The Salvation Of A Worm

Isaiah’s Call to Fear Not in the Face of Babylon

Please turn your Bible to Isaiah chapter 41 that can be found on page 601 of the pew Bible in front of you. Preaching today will be on verses 11 through 16. Those are the verses that I will read as well.

Please go ahead and stand when you have. Isaiah 41 verse 11. Behold all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

You shall seek those who contend with you But you shall not find them. Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I the Lord your God hold your right hand. It is I who say to you fear not I am the one who helps you fear not you worm of Jacob You men of Israel.

I am the one who helps you declares the Lord. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I make you make of you a threshing sledge. New sharp and having teeth you shall thresh the mountains and crush them and you shall make the hills like chaff.

You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away and The tempest shall scatter them and you shall rejoice in the Lord and the Holy One of Israel. You shall glory. Amen.

You may be seated.

Dear Heavenly Father We thank you for your word. We ask that you would encourage us by it. We are people who are prone to fear this passage that teaches us not to fear. We pray that you would make us courageous by your word and your spirit working in us through your word Jesus name.

Amen so in this section of Isaiah many of the passages that we have looked at have been about Serving God courageously about not allowing fear to take over your life especially in context of This notion of captivity the people of Israel are going to be sent off into Babylon this prophetically talking about them being sent off into Babylon and How they should not fear while they are there because the Lord will save them.

This of course applies to us as people who Wander in this world while we have been set free from sin those of us who have trust in Christ. There is a sense in which we are still in a place that is not our home.

We are still in a place that is where we are in exile in a sense and long to be all brought together. We get a taste of that here in this assembly having been brought together and local bodies but there is a day coming when we will all be brought together into Something that is more akin to the promised land than what we enjoy here in a more manifest way at least.

The Shame of God’s Enemies and the Promise of Their Disappearance

So consider what this passage says. Says in verse the first two verses behold all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Who is this? It's referring to Babylon those who would.

Those who would take them into captivity, of course, it refers to all of God's enemies as well. Says those who strive against you shall be it is nothing and perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them.

Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all describes it poetic way speaking as though there will be nothing at all. Earlier in Isaiah, we've seen this described as a dream when you wake up from a bad dream from a nightmare.

You can remember it. There's some memory of it, but it is it is so faded. There's not even the trauma of having encountered it or anything. It's just just gone. It's like they were it's like it was never even never even happened.

Speaks of this multiple times in a row. They'll be put to shame and confounded. It'll be as nothing and shall perish. But you shall not find them three times. It talks about They shall be as nothing at all after the initial statement about being ashamed and confounded nothing and shall perish.

You shall not find them. They shall be as nothing at all. There's a lot of repetitions of three in this in this section. And it goes on and it speaks of God being the protector. It says for I the Lord your God hold your right hand.

Is I who say to you fear not? I'm the one who helps you so you see God Holding the right hand it says in verse 14 fear not. You worm Jacob you men of Israel. I'm the one who helps you declares the Lord.

I'm your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. To be redeemed just to be bought out of some bondage. He is the one who will purchase them out of the bondage to Babylon. He is the Holy One of Israel. If you remember that speaks of him being unlike any of the other gods the other gods can't always protect their nations.

But God is not like all the other gods and he will always be able to protect his nation is the Holy One of Israel. Now as you see speaking of him Holding your right hand. We see he's not just protector, but also a comforter now.

When you think of holding your right hand you might imagine a parent with a child and perhaps that is what you should imagine to some extent you know. Child might have his right hand out and parent have the left hand standing next to him.

It's not exactly what you're supposed to imagine here look at verse 10. It said I will strengthen you I will help you. I will hold you with my righteous right hand. Okay, so God Holds you with right hand and what hand is he holding your right hand thinking?

That's more like a like a strength lock between you know two men right hand to right hand. Don't think of it as just in the side-by-side view, but the strength block of right hand to right hand. He upholds he says fear not.

He's the one who helps he comforts them tells them multiple times fear not. Then moving on to Verse 15 when it speaks of threshing it says behold I make you a threshing sledge new sharp having teeth. Right once again this repetition of three new sharp having teeth you shall thresh the mountains and crush them.

You shall make the hills like chaff mountains referring to enemies even the greatest enemies chaff. Being that little husks on the wheat so talking about the greatest kind of destruction on the greatest kind of enemy.

You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away in the tempest shall scatter them. You shall rejoice in the Lord and the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. So the Lord will turn them into threshing instruments their enemies will be destroyed as because of this.

They should not fear. Now there are a few things. I'd like you to consider here the first is that this victory is Divinely accomplished and notice how when it is Ascribed to the people that they will become as a threshing sledge, etc.

When it comes to the immediate context of this prophecy it is not so Directly fulfilled in that way right how are they taken out of Babylon? Well, ultimately, it's the Medes and the Persians consider Jeremiah 51 verses 1 through 2 thus says the Lord behold, I Will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon against the inhabitants of Lebke my and I will send to Babylon Winnowers and they shall winnow her and they shall empty her land when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble.

So here Jeremiah uses this same Picture of winnowing right of threshing of grain of Breaking down the enemy, but who is it? That's comes. It's not Israel itself is from afar. It is Persia who comes it's Cyrus the Persian who ends up coming and defeating Babylon and also we see elsewhere the Bible speak of Some of this imagery.

Consider in Psalm 22 that ultimately this can't be fulfilled by Persia taking them out of Babylon because it is something that the people themselves must be involved in it's something more than that is something that the God will accomplish and so Here in Psalm 22 we see a connection with this notion of the worm says my God my God.

Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Right, this is Speaking prophetically of Christ. You're probably familiar with these words. You said them on the cross.

Oh my god I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night. I find no rest. You are holy enthroned on the praises of Israel and your fathers and you our fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them to you.

They cried and were rescued and you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm not a man Scorned by mankind and despised by the people. So here it speaks of the Messiah as being this worm.

So the people supposed to be this worm. They're not supposed to fear because the Lord will strengthen them to defeat the enemy. But what do we find the people is in a sense too much of a worm to have strength on their own rather Godson's a Messiah and Is that Messiah who in their place is one who is treated as a worm?

But is strengthened in order to endure death itself that he might rise to life and raise us up To life with him. He stands in place of us taking on that shame and In order that we might have his strength.

Consider what it says in in Job 25. Verse 6 it says how much less man who is a maggot the son of man who is a worm? What describes mankind is a worm you are you are worm you are without any kind of inherent strength of your own.

You cannot defeat the enemy. There's no way that you can pay down a scent of your guilt. A Lot of people try to deal with their guilt by all kinds of things all kinds of penance. That's not necessarily the the term they use in their head when they're thinking about this.

But a lot of the world's issues are people basically just trying to free themselves From guilt they do it in all kinds of ways. They do it with denial. They try to fill their life with pleasure to get rid of the guilt.

They try to. Even even a lot of self-harming that people do is basically trying to deal with guilt. It's them trying to buy pain sort of pay the price for it you know a lot of OCD is basically just that it's people who have come up with their own way of of Trying to pay some kind of penance like when you get to the heart of it there are a number of these cases that are just people who have come up with their own way of Doing this penance, you know, I've read there's a particular case I read about where there's this man who would always take right turns everywhere and he would have to map out his way ahead of time so they never so he was able to get to where he's trying to go and eventually working with a biblical counselor.

He realized that he had just come up with this as a way of of kind of punishing himself for his sins of viewing pornography and Ultimately, this was this was the way he was dealing with it. This is true with a lot of Tourette's that.

Right. They you label these things and it sounds like oh, okay. This is just something that's just completely uncontrollable. It's just in the brain, etc. A lot of times it's people calling out like just trying to deal with the guilt that they are they're suffering.

We are worms we cannot handle this stuff ourselves. We we have pathetic attempts at dealing with guilt at dealing with captivity and bondage pathetic things like just calling out random words just under that weight of guilt trying to punish ourselves self-harm all kinds of things like that and You know, these are these are some of the more visible extreme cases.

But there's all kinds of things that people do to deal with this. Mankind has no way of dealing with guilt because he is just a worm. We need Jesus Christ the the Messiah who in our place is treated as a worm who by his strength Endured death itself was raised up and raises us up with him so that While it is God who is delivering the victory.

It is God who is producing the victory. You know who is the ultimate winnower here? It is Jesus Christ, but we in him. Take on that status for ourselves when he is raised up. He raises us up with him when he defeats death and is victorious.

He makes us victors with him. When he is strong and Isaiah later will describe him as having the helmet of salvation, etc. What does it say in Ephesians 6 we have those things right? We become warriors because he is the great warrior.

And so it is in him that these things are fulfilled that we become the threshing instruments is because he Is the threshing instrument? Now consider that this is not just a divinely provided victory, but it has divine purpose in it as well.

God’s Purposes in Raising Up Enemies and Sharing the Victory

There are a number of passage here is here. I know I've already gone to Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and Job but there this passage overlaps with a lot there. Isaiah just has so many overlaps with with other passages.

It's kind of hard to avoid going to a lot of these different ones. But I want you to consider Micah 4 11 through 13 as well. Now many nations are assembled against you saying let her be defiled and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.

But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand his plan that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh o daughter of Zion for I will make your horn iron and I will make your hooves bronze that you shall Beat in pieces many peoples and shall devote their gain to the Lord their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Okay, Micah a contemporary of Isaiah is also using this picture of threshing the enemies of God and the people themselves being the ones who are Enabled who are divinely strengthened to thresh. Notice what it says.

But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand his plan. Now this is referring to the enemies. The enemies don't understand they think that they're going to have victory. But how often is this true of God's people?

God's people often don't understand his purposes that this is why he has brought about enemies. This is what frequently happens that he has brought out enemies in order for there to be a victory. To show his glory there would be no glory if he didn't write.

This is what it says in Romans 9 that he raised up Pharaoh in order that his glory would be known made known. Now the people of Israel could have and I'm sure did look at their situation. They're pitiful situation in Egypt and say this is very is a very fearful situation.

I don't think does it really seem possible to get out of this? This is a very difficult thing. But what they ought to have known is that this was part of God's intention the whole time. He had explained what he was going to do in Genesis.

He was going to bring the people back in the fourth generation for the iniquity of the Malik the Amorite was not yet complete and.

He would.

Do that so that there would be enough enemies that he would have a great victory not just in Pharaoh but through Joshua Conquering the promised land that he had a purpose in bringing many armies about in order to produce a great victory.

So if you understand God's purposes than the quantity of enemies Rather than being a reason for fear is in some ways almost or is a Reason for great courage. Because you know, that was God's intention.

If there were few enemies that wouldn't bring him much glory That would be reason to doubt Whether or not God is accomplishing much or whether or not he's he's capable. The fact that there are many enemies shows that he is capable because this is what he has said.

That he would do is bring about many enemies in order to Make himself glorious as he did in Pharaoh as he did in the promised land, etc and and Not just so that he would be glorious, but in order that his people would know his glory not just in seeing him Externally doing that work, but him working through them Being ones to do that work too, right.

It's not just Christ who threshes the enemy. He has raised us up with him made us warriors with him so that we have some place some Participation in this him already having won the victory, but then us Being able to participate in the advancement of his kingdom.

It says arise and thresh o daughter of Zion for I will make your horn iron and I will make your hose bronze. You shall beat in pieces many peoples is a wonderful joy to be able to participate in the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

This is.

You know, he could have come saved everyone immediately. This was within his prerogative. He could have done that but I do not think that we would be able to appreciate him the same way if we had Just seen him accomplish everything and not seen him accomplish it through us.

You see Paul talked about this in first Corinthians 9 he talks about this being his reason for boasting Right that he would never sacrifice his reason for boasting. This is the same book that says let him who boasts boasts in the Lord when Paul talks about him boasting He is not saying me an exclusion of the Lord.

He is boasting in the Lord working through him. And that is that is something personal that he would not want to lose by Ceasing to be a steward of the gospel the way he ought in the context of first Corinthians 9.

It's about It is about selling the gospel so if he If it were just something completely impersonal Boasting in the Lord is just God outside of us. Then him ceasing to be a good steward would not threaten his boast at all.

He would still have his boast right his boast would be in the Lord. The Lord has not changed the Lord never changes his boast would still be in the Lord. But his boast in the Lord is not something impersonal that is just removed from him God unchanging.

It is about God working in him. And that is something that can be lost or can be Mitigated or damaged or whatever words you would like to use in the same way when our boasts is in the Lord is not something That is just impersonal God unchanging.

It is also something that is personal God working in us us being changing creatures and so If you understand this that part of the joy of being a Christian is not just to see God's victory accomplished By him but also to see him accomplish victory through us that victory having already been accomplished and us being able to live out the the advancement of the kingdom of grace and its further manifestation and Consider this last verse or this last half of the verse here says and shall devote their gain to the Lord their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth all the all the Enemies being threshed.

Why do you thresh you thresh in order to make flour in order to make bread? It is to make some something out of it. There is Something good that ends up coming out of that. Now, I don't know what exactly all scripture has in mind when it speaks this way.

But this is something it speaks frequently of and it's something that has always caught my attention whenever I see it.

Consider just.

Verses off the top of my head. Proverbs 13 22 Says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. Okay, the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous and Ecclesiastes 2 26 Says for it's one who pleases him.

God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner is given the business of gathering collecting only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and striving after wind. He's given the sinner the business of gathering collecting only to give to one who pleases God.

Both these verses talk about sinners accumulating gathering things in order to be given to others in order to be given to the people of God and it's a Frequent picture you see all the all the scenes of plunder in the Old Testament where God gives the people over so that people can Enjoy wealth that they didn't build up themselves.

Each one of those is emphasizing that notion. The plunder of Egypt where God moved in the hearts of the Egyptians just to give a bunch of jewelry to the Israelites before they left another example of that.

Now I I really don't know what all this entails. I I think we see some instances of it in this life where believers Get to enjoy things left behind by By the wicked however, I think ultimately it will be most experienced in the new heavens in the new earth and what that will look like I don't know because Bible says that eventually all things will be shaken.

You know, this world will be I don't believe it will be completely wiped out in the sense of Being annihilated, but it will be consumed with fire and renewed so that there will be So that there will not be much that remains.

So what is it that remains? Is it just the I don't know that the ideas that are left behind Technological advancements that we'd be able to use in the future. I don't know. I I don't know. This is a mystery, but it's something worth Marveling over that this is part of God's plan is for believers to Enjoy that which is built up by the wicked and so God has numerous purposes in allowing the wicked to flourish in order to later be destroyed one so that His victory would be displayed so that We would be able to experience him working in us to accomplish some kind of victory and then three there being some plunder that is enjoyed as The wealth of nations is brought into the kingdom.

All these things God has his purposes. And so if all those are the case if God has his purposes in raising up enemies. These are all reasons to not fear the enemy, but simply know this is this is exactly what God's plan is is to Raise up difficulties in order to knock them down.

Waiting Patiently Instead of Fretful Anxiety

There's another passage that connects in Isaiah that I'd like you to consider. And that is Psalm 37. Psalm 37 verses. Do seven through Seven through ten. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way over the man who carries out evil devices. Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not yourself. It tends only to evil for the evildoers shall be cut off.

But those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land in just a little while the wicked will be no more Though you look carefully at his place. He will not be there. Doesn't that say pretty much what we saw in Isaiah 41 just a little while the wicked will be no more Though you look carefully at his place.

He will not be there. You will look for him. You will not find him, etc. Right, that's just like we saw in Isaiah 41 verse 12. And so what is his what is his command in all this in verse 7? It is be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him fret not Yourselves over the one who prospers in his way over the man who carries out evil devices.

It's the same message that was given in Isaiah 41. It is do not fear. Do not fear. Why not? Well, first of all It's misguided. It's misguided because the Lord will destroy. Why would you be anxious when the Lord will destroy the enemy?

Why would you be angry when the Lord will take vengeance? Himself. These things are misguided, but not only are they misguided. They are also counterproductive. So it's not just well, it's foolish. It's unnecessary, but there's no consequence.

No, there are consequences for fretting there are consequences for Being angry with your current situation as though God's providence is not wise. Says in verse 9.

Excuse me.

Says in The adversary fret refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not yourselves or set yourself. It tends only to evil for the evildoer shall be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land now on one hand This is confidence that the evildoers will be removed on the other hand.

Think of what that's saying that's saying that fretting tends to evil and it is the evildoers who are cut off. Okay. So the more you fret the more you align yourself with the enemy not with the one who is Enjoying victory and God working through them, but rather one who is being destroyed in The worst case right this is referring to apostasy right someone who would Identify as part of the kingdom, etc.

But then rather than being Rather than being courageous facing trials they are like the the Not the thorny soil. But the the rocky soil the rocky soil where the plant is washed away at the first trial that comes.

All right, the plants washed away at the first trial that comes because they can't take the hardships. They can't handle it. And so rather than enjoying the blessings of the kingdoms that the kingdom they Are placed with the wicked so that's the worst case.

What's the best case the best case in fretting? Well, maybe you are still part of God's people but the more you allow fretting the more you allow anxiety to come into your life the more you allow Anger in the sense of a discontentment.

An anger at God's at the Providence that he's placed you in wanting to take vengeance for yourself rather than letting him take vengeance the less you are able to Enjoy God working through you to accomplish victory.

Okay, the more you see this as your battle and not the Lord's battle the less it will be Either or less it will be your battle, right? The more you take it as your battle the less you will get to enjoy Being in the battle the less of an accomplished warrior you will be because it is through our weakness that God displays his strength.

It is in you trusting in the Lord that God will use you and make you strong so the more people try to Handle things on their own and Accomplish things by their own strength. I feel like I needed to find that because a lot of times people aren't really sure what's meant by that accomplishing things on your own strength would be either by means not given in Scripture or it is With anxiety and anger, right?

So if you are doing it with anxiety, you are not trusting in the Lord and You are trying to make it your own battle. But then it is a battle that will be lost because the battle that is won is the Lord's battle.

Working through you the evil doer shall be cut off.

But those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Fear not you worm of Jacob you men of Israel I'm the one who helps you declares the Lord your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. We are but worms.

Our only hope is in Jesus Christ who took that position for us was treated as a worm Was despised was rejected by men, but has been raised up exalted not just above men all other men But above the angels even and he takes up with him all who trust in him and those who trust in him.

Do not fret they are not angry, but rather They are at perfect. Peace. They do not fear and they enjoy victory in the Lord. What would your life look like if it were not? Accompanied with fretting the relationships you deal with the work that you deal with all your situation.

Think back this past week all the times that you fretted all the times that you were dealing with anxiety. All the times you were dealing with anger and discontentment. What would your life look like?

If you understood God's plan in such a way not knowing all the details. But knowing the big picture that you would be able to look at those situations and rest knowing that things are as they are supposed.

To be and.

This is not. You know the difficulties in my life the trials the attacks of the enemy. None of these things are too much. But they are precisely God's purpose because he desires to make his glory known in my weakness Through the strength of an enemy being destroyed.

Amen, dear. Heavenly Father. We thank you for your word. We thank you for this encouragement. We ask that you would Make us people who are fearless who are courageous. Pray that you would help us to truly embrace this identity as a mere worm and in it That we would fully rely on Jesus Christ and through that that you would make us strong in his name.

We pray. Amen.