Isaiah Lesson 41

The Setting of Isaiah 31 and the Courtroom Analogy

Afternoon to our people here, the sanctuary people online. It is a blessing. We're doing Isaiah. We've been doing it for a while. We'll be doing it for several more years, I'm sure, but what we are right now is at the end of a series of chapters that begins in chapter 29, Ariel, and going back to when we were there, that is Jerusalem.

We're talking southern kingdom, we're talking Judah, and specifically we're talking Jerusalem. We're going to be in chapter 31 today, and it's going to start out with, woe to those. All right, we've looked at, if you want to maybe perceive this as a presentation of arguments in front of the Supreme Court.

I guess the Supreme Court has now gone on summer vacation. I think that they've heard the cases. We have the nine justices and variations of rulings that have come out of the Supreme Court have surprised people.

I think that there was a great amount of fear and anxiety on the left side as President Trump successfully got Amy Coney Barrett on the bench right before his term expired, taking the place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

RBG to ABC. They were feeling this was disastrous. It was now going to be a nine to three split between conservatives and liberals, and it was going to be the end of civilization as they knew it. What ended up happening over the last six months has surprised people because the court has sided on the liberal side a number of times, and it's probably pretty well split between the rulings that have stood to conservative values and the rulings that have sided with the more liberal progressive sidings, if you would.

I think the most recent was the Supreme Court's denial of hearing the case for the florist out in Washington, and that really shocked I think the conservative side. I believe how it went was the original lawsuit was ruling in favor of the florist that because of her religious beliefs she should not be forced into taking part in something that was against her ethics, but it went to the state Supreme Court who ruled in favor of the gay community.

With this supposedly six to three split, the makeup of the court, I think there was a lot of people surprised because the court said we're not going to hear it. It does not reach our levels, so the ruling from the state Supreme Court holds.

Ariel, Empty Worship, and the Folly of Trusting Egypt

We've been going through this section, Ariel of Ariel, and as we've seen it to beginning, starting at chapter 29, verse 1, Ariel of Ariel, and it talks about adding year to year, let feasts run round, and as we were pursuing it, we were looking at a nation that were just going through the motions.

They were just doing feasts. They were not actually looking or surrendering or seeing God. Down in verse 8, same chapter, so the multitude of the nations will fight against Mount Zion. As we walked our way through this chapter, we saw that God's holy judgment demanded that the people would be held accountable for how they would be.

Verse 9, astonish yourselves and be astonished, blind yourselves and be blind, be drunk, stagger how the people had actually started to just, they were behaving in a way as if they were totally spiritually drunk, unable to even perceive and understand.

We then get further down in verse 14, therefore I will again do wonderful things with his people, with wonder upon wonder, almost making you feel like the Lord is going to step in and make things right within the people, but he goes on and says, the wisdom of their wives shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning men shall be hidden.

On the surface, that can sound horrible, how God is going to take the people within the nation who stood to the law, who taught the law, but what he's really doing is a wonderful thing because he's taking the pride and the arrogance and the feeling that they really don't need God to guide them, they have the wisdom in and of themselves.

So it really is a wonderful thing that God would take the wisdom of their wise men and it would be taken away, their discernment would become like nothing. In verse chapter 30, talks about stubborn children and how they have set upon themselves because they are being confronted by this nation of Syria, and instead of returning to the Lord who has always promised to be their guard, they choose to go down to Egypt of all places to find help in their time of need.

He says in verse 7, chapter 30, Egypt's help is worthless and empty. That's who God sees them as, and he's going to really ridicule the people for thinking they're going to find protection in time of need, not from him, but from another nation, Egypt of all nations.

Verse 15, for thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rescue shall be saved, in the quietness of trust shall be your strength, but you were unwilling. He's pleading with them to come and find their rest, to find their protection, and he says, but you were unwilling and you said, no, we will flee to horses.

That's got to be ridiculous for God to say, come back to me, rest in me, and for the people to be obstinately ignoring this opportunity from God and saying, no, we will flee to horses. But there is good news as we go into chapter, verse 18, into the end of 31.

For the Lord is a God of justice, blessed are they who wait on him. And he talks about, there is a day, there will be a coming, a day, the rain will come in verse 23, the livestock will grain, the day of great slaughter when towers fall, and then in verse 26, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days.

And it says the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people and the Lord heals the wounds inflicted by his bow. He is going to, in verse 28, he is going to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction.

And in verse 33, a burning place has long been prepared. Indeed, for the king, it is made ready. Its pyre made deep and wide with fire and wood and abundance. The breath of the Lord, like the stream of sulfur, kindles it.

God has ordained from time past. His judgment and his judgment will hold true. The case has been presented in front of the court. We have people who have chosen to not devote themselves to God. We have people who are going just through the ritual.

And because of that, God is judging them. And because of that, God has called the Assyrians to come upon them and to lay siege upon them. And instead of acknowledging, recognizing what God is doing, the people have chosen to go to their worst enemy, Egypt, as if Egypt is going to help them.

And God speaks to the folly of this. And he says, I'm going to judge them. I'm going to judge them. And I am here. I am here to ready to have you return to me. And so now we get into verse 31. And he's going to get very specific to those people who now, the evidence has been given and the closing arguments are about to be made in this chapter.

And so now people are going to need to choose. What are you going to do about the evidence and how are you going to respond to these closing arguments? And on what side are you going to stand? And he starts this out by saying, woe to those who go down to Egypt.

So that's what we are today. We're going to look at this woe to those, the folly of looking for strength where you should not be. And then yet the comparison of evildoers to God, it's an unfair comparison because then we go on and we see that the Lord is never, can never be defeated.

And eventually we see the world's fall, the world's systems fall. And that will lead us to having the final arguments presented. And you have to make a decision. You are the Supreme Court. You're going to have to make a decision.

Psalm 8, Deuteronomy 17, and the Heart of the Issue

So let's open in prayer. Father, as we consider now at the end of this section of Ariel and how the folly of following meaningless worship, the folly of choosing worldly support in time of struggle, the folly of thinking that Egypt and their way is the way for them.

But yet hearing the truth, the promises of God, we now get into this section and we look at the specific details it needs to make us determine in our own hearts which way we go. I pray that you would open the eyes of our hearts to this teaching in Jesus' name.

Amen. Battery low, 30 minutes left.

Don't waste it. Talk fast.

Psalm 8 verses 3 and 4, when I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou dost take thought of him and the son of man that thou dost care for him?

I bring this out because this is not unique within the Psalms, this exhortation to say, take inventory. You're just a man. I am God. I am creator. Which side do you think is better for you, Egypt or something else?

And what is man, what is man thou should take thought of him? I am God. He said, I am the one who created all. Woe to those who go down to Egypt. Bob, would you give us the first verse of chapter 31, please?

Woe to those going down to Egypt, expecting help, relying on horses, trusting in chariots, because they have many, and in the strength of their cavalrymen, but not looking to the Holy.

One of Israel, not consulting the Lord. This verse is just putting it right out there. There's just total folly of thinking you're going to be protected by worldly strength. The perception perception for the people of Israel, from where is the attack coming?

According to what it would look like for the nation of Israel. Who's their foe? Assyria. It looks like it's Assyria. And so that's how they're behaving because that's what they see. That's what they're confronted with.

That's what they can perceive. And so because Assyria has horses and they have chariots and they have many, many fighting men, their solution is to have more horses and more chariots and more fighting men than the opposition can bear.

What's missing is where is the Bab really being fought? It's a spiritual Bab. You raised your hand, Bob. No, I was going to say spirit. Okay. I'm using my 28 minutes very carefully right now. Deuteronomy 17.

We're only going to read a few of these because I do recognize time, but I want to do Deuteronomy 17. Bob, I'm going to ask if you would get that. And 2 Chronicles 16, Chris, I'm going to ask if you would get that.

Proverbs 29, Karen, if you would have that ready. Proverbs 3, verse 5, a very well-known, very well-understood, trust in the Lord, do not lean on your own understanding. The risk here is that the people looking out, it's like the servant of Elisha who looks out and sees the city.

They're being surrounded by multitudes of armies. Elisha says, open his eyes. And when his eyes are open, he sees from an entirely different perspective. The issue here is all of the arguments have been presented.

All the evidence has been presented. And based on all of these arguments, are you still that blind? Are you still that dull of seeing that you believe you need to go down to Egypt for help? Deuteronomy 17.

When you enter into the land of the Lord,.

Your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it. And you say, let us set a king over us like all the nations. Be sure to appoint over you the king of the Lord that your Lord God chooses.

He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother of Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make people return to Egypt to get more of them.

For the Lord has told you, you are not to go back the way you came. He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. Right at the very beginning of.

This little section is part of the basis of their problem. They wanted a king so that they could be just like all the other nations. And it upset, I think it was Samuel, he's not rejecting you, they're rejecting me.

This is God speaking. They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me. And so the people's hearts turned away from accepting the lordship, the kingship of God, which is how God intended it. And they wanted to be like all of the other nations.

Well, now they are just like all of the other nations because they're being turned to the things that a king can control. Horses, chariots, fighting men, treasures, that's where they're.

Being turned towards. Second Chronicles, please. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.

It's the heart. So the people.

May, and again, we read this in chapter 29, they may be doing year after year, sacrifice after sacrifice. But it's when the heart has gone cold or the heart has started to go away, when the heart starts to compromise, there's risk.

And that's the problem. He searches for the heart. Proverbs 29, Karen. Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. My phone is ringing. I'm going to ignore that.

Fear of the man is not, there is nothing that will lead you there because the men can only deal with the flesh and we deal in a higher realm. And yet, Bob, give me verses two and three, please. Psalm 118, Ralph, you're going to get that.

And Psalm 46, Rich, if you would get Psalm 46 ready. Give me two and three, please.

But he too is wise and can bring disaster and he does not take back.

Before you go on, I want you, I'm going to have you read that again. Follow the pronouns. It's almost imperceptible until you get to the end, to the rest of this little passage. He is God. Okay? He is God.

He is not man at this point in time. He is God. So go ahead and do that again.

But he too is wise and can bring disaster and he does not take back his words. He will rise against the house of evildoers and against the help of those who do wrong. Now the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not spirit.

So when the Lord stretches out his hand, both he who helps will stumble and he who is helped will fall. Both will perish together.

So God is the wise. God is the wisdom. We go back into the end of verse one. Don't look to the Holy Lord. They don't look to the Holy One. They don't consult in the Lord. Well, guess what? It is the Lord that is wise.

It is the Lord that brings the disaster. It is the Lord that will never fall back on his word. The Egyptians, they're just people. They're just people. They are not God. Their horses, just flesh. They're not spirit.

The Israelites need to understand that as they're in the promised land, they were told that God would go before them. Many times in Exodus and Deuteronomy and in the beginning of Joshua, as Joshua was getting ready to bring the people, do not be afraid.

I go before you. Okay, you will be successful because I go before you. Has to be held on to because if God is going before you, then God is the one who's fighting the fight. As the spies go into Jerusalem, the hearts of the kings have melted because they have heard what the God of Israel has done.

Even the hearts of the kings could recognize that all of these victories that the nation of Israel has, it's because of the God of Israel who has done it. God is the one who is wise and he judges and he sees evil and what he declares, it's going to happen.

Now, the house of the evildoers are going to be judged. That's in here. When the Lord stretches out his hand, not only is the house going to be done, but those who encourage and help the house. His judgment goes beyond just the person who wielded the sword, drove the chariot.

It's to those who back them up and encourage them to do the same. The helper will stumble and he who has helped will fall. Both the person doing it and the person who is standing behind him. Evil forces do not have a chance when it comes to a battle where the Lord is engaged.

Refuge in the Lord, Not in Princes

Psalm 118, it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. Why would Israel think Egypt is the right solution? It's a mystery.

Well, it is a mystery, but there's a real simple answer to it. They trusted him. They trusted them. That's a mystery, but if you took a look at the geopolitical forces of the time, Assyria was not successfully defeating Egypt.

Egypt was standing as a power center. Assyria was the big power center, but Egypt is standing pretty strong, and if I'm looking strictly from a military, strictly from a defensive standpoint, when I'm concerned about standing up against Assyria, I'm going to want strong strength on my side.

The problem is defending strong strength. And from what you just read, it's really not a good idea to trust in things that aren't of the.

Lord. Yeah, Richard. I'll supplement to what Ralph said. This is from Jeremiah 17, verse 5. Thus says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in a man and makes flesh his strength,.

Whose heart departs from the Lord. That gets pretty heavy. The reality of that is, did you just say three minutes? That was a very quick 30 minutes.

I don't know the strength of the batteries when they get out. That's fine.

I'm going to summarize 46. God is your refuge. God is your strength. God is your present help in times of trouble. It's not going to be Israel because they're just people. Now give me verses 4 and 5, please.

The Lord Will Fight for Jerusalem

Here is what the Lord says to me. As a lion or lion cub growls at its prey and isn't frightened away by the shouts of hordes of shepherds called out against him, their voices do not upset him. So likewise, the Lord of hosts will descend to fight on Mount Zion on its hill.

Like covering birds, the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem. In protecting it, he will rescue it. In sparing.

It, he will save it. Get Psalm 5 ready, if you would, Rich. It's at the bottom of that section, Psalm 5, 11 and 12. This is an interesting picture because he's using the shepherds as the oppressors. You got to look at this.

It's a little bit different. As the lion protects his young from the oppressor, he's talking about the shepherds perhaps coming out against him. Protects Jerusalem. All you got to do is let him protect you.

All you got to do is let him protect you. Give me verses 6 through 9, Bob, if you would. I think I'm dead completely, right? Well, I put another battery in. Oh, so we're back up and running. Hi, guys.

Well, I tell you, so I do have a few minutes, that is what you're saying.

You have almost an hour. All right. You want me to read that or not?

Exodus 14, 14. Lori, if you would get Exodus 14. The reality in nature is that the young are at risk because they can't fight for themselves. And there are predators that would choose to go after the weak, the young.

That's a truth of nature. We are young and not capable of standing up against our greatest predator. And if we try, we don't have the power to stand up against him in and of ourselves. But we have a promise of protection that comes from God.

And so there does not need to be this fear or this desire, I need to go to Egypt, or I need to do something because the attacks are so great. Going to Egypt is actually a form of compromise. And it's loss of faith, as Lori said.

Finding our protection in our refuge, Exodus 14, 14, Lori?

The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.

It is amazing to see that. There is a video that came out a few weeks ago of a couple of dads watching their kids play t-ball. And one of the dads did not like the call. And the other dad took exception to that.

The first dad took exception to the call. And the video has them fighting, fist fighting. That's not what we got here. That's not what we've got here. We have a God who is not only promises to protect us, not only can and will protect us, but we have a God who is going to do so with perfect righteous judgment at all times.

His opposition is Satan. There is no opposition to God, but Satan is the one who's standing up trying to do it. And as all this is going on, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritualities.

And God promises, I will fight for you. Just keep silent. I will fight for you. Now, give me verses six through nine, please.

Return to the Lord and Cast Away Idols

People of Israel, return to Him to whom you have been so deeply disloyal. For on that day, everyone will discard his idols of silver and idols of gold, which you made for yourselves with your own sinful hands.

Then Asher will fall by a sword, not of mortals. A sword, not of humans, will devour him. He will flee before the sword, and his young men will be put to forced labor. His rock out of terror will pass away, and his panicked officers will desert the standard.

So says the Lord, his fire is in Zion, his furnace is in Jerusalem.

Verse six has a real interesting emphasis going on. Read verse six for me one more time, please.

People of Israel, return to Him to whom you have been so deeply disloyal.

The call to return to God. Now, there are two ways that that verse is actually presented. And going into the Hebrew, I can't definitely say which one it is. Return to Him, how does your say, oh people, read yours again.

Return to Him to whom you have been so deeply disloyal.

Return to Him to whom you have been so deeply disloyal. Clearly is a call to say, there is disloyalty, there is God, and the decision must be to turn to Him. There's another way of reading this, and if I'm looking at the ESV, turn to Him from whom people have deeply revolted.

Which is to say that within the context of the nation of Israel, there are those who have clearly turned away from God and don't go with them. I'm saying both of them work well. On one case, it's if the crowd is finding something other than truth to stand to, don't go with them.

Don't go with them, it's a bad idea. Or if you're going to read it to say that you have been infected with a virus of disbelief or separation from God, turn away from that and go back to God. Either one of those is going to work to hear, oh children of Israel.

Now he's got some proclamations of things that are going to happen and he says for in that day. We can look at what is that day because if you read through this, first of all you've got people acknowledging where they are and taking these idols that they've made that are totally meaningless and throwing them aside because that's all that they are is meaningless.

And that day everyone shall cast away his idols which have been sinfully made. That's a great place to go is to do it. And in that day, I don't know that we've seen that day yet. But I think that we see pictures of that day but we do know that in that day, God eventually is going to cleanse his people.

Idols will be removed. The second thing that we do have here though is Assyrians falling by the sword. This is now going to be presented as if to say, I'm going to prove to you the validity of what I've just said.

In that day, all idols will be cast away. Now take a look because it hasn't happened yet. But when it happens, take a look at it and remember I've told you this. We've highlighted this a number of times already.

If you go to Isaiah 37 at the end of the chapter, verses 36 to 38, we do see how Assyria is making siege but Shennachareb is called back to Babylon, not to Babylon, to yeah, that one, Nineveh, and is killed and his sons are killed and the nation of Assyria falls at the hand of the Lord 180 ,000 in one day.

This has not yet come to be when this is written. There is still a in that day anticipation because the people are seeing Assyria and what are they doing? Tell me in this passage, in this section, people are seeing Assyria, where are they going?

Egypt. Why are they going to Egypt? They think they're stronger than Assyria. They think they're stronger than Assyria. They're looking at the physical side of things. They're looking at the physical side of things and God is, this is his closing arguments now.

He's presented everything and he said that there's going to come a day when even your idols you're going to recognize for what they are and you're going to cast them aside and there's going to be a day where Assyria is going to fall.

I love the way he says that though. It says here, and Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man and a sword not of man shall devour him. The punishment that's coming down on Assyria is God's punishment.

The defeat of Assyria, he's going to use Babylon to defeat Assyria, but it's God's defeat. Listen to me, Ariel. Oh, Ariel, you're feeling oppressed. You're feeling challenged. You're feeling set upon and so you're looking for a resolution.

So your solution is to go to Egypt. It's because you've lost your heart for me. Year after year, feast after feast, but there's no heart in it. I'm calling you back and now I'm challenging you. Woe to you who go back to Egypt.

Woe to you who follow the crowd back to Egypt. Woe to you who help those who go back. Woe to you who have seen others or you yourself have turned away from God because there is coming a day in that day I win, says God.

Now I'm giving you a little bit of a picture because there is coming a day not too far away when Assyria is going to fall. His rock shall pass away in terror and his officers desert the standard in panic, declares the Lord whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

If you want to know the closing argument, it's God said so. Are you comfortable with this or do you need more? God said so, declares the Lord. Exodus 15, 2 and 3 says that the Lord is my strength and my salvation.

I praise him. I exalt in him. He is the warrior that I stand behind. Closing arguments make your decision. Let's close in prayer. Dear Father, the picture and the lesson as God challenges his people in Israel against the coldness of their heart, against their blindness to see where truth lies, their expectation that worldly forces are what's needed and as he calls them back and as he declares they are not gods, they are not gods, I am the God, that there is coming a time and I will show you through the fall of Assyria, I will show you that it is my fire, a furnace of judgment.

That day all will be made right. Come back to me, says God, come back to me. We pray in Jesus' name that we would follow. Amen.