WWUTT 2014 Wrath and Deliverance for the Nations (Isaiah 34:1-35:10)

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th3u6e2

Thank you for this exposition of Isaiah.

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00:00

There is a promise of judgment that comes against all of those who rebel against God.

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But likewise, there is a promise of deliverance for those who seek the Lord and walk in His holiness when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, teaching through a New Testament book on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and a Q&A on Friday.

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With our Old Testament study today, here's Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky.

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Well, in our study of the book of Isaiah, we have two more chapters in the prophecy section, and then we go to a narrative section that goes from chapters 36 to 39, which is a section you could actually find elsewhere in Scripture.

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But it's here in Isaiah to show us the fulfillment of those things that God has said with regards to the destruction of the Assyrians.

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Even though Assyria would come against Judah, God would deliver Judah, and we see that fulfilled again in 36 to 39.

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Then after that, we jump into the next portion of Isaiah, the next half, so to speak, although it's not exactly in half, but that goes from chapters 40 to 66.

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But let's finish up this prophecy section, which we'll do today, chapters 34 and 35.

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I'm going to begin by reading the first 10 verses of chapter 34 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

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Hear the word of the Lord.

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Draw near, O nations, to hear, and pay attention, O peoples.

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Let the earth hear as well as its fullness the world and all that springs from it.

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For the indignation of Yahweh is against all the nations, and his wrath against all their hosts.

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He has devoted them to destruction, he has given them over to slaughter.

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So their slain will be cast out, and their corpses will give off their stench, and the mountains will be drenched with their blood.

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And all the hosts of heaven will rot away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.

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All their hosts will also wither away, as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree.

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For my sword is satiated in heaven, behold, it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

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The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood, it is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.

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For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Basra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

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And wild oxen will also fall with them, and young bulls with strong ones, thus their land will be soaked with blood, and their dust become greasy with fat.

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For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion, and its streams will be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land will become burning pitch.

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It will not be quenched night or day, its smoke will go up forever, from generation to generation it will be laid waste, none will pass through it, forever and ever.

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And then where the prophecy goes from there is to describe the land as being a place where only wild animals will inhabit it.

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And the language that's used there is very similar to something that Isaiah said back in chapter 13 with regards to what will happen to Babylon.

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So it will happen for Edom and its land.

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So let's consider what we've read here, going back up to the top of chapter 34.

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Now, as you may have noticed, at the very beginning here, verse 1, draw near, O nations to hear and pay attention, O peoples let the earth hear, as well as its fullness, the world and all that springs from it.

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This is an address that goes out to the nations, where a lot of the prophecy that we've been reading up to this point has been with regards to Israel, or more specifically, Judah.

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Now God turns his attention to the nations.

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There is going to be a destroyer that will come and destroy.

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That was with regards to the Assyrians, that's what we read previously in chapter 33.

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But God will deliver Judah from their hand and he will even destroy the destroyer.

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Now we've read judgments against other nations in the book of Isaiah previously, like there's been the judgments that have come against Tyre and against Babylon and against the Assyrians.

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This section is focusing specifically on Edom, but we have this address to all nations.

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Pay attention to all the earth and hear.

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So Edom is being used as a type so that the Lord may show his judgment against the nations.

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God's judgment doesn't just come against Judah because he had fellowship with them and then they worshiped false gods, so he's bringing this punishment against them.

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His promise is to deliver Judah, but there's this, there were the Edomites who are actually kin with the Jews because the Edomites were the descendants of Lot.

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So the Edomites had partnered with these other nations that are coming into judgment and had betrayed their own kin, believing that they would save themselves if they turned the Israelites over to their enemies.

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So God's judgment is coming against Edom and these judgments that are used against Edom, which he's referring to as nations, though they have a kinship with the Jews, they're not in any way children of promise.

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And so he's going to use the Edomites to show judgment that will come against anybody.

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It's not just against the Jews who had gone against me and worshiped false gods, but my judgment would be against all the nations who do not worship me.

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And Edom is going to be used as that subject to show how the judgment of God would come against anybody who does not worship God.

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And you have a description of God making his own sacrifice to appease his own wrath here in chapter 34 as well.

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So let's keep going.

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Verse two, for the indignation of Yahweh is against all the nations and his wrath against all their hosts.

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He has delivered them to destruction.

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He has given them over to slaughter.

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Now that statement there about his, uh, his wrath is against all their hosts.

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What is that in reference to? Well, that's in reference to the evil spirits that control them.

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Remember what we have read previously in Ephesians two, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

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And this is among whom we all once formerly lived before we came to Christ.

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We were likewise children of Satan and doing his will.

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And we were subject to the spirits that were under his control.

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So as you have these evil spirits that dwell in these pagan lands, this is the host that God says his wrath is against.

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His indignation of the indignation of Yahweh is against all the nations, all the people that inhabit those nations and his wrath against all their hosts, the evil spirits that inhabit the hearts of these wicked people.

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Now that's not to say that anytime a person stands before God in judgment that they're able to say, well, the devil made me do it.

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That is not a reasonable excuse for as we read in Romans 14, everyone is going to have to give an account of himself before God.

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We're going to have to stand in judgment for what we have done, not because of, of what some evil spirit was doing within us.

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That evil spirit is there because of our rebellion against God, that we would live among the sons of disobedience, the spirit that is now at work in those children of Satan.

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So it is only when we come to Christ that those spirits that would dwell in our hearts, we've talked about this previously, as we were in Matthew 12 this week, those evil spirits that are there would be ransacked by the Holy Spirit that comes in and cleanses out the place, cast out those spirits.

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And now what we're indwelt with is the Holy Spirit of God.

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He dwells there and no minion of Satan can inhabit there.

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Remember again, what we read in Ephesians chapter six, that our struggle, this is Ephesians 6, 12, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

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And heavenly places just simply a reference to that spiritual realm.

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So you have those evil spirits that are influencing ungodly people to do ungodly things.

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And whenever we go out and share the gospel with people, whenever we show them their sin according to the law of God, how they have gone against the righteous creator who made all things, even these persons who are rebelling against him.

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When we show a person that according to scripture, if the Holy Spirit convicts their heart, they recognize their sin and they see I'm under the judgment and the wrath of God.

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And then their hearts are tilled to be able to hear the gospel.

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But God has made a way for you to be saved.

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And that way is through Jesus Christ who died on the cross, who rose again from the dead, conquering death itself.

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He died as an atoning sacrifice for sins.

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And then he paid the wages that we deserve for our sins, which is death by dying and then conquering death itself so that all who believe in him will not perish under the judgment of God.

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Christ has taken that upon himself with his death on the cross.

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But our sins being atoned for, we have been justified and we will live forever with God in his eternal kingdom.

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When you share with somebody the gospel in that way, if the Holy Spirit has conditioned their heart to hear it, then they will see Christ as savior and turn to Jesus Christ and so be saved.

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Those evil spirits that they were previously under the control of have been pushed out by the Holy Spirit who now dwells there.

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And as the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, the love of Christ now controls us.

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So instead of being under the influence of those evil spirits, we're now under the influence of the Holy Spirit that we may do the will of God.

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As it said in Philippians 2, 13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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So I really meant to put that gospel presentation there in the turn between chapters 34 and 35.

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But now you have it.

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As we continue on here to read about God's judgment against the nations, all those who would walk in darkness rather than worship the Lord.

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Verse 3, their slain will be cast out.

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Their corpses will give off their stench and the mountains will be drenched with their blood.

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This is a very graphic section as God talks about how he will strike down those who did evil using Edom as a type to represent all who would perish because they rebelled against God.

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Verse 4, all the host of heaven will rot away and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.

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All their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine or as one withers from the fig tree.

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So this is both a physical and a spiritual judgment that is coming against this land.

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Verse 5, my sword is satiated in heaven.

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Behold, it shall descend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

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The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood.

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It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.

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For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Basra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

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So this is the land that this judgment is coming against.

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But again, nations have been addressed here so that God's judgment would come against all who do not follow him.

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Now let me skip down to verse 10.

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That's just the concluding verse that I read.

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It will not be quenched night or day.

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Its smoke will go up forever.

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From generation to generation, it will be laid waste.

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None will pass through it forever and ever.

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Talking about the totality of the judgment that is going to come against this land and this also being representative of a judgment that comes against all the ungodly.

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When cast into hell, they will be there forever.

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And that sacrifice of burning that is satisfying God's wrath against those who have done wickedness, it will never burn out.

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It will continue to burn.

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The smoke will go up forever.

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From generation to generation, it will be laid waste forever and ever is this judgment.

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That even being a reference to hell.

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Those that would be cast into that place at the final judgment and burn forever.

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The fire will never go out.

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As Jesus says, the worm does not die and the fire is never quenched.

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So then we go on to this next section, verses 11 to 17.

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And I'll go through this a little quickly, where we read about these animals now that inhabit this place that has been laid waste.

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It has become a wilderness where people don't dwell there.

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Even the evil spirits don't inhabit there.

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Just these wild beasts.

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But pelican and hedgehog will possess it.

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An owl and raven will dwell in it.

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And he will stretch over it the line of utter formlessness and the plum line of utter void.

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Now again, the animals that we're going to see referenced here, there's nothing too deep about the reference to these animals other than the fact that they are wilderness dwelling animals.

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So nobody can dwell there except these animals.

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Just demonstrating that this has become a wilderness.

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It's become a lifeless place.

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The reference to a pelican is kind of odd though, and that's a decision by the Legacy Standard translators.

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It would be hard to explain why, but basically the translators of the Legacy Standard Bible have been committed to a lexical consistency.

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So that where one word translates this way, they tried to be consistent in translating that word exactly the same way wherever it would appear in the Old Testament, in Hebrew, and then in the New Testament in Greek.

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So because this word about a pelican translates in other places accurately as pelican, they have in that consistency decided to maintain that word pelican here in Isaiah 34.11.

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But it really doesn't work because a pelican is a sea fowl.

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It is known for being on the ocean.

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It is not known for really being on the land.

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So I was looking up Albert Barnes' commentary, and he said, even he said, the pelican, the word pelican cannot be intended here.

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Rather, it is the cormorant or water raven, a large fowl of the pelican kind, which occupies the cliffs by the sea, feeds on fish, and is extremely voracious.

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It leads out a noise that is very difficult on the ears.

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So that's probably the bird that is more intended here, the cormorant, which dwells on sea cliffs.

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So it would be to show in verse 11 that the pelican and the hedgehog will possess it.

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So it's as though to say all the way to the edge of the land, right up against the sea, and then even in the land, it could be translated hedgehog or porcupine, which again is another unpleasant animal.

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You don't go and pet porcupines or even hedgehogs.

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They're not cuddly animals.

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So whether it's the land or from the land all the way to the edge, right up to the sea, the land will be laid desolate.

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That's what's being demonstrated by the mention of these two particular animals.

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So going on in verse 12, its nobles, there is no one there whom they may proclaim king, and all its princes will be non-existent, and thorns will come up in its fortified towers, weeds and thistles in its fortified cities.

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It will also be a haunt of jackals and an abode of ostriches.

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So this is just kind of demonstrating how penetrable these fortifications were.

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Resistance is futile.

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There was no way that they could defend themselves against the judgment of God when it came.

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So even these high walls, even these fortified cities that were built to keep back strong enemies, they will not be able to keep back God when his judgment comes, and he will even cause thorns and thistles to rise up in them, like mocking them as though, see how good your walls are? Look what I can raise up among you, so that no one may dwell there, can't even find a king or a nobleman to lead this people.

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It has become an abode of ostriches, a haunt of jackals.

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Verse 14, the desert creatures will meet with the wolves.

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The hairy goat will also cry to its kind.

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Surely the night creature will obtain relief there and will find itself a resting place.

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Now the owls and the goats are, they're animals that will cry out in the night, and their sounds are rather haunting and can even sound like people that are wailing.

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So that would kind of be the picture of the land at night, a place where people mourn over the fact that what they've had is now gone from them.

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It's been taken from them.

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The owl will make its nest and find its escape there, and it will hatch its eggs and gather them in its shade.

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Surely the falcons will be gathered there, every one of its kind.

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Seek from the book of Yahweh and read.

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Not one of these will be missing.

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None will lack its mate for his mouth is commanded and his spirit has gathered them.

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He has cast the lot for them and his hand has divided it to them by line.

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They shall possess it forever from generation to generation.

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They will dwell in it.

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So this reference to seek from the book of Yahweh, this is Isaiah actually referencing what he has written down.

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So come back and read this, and you will see that this will be fulfilled.

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So it would be a warning to the people that they would turn from their rebellion to God.

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They would repent.

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They would put their trust in God.

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They would worship him, and so they would live.

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But if they do not, then they would become a part of this desolate land that will never be inhabited forever.

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And so now we read about the redeemed, those God will save in chapter 35, and this will go a little quicker, verses 1 through 10.

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The wilderness and the desert will be delighted, and the Araba will rejoice and flourish like the crocus.

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It will flourish profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.

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The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

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They will see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

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So now we've taken an obvious turn here from the judgment that is coming against Edom and the land, and it will be laid waste, and this being a picture of the judgment God will bring against all the nations.

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And now we're reading about how even the desert place will rejoice.

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Those that would dwell in a dry and weary land, if they call upon the Lord, they will be delighted.

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There will even be rejoicing and shout of joy.

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This place that has been turned into desolation will receive the majesty and the glory of Carmel and Sharon.

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Now, these pagan cities, it's not to say, hey, the pagans will rise in this place again.

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It's whatever glory that you see that they enjoy as the powers that they are, it will be taken from them, and it will be given to those who call upon the Lord.

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That's where the chapter is going.

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So verse three, strengthen limp hands and give courage to the knees of the stumbling.

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Say to those with an anxious heart, be strong, fear not.

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Behold, your God will come with vengeance.

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The recompense of God will come, but he will save you.

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So those that God is going to destroy, remember that we read previously in chapter 33, God will destroy the destroyer and the destruction of those that God will judge is also a demonstration of his mercy and deliverance for those whom he will save.

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Verse five, then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

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Then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy for waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Araba.

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Then the scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water in the haunt of jackals.

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It's resting place.

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Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

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So we're seeing this place that's laid waste.

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God is causing to flourish again.

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And this, because of the promise to those that he has said, he will save verse eight and a roadway will be there, a highway, and it will be called the highway of holiness.

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The unclean will not pass by on it, but it will be for him who walks in that way and ignorant fools will not wander on it.

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No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go upon it.

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There will be no predators, no one to devour anybody who walks on the highway of holiness.

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Continuing on in verse nine, these will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk there and the ransomed of Yahweh will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion with everlasting gladness upon their heads.

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They will attain delight and gladness and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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And so we have this promise of judgment in chapter 34, that all who would rebel against God, all the nations, everybody would come into judgment, that judgment would be total and it would be forever.

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But for those who love God, for those whom he has saved, those whom he has redeemed because he has had compassion on whom he will have compassion, they will walk on a highway of holiness and they will be filled with gladness.

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In fact, it is an everlasting gladness as said in verse 10, and they will attain delight and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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Their gladness will be forever.

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The destruction that comes upon the judged, that will be forever.

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The deliverance and redemption that comes to the saved, that will be forever.

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And so we have the promise of everlasting life that is given to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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And what pertinent passages that we would read today about this judgment that comes against nations and a deliverance that would come to even those that dwell in those lands that God will judge, even in the nations.

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It's not just for Jews.

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There is salvation that comes to all who call upon the name of the Lord, as said in Romans chapter 10.

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All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

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And what relevant passages we read in these days, as I said before, because we see destruction coming upon the earth, we see nations warring, we hear about plague and disease, friends and loved ones dying.

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And that is certainly going to be the case with the world because it is fallen and subject to corruption.

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But the promise for us, even who dwell in this land that is coming to destruction, is that we will be saved from it and come into a place that is flourishing and abundant, where gladness never ends and sorrow and sighing will be no more.

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For as we read in Revelation 21, 3, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them.

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And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death.

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There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain for the first things have passed away.

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Heavenly Father, I thank you for what we've read here and I pray that we would seize upon these reminders that you will judge the nations, but you will deliver your people.

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We who trust in the Lord, who have turned from sin to the Lord Jesus Christ to be forgiven our sins and given a place in your eternal kingdom, come quickly, Lord Jesus, that we may be with you forever in eternal gladness.

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It is in Jesus' name that we pray.

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Amen.

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When we understand the text.