Wednesday, April 10, 2024 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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Okay, let's open our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 1, and we're going to return to our study of Isaiah and considering what is a prophet, what were the prophets all about, what was their role, what were their concerns, and we've talked about how the prophet

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Isaiah, like the other prophets, had a special calling to declare the word of the

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Lord to kings and to priests and to other prophets to declare the word of the

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Lord to the people about what God's expectations were, what his covenant standards were, what promises he was going to keep, and what they could expect.

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And Isaiah, with his special calling, had the same concerns as the other prophets did.

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They were concerns that centered on what it means to be made in the image of God, expressed by the covenant standards.

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Therefore, Isaiah, like the other prophets, preached against idolatry. Isaiah, like the other prophets, preached against immorality and injustice.

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And he was not only a negative preacher. The prophets were not simply messengers that had criticisms, and that's all they had.

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They had positive things to say. In other words, they had things to say that were constructive, that were hope -filled.

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It wasn't simply a doom and gloom future where all sorts of bad things are about to happen, so buckle up.

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That wasn't the entirety of their message. Now as you're reading through your

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Bible or reading through one of the prophets, you might encounter a section. It seems like that's all they talk about.

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Here's all the ways you've messed up, and you've messed up really bad. And then they follow that up with, here's all the horrible things that are going to happen to you, and you can't avoid it.

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And sometimes that'll go on for a few chapters, and you wonder, where's the hope?

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Where's the good? The prophets had constructive things to say.

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They declared the character of God. They declared the truth of God's word.

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They declared the nature of humans being made in God's image.

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They declared the past faithfulness of God, and the present faithfulness of God, and the future faithfulness of God.

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And the prophets preached Christ. We have many different prophecies in the prophets, wherein we see very clear details of how

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Jesus would be born, what kind of nature he would have, what kind of things that he would do, where he would go, the things that he would say.

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Very clear prophecies about the nature of his death and his resurrection, his ascension, his reign, and his return.

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The prophets preached Christ. They preached his coming long before he came.

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But it wasn't only that they preached in a predictive sense of saying, this is going to happen, the

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Messiah is going to come, and here are the signs by which you will know it is he. They also preached

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Christ in terms of his character, his own significance.

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It wasn't simply predicting that a very important person would come. The prophets explained why he was important, showing how all of the current problems of sin and distress, and even the pending judgment of God about to come upon the nation, is all to be understood and resolved in this person to come, the

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Messiah. So the prophets preached Christ. Jesus himself said to the scribes, to the

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Pharisees, the Sadducees, he told them, you search the scriptures because in them you think you find eternal life, but it is these that testify of me.

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They thought they could find eternal life in the Bible without Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus came to give us eternal life.

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Eternal life is in him. So he said, you're looking for eternal life in the scriptures, but it is they that testify of me.

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And so he comes to offer himself to us as our eternal life.

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This is eternal life that we know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, John 17 3 says.

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And so let's think about the prophets. Now, of course,

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Jesus had told the Pharisees, the scribes, and the

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Sadducees, if you believe Moses, you would believe me because Moses testified of me. And of course, Moses was understood to be a great prophet, a foundational prophet.

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But we've been talking about the structure of the Old Testament, the way that it was compiled in the days of Christ.

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There was the first section, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible that Moses wrote.

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And then there was the middle section called the Nevi 'im or the prophets. And those ran from Joshua all the way to the scroll of the 12, which was

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Hosea through Malachi. And those were the prophets. And then the writings included books that we would sometimes call history, like Ruth and Ezra, Nehemiah and 1st and 2nd

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Chronicles. Those were in the writings, but also we find books that we would expect there in the writings section of the

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Hebrew Old Testament, like Job and Psalms and Proverbs, Song of Songs, and so on.

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So when we think about the prophets in the way that Jesus would have explained it, in the way in which the

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New Testament would describe the prophets, it begins with Joshua and goes through the scroll of the 12.

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So that's what I want to do tonight, just a very quick survey, beginning with Joshua and then going to the scroll of the 12, how the prophets preached

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Christ. When we go back to the book of Joshua, what was

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Joshua known for? Joshua was the one who led the people into the promised land.

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What was Joshua's original name? Trivia time, it was

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Hosea. Hosea. And then it was changed to Joshua, pronounced in the

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Hebrew Yeshua, or Jesus. Remember in the

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New Testament where it was said that the prophets said that his name would be

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Jesus. How'd they come up with that? You go back to Joshua, whose name was changed from Hosea to Yeshua, and he's the successor of Moses.

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Yeshua takes the people into the promises. The writer to the

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Hebrews picks up on that, as well as other New Testament authors. So in this case, when you're reading through Joshua, you're looking maybe for, it shall be that Messiah will come and do this, and by this sign you will know him.

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You're not going to find that in Joshua, but Joshua testifies to there's one coming, a successor of Moses.

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And at the end of the book, Joshua tells the people that through his ministry,

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God has kept all of his promises to them, and not a single one has failed.

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Chapter 23, verse 14. But what does the New Testament say about Yeshua, about Jesus, the successor of Moses?

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That all of God's promises in him are yes and amen, right? That's right. In the book of Judges, of course, in those days, there was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes.

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What a horrible situation that was. As judges began to stand in from, we read about Othniel and Ehud, and we read about all these early judges, and the latter judges like Jephthah and Samson and so on.

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As these judges stood in as champions of the people, when God would anoint a champion and raise them up, he would deliver the people again and again.

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And the need for a victorious seed is made very clear throughout the book of Judges. And of course, the story of Ruth is about, well, it's not about Ruth, is it?

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Well, the story of Ruth is significant because of what? It's a kinsman redeemer that Boaz had to play the role of kinsman redeemer to bring

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Ruth into his home as his wife, and that she would bear a child for the sake of Baron Naomi, or Naomi who lost her, bereaved

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Naomi. And so Boaz marries Ruth, and Boaz begot

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Obed, who begot Jesse, who begot David the king, the ancestor of Jesus.

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Of course, Romans says Jesus is Christ of the seed of David, according to the flesh.

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In 1 and 2 Samuel, we start off this very two -parter.

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It's 1 and 2 Samuel because they couldn't fit it on one scroll. They had to have two scrolls, it's so big. And we start off the prophecy of Samuel looking at Hannah.

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And Hannah, Baron Hannah, prays for a son, and then when God gives her a son, she praises

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God for His anointed one.

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She praises God for the coming Messiah, the anointed one, in her prayer in 1

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Samuel 2. She prays about the king that God has appointed in the days when there was no king, the faith of Hannah.

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They knew more and believed more than what we have written down, and they knew

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Messiah was coming. This son, Samuel, that she has, anoints

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David as king while Saul was still alive. King Saul was alive and reigning, and Samuel snuck down to Bethlehem and anointed one of Jesse's sons king while there was still a king on the throne.

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What do you call that today? A coup, usurpation, bad things happen when you do things like that.

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And Samuel knew bad things happened, but again, God had moved his favor away from rebellious, wicked

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Saul and put his blessing upon David, a man after his own heart.

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And so this new king begins to defeat the enemies that the old king cannot. Saul stays in his tent and wonders who in the world is supposed to go out and fight

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Goliath. The Philistines put forth their tallest guy. Do you know who the tallest guy in Israel was?

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Saul, son of Kish. He was head and shoulders taller than everybody else in Israel.

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So the Philistines say, here's our tallest guy, and the tallest guy over in Israel says, well,

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I don't know who we should send out, but I'm going to sit here and polish my armor. But David, shepherd boy

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David, comes and he defeats, the anointed one defeats the enemies that the old king cannot.

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And we find that David's seed will be the fulfillment of all the prior seed promises in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

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Then we go on to the book of Kings. And we find that the son of David builds the temple and blesses all the families of the earth.

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Isn't that great? All the families of the earth come to the son of David who has built the temple, and they are blessed.

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You can read about that in 1 Kings chapter 6 through 10. And then as you keep on reading in Kings, you find that the downfall of Solomon, the split kingdom and the many troubles of the kingdom, emphasize the need for what?

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We need a good king, but we need a good permanent king. Because you might have a good king Asa and a good king

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Josiah, but then they die, and then the bad kings come back. And now what?

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It's kind of like the high priest keeps dying and has to be replaced. The good kings go away.

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We need a good permanent king, one who would reign on an everlasting throne, just like God said to David back in 2

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Samuel 7. And so the myriads of blessings which always attended the righteous king anticipate the

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Messiah who would come with all the blessings. Now when you go through the book order in the original

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Tanakh, the Hebrew Old Testament, you go from Joshua to Judges to Ruth, Samuel, Kings, and then you come to Isaiah, the book we're going to study,

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Isaiah. Now what prophecies about Jesus Christ do we have in Isaiah? This is a little more familiar territory.

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Yes, so the servant songs. Of course, Isaiah 52 and verse 13 through chapter 53 and verse 12, the most famous of all the servant songs, speaking in detail about the

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Messiah who would die on the cross in the place of his people for their transgressions. And indeed, even after he died and suffered, satisfying

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God's justice, the same servant would live to see the rewards and the blessings of his work, of his labor amongst his people.

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Very important. Any other prophecies, promises that we can think of in the book of Isaiah about Jesus Christ?

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Yes, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Let's look at a couple of those.

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Isaiah chapter 7 and then Isaiah chapter 9. We'll start with Isaiah 7 and we'll begin in verse 10.

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Moreover, the Lord spoke again to Ahaz. By the way, Ahaz was a bad king, just so we're clear.

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Moreover, the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the

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Lord your God. Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said,

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I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said,

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Hear now, O house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my

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God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name

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Emmanuel. Well, this very prophecy is brought up again in Matthew chapter 1.

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We see the fulfillment of this prophecy in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ.

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And the angel saying to Joseph, you should call his name

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Emmanuel. You should call his name Jesus. Then in chapter 9 of Isaiah, in verse 6, what

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Chris had mentioned. In verse 6 of chapter 9, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

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Some of you are hearing Handel's Messiah right now. You're listening to it in your head.

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And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called

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Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

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Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. And upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the

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Lord of hosts will perform this. Born of a virgin, a child who is king.

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In the days of those kings, Daniel 2 says, that's when the kingdom of heaven is set up.

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And Jesus of Nazareth is the king. From that time forward, he reigns.

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And of course he reigns today. Not only about the advent of the king, but also the nature of his ministry.

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If you back up in chapter 9 to verses 1 and 2.

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We read, nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed. As when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.

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And afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan. And Galilee of the

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Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

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Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. It's Matthew chapter 4.

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When Jesus went through the land of Galilee, teaching about the kingdom, teaching the gospel.

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And this passage from Isaiah chapter 9 is brought up as Matthew says, this was to fulfill.

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And we read that. So Isaiah is just chock full of promises and prophecies of Christ.

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Something that we're going to return to before we're finished with our introduction. In the book of Jeremiah, which is the next prophet in the list.

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We find different prophecies about Christ.

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One of them in chapter 23. In Jeremiah chapter 23 we read about a particular name of Christ.

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In verses 5 and 6. Behold the days are coming, says the

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Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness.

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A king shall reign and prosper. So it's

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God keeping his promises to David. He's going to raise up a king, a branch pertaining to David.

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A king who shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

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In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is his name by which he will be called the

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Lord our righteousness. And this passage is taken up in the

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New Testament. And it is said in more than one place by more than one writer.

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That this is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth coming and preaching the gospel.

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Dying on the cross, being raised from the dead and ascending to the right hand of the Father. He is the branch.

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Also in Matthew chapter 2. When you hear the troubling story about Herod killing all of the male children two years and under in Bethlehem.

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Trying to assassinate Jesus the king.

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Because he was threatened. Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus had fled down to Egypt.

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For safety, because they were warned. After Herod died and the immediate threat to the child

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Jesus had been eliminated. Joseph sought to bring Mary and the child back into the land.

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And decided to go settle back in the hometown of Nazareth. Nazareth.

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Nasir in the Hebrew. Nasiroth. Branch town.

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So the prophet said. So it should be fulfilled what the prophet said.

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That he would be a Nazarene. Not a Nazarite. Long hair, no alcohol.

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That is where all the shampoo hair model pictures of Jesus come from.

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He has the long hair. He is always sitting there. It is like fluffy and glowing. That is where those pictures came from.

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People say he is a Nazarite. He did not cut his hair. No. Nazarene. Branch.

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He was the branch man from branch town. That is the fulfillment of this prophecy.

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In Ezekiel. I will be very quick here. Ezekiel. Chapters 34 and 37.

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God promises in Ezekiel 34 verses 23 and 24. That God is going to put a single shepherd.

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Make a single shepherd attend to his flock. And also in Ezekiel 37.

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God promises to put David back on the throne. David was dead.

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Peter makes that point. On the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2. He says

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David is dead. His body did see corruption. He is rotting in the tomb.

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His tomb is right over there. Everybody knew where the tomb of David was. The tomb was full.

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Of dead men's bones. The prophecy said David would sit on the throne and reign.

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From Ezekiel. Peter says that is Jesus. Just like Elijah was drawn to the

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Baptist. There are shadows being fulfilled. Pictures being fulfilled.

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We have already mentioned Daniel. In the days of those kings. Christ is the stone uncut by human hands.

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He becomes a mountain. Mount Zion fills the earth. Daniel 7.

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The son of man ascends to victory. In Daniel chapter 9. There is a timeline from Messiah's ministry.

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Daniel is given a timeline. Of 483 years.

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And the 483 years comes due. At the exact time that Jesus is baptized by John the

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Baptist. According to Luke chapter 3. Down to the very date. On the calendar in Daniel chapter 9.

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Daniel chapter 9 has been used very often. To witness to Jews.

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Some of them who greatly appreciate their traditional scriptures.

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And say look here in Daniel. About this timeline. And look how Jesus of Nazareth fits the bill.

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That has been used in more than one case. To effectively witness and give the gospel to Jews. To turn to Jesus Christ as their

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Messiah. And then we have the scroll of the 12. We have books like Hosea and Micah.

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And Zechariah and Malachi. And they too proclaim Christ. In Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.

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God says out of Egypt. I called my son. Now when you go back and you read the book of Exodus.

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God calls the nation of Israel his son. And he is very direct with Pharaoh.

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He says let my people go. And he tells them you have treated my son wrong.

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You have oppressed my son. You have attacked my son. Therefore the last of the ten plagues was what?

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God attacked the firstborn of Egypt. Because Egypt had attacked the firstborn of God.

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His firstborn son Israel. And Hosea was pointing out that God.

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In his faithfulness and his kindness and mercy. Had brought up his son Israel.

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Up out of Egypt. Reminding them of God's past faithfulness. Well in Matthew chapter 2.

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When Joseph and Mary. Take Jesus. Out of their refuge in Egypt.

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Back into the land of Israel. Matthew says this was to fulfill.

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Hosea chapter 11 verse 1. Out of Egypt I called my son. Meaning that.

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What the New Testament says about Christ.

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The Old Testament said about Israel. Because Jesus is in his person. The fulfillment of the nation.

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We also have Micah 5 .2. Which identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Messiah.

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That was the little insider information. That the scribes told Herod about. Where to go find

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Jesus. In Zechariah 9 .9.

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There is the prophecy of Christ's triumphal entry. Into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

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On the fold of a donkey. That was Zechariah 9 .9. Fulfilled to the letter.

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And then in Malachi chapter 3. We read about the messenger.

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Lowercase m messenger. And the messenger. Capital M messenger.

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There is John the Baptist. Who is the messenger of the messenger. And then comes the messenger of the covenant.

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Jesus Christ himself. In Malachi chapter 3. That is a brief sampling.

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It is by no means exhaustive. But when we think about.

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The prophets preaching Christ. It is not limited to. Very clear.

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Formulas where. The prophet says. Now everybody pay attention. Here is a predictive prophecy of Messiah.

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It doesn't always look like that. Sometimes the prophet. Is simply saying something about Israel.

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That the New Testament says. That is Jesus. Sometimes the prophet himself.

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Is called to do something rather strange. With his body or with his life.

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Or with his livelihood. And then later on the New Testament says. That was a picture of Christ. But throughout the prophets.

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Christ is. Proclaimed. Okay. So that is.

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That is the thing. The last thing we are going to do. Is we are going to talk about. On this little study on the prophets.

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We are going to talk about. More in detail. How the prophets. Fit within the

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Old Testament. We have been talking about a little bit. The law. The prophets.

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The writings. Why is it that the prophets are organized. The way that they are.

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In the Old Testament. And what the significance of that is. And that will help us understand.

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Isaiah's position. When Isaiah was written. And how Isaiah was linked together.

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With the other books. Of the Bible. And how that helps us understand the message.

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A little bit better. Any questions or thoughts as we close? Alright.

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Let's close with a word of prayer. Father I thank you so much for this day. I thank you for our time together.

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I thank you for our. The blessing of being able to pray for each other. And to bear each other's burdens.

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I thank you for our. Visitors tonight. And I pray that you would. Transform their lives.

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In the gospel of your son Jesus Christ. And I thank you.

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For those who are serving. And tagged tonight. Pray a special blessing upon them. And the children of the church.