Isaiah Lesson 16

The Meta-Narrative of Scripture and the Need for Context

One of the phrases that I've learned recently is the meta-narrative of scripture. And if you go into a passage, and I encourage that, and you read and you see what the passage has to say, and study it, meditate on it, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.

OK?

Taking it to the next level, now you take it into the context. And so understanding more than what just the words of that verse might say, understanding the intent of the bigger picture of what is going on in that passage, I would encourage context.

There's a phrase called the pericope. And if you were to be in a section of scripture where either a theme is presented, a story is told, that's called the pericope, if you would. So the context of the pericope, then the context within the chapter, the context within the book.

And then you've got this thing called meta-narrative, and it's the big picture of what God is communicating through his work. Chapter 9 of Isaiah is a strong example of going from the beginning of it, the first eight verses, and then going on into the rest of the chapter.

It just seems to be such a strong disconnect of thought from one section to the other, unless you put it into the bigger picture of the meta-narrative of scripture. And that's that God created, and God loved man, disobeyed, and God continued in love, and from before time planned and established the resolution for man's sin, the Messiah.

And the story will continue on into the end times, going through the tribulation into the full restoration. The meta-narrative, God's calling his creation, desiring them back into a relationship with him.

And the unfortunate news is that not all mankind will respond to this call. And their ultimate reward for their disobedience is set. There will be eternal separation from God. And so if we take a look at the history of Israel, we had the entry into the promised land, and we had the time of judges.

And then we have the people eschewing the fact that they don't have a king like all other. We want to be like all other people. And so God allows a king to come up and Saul. But then God says, I really want a king, a man after my own heart.

And so he establishes for David and then Solomon. But then Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and we start to see the reality of one people group completely abandoning God, and another people group still having a certain sprinkling of reaction and response to God.

And so in the beginning of chapter 9 is this amazing message of the Messiah to come. That's for all mankind, oh, by the way. But the rest of the chapter takes an incredible about face because now instead of talking about the coming Messiah, there's going to be a proclamation against the northern kingdom.

And what is going to happen to them because of what they've done. Taken into its big picture, it is still the truth of God. He is still the creator. He is still just. He is still holy. But he is still loving.

But when man totally abandons God, God will allow their abandonment to take its full fruition. That being said, there still is the Messiah. And that hope goes through all time. We're going to finish the lesson yesterday.

So as you came in, there were two lesson plans on two different chairs. One is last week's. We need to finish that up. And then the second one is this. So it's lessons 15 and 16. If you didn't get both, they're both back there on the chairs.

As a quick review, last week we saw this crescendo of God's provision. We had started coming out of chapter eight, how people, instead of relying on God, looked to those who could perhaps conjure up. And they looked and all they found was gloom and despair.

And they searched the earth for answers and all they found was gloom and despair. And then this beautiful, beautiful picture, the pericope of the Messiah, starts out. But there will be no gloom for her who is in anguish.

The former time brought into the contempt of Zebulun and Naphtali. And we talked about how the fulfillment of this as Messiah comes. And he spends so much time in the region of Galilee, Zebulun and Naphtali.

And it works its way down eventually to verse six. For to us a child is born, a son is given. And we talked about those two yesterday. We're going to finish this expression of who the Messiah is, what he will be all about.

And then we're going to shift into the next pericope, what's going to happen in the northern kingdom. So Jeff, open us please.

The Hypostatic Union and the Messiah’s Titles in Isaiah 9:6-7

All right.

So Father, we thank you for the light. Thank you that you have delivered us out of darkness into your marvelous light. And that we walk in this light, we are set free in this light. We have joy in this light.

Thank you, God. Thank you for the child that was born, the son that was given. And we will never forget that gift. And so here, as we look to the scriptures again, we pray that you would help us to understand better, to walk more closely with you, for all of these truths of your word to be put into practice in our lives, for you to increase our urgency to preach the good news to all creation.

So Lord, please move among us here as we look to your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

So last week, we started it out. And the phrase for the beginning of what we talked about yesterday, it's the hypostatic union, Jesus fully God, Jesus fully man. And Jesus walking on earth. The only worthy sacrifice for our sins, the perfect, the perfect sinless man, there had to be bloodshed, and it had to be God given.

The remaining of the attributes, Jeff, if you would give us again, verses six and seven. Sandy, I'm gonna ask you to get Revelation 1 .5 ready. It's on the back of lesson 15, Matthew 28. Kimberly, if you would get that ready, we'll start there.

For to us, a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

So we're gonna look at a few things. One is this concept. The government is on his shoulder. He will be called Wonderful Counselor. His role, if you would, in that, and then it's gonna be Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the eternally existence of Jesus as God in harmony with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, and then his throne established forever, the eternality, the culmination of promises given, if you would, to David, and then finally this thought of the zeal and surety of the Lord.

Revelation 1 .5. Sandy, if you would read that. It says that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth. This is so important to understand, and it's applicable to what's going on for us today, perhaps the despair, perhaps the disconcernation and everything else, but putting it in context of the time again, for the nation of Israel at this point in time, they have been attacked by other domains, but God has restored them.

They have been disobedient, they've been punished, and there are other authorities out there, and it says that in any context, there is only one ruler on the earth. Now, if you go into Philippians chapter two, it talks about our unfortunate state following the prince of the power of the air.

Now, that we know is Satan, and we know that the reality of what's going on in the world today is a direct result of the influence of Satan and what he attempts to do on the world. This would give, I think, rational thought to say that Satan has got a lot of authority and power on earth.

How did Satan tempt Jesus in the wilderness? So he appealed to the need for the flesh. Okay, what else did he do? Absolutely, he did, and Luis said, in the third temptation, you bow down to me, and I will make you ruler of all this.

You should never ask yes or no questions, but I'm gonna ask it. Did Satan have the authority to make that offer?

Yes.

And Rich said yes, why?

It was given to him, Satan had to be imprisoned.

And Rich indicates that at the creation in the garden, man was given dominion, and after sin, Adam abdicated that, and Satan was established now with authority here on earth. And as Rich observes, Satan does not dispute.

Rather, he went to scripture, and he said, thou, God, God is your, here's the thing. In the world today, you cannot dispute the fact that there are men and women who believe they are in authority, and they are, but God.

And those are some of the greatest words in scripture, Ephesians, Philippians 2 .4, but God. If we believe, and we do, Satan's presence and Satan's problems and troubles and everything else, the reality is but God.

As it says in Revelations 1 .5, Jesus is the ruler over all kings on the earth. In fact, who has the heart of the king in his very hands? The Lord has the heart of the king in his very, very hands. This Messiah coming is going to be validation.

It's going to be setting up the only opportunity for man to overcome the power of Satan on the earth, and that's God. You are not strong enough to stand up against Satan and his power here on the earth, but God, all right?

Matthew 28, he is giving them, at that point in time,.

What we know as the Great Commission, and the reason he can give them the Great Commission is that he's got all the authority on heaven and earth, and the reason he's got all authority on heaven and earth has been given to him.

You know, within the economy of the triune God, the Father, all authority has been given to Jesus, and it says here that he, the government shall be upon his shoulder. He shall be called Wonderful Counselor.

While we are here, there are authorities, there are kingdoms, there are governments, and there are those who believe they have the ability to counsel and to express and everything else. They're counterfeits.

They're counterfeits, there's one, and that's gonna be the Lord Jesus. First Timothy 2 .5, Bob, if you've got that. Lori, I see you've got your glasses on. Aren't you good to go today? I'm gonna let you get Exodus 3 .14, and I will speak to that, and Chris, if you would get John 10 .30, and I'll speak to the rest of it.

It says that he is also a mighty God. The false doctrines that place Jesus as something other than mighty God are only meant to take you away. They are attempts by Satan to take you away from dependence, surrender, acceptance of this great Messiah.

First Timothy 2 .5, if you run across somebody.

Who says Jesus was a great prophet, Jesus was a great teacher, scripture. Really, no, you can take them to First Timothy 2 .5. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus. He is God.

He is God. There is one Jesus as part of him, and then you can take them to Exodus 3 .14 and eventually John 8 .58.

Exodus 3 .14, we know as Moses.

Is in front of this burning bush getting his marching orders, and he says, who am I gonna say? And God says, I am. And then when we go to John 8 .58, Jesus says, before Abraham was born, I am. And if there is any doubt that Jesus ever self-proclaimed deity, you can take Exodus 3 .14, you can marry it up with John 8 .58 because Jesus professed.

And Rich observed that at that proclamation, the Pharisees went to stone Jesus because they understood that when Jesus said, before Abraham was born, I am, was a self-assertion to be fully God, to be fully God.

Yeah.

Amen. Let me say that clear, amen.

John 10 .30, there you go.

I and the Father are one. We have this child born, a son given, the government on his shoulder called a wonderful counselor, and he is mighty God. That is our Messiah, Prince of Peace. On the government of his, on the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

What happened on the cross? Okay, let's try this on this way. From the Romans' perspective, and probably from Satan's perspective, what happened on the cross? The death of Jesus. And if you go back into these utterances by the prophets of old, it says there will be no end, but on the cross, Jesus died.

What really happened on the cross? We handed out T-shirts this summer for us to wear and to show out in public, and it could be used as a great instigation and impetus for testimony. What did that T-shirt say?

Tetelestai. What does tetelestai mean? It is finished. It is finished. That's really what tetelestai means. It is finished, which means it's paid for in full. So when Jesus died on the cross, that was not the end.

That was actually the beginning because the penalty that had to be paid was paid in full. It is finished. Everlasting Father. It says in 2 Samuel that God would establish David's throne forever. Jeremiah 23, five and six.

Bob Zellman, if you would get that out for me.

All right.

Were you gonna read it in Hebrew?

No.

I was excited. 23, five and six. Following David comes Solomon, following Solomon, Raibam, Jeroboam, this horrible split. And then we have kings that do evil, nothing but evil on the side of the Lord, and then kings who follow the Lord and there's this rollercoaster until eventually, eventually, there was false worship performed in the temple, and at that point in time, the Shekinah glory leaves.

It goes out the threshold, out the gate and leaves, which means that God's very, very presence not in the temple. Now the temple is vulnerable to being overrun by godless forces. Shortly after that, we have a siege.

The walls are broken down. The temple is burned. The nation is taken into captivity. And it appears that the line of David has stopped as the nation goes into captivity and comes out of captivity. But God had a better plan because there needed to be one who would sit on the throne not only as king, but as priest.

And I love, Jeff, the way you're speaking about Jesus as a priest after the order of Melchizedek. How can you claim to be a priest? You're not a Levite. Well, he's a priest in a better order. I will raise up after David a king who will reign a king of righteousness, and that's the Lord Jesus.

And it says then at the end that the profession of Peter, Jesus says, who do men say that I am? Well, some say that you're John, some say et cetera, and then Jesus says, but who do you say that I am? Peter said, you're the Messiah, the son of the living God.

Jesus said, blessed art thou, Peter, son of Barjona, for on this I will build my church, on this rock. That rock is not Peter. That rock is the profession, that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God.

And so the throne of David is established now through his church. We are in what's called the church age, and eventually we're gonna go through some really tough times, seven years, and that throne will be reestablished with Jesus sitting on it for all eternity as the righteous king.

It says at the end of this section that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. And this is another important concept for us to understand. The zeal of the Lord of the hosts can be difficult to understand.

Anybody wanna try to explain what it means, the zeal of the Lord of the hosts? It is his surety, it is his ultimate emphasis. It is, no doubt about it, I am saying this, this is true for you to grab ahold of.

It is the sovereign omniscient proclamation of the God of all universe. It says the zeal of the Lord of the hosts will do this. 1 Kings 8 .58 basically says not one word has failed. Ezekiel 12 .25 says, I speak, it will be fulfilled.

I speak, it will be fulfilled. And Luke 21 .33, my words will never pass away. When God makes this proclamation that there is a Messiah to come, he says it with all fervent energy, knowledge, truth, zeal.

I have said this, and the Lord of hosts will do this. There is a Messiah coming with all these attributes. Now comes the second half of the story. And if you want to turn to lesson 16. The northern kingdom had consistently chosen to disobey God and to become at odds with everything that he stands for.

Judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel

Give me, let's look at eight through 13, if you would, Jeff.

The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel. And all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, the bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones.

The sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. But the Lord raises the adversaries of resin against him and stirs up his enemies. The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth.

For all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.

We're talking now about the northern kingdom. It starts out, the Lord has sent word against Jacob, it will fall on Israel. Read that to mean God is looking now at the northern kingdom. All right, read that to be that.

It says that all the people will know Ephraim and Samaria. Read that to be, again, a description of the northern kingdom. Ephraim would have been, if not the, one of the largest tribes of the northern kingdom.

And Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. And so God now is turning his focus in this proclamation at the northern kingdom. And what's important to note is the northern kingdom has in every way set themselves at odds against God.

And then at the end of verse nine, the indictments start to come hot and heavy. Who say in pride and in arrogance of their hearts, the bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild. The sycamores have cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.

All right, now my first question was what kind of judgments have they experienced? The northern kingdom, similar to the southern kingdom, prior to the end of their kingdom, did experience judgments and did experience things that the Lord brought upon them.

Some of them are destruction of cities. Some of them are the elimination of resources. The bricks have fallen. The sycamores have been cut down. And so prior to the final indictment against the northern kingdom, similar to what he did to the southern kingdom, he executed judgments on the northern kingdom.

The question I would ask is why did God have the northern kingdom go through these periods of judgment and of active action? Why did he do that to them? Thank you, Rich says hoping they would repent. Wants to restore, he wants them to be, God is very patient to a point.

And very loving to a point. And he is faithful to his covenants. And it says here that when all of that has happened, how did the people respond to these various judgments that were brought upon them?

Laurie says we're gonna move on and do our own thing. And I believe you're right. It actually says, I have here in front of me the ESV. It says in pride and arrogance of their heart. And that's indicative of somebody who believes I don't need God, I got this, I got this.

All right, my cities were built and then my cities were torn down. I'll just rebuild them, no big deal. The sycamores, resources, things that they would have used, they've been destroyed, no problem. I'll just plant new ones, I'll just plant new ones.

And it's the arrogance of their heart that basically has set them continually disregarding.

What God is doing, trying to,. Kim, thank you.

So Kimberly brings up a very strong point. And I'm repeating because I've noticed when I watch these on video, a lot of you are not heard. So Kimberly brings up a strong point. And that's that we can't say God hoped that this would happen.

God is omniscient and sovereign, knowing the beginning from the end. And His allowing the nation to go through this. Now, I'm going to stand that the nation chose to turn away from God, there still is that.

But God knew that this would be, and it's His sovereign, He is sovereign. And the true condition of their hearts, they're exposed. The true condition of the arrogance and pride is exposed through all of this.

So Kimberly, I do appreciate you bringing that up. The judgments are going to begin, give us 11 to 13 again, please.

But the Lord raises the adversaries of resin against Him and stirs up His enemies. The Syrians on the East and the Philistines on the West devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, His anger has not turned away and His hand is stretched out still.

The people did not turn to Him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.

Okay, so we need to understand something. Resin at this point in time was actually, the Northern Kingdom was an alliance with resin. So the bond that they had, the enemies of resin are now the enemies of the Northern Kingdom.

And it ascribes them on the East, the Syrians on the West, the Philistines. It describes the nations surrounding the Northern Kingdom coming in and devouring Israel. It describes the attacks and the judgments that come on Him.

And it says then from this, and you have to take the last part of 12 and 13 together. For all this, His anger was not turned away and His hand was stretched out still. The people did not turn to Him who struck them.

You need to catch that line. They did not turn to Him who struck them. It says that we had Syria and we had Philistia in attack, but then it goes on to say, who is actually responsible? Who is actually driving this attack?

It's God, it's God. And it says that the people do not turn back from Him and they don't even seek Him out. I've listed some passages here because this now is describing the judgment that's coming on the nation of Israel.

If you go to 2 Kings 17, you can turn there and follow with me. I'm gonna highlight some of the statements that are in Kings. In 2 Kings 17, the first couple of verses, it speaks of the King Hosea. Hosea, not sure how to pronounce that one.

He does evil in the sight of God. Well, surprise, surprise, he's in the Northern Kingdom. He does evil. It talks in verses five and six. Assyria invading, laying siege, defeating, and taking the nation captive.

It says in seven through nine, it's because of the sins of Israel, because of their false worship, because of secret things that they have done against God. As if there is such a thing as a secret thing that you can do against God.

It says in verses 13 and 14, God warned them, but they would not listen. They became stiff-necked. And Kimberly, I think this goes into where you are, this is really who they were. And it is being made clear, and it is being made evident that the pride, the arrogance of their heart, and their stiff-necked against God.

Verse 18, God was angry. This is a real scary one. He was angry and removed them from his presence. These are still his chosen people. The promises to Abraham are still there. But the total disdain and the total desire to go their own way, the pride, the arrogance of their heart, it says in verse 18.

In fact, Louise, if you're looking at there, could you read verse 18 for us, please? There was none left but the tribe of Judah. We know that there's others, Benjamin down there, but the northern kingdom, southern kingdom, removed from his presence in verses 22 and 23.

Israel persisted in sin, and so God removed them, and they're sent into exile. Now, at this point in time, we understand the northern kingdom, and we call them the Lost Ten Tribes. There's no record of their restoration like there is in Ezra and Nehemiah for the southern kingdom that goes into exile into Babylon and eventually Assyria, and they are brought 70 years later back to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the walls.

But there's no such recording. But I want you to hold true to the promises of God, because when are these ten tribes coming back? Yeah, we can read in Revelations of the ten tribes. God has not forgotten them, and there's a period of time where they have disdained God, and so that God has removed them from his presence, but not from his heart and not from his mind.

The Northern Kingdom’s Stiff-Necked Rebellion and Coming Exile

Give me verses 14 through 21, I guess.

All right.

So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day. The elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

Therefore, the Lord does not rejoice over their young men and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

For wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes briars and thorns, it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire.

No one spares another. They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied. Each devours the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh.

Together, they are against Judah. For all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

The ultimate and just total description of God's judgment against the northern kingdom is included there in 14 to 21. I wanted to try something at the beginning of it. It says in 14, so the Lord cut off from Israel the head and the tail, the poem in the read in one day.

And he goes on to describe the head and the tail as representing in verse 15. Go ahead, read 15 again.

The elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.

What is the significance then of the head and the tail? What's being cut off? So who would the elders have been? The wise, the mature, those who should have been guiding to spiritual truth and relationship, the elders of the clans.

It's the elders of the clans being cut off. And we're talking about the prophets. Those are the ones who would be speaking from God, foretelling and foretelling, to drawing them back. And they're being cut off.

Now, one of the commentaries I read on this is cut off the head and the tail. There is a literary, there's a literary approach called a merism. Merism? Anybody ever hear of this before? A merism? I want everything to be taken care of, everything from the beginning to the end.

Okay, taking polar opposites of a concept and saying from the beginning to the end. Okay, in other words, and everything in between. Okay, and so this particular commentator said, from the head to the tail is a merism.

You know, in other words, it's the entirety. It's the head and the tail and everything in between. I could go either way on this one, because in one application, but I tend to go with what's in scripture here.

It says that the head is the elder and the tail is the prophet. I think what we're seeing here is God saying those spiritual lamps and lights and guides. I'm taking them away. You're now on your own. You wanted to be on your own, and so now you're on.

I think that that's more honoring to the actual text it has here. Why is he taking these spiritual leaders away? Thank you, taking it right from the text. These individuals that had an obligation, they had a position to be not only guiding them, but re-guiding them if they've gone astray.

They're actually the ones leading them astray, and if they're doing what they're doing, God says, that's it, they're done, and now you're on your own. Have life and have it as you wish. The guides are gone, and it says, go ahead.

I believe you're right. I believe that within them, there would be those that would have loved to have heard truth, and they're not. Okay, here's a direct application. Be careful who you listen to or follow today, and test the spirits.

Jeff, you used the word Berean in your message Sunday. Don't take what I've got to say just because I'm saying it, or Jeff, and Kimberly, I really do appreciate the way that you brought me back on track when I was using some words that shouldn't be used.

God doesn't hope, God knows. In our world today, there is an allurement for soft doctrine. Stay away from it, stay away from it. It says then that the Lord does not rejoice over the young men and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows.

What is being represented here is the young men represent the future hope for the people, the future hope for the nation, the future leaders, and he says that he's not rejoicing. There's nothing coming.

If you think you're gonna rely on the next generation, no. It says here that he's not even rejoicing over the young men and those that should have been cared for and taken in special, the fatherless, the widows, the needy, the compassion is gone, and the reason is everyone is godless, an evildoer.

Every mouth speaks folly, and because of this, his anger is stretched out and his hand is stretched out. And what we read in 2 Kings 17 happens. The people's sin, Hosea the last king, the siege, the stiff-necked people, the persistent sin, it does happen.

Now looking at verses 18 and 19, I know we're at the end. It talks about what wickedness does and how it manifests itself. Wickedness is a fire that consumes, and wickedness is a indiscriminate destroyer of everybody.

Nobody gets away. The destruction comes, though, through the wrath of God. He is not out of the control. He is still sovereign. Through the wrath of God, the land is scorched. Nobody is spared. They want meat.

They cut meat. It doesn't satisfy them. They even go to devouring flesh, and nothing satisfy them. Manassas goes after Ephraim. Ephraim goes after Manassas, and together they're against Judah. There is total, total discord.

And for all of this, his anger has not turned away. His hand is stretched out still. God is holy. The northern kingdom got to the point where they were stiff-necked, totally devoured in sin, and God allowed them to be taken into exile.

But take heart. God has not lost them, because they are his people, and they will come again. The total difference between the beginning of nine, the promise of the Messiah who is to come, the king, the prince of peace, the king of righteousness, coming and humble, and the end of it, where it's those who have completely abandoned God.

His wrath has to be judged. That's chapter nine. Go ahead and kill that, and we'll open up for some dialogue.

Do you want to close?