Isaiah Lesson 23

Good afternoon, welcome again as we're here gathered together. This is our Isaiah study. We have folks here in the sanctuary. And it's always exciting to see people coming out. And I know that there will be people watching us in their family rooms, so we say hi to you also.

We're in the 23rd lesson. Can you believe that?

That will mean we'll probably have over 100 at this rate.

At this rate, we will. Yeah, at this rate, we're in Isaiah 14. So yeah, we'll be at this for a while. But we're in Isaiah 14. We're going to be looking to do the first 11 verses. We'll stop right before we get, how are you fallen from heaven, O day star?

That'll be next week. And so just as a little tease, we are going to talk some of the theology of Satan next week. That's going to be part of next week's lesson. But right now and this week, we're looking at a section in the middle of the oracles.

So the oracles are basically Isaiah 13 up through 23, where the oracle, it's a burden, it's a heavy message. And God is proclaiming judgment against ungodliness in this section. Interleaved within these 11 chapters are messages of hope, messages actually of encouragement, messages that the nation of Israel would really benefit in hearing.

And specifically, right now, we're in the middle of a discussion on Babylon. And so in the middle of this, we do see the reality that God is faithful to his promises. So with that as an opening opening, Pastor Jeff, give us a prayer, please.

OK.

God's Faithfulness to His Promises

So Father, thank you for your promises. Great and precious promises have been given unto us. Thank you that all your promises are yes and amen, that you are faithful to your word. And Lord, though we are often faithless, you remain faithful and will never disown yourself.

We thank you for your word to us today and ask that we would be open to your word, even as the word is open to us, God. We thank you that you are here with us and ask that you would do a work in each of our hearts as we study your word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

So here's the deal. We are, as the weeks have progressed, the people in the sanctuary are sitting further and further back. So what that means is that this little tiny microphone we have on the table, it's not picking you all up.

We are trying to come up with a solution where we could perhaps put microphones in the middle of the chairs so that as people speak up, it'll be picked up on the film. But for now, it's not. So for those of you who are watching us on video, we do like to have people participate in the readings.

And I've noticed that when I listen to the video after the fact, you really can't hear what's being said. I think both Jeff and I try to repeat comments that are made that contribute to the lesson so that people on the video can hear it.

But if we pass out a passage reading, we're not going to necessarily repeat the reading. So I encourage you, if you're watching on a video, and for instance, I'm going to ask Kimberly if you would get Exodus 19 ready, and Revelation 7, Bob, I'm going to ask you to have that ready.

And Ezekiel 36, that's not on the paper. Ezekiel 36, 22 to 27. Carol, I'm going to have you get that ready. So if you're watching on Zoom and it sounds like there's nothing going on and it's dead silence, that's your cue to open up your scripture and perhaps read the passage that's being read here.

Deuteronomy, Exodus, and the Covenant Basis of Israel’s Election

But I want to start out with Deuteronomy 7. And Pastor Jeff, I'm going to have you pull that out. Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 11, what I want to do is I want to set an understanding of God's faithfulness to his promises.

He's faithful and he's compassionate to those that he has made promises to, and in two specific ways as we get started in this. Because it starts in Isaiah chapter 14 at verse 7. It says, the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, and he will again choose Israel and will set them in their own land.

There's an indication there that God has already made these promises. God has already blessed the nation of Israel in this way. But then there's this word, he will again. And that really implies that there's a perception that perhaps the nation has fallen out of favor.

And the truth is that they've never fallen out of favor. Perhaps they've lost that experience, but they've never fallen out of favor. Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 11.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keeps his commandments to a thousand generations and repays to their face those who hate him by destroying them.

He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

The Shema of Israel, know the Lord your God, he is God. It's a proclamation, there's no conditions to that. The Lord your God, he is God. There's an understanding that God's choice of Israel had nothing to do with their value, it had nothing to do with the fact that they were a unique people.

It was his choice and it's his love and it's his faithfulness and it's his covenant. Now, Deuteronomy 28 is going to express some realities. If you follow my commands, these are the blessings. But if you do not follow my commands, these are the curses.

In fact, when the nation of Israel enters into the promised land, they start out at Jericho and they have a tremendous victory at God's hand. Then they go to camp and there's sin and so they fail at Ai, but then they get right with God and they have a victory at God's hand through Ai.

And then they march north to the two mountains. And they were told when they get into the promised land, go to these two mountains and set up on one and proclaim the blessings and on the other, proclaim the curses and between them, the Ark of the Covenant, so the people understand and they realize the reality of what is happening.

But they are God's chosen people, that is his doing. If we go to Exodus 19, one to six, I think, Kimberly, you've got that? Did I hand out Isaiah nine? I don't remember, no, okay. In Isaiah nine, and we've already gone through this months ago now, verses eight and nine, we do understand that the nation of Israel was exhibiting an arrogance in their heart.

And God calls them and he exhorts them. When we get into verse 13 and verses 18 and 19, it's proclaimed that God's anger is not going to turn. God's anger is not going to come back void. The people, because of their arrogance of heart and because of their unwillingness to turn, are now in a situation of they are going to be judged because God is holy.

He is a loving and merciful God, but he is holy. And because of that, justice must be. And so it would appear for a time, because we do know in 586 BC, in reaction to the fact that the people desecrate the temple, they get down to that point, the Shekinah glory leaves and now the gates are open and Babylon conquers and they're taken captive, taken captive for 70 years.

It says in here, the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel and set them in their own land. Ezekiel 36, who did I give that to? Carol, please.

What is verse 13?

22 to 27. There's so much in that passage. It's God's healing, healing grace into the heart of man that has gone away from him and the restoration. There's also in that passage, all the nations are gonna see this.

The manifestation of God's gracious love and restoration, it's evidence to all of creation. We get into Revelation chapter seven. I've jumped way ahead in time. The nation goes into captivity, they come out of captivity.

They do build the temple a second time. And even that temple, unfortunately, is made bigger by Herod to where this majesticness of it is. But then in 70 AD, the siege of Jerusalem, and again, the temple, not a stone is left on top of another.

And then there's this period of time where the nation of Israel, in this regard, has been lost. And right now we have what we call the church age. But we get into Revelation chapter seven as we're in this time of tribulation, all 12 tribes.

Are brought back, called by name, sealed by God, made his special people again. There is this reality that I will again choose Israel. And I don't think that's a mistake when in this particular section, it says I again will choose Israel.

Because remember, at this point in time, when this is written, we have the Northern Kingdom and we have the Southern Kingdom. And the Northern Kingdom goes into captivity and are basically lost. The Southern Kingdom goes to Babylon, they come back again.

But this actually says, I will again choose Israel. And in Revelation seven, all 12 tribes, his people come back again. And it says, I will set them on their own land. This is a huge promise because for a long time, Israel had no national land.

1948 was it? Where Israel was reestablished. But I want you to understand something. This is an amazing hand of God. It's partial fulfillment. If you look at Genesis 12 one, it's God telling Abram, I want you to go to a land that I will give to you.

He had no idea where he was going except that he was leaving Ur of the Chaldees. But he was going to be sent somewhere. In Genesis 13, Barb, I'm gonna ask you to pull out Genesis 13, verses 14 and 15.

What happens is Lot has been in the midst of evil. He's been captured. Abram rallies the forces and recovers Lot. Their herds are almost too big for them to occupy the same land. And Abram says, you choose which way seems best to you and I will go the other way.

And Lot chooses the fertile and leaves the rest for Abram, thinking perhaps that he had gotten the better deal. But in reality, God, in his sovereignty, had already put this in place. Genesis 13, 14 and 15.

There is a massive vista of view that Abram would have been able to have seen. This is the land that God has planned for him. In fact, if you go to Genesis 15, starting in verse 18, there are some specifics.

It goes from the great river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. And then it talks about the land of all of these nations. It's expansive to the north. You realize how far to the east this land is that God has ordained that belongs to his people.

They're not there yet. They're not there yet, but it says here, I will set them in their own land. There is a time when what God has promised is going to be made true for the people. We now have these oracles that are given, starting in chapter 13.

And it goes from 13 to 23. And they're against the evil that's going on within humanity. You will see in progression over the next many chapters, Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Edom, Arabia, Tyre.

And in the middle of this, in verse chapter 22, is an oracle against the valley of vision. That will be a fun one. I don't know if you get that one or I do. We'll see when the time comes. But here's the thing.

Right now, we're looking at the oracle against Babylon. Now, probably the best place to see the big panoramic picture of how God calls Babylon. And we go back to Pastor Jeff. You spoke a while ago about, was it compatibilism?

Yes.

In essence, what was compatibilism?

The compatibility of free, not free will, but creaturely will, and God having a decree, having a sovereign, predestined plan that he's working out in history. But those two things are not actually against each other, that both of them do fit.

And how does Babylon fit into that discussion?

Well, Babylon would be decreed to, first of all, get wrecked by the Assyrians, because God is using the Assyrians as a tool against them. But then later, they will be the instrument of his judgment.

If you go into Habakkuk, in the beginning in chapter one, verses one to seven, you've got the prophet looking around at the evil that's in the land. So this is before the exile. And he basically says, God, I don't know if you're watching, but things are going really bad.

Are you gonna do something about this? And then in chapter one, verses 12 to 13, well, actually, in one to seven, God says, you're right, it is bad. I'm gonna send the Chaldeans. That's the Babylonians.

That horrible, vile nation, to which the prophet then in verses 12 and 13 in the beginning of chapter two says, you gotta be kidding. This is a loose paraphrase. He said, you gotta be kidding. You're gonna use them on top of us?

This can't be right. And then in chapter two, he says, I will stand on my watch and see what the Lord has to say. Then in chapter two, verses 12 and 14, God starts to proclaim, yes, I'm going to use them, but I am going to judge them.

I am gonna hold them accountable. Jeff talks about the compatibilism, that God uses them sovereignly, but yet in their own creaturely will, their wickedness mandates that a holy God execute judgment. Now we have the oracles starting in chapter 13 of Isaiah.

I do love Habakkuk 2 .20, Bob Zellum, and Habakkuk 3 .19, Neva. If you could read those for us, please. Habakkuk chapter two, verse 20. That's one of these things that you can put on a little index card and put on your refrigerator or whatever and have a stack of them and rotate them.

The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him. We are in a section here of this oracle against Babylon. They've done what God has ordained that they should do, but they are a wicked people, and God is in his holy temple.

And we're going to see how God is gonna remain faithful through all of this. 3 .19, please, Neva. The Lord God is my strength, and that's another one of these great little index cards things. The nation of Israel, at this point in time, in Isaiah is going through some severe rebellion against God.

They're in the land, but they're not retaining devotion to Yahweh, and the proclamations that are here are meant to draw them back. But in the middle of it, God assures them that the wickedness of the world is going to be judged, and you are gonna be remembered, but God is a sovereign, he is a holy God, he is a just God.

The Oracle Against Babylon and God’s Sovereign Judgment

Okay, 14 verses one to three, please, Jeff.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them, and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land as male and female slaves.

They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppress them. When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil, and the hard service with which you were made to serve.

So we've got a promise. There is implied within this paragraph the perception of having lost this special blessings from God, because there's this phrase, I will again choose Israel. I will have compassion, and again, and I will set them in their land.

In the midst of this, we've gotta ask ourselves, when will this one take place? Is it the post-exile period? The nation is going to go into exile for 70 years, and those 70 years become an interesting challenge, because they were brought in, and the original approach as they came in there was to do everything that they could do to have Israel lose their national identity.

To set them up as if they could be amalgamated and brought into the culture of where they were gonna be. Think of Daniel, okay? Chosen as one of the finest of the young, he and his friends, I know them as Mashrach, Shedrach, and Abednego.

What are their Jewish names?

Hamani and Mishael Asariah.

Thank you, I knew you knew that. But they were given the opportunity to eat of the best foods, to be taught of the best, to be given the best, but they stood true to Yahweh. I'm saying that because there was this temptation to not remain faithful, and I also know this because in a time of Nehemiah, the decree is written that the Jews could go back, this is now after 70 years, the Jews could go back and rebuild the temple, and we know that not everybody took the opportunity.

And you have to ask yourself, well, why not? It was perhaps because they were comfortable.

In the life they had,.

And they had gotten comfortable. Eventually, under Ezra, another return takes place. But at the end of all of this exile, the land is set, is that the fulfillment of this? I don't think so, it doesn't work.

So now we move way ahead until the Eschaton, the end of time, where God has now recalled all 12 tribes, Revelation 7, he's going to come and he's gonna rule on earth, and there is going to be this period of time where his saints are actually going to rule.

The reality is that it was always God's plan through Abram for the whole world to be blessed. I know this because of Genesis 1 through 3. I'm gonna go over here, Ralph, if you would read Genesis 1 through 3.

Rich, I'm gonna ask you to get Isaiah 56, six through eight ready, please. Did I say one? I meant 12, thank you. Genesis 12, one to three. Thank you, Bob. Yeah, that doesn't sound like the right one. Is that 12, one to three?

That's Exodus 12.

I generally go with it until I figure out I can't work with it.

There we go, all right, okay.

All peoples on earth will be blessed through you, and there's promises that carry on through the New Testament that the promise to Abraham, God intended the promise to mankind. Isaiah 56, do you have that?

Isaiah 56, six to eight?

Yes, please.

Declares, I will yet others in the sight of those already gone.

He is going to call the outcasts of Israel, he's gonna call the exile of Israel, the scattered of Israel, but he's also calling humanity, the nations, back to him. There's a time where God's judgment has been held, but then there's this time of God's mercy and calling.

All humanity that will respond to him is called to come back in, and it says, and the people will take and bring them their place, and the house of Israel will possess in the Lord's land as male and female.

They will take captive those who were captors. This gets a little bit tougher. What does he mean there by those who were the captors will be held captive? It's not necessarily clear that he means servitude so much that as he means that in his design in the millennial kingdom, there will be a reign.

God will reign supreme, and then there'll be those who stand under him actually ruling. Revelation 20, verse four, it talks about those who are on the thrones who reigned with Christ in the millennium.

Now, there's a debate. Is that just the Jews? Is it the Jews and the saints who persevere through? But let's talk about that. We're now talking about the fullness of the true. He is a Jew truly who is one who's circumcised of the heart.

So truly, there's gonna be a point in time where Jesus as king, there will be those sitting on the thrones. That's really the picture we have here. No longer are those who call on the name of God gonna be oppressed and put under the thumb of the nations who hold obedience to the prince and power of the air, walking according to the prince and power of the spear, fulfilling the lust.

No longer is that gonna be the rule and the domain and what is it? It will now be Christ with his saints ruling and the rest of the nations will be there. Now, remember, there's gonna be a point in time in the millennium, and I don't know when it is, but I would say that on day one of the millennial reign, it's purely believers because that's who gets to enter into the millennial reign.

So I don't know when it is, but at some point in time, we're going to have offsprings and not all offsprings are going to accept Christ. We know that as we get to the end of the millennial account. And they will have a sin nature.

But here's the thing, in all, the rule will be Christ and his saints ruling under him. There will be that time where they're no longer oppressed. Give me four through six, please.

You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased. The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers. One more verse. That struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.

Some trust in horses and others trust in chariots, but I trust in the Lord God. You got little David, who after all of the mighty fighters of Israel, looked at this guy, Goliath, and said, I don't think so.

And David said, I'll do it. In the name of the Lord, I'll do it. And so they tried to put armor on him and give him the shield and the spear of the mighty fighters, but he was too small. And he said, I don't need any of that.

I'm going out with the sling and stones in the name of the Lord, and you, Goliath, you're mine. Because Jesus, God, God breaks down the power of the oppressor. That's where it comes. I don't have to trust in anything else.

Seven through 11.

The whole earth is at rest and quiet. They break forth into singing. The Cypresses rejoice at you. The cedars of Lebanon sang, since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us. Sheol beneath us is stirred up to meet you when you come.

It rouses the shades to greet you, all who are leaders of the earth. It raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you, you too have become as weak as we.

You have become like us. Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps. Maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.

Man, the picture of the earth is gonna turn at rest because all of these self-righteous, self-building up people are gonna be coming nothing more than maggots and worms. They become weak. God is going to have victory.

I wanted to close off our time. I think we've got enough time to take this reality that as the nation of Israel experiences oppression under the nation of Babylon, God calls them, and Babylon is going to be ruled because of it.

He does promise that I will have compassion on them, and there again, I will choose Israel, and then again, I will set them on their own land. Matthew chapter five, verse three. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Those people who are not self-haughty, those people who don't puff themselves up because they're all of that, those people who don't rely on the strength of their religion, blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Those who see that there really is sin and are torn down in front of the throne of God and say, woe is me, like Isaiah when he was in chapter six, is it?

And he said, woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips, and what does God do? He has an angel take a hot coal from the fire and touches his lips. Blessed are those who mourn, because of the heaviness of their sin.

They will be comforted, blessed are the gentle or the meek, depending on who you're, which version, they will inherit the earth. It's not those who think that they're gonna stand powerfully against Babylon or whatever else it is.

Blessed are those who are meek and have this gentle spirit.

This is the crown, it's gracious and humble.

He does, it says they will inherit the earth. It says here that again, he's gonna choose Israel and set them in their land and the captors are now gonna be their slaves. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

It doesn't mean that I have to have things and it doesn't mean that I need to have vindication for who I am or validation for what I do. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That is when you get filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Instead of standing up in opposition when the times are hard, blessed are the merciful, who are willing to take that difficult phone call and turn it into mercy and gentleness.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. You see the nation of Israel fighting and being hit hard by the nation of Babylon. God says, what do I require of you?

What do I seek from you? I don't need an Isaiah one. I'm tired of your empty sacrifices and in fact, even when you pray, I won't listen. What does God want? He wants the heart. So blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. At the end of time, God is gonna fight the fight that needs to be done. God is the holy, just God. By the way, the nation of Israel needs to be cleansed going into the millennial kingdom and he's gonna do that.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And blessed are you when you're persecuted because of Christ's sake, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Babylon is coming and Babylon is going to have their way.

We know that from the book of Habakkuk and they're a nasty, nasty group of people, but God is God and God is sovereign. I'm gonna close with Psalm 37 .7. Dave Reynolds, if you would give us Psalm 37 .7, please.

That is a great verse. I was looking for something that said God in his holy righteousness. Okay, no, that is right. That was my summation. Through all of what we have here, Israel has the promise that God who is righteous and faithful, nation of Israel will be punished.

Nation of Israel is gonna go through tough times, but he is again going to choose them. He is faithful, God is faithful. He is again gonna restore his people. And because of that, we have confidence in God.

We have confidence in God's sovereignty. We want us to stand encouraged in the midst of these oracles and this one against Babylon that God sees it, he is going to put down those evil nations for their wickedness and at the same time, he is going to lift his people back up again.

The Beatitudes as the Character of God’s Kingdom

Do you wanna give us a prayer, please?

Sure.

So God, we do look to you as the righteous judge of all the earth and we tremble at your power and how holy you are that you would judge sin. We know fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. As man builds empires, both politically and religiously, God, these will fall before your throne.

And so we have no fear of them. Our fear is you alone, God. You are our fear and you are our love. Your perfect love casts out fear, God. So we look to you today, just thankful that you are on your throne and we ask that you would confirm and remind us of that sovereignty in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.