shame no quiver in their conscience
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About it. Maybe even celebrate It doesn't have to be a sexual sin It can be the religious hypocrisy scorning the
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Lord's Word and worship who needs to hear that I can stay home and yet still coming Into God's house with an arrogant face, but you know, there's a vote.
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I want to have my voice Expressing the vote in a church vote. I don't wanna hear that. I don't wanna hear the
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Bible taught But if they're changing something I'll go for that demanding the one's way and sin any sin
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Should make us concerned for their soul But the shamelessness Should make us tremble in loving fear for what will come upon them if they don't repent
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God here shows what he can do When he is provoked He's armed.
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Don't forget that he comes packing So God will strip everything away from them
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To away from these women all support and supply in verses 17 to 23
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You gotta you gotta list their luxuries notice that all these things listed you could go through them the trinkets that are described the scarves the coach handbags the gadgets
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Whatever it is. He got listen like he has an inventory These are the things
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I gave you I'm taking them all back instead of fine jewelry, they'll have they'll have the rope of captivity as the
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Babylonians Put a rope around their waist drag them off as prisoners Now they're they're proud.
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They're dainty so assured of their beauty confident of their own allure kind of like Scarlett O 'Hara
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They're used to the easy life and being chased and valued as the most desirable
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They each think they can fetch the greatest bride price Which of these guys is gonna pay so much for me a huge dowry
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But God says he'll kill all your boyfriends and leave you with so few men to choose from you'll at least be throwing yourself and Any of them begging the please?
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I'll provide for myself No dowry required. You don't even have to buy me a wedding ring or have a reception and anything.
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Just give me some protection Seven women will be competing for one man how humiliating So he's pulled the trigger
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God's done this God comes fully armed He's not bluffing Now isn't he quite a bit different than the than the dainty
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God Some believe in today Are we getting now?
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The very first verse of chapter 4 a clearer picture of of this
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God that we worship We really need to We must we need to know
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Who we are dealing with? We need to know who is this Lord who is threatening us
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Because he will as he said twice in the previous chapter chapter 2 he will rise to terrify the earth he warns us and That's one sign from this chapter
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That God does have mercy on us after all He didn't have to warn us
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If he simply wanted to judge and punish and then damn us he could have done so without any warning whatsoever
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Why even bother you didn't have to send? Isaiah didn't have to send anybody But he warns us
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So we he won't have to pull the trigger on us. He warns us so that we'll get a clear picture of Who we are really dealing with and when we see that clear picture will tremble at his word
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Yes, we will We'll realize you know He's not to be trifled with just played with uses words and then go about do our own thing
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That he can take away all the things that we trust in If we won't trust in him
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So we'll get a glimpse at least a glimpse of how holy he is and how sinful we are by comparison
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We'll see how we deserve Every calamity that comes into our lives and indeed will understand that we deserve an eternity of calamities
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And so we'll stop our childless accusations that he is unfair
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We'll realize that if God were completely fair He would he could have killed us long ago and begun our torment
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Continued it forever That would be perfectly fair We'll be thankful Finally that God was not
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Just fair That he was so unfair That instead of giving us what we deserved
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He gave his only son what we deserved and when we get that sense of Who we're dealing with?
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That he comes not just with a kind word But with a gun with judgment, especially against the haughty against those who care more about what they have than the one who gave it
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Then we we won't think to be angry with God Arrogantly angry with God when we suffer when we lose our singing voice or whatever
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We won't think that God was unfair instead Well, we'll think of the torture that Jesus bore the vicious lashings and the cruel crown will think about that old rugged cross and understand finally that the only alternative to that cross
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Was that a loving God? Do that to us and that he'd do it forever
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We'll be amazed finally Not at the gun at the threats of the judgment
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You know the rottenness the rope the baldness the sandpaper like sackcloth the sword the grief
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The tears will be amazed not at at hell We'll be amazed at The grace the gift that he does declare some of us righteous right with him
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We'll be amazed that he promises us That it will be well
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With us we'll be amazed that at the end That it is despite everything we deserve