WWUTT 1939 The Valley of Vision (Isaiah 22:1-14)

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In Isaiah 22, the prophet says that Jerusalem was slain, but not by the sword.

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They were slain by their own cowardice. And that's something that you can see even in the culture around us when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

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Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

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Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We did not do our

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Old Testament study last week because I was on vacation, so I just extended the Sermon on the Mount study.

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But we're back to the study of Isaiah today and up to chapter 22.

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I'm going to begin by reading verses 1 through 7 from the Legacy Standard Bible.

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Hear the word of the Lord as delivered from the prophet Isaiah. The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

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What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops, you who were full of noise, you roaring city, you exultant town?

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You're slain. Were not slain with the sword, nor did they die in battle.

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All your rulers have fled together and have been captured without the bow.

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All of you who were found were captured together, though they had fled far away.

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Therefore I say, turn your gaze from me. Let me weep bitterly.

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Do not insist on comforting me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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For Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of confusion, oppression, and panic in the valley of vision, a breaking down of walls, and a crying to the mountain.

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Now Elam took up the quiver with the chariots, infantry, and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

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Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.

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And he revealed the defense of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the house of the forest, and you saw that the breaches in the wall of the city of David were many, and you collected the waters of the lower pool.

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Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall.

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And we'll stop right there as the description of Jerusalem's response continues through the rest of chapter 22.

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I said I was going to read the first seven verses. I went through verse 10 there. So the valley of vision, or the oracle concerning the valley of vision, this is about Jerusalem specifically.

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And you probably picked up hints of that. Jerusalem is mentioned, Judah, and also talking about the daughter of my people.

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That's a reference to Jerusalem. So it's an oracle. It is a vision or a warning concerning the valley of vision.

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And this statement in verse 1, what is the matter with you now that you have gone up to the housetops?

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Now, this reference to going up to the housetops means that the people are in a panic. They've gone up to the top to see what's going on.

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Can we see the danger that's approaching or whatever it is that's going on in the streets from where we are?

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If there's a watchtower in the town or on the wall of the city, and it sounds the alarm, what are people supposed to do?

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They're supposed to come out and see what the watchman is declaring. And so they'll likely go up to the roof so they can see over the top of everything else.

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They don't have to position themselves in the street somewhere or run to a place so that they can see the tower.

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They'll go up to the roof. A lot of the houses in Jerusalem would have been about the same level. So it's unlikely that going up to the roof there would have been anything else in the city to obscure your vision of the watchtower.

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So they're going to see what the watchman is declaring. As somebody who lived most of his life in Kansas, this is a gesture that I can relate to whenever the tornado sirens would go off.

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What do people do? Do they run down in their basements in Kansas? No, we go outside to the front yard to see if we can spot the approaching storm.

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So same sort of an attitude going on here in Jerusalem, although this one much more a degree of panic.

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They go up to the roof to see what the watchman is declaring or if they can see the danger that is approaching.

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What is the matter with you now? It is said that you've all gone up to the housetops.

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Jesus makes a reference to going up to the rooftops as well. In Matthew 24 and 25, the

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Olivet Discourse, when he's talking about the end that is to come and and the return, his his own return.

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He mentions that if there's one who goes up to the housetop, don't go back into your house to gather up your goods.

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You're going to the housetop because you're hearing the alarm of the watchman. It is time to look for the danger and take action.

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Don't try to start gathering up your things. And whenever we get those tornado warnings in Kansas, we're told the same thing.

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When the siren goes off, don't go gathering up your stuff, get your family and get to a safe place immediately.

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That's the action that you're supposed to be taking. But like I said, that's not what we do. We run out in our yards and look for the storm.

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So so here this is the response from Jerusalem and the statement in verse two.

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As this continues, you who were full of noise, you roaring city, you exultant town.

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So this was a busy and bustling city, but all of that has come to a stop. All of their attention is on something else.

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Now something has changed. Something has happened. And I love the picture that's painted next in the rest of verse to your slain.

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We're not slain with the sword, nor did they die in battle. All your rulers have fled together and have been captured without the bow.

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All of you who were found were captured together, though they had fled far away. So what's being described here?

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If they weren't slain by the sword, if they weren't captured with the bow, then how did they die?

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How were they slain and how were they captured? What is Isaiah talking about here? Well, this is in reference to their cowardice.

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They were cowards. They ran away. They didn't even fight. They were slain by their own cowardice.

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You already gave up. You were already defeated before the enemy even got here.

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Your slain were not slain with the sword, nor did they die in battle.

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They just laid down and let the enemy take over. They didn't even do anything. You know, if I were to jump immediately into application here, there's more of chapter 22 that we have to go.

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But let me give some direct application while we're right here. Have we not seen much of the liberal left capturing conservatives in this country, even professing

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Christians, without much of a fight? How many professing

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Christians are now on the side of the LGBTQ movement, got sucked into that movement, and even some of them being okay with same -sex marriage?

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Which is not really a thing. There's no such thing as same -sex marriage. But, of course, that has been legalized in this country, that two men can get married and call themselves husband and husband.

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There was even a woman who was invited to speak at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, which is just a couple of weeks away.

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At one of the women's groups, it might have been the pastor's wives' gathering, there was a woman that was going to speak there.

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And it has just recently been uncovered that she had previously done a speech in which she said that divorce among same -sex couples,

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God would say that's wrong because God hates divorce. They were never married. That wasn't even a real marriage.

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You would first have to acknowledge that that was a real marriage before you could say that they could get divorced. And there are other

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Christian teachers out there that are saying, if there is a man and a man who got married, or a woman and a woman, and then they come to realize that what they did was sin, but they've adopted kids, and so they have kids in this marriage, well, they can't get divorced because the children will suffer, so they just need to remain celibate.

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No, that was never a marriage. They were never married in the first place. And yet there are

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Christians that have capitulated on this issue. And they're finding ways to bend it. How can we say that we accept this without really full -on accepting it?

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It happens by degree. It happens little by little. It's a slow fade, or a downgrade, as it's often described.

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It's a slippery slope. When you have left the soundness of the teaching of God's word, and you are trying to appeal to human sentiment and emotion, you will capitulate on the ways and the directions of this culture.

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Cowardly. They won you without a fight. They conquered you. They defeated you without a fight.

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And many churches, we've seen that exact thing happen. Throwing out the gospel, throwing out the

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Bible, throwing up a gay pride flag. You who were full of noise, you roaring city, you exultant town, that could be describing many former churches.

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Your slain were not slain with the sword, nor did they die in battle. All of your rulers have fled together, and they've been captured without the bow.

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All you who were found were captured together, though they had fled far away. And yes, we've seen many professing

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Christians flee far away. They acknowledge God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

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Verse four. Therefore, I say, turn your gaze away from me. Let me weep bitterly.

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This is the prophet speaking. Do not insist on comforting me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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Jerusalem was conquered so very easily. And it was the Lord that turned them over to this destruction because they had turned from the ways of Yahweh to the ways of the false gods in their land.

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For Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of confusion, oppression and panic in the valley of vision, a breaking down of walls and a crying to the mountain.

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Now, this is, of course, concerning something that was coming upon Jerusalem in that day.

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This is with regards to the Babylonians who would come into Jerusalem at about 600

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B .C. and take over the city. But we can apply this to a day of destruction that is to come.

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A day of confusion, oppression and panic. A breaking down of walls and a crying to the mountain.

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It's the day when Christ will return. And he will take up his saints.

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We who are in Christ have nothing to fear of that day. We will marvel in him on that day, according to 2

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Thessalonians 1, when he takes us up to be with him. But he will bring the fires of judgment on the rest of the world who did not know

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God and did not obey the gospel. As also said there in the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians.

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In the book of Revelation, I believe this is chapter 6, it says that on that terrible day, the people who flee to the mountains will beg for the mountains to fall on them.

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To hide them from the king who has returned. And looky there, we've got something that sounds very similar to that at the end of verse 5.

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It will be a crying to the mountain on that day of the

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Lord's judgment. Verse 6, Now Elam took up the quiver with the chariots, infantry and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

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These are the other lands that are around Judah that did try to take up the sword.

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They did try to take a stand and put up a fight. Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.

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And he revealed the defense of Judah in that day. You looked to the weapons of the house of the forest.

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And you saw that the breaches in the wall of the city of David were many. And you collected the waters of the lower pool.

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So this is talking about the ways that the walls would be breached. All of this is prophetic here.

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All of this is going to happen. Judah is warned, and yet they do not repent.

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Verse 10, Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall.

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The walls have been breached. How can we repair it? Let's take the stones from these houses and put it in the wall to try to make ourselves secure again.

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And you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you did not look to him who made it, nor did you see him who formed it long ago.

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They looked to their own devices, their own ways to try to stop the breach. But they did not look to the

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Lord. They did not repent and turn back to God. You know, it's an interesting picture here to see this.

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You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall.

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So the walls of the city have been breached. The enemies are coming in. How do we stop this?

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Let's tear down our houses and use the stones from the houses to stop the wall. They were willing to destroy their own homes.

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And my friends, there's people that are doing this even. As we're seeing the left, as we're seeing liberalism, feminism, atheism,

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Darwinism, all of the corrupt isms that are coming against the church, that are coming against sound doctrine,

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Bible -believing Christians, as we're seeing things like that happen in the culture, there are those who are even willing to sacrifice their own homes in order to stop this.

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You know, it's a great irony that the previous Democratic president of the

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United States, and I'm talking before Trump, so right now it's Biden, who, of course, is a Democrat. Before that, it was

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Trump. Before him, it was whom? Barack Obama, a family man, married to one woman, has two daughters.

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By all appearances, looked to be faithful to his wife and to his family. But who did the family party elect?

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The Republicans get a shot now at the White House. This is the party that has presumably been the party of family values.

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So who do they elect? A serial adulterer. I mean, this is who got the nomination.

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This was the frontrunner of the Republican Party, and even many conservatives were saying, Trump is the only one who can save us.

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They took a serial adulterer, a man who's been married multiple times, who has children from multiple wives, a pornographer, and even worse things, and elected him to be president of the

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United States. How much do you really think that that is going to be a declaration of the preservation of family values?

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They were willing to tear down their houses to stop the breach in the wall.

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And you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool, but you did not look to him who made it.

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You did not look to Christ. You did not look to his ways. Nor did you see him who formed it long ago.

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Verse 12, Therefore in that day, Lord Yahweh of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.

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Instead, behold, there is joy and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine.

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Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die. That's a line that gets repeated in 1

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Corinthians 15, by the way. But Yahweh of hosts revealed himself in my ears.

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Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned for you until you die, says

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Lord Yahweh of hosts. So how did Jerusalem respond to this? The enemy is coming. They breached the walls.

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We've even had to tear down our houses in order to stop it. Instead of turning to the Lord and weeping and covering themselves with sackcloth and ashes, they killed the fattened calf and had a party and said,

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Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Live it up. Live your best life now, because this is.

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That's what this is. It's our best life now. Tomorrow we're going to die. My friends, if that's you, let me repeat the words of the

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Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 15. Wake up from your drunken stupor. Whatever sin that you are in that you need to repent of, turn to the

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Lord. Today is the day of salvation. Today is your valley of vision.

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That you need to see the sin that you are in and turn from it to the Lord Christ before the day of judgment comes and it's too late.

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Now, when I refer to the day of judgment, I mean, it's that day that you're going to stand before the throne of God.

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That will either be on the day that Christ returns or it will be the day that you die. As it says in Hebrews, it is appointed for a man once to die and after that comes judgment.

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So before that day comes for you, repent of your sin.

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Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and you will live. Whatever country, whatever nation you might happen to live in, there is no politician that is going to save you from the eventual judgment and destruction of the nation in which you live.

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It will come. For Christ will return and he returns to strike down the nations with a rod of iron.

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The one true nation that we belong to is the Christian nation.

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I'm not talking about Christian nationalism. I'm talking about the church that we're a part of.

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This is 1 Peter 2. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, who were called out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

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1 Peter 2 .9. That's who we are in Christ. That's the nation that we are a part of. And that king that rules that nation who is

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Christ will never be unseated from his throne, will never be defeated. He will return to defeat all the nations.

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And the only way to be saved from the judgment that is to come is to turn to the Lord Christ and live.

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We must warn people of the judgment that is to come and tell them to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand so that they will also turn to Christ and be saved.

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We'll come back to finish up the rest of Isaiah 22 next week. Heavenly Father, I pray you would forgive us and heal our land.

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If it be your will to stay the hand of judgment that is coming against this land because of its wickedness, the sacrifice of the unborn, men turning into women and women turning into men, the sexual immorality that is all over this land, it is evident the signs of your judgment that are coming.

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But if it is your will that revival should sweep this land, then let it be, Lord, and let it be because the gospel was proclaimed.

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And we have the courage to go out and proclaim the gospel, even in the face of our adversaries, because we love our enemies and desire for them to repent and come to know

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Christ. But if it is your will to bring destruction upon this nation for the sins that have been mentioned and worse, then

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I pray, Lord, that you would keep your own, that we as believers would remain faithful and courageous in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation in which we are to shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.

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Keep us faithful even in these days, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, saying with the

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Apostle John, come quickly, Lord Jesus. It's in his name that we pray. Amen.

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This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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.com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com

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and let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.