back to index03-02-16 Wed Bible Study
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening. 00:00:12.000 |
We pray, Lord God, that you would bless our time together. 00:00:15.000 |
Help us to gather our thoughts and our hearts, Lord, 00:00:18.000 |
that we may be focused and that your word would truly speak to us this evening. 00:00:24.000 |
Alright, so if you turn your Bibles to Isaiah 24 and 25. 00:00:44.000 |
Alright, let me just ask you real quick, and you guys can yell it out 00:01:09.000 |
How is it different than the previous chapters? 00:01:24.000 |
Okay. The scope of the judgment is not limited to one nation or particular, right? 00:01:33.000 |
Do you notice anything else that's different? 00:01:53.000 |
Okay. So there's language of restoration mixed in. 00:01:58.000 |
Okay. Alright, so hopefully you were able to catch that. 00:02:02.000 |
And those of you who weren't with us before, obviously you don't have anything to compare with. 00:02:07.000 |
But up to chapter 23, the judgment was, for the most part, very specific to particular nations, 00:02:15.000 |
If you look at chapter 24 to probably about chapter 27, the judgment is very broad. 00:02:21.000 |
It's not talking to a specific nation or particular event in history necessarily. 00:02:26.000 |
Although that may be an application, but you see a much more broader apocalyptic, 00:02:32.000 |
where the judgment is upon the whole earth, all the nations, all the people. 00:02:36.000 |
And the other part of it is, it gives you the conclusion of it, right? 00:02:40.000 |
Where previously we've seen judgment upon the nations, 00:02:44.000 |
and then it's kind of like on a side note or in between. 00:02:47.000 |
You say, "Well, the Messiah is going to come. The Messiah is going to come." 00:02:50.000 |
But here it's almost kind of like the judgment is complete, right? 00:02:54.000 |
It's not like, "Here's a judgment. It's going to wait and we'll see what happens." 00:03:00.000 |
So what David said about apocalyptic, where it's like the end, right? 00:03:04.000 |
And then when the end comes, there's something else that comes. 00:03:08.000 |
Rejoicing, praising, glorifying, worshipping, right? 00:03:11.000 |
So what does that remind us of? What other part of the Bible does that remind us of? 00:03:18.000 |
Revelation, right? So you look at the book of Revelation, 00:03:22.000 |
it's not talking about just one particular part. It's talking about the very end, right? 00:03:26.000 |
So you kind of have the… So it's talking about judgment, 00:03:29.000 |
but that's what's a little bit different from the previous verses versus this one, okay? 00:03:34.000 |
So keep that in mind. The first section of it, verse… 00:03:44.000 |
It's, again, emphasis on the scope of the judgment. 00:03:57.000 |
God judged through Assyria, but now He's judging through natural disaster. 00:04:04.000 |
but again, if you look at the language in verse 1, 00:04:07.000 |
where the earth is kind of turned upside down, maybe an earthquake, maybe a tornado. 00:04:12.000 |
And then if you look at verse 4, right, it talks about how the earth mourns and it withers and it languishes. 00:04:19.000 |
So if you look at the language of, you know, like the harvest drying out and no more wine, 00:04:25.000 |
it kind of gives you the picture of some kind of a drought and there's no harvest, right? 00:04:29.000 |
So again, the judgment is not just one particular nation, 00:04:33.000 |
another nation is going to come and conquer you. 00:04:39.000 |
So the natural disaster is not just happening in one place. 00:04:48.000 |
So again, this is not a fact, but again, the language kind of points to some kind of natural disaster or disasters. 00:04:55.000 |
So again, verse 2, it talks about the scope of judgment, right? 00:05:00.000 |
We talked about that, how if you look at verse 2, it says, 00:05:03.000 |
"And it shall be as with the people, so with the priests, as with the slaves, so with the master, as with the maids, so with the mistress." 00:05:09.000 |
So on and on and on, saying that no one's going to be spared from the highest to the low. 00:05:14.000 |
Businessmen and people who are lenders and borrowers, creditors and debtors. 00:05:20.000 |
And then the conclusion of that in verse 3, so they're going to be orderly, right? 00:05:30.000 |
The language itself may have been toned down, but if you look at what it actually says, 00:05:35.000 |
actually the judgment is much greater than what he was saying before. 00:05:38.000 |
Before it was like, the other nation's going to come, take you captive, you're not going to have any men around, 00:05:45.000 |
Where he describes it as order destruction, right? 00:05:49.000 |
Again, you look at the Book of Revelation, the judgment is not something specific. 00:05:54.000 |
When a third of the world is being wiped out, that's not a particular nation or particular area. 00:06:02.000 |
Either natural disaster or some kind of war, so everybody's going to be affected. 00:06:07.000 |
And so that's the judgment that we see here, where the whole earth is judged, right? 00:06:12.000 |
So the devastation is complete and absolutely thorough. 00:06:17.000 |
If you don't have the sheets to fill out somewhere, it should be sitting around somewhere. 00:06:23.000 |
Okay? Yeah, so if you have extra, can you raise your hand? And if you don't have it, raise your hand. 00:06:29.000 |
Okay, everybody has extra. So if you don't have it, just walk around and you should be able to find it. 00:06:37.000 |
On your sheet, I have, again in verse 4, the earth mourns and withers, world languishes and withers. 00:06:45.000 |
And again, the people who are high are going to be brought low. 00:06:48.000 |
And then on your sheet, it has verse 3, but that's not supposed to be there, so just kind of cross that out. 00:06:52.000 |
I printed it before I was able to cross that out. 00:06:58.000 |
So again, the emphasis in the scope of destruction, right? 00:07:05.000 |
Who's the earth referring to? That was one of the questions that I asked. 00:07:13.000 |
If you want to say it out loud, you can, or just... 00:07:20.000 |
Is it talking about people? Is it talking about the physical earth? 00:07:27.000 |
Is it talking about Israel? Is it talking about a specific nation? 00:07:47.000 |
So there's a distinction between the earth and the people. 00:07:53.000 |
So, yes, so I think, again if you look at the language, and if you look at verse 5 also, 00:07:58.000 |
it says that the earth lies defiled under its inhabitants, 00:08:02.000 |
meaning that there's a distinction between the people and the earth, right? 00:08:06.000 |
So I think it's referring to both. So if you read it carefully, 00:08:09.000 |
the way that the word earth is mentioned, it's talking about just complete devastation, 00:08:24.000 |
So the earth seems to refer to the physical earth and the people in it. 00:08:28.000 |
The scope of devastation is going to be absolutely thorough. 00:08:33.000 |
And this is going to affect everybody, everywhere. 00:08:38.000 |
Where the previous judgments were very specific to a particular nation because of a particular sin, 00:08:43.000 |
where this here, the sin is in a larger scale. 00:09:09.000 |
The people abused, basically the people abused the earth, right? 00:09:14.000 |
So there's several things that it mentions. It's transgressed the laws. 00:09:20.000 |
Again, when we're talking about earth, we're talking about everybody, all mankind, right? 00:09:24.000 |
Just like it says in Romans 3, 23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 00:09:28.000 |
So here, when it says earth, it's referring to everything, right? 00:09:35.000 |
So what he says in this verse in verse 5, basically he says three separate things, right? 00:09:40.000 |
He transgressed the law. What else does he say? 00:09:52.000 |
Violated the statutes. Okay, if you're looking at the ESV. 00:09:55.000 |
So, is there a distinction between these three? 00:10:11.000 |
I won't grade you, it's okay if you're wrong. 00:10:17.000 |
(Audience) Is there an escalation from law to statutes to the Ecumenical Covenant? 00:10:23.000 |
It seems like it, right? It's probably referring to the same thing, 00:10:26.000 |
but it just kind of seems like there's an escalation, a greater degree. 00:10:30.000 |
And why would Isaiah do that, or why would God prophesy that way? 00:10:37.000 |
Emphasis, right? And then the fact that it's done three separate times, 00:10:42.000 |
and any time the number three comes, you know that it's for the purpose of confirmation, right? 00:10:48.000 |
Witnesses of two or three, Jesus was resurrected on the third day, right? 00:10:52.000 |
The Trinity. So, it's a number of confirmation, and you see that escalation three separate times. 00:10:58.000 |
And so, up to this point, remember the theme? 00:11:01.000 |
That the whole point of this section is kind of order destruction, 00:11:04.000 |
complete destruction, complete judgment for all people, right? Everywhere, including the earth. 00:11:13.000 |
So, here's, again, just the technical nuances of transgressed is their greed. 00:11:20.000 |
They broke God's covenant, violated the statues, altered or broken God's covenant, 00:11:25.000 |
broken an everlasting covenant, annulled or nullified the covenant made with God, right? 00:11:31.000 |
And as a result of that, only a few are left, right? 00:11:36.000 |
The devastation is going to be so great that it's not just one nation, 00:11:40.000 |
but all the earth, after the judgment is done, only a few are left. 00:11:47.000 |
If you are a dispensationalist, again, if you don't know what that word is, 00:11:50.000 |
you don't need to worry too much about it, but what in the Bible teaches this? 00:11:56.000 |
That after a great period of something, that so many people are going to die, 00:12:10.000 |
What theology in the Bible that talks about, like, judgment in such a large scale, 00:12:16.000 |
and so many people dying, that at the end of it, few people are going to remain? 00:12:26.000 |
Tribulation, right? During the period of tribulation. 00:12:29.000 |
If you read the Book of Revelations, there's three separate judgments, right? 00:12:35.000 |
The bowl judgment, the trumpet judgment, the seal judgment, 00:12:38.000 |
and each of these judgments kind of escalates one at a time. 00:12:41.000 |
So, there's different interpretation of these judgments, 00:12:43.000 |
but in the end, basically it's talking about the thoroughness, 00:12:46.000 |
and the utter devastation that it's going to bring, 00:12:50.000 |
and at the end of that, so the first three and a half is harsh, 00:12:53.000 |
and then the next three and a half years is utter devastation, 00:12:56.000 |
and at the end of that, a few are going to come out of it, right? 00:13:00.000 |
So, is this referring to that? I mean, it's an educated guess, 00:13:09.000 |
Okay. Again, these couple of verses are talking about the creation being judged. 00:13:14.000 |
It says, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the Son of God. 00:13:18.000 |
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, 00:13:22.000 |
in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay, 00:13:26.000 |
and obtain the freedom and the glory of the children of God." 00:13:28.000 |
So again, when the scripture describes when Adam and Eve fell, 00:13:36.000 |
And he said that part of the curse was that before, he would work, 00:13:40.000 |
and then they were going to bear fruit, but because of the fall in Romans 3, 00:13:44.000 |
that it's going to produce thorns and thistles. 00:13:47.000 |
And then we look at the Book of Romans when it talks about the restoration, 00:13:50.000 |
he says that part of the restoration is not just the human being, 00:13:54.000 |
but everything that is attached to the human being, right? 00:13:57.000 |
And if you look at Chronicles, in Exodus 23, 10 through 11, 00:14:01.000 |
God gives a commandment to the nation of Israel 00:14:04.000 |
that the land is supposed to rest every seventh year, right? 00:14:08.000 |
That not only the mankind, but the land, they weren't supposed to till the land 00:14:12.000 |
seven years in a row. After the sixth year, they're supposed to give it a rest seventh year. 00:14:16.000 |
If you look at 2 Chronicles 36, 21, and then there's passages in Deuteronomy, 00:14:21.000 |
where again, these are commandments of giving rest, 00:14:26.000 |
but at the end, when the Babylonians come and take them into captivity, 00:14:30.000 |
the reason why, one of the reasons why they're taken into captivity, 00:14:34.000 |
what God says, is because you did not obey my commandment to obey the Sabbath, 00:14:39.000 |
and in particular, the land. And then he says the reason why they're there for 70 years 00:14:43.000 |
is for every year that they disobey, they're giving it, 00:14:47.000 |
God's giving it the rest that they didn't give. 00:14:50.000 |
Okay? So again, the significance of disobedience to the Sabbath 00:14:54.000 |
is related to the human beings, but also related to the creation. 00:14:58.000 |
Okay? So there's a whole theology based on this, about the new earth and new creation. 00:15:03.000 |
I'm not going to get into that, but again, the reason I'm pointing this out 00:15:15.000 |
The first section, chapter 24, verses 1 through 6, is 00:15:19.000 |
trying to convey the utter devastation, right? 00:15:23.000 |
And how it's going to affect everybody. Only a few are going to remain. 00:15:27.000 |
If you go to the second part, starting from Friday, verses 7 through 16, 00:15:35.000 |
Which we already mentioned, but to be more specific. 00:15:49.000 |
Where the first section is just making sure that you understand that when the judgment comes, 00:15:53.000 |
this is, you know, no one's going to be spared, very few are going to come out of it, 00:16:25.000 |
Think about what he said in the previous verse. 00:16:37.000 |
Because of the famine, right? Because of the judgment. 00:17:05.000 |
Yeah, so the language sounds like that because of this famine, it's going to 00:17:09.000 |
devastate everybody, that there is no fruit to enjoy, right? 00:17:13.000 |
So, the description of the judgment, verse 7, the source of joy 00:17:17.000 |
is going to be dried out, meaning that if there's no harvest, there's no wine, there's nothing 00:17:25.000 |
Source of joy. It ends with the experience of joy, verse 8 and 9. 00:17:29.000 |
The mirth of the tambourines are still, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, 00:17:33.000 |
and the mirth of the lyre is still. No more do they drink wine with singing, 00:17:37.000 |
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. So in other words, because there is 00:17:41.000 |
no harvest, the source of joy has been dried up, and now 00:17:45.000 |
there's no celebration. And all, this is all as a result of sin, 00:17:53.000 |
particular things that's going to happen when judgment comes, but generally speaking, 00:18:01.000 |
When there is sin and you're away from God, that the source of joy, 00:18:05.000 |
which is Christ, who is the living water, when He gets dried out, 00:18:09.000 |
when life gets dried out, then joy gets dried out, right? 00:18:13.000 |
And then verse 11, there's an utter banishment of joy, 00:18:17.000 |
verse 11, there is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine, all joy 00:18:25.000 |
And then verse 10, it causes the city to lie ruined and defenseless. 00:18:33.000 |
describes judgment coming, right? What is this judgment going to look like? 00:18:37.000 |
Devastation, natural disaster. Who's going to come on? 00:18:49.000 |
Because of their violation, because they transgressed the law, because they 00:18:53.000 |
broken the covenant, and as a result of that, only a few are going to come. And because of this 00:18:57.000 |
judgment, joy is going to be sucked out, right? There's going to be no celebration, 00:19:01.000 |
and they're going to be utterly helpless. But what does 00:19:09.000 |
We already talked about that. This section, there's judgment, but then there's 00:19:13.000 |
glimmers of hope. So we hear language, it is kind of a 00:19:17.000 |
strange place to hear this language, because it's talking about probably 00:19:21.000 |
up to this point, the greatest intensity of judgment, 00:19:29.000 |
So it's kind of out of place, it's like, oh, you know, you're completely 00:19:33.000 |
devastating the land, and as a result of that, it leads to 00:19:37.000 |
praising, right? So who is this that's rejoicing? Why are they rejoicing? 00:19:45.000 |
Okay. The people who are rejoicing are the remnant, 00:19:49.000 |
the few that are mentioned in verse 6, right? After the judgment 00:19:57.000 |
that the people who come out of that, and they're going to see God's 00:20:01.000 |
glory, one, that they were able to escape that, in other words, 00:20:05.000 |
that God spared them through this judgment, right? But secondly, 00:20:09.000 |
that they saw God's power, and all of a sudden they become greater worshippers. 00:20:17.000 |
glorifying, praising. There's greater love for Christ, 00:20:21.000 |
greater glory as a result of that. So in one sense 00:20:25.000 |
the devastation is leading to destruction, the other sense it also brings revival. 00:20:37.000 |
earth, and the language again describes it, the west, the east, the end of the earth 00:20:41.000 |
will rejoice and give Him. So these are all, everybody who has seen 00:20:45.000 |
that, and has kind of made it out of it, and the few remnant 00:20:49.000 |
that remains, they will see God as He is, and it 00:20:53.000 |
will ultimately lead to them giving God the glory from all over. So again, 00:20:57.000 |
this revival and praise isn't just coming from one group of people. 00:21:01.000 |
Right? Just as devastation was worldwide, the praise 00:21:05.000 |
and glory and worship and rejoicing is also going to be worldwide. 00:21:15.000 |
Again, in Revelation 21, again, just because the language 00:21:19.000 |
is similar, "By His light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring 00:21:23.000 |
their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no 00:21:27.000 |
night there. They will bring into it the glory and the 00:21:31.000 |
honor of all the nations." Again, the language is very similar 00:22:13.000 |
So, he talks about utter devastation, and as a result 00:22:17.000 |
of that, there's going to be a remnant who's going to go praise God, 00:22:25.000 |
it says, "I waste away, I waste away, woe to me, for the 00:22:29.000 |
traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed." Who is the "I" here? 00:22:43.000 |
Take a minute to discuss with your group, okay? Who is the 00:22:47.000 |
"I" in that text, and why is that person mourning? Because 00:22:51.000 |
right before that, it talked about rejoicing and revival. 00:26:11.200 |
And this is educated guess, if you have a good biblical reason to say what you're 00:26:20.480 |
Just don't just pick it out of the sky, all right? 00:26:23.920 |
So who is the I, and once you identify the I, why is he rejoicing? 00:27:17.880 |
do you guys all agree that it sounds like this is Isaiah, right? 00:27:28.680 |
>> I think that judgment is referring to all mankind, so 00:27:32.080 |
I would assume that he's referring not just to one particular group, yeah. 00:27:42.180 |
Isaiah is seeing something that's gonna happen in the future, right? 00:27:46.980 |
Isaiah is prophesying about, he's not talking about specifically just then. 00:27:50.680 |
He's talking about Babylon's not even a superpower yet. 00:27:53.980 |
He's talking about Babylon, the Persians, and he's talking about the end times. 00:27:56.880 |
So he's seeing in the future the devastation is coming. 00:27:59.980 |
So at the end of that devastation there's glory, but 00:28:04.280 |
before that glory comes he's seeing all this stuff. 00:28:06.980 |
I mean, everything that he's seen prior to that is gonna be nothing compared to 00:28:11.580 |
So what it seems like is that even though there's a mixture of, 00:28:15.380 |
like when we talk about the second coming of Christ, 00:28:17.680 |
depending on who you are and your perspective, you're gonna rejoice or mourn. 00:28:21.880 |
Even as a Christian, you're gonna rejoice or mourn. 00:28:25.280 |
At one sense, you're gonna rejoice because he's coming. 00:28:28.380 |
And in another sense, you're gonna mourn because judgment is coming with him, 00:28:32.480 |
So you're gonna rejoice because your suffering's gonna end. 00:28:35.680 |
You're gonna mourn because suffering for people that you love, right? 00:28:42.680 |
So the coming of Christ in his full glory is gonna bring salvation and condemnation. 00:28:50.880 |
And so that's what Isaiah is seeing all of it. 00:28:53.680 |
So you kinda see in his prophecy, he's mixed with rejoicing and 00:28:58.580 |
mourning and rejoicing and mourning all at the same time. 00:29:01.280 |
Because he's not at this end where he's experienced all of this and 00:29:14.580 |
He's mourning and he's seeing all this terror and the pit and 00:29:21.280 |
The temptation that they may give into is a deliberate snare or a trap, right? 00:29:28.880 |
And those who escape are gonna fall into a pit. 00:29:30.780 |
Again, the emphasis over and over and over again, 00:29:35.880 |
Book of Revelation says when he comes, that those who did not know him are gonna 00:29:40.280 |
climb up to the mountains and hide under rocks, but there is no escape, right? 00:29:45.180 |
So when the earth is shaken and the moon and the sun disgraced, 00:29:56.480 |
Again, in verse 19, it says, the earth is utterly broken. 00:30:04.580 |
Again, so it sounds like some kind of natural disaster. 00:30:08.180 |
And over and over again, it's gonna be utter destruction, right? 00:30:19.380 |
And all of this is gonna happen as a result of his glory being revealed. 00:30:24.080 |
So if you look at the very last verse in 23, he says, 00:30:27.380 |
"And the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, 00:30:32.280 |
and in Jerusalem in his glory will be before his elders." 00:30:35.080 |
So when God's glory is fully revealed, it will have two responses. 00:30:39.980 |
For those who have been covered by the blood of Christ, you are safe, right? 00:30:44.980 |
Just like when even the Old Testament is saying when Isaiah or even John 00:30:49.780 |
at the throne of God's throne, you know, it said, "Woe is me, woe is me," right? 00:30:57.680 |
So remember we talked about the propitiation is basically 00:31:01.480 |
covering over God's wrath that you and I deserve by the blood of Christ. 00:31:05.280 |
So those of us who've been clothed by the righteousness of Christ, 00:31:09.080 |
when his glory comes, it means we're drawing near to life, right? 00:31:15.780 |
But those who have not been covered by the blood of Christ, 00:31:17.980 |
when his glory comes, it means condemnation, fear, and terror. 00:31:21.980 |
And so that's how it's described in verse 23. 00:31:24.480 |
His glory is going to be so magnificent, right? 00:31:28.480 |
He says, "The moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed." 00:31:31.280 |
Why would they be confounded and the sun ashamed? 00:31:57.380 |
You want me to do more work? I'm already tired. 00:32:02.880 |
I just wanted to know so next time I just don't do it this low. 00:32:10.580 |
You want me to move that too now? You want me to read it and move it? 00:32:14.180 |
All right. His glory will be before his elders. 00:32:18.880 |
Actually, what I was saying is actually not up there. 00:32:21.180 |
So why is the moon confounded and the sun ashamed? 00:32:26.880 |
S-So the moon and the sun are known for giving out light, right? 00:32:30.180 |
When Christ comes and He reigns, He will shine so brilliantly 00:32:33.380 |
that He's going to cause basically anything else in the universe to feel ashamed in comparison. 00:32:42.180 |
that the moon and the sun are going to be embarrassed in the presence of its glory. 00:32:47.880 |
You see, like you throw your big shot in the basketball court 00:32:50.180 |
and then Stephen Curry shows up being like, "Oh!" 00:32:56.880 |
When He reveals His glory, that everybody who thought that He were glorious 00:33:05.180 |
That's how magnificent His glory is going to be. 00:33:09.980 |
And so, how does Isaiah describe this judgment? 00:33:15.880 |
Again, remember I told you like back and forth, back and forth. 00:33:18.180 |
So he sees His glory coming, he sees the judgment and he mourns. 00:33:22.680 |
But then he also sees the glory in verse 1, chapter 25. 00:33:53.680 |
So you would think that, he says, "Oh, you've done some wonderful things." 00:33:58.680 |
"Because you wiped out the heap, fortified city, ruins, foreigners, palaces, and cities." 00:34:06.180 |
To never be rebuilt and then he sees that as wonderful. 00:34:13.180 |
Again, because I think what Isaiah is seeing is His glory. 00:34:21.180 |
So there is a beauty of His glory, but there's also terror in His glory. 00:34:32.680 |
God's terror and His grace are never separated. 00:34:40.680 |
I mean, obviously for us, when we look at the cross, we see redemption, we see love. 00:34:44.680 |
But for the world, the cross, if understood correctly, should also produce terror. 00:34:52.680 |
If you look at that and say, "Well, God's holiness is so devastating that the only way to redeem us from sin 00:35:00.680 |
is that God Himself, Son of God Himself, have to absorb our sins and that's how terrible His wrath was or is." 00:35:07.680 |
So the cross is not just something that produces warm feelings. 00:35:10.680 |
It's also the greatest magnification of His terror. 00:35:18.680 |
Remember we talked about that when Dr. Harris came and talked about darkness and the glory, 00:35:25.680 |
He was actually approaching His Son, right, to put the wrath upon Him. 00:35:33.680 |
And remember in every situation that he talked about, when God comes to ratify a covenant, 00:35:39.680 |
He puts people to sleep because they can't stand before His glory. 00:35:42.680 |
So when did God… when was God the most magnified at that time? 00:35:50.680 |
You know, again, we think about that scene when it goes dark and people say, "Oh, He turned away because He couldn't see." 00:35:56.680 |
In actuality, remember, Dr. Harris was seeing that. 00:36:00.680 |
I think he did a great job explaining that to us. 00:36:02.680 |
That it makes more sense that He actually was drawing near, not drawing out. 00:36:06.680 |
Because He had to ratify that covenant and He had to do it. 00:36:10.680 |
So His terrifying presence, because He was coming, had to be darkened or else everybody in there would be devastated. 00:36:19.680 |
So again, we're looking at Him coming and He looks at His glory and He sees wonder. 00:37:21.680 |
But that sometimes happens even during worship. 00:37:52.680 |
What did this judgment accomplish that has Isaiah praising Him? 00:37:59.680 |
It says God has led the strong people to glorify God. 00:38:03.680 |
It's like God basically takes all the successful, proud people of power, of influence that He's going to humble and He's going to turn it upside down. 00:38:17.680 |
That because He humbled Himself became nothing. 00:38:20.680 |
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:38:31.680 |
And so He sees that when His full glory comes that all this vying to who's the superpower? 00:38:44.680 |
You know it's like all of that stuff is going to be wiped out because they're the moons. 00:38:56.680 |
But when God's glory comes all of them are going to be humbled. 00:39:03.680 |
And so Isaiah is seeing that and that's causing him to break out in praise. 00:39:13.680 |
That all this terrorism trying to bring fear upon the generation when His full glory comes 00:39:21.680 |
the most ruthless people will end up fearing Him. 00:39:27.680 |
But the flip side of that because of this judgment He says the protection for the poor 00:39:31.680 |
and the stronghold to the needy and the distressed and shelter from the storm and the heat. 00:39:37.680 |
You have terror to those who are in sin and oppressing but again He is a deliverer to 00:39:54.680 |
Not the final scene but at least in this section. 00:40:00.680 |
Again just the verse I think captures that section well. 00:40:04.680 |
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning. 00:40:11.680 |
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 00:40:14.680 |
For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom. 00:40:17.680 |
It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." 00:40:22.680 |
And again this is something that we need to be careful about because even in the pursuit 00:40:27.680 |
of Christ sometimes we seek wisdom above brokenness before Christ. 00:40:35.680 |
We kind of measure someone's spirituality based upon how much they know, how much they 00:40:39.680 |
can articulate and sometimes if we're not careful we're taking the competition and 00:40:45.680 |
personal ambition of the world and you're just doing it in the church in the name of 00:40:56.680 |
If you're influential and if you look at church history that's what ruined the church. 00:41:01.680 |
You have men, in particular men, who have taken their worldly ambition and just applied 00:41:09.680 |
And so again this is a constant reminder to us that the greatest spiritual maturity is 00:41:19.680 |
not the one who's greatest in the eyes of man. 00:41:23.680 |
And I think, you know, I shared with some people, I think one thing that Harry shared 00:41:27.680 |
coming back from India, you know, that was really encouraging to me where he, I think, 00:41:31.680 |
I don't know the exact words but he basically said that, you know, he thought that the great 00:41:36.680 |
men that he looked up to were all preachers and theologians who articulated and had influence 00:41:42.680 |
and then going to India he's people who have nothing. 00:41:49.680 |
And these are giants of faith that nobody knows about. 00:41:53.680 |
Because, simply because they have genuine faith. 00:41:56.680 |
And so again all of this, even though it's talking about in times, it's a reminder to 00:42:00.680 |
all of us that our greatest passion and pursuit is to become less and less, not more and more. 00:42:10.680 |
Less visible, less arrogant, less boasting and more Christ. 00:42:16.680 |
What will the Lord do and say in this mountain, and again this mountain is referring to the 00:42:23.680 |
restoration of his kingdom, his second coming. 00:42:26.680 |
You can call it heaven, you can call it new heaven, whatever it is. 00:42:30.680 |
He said there's going to be plenty of food and wine. 00:42:54.680 |
Revelation, and I'm going to show you a verse in a minute. 00:42:58.680 |
Chapter 24, remember the devastation that he talks about? 00:43:05.680 |
The joy itself, it's going to be utterly wiped away. 00:43:08.680 |
So if you take what he says here, it's in contrast. 00:43:13.680 |
The devastation that's going to come because of sin is going to be wiped out, and then 00:43:18.680 |
once the judgment is complete, then he's going to restore. 00:43:23.680 |
And he's not just restoring us back to where it was like in the Garden of Eden. 00:43:27.680 |
This is a question that somebody asked years ago, and I thought it was a good question. 00:43:32.680 |
If Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden, what is the guarantee that we're not going 00:43:48.680 |
If Adam and Eve, when they were sinless in the Garden of Eden, fell because Satan came 00:43:53.680 |
and tempted, what prevents us in our eternal state from falling again? 00:44:00.680 |
Basically, are we starting over, and then are we… 00:45:25.680 |
So let me just play the devil's advocate, okay? 00:45:28.680 |
So does that mean then, because God didn't provide his full protection of his presence, 00:45:37.680 |
So in Heaven, because there's a fuller presence of his glory, which he didn't give at the 00:45:45.680 |
So is that what's going to be the difference? 00:47:24.680 |
Where in Adam and Eve, God warns, "If you do this, you're going to die." 00:47:28.680 |
But in the eternal state, he says, "Death has no sting." 00:48:14.680 |
So the second state that we'll be in, we would only fall if Christ can fall. 00:48:21.680 |
Because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right? 00:48:25.680 |
Where the new wine cannot be in old wine skin, so he made us new. 00:48:29.680 |
And then the Holy Spirit came, we were baptized and covered by the blood of Christ. 00:48:38.680 |
So the second state, when he's talking about the eternal state, 00:48:40.680 |
our eternal state is going to be beyond what it was at the Garden of Eden. 00:48:44.680 |
At least that's the way it's described in the scripture. 00:48:46.680 |
So when we talk about all of this, all of this is not temporary. 00:48:56.680 |
It's at the end of his glory that this is the state that God's going to bring us in to eternity. 00:49:02.680 |
Again, that's why when we talk about his glory and we talk about the final state, 00:49:05.680 |
that this is unlike the other things that he's been talking about. 00:49:08.680 |
Where he says that judgment is coming, he restores them, but then they fall. 00:49:19.680 |
So if you're looking at that, if you're Isaiah and the prophet's looking at this, 00:49:31.680 |
But you see all the devastation in between that's going to get us there. 00:49:35.680 |
And so that's kind of like the mixture of emotion you see in chapter 24 and 25. 00:49:40.680 |
And I think that's the state even for Christians. 00:49:44.680 |
There's a part of us that rejoices over our salvation. 00:49:47.680 |
There's a part of us that eagerly waits for a second coming. 00:49:50.680 |
But there's also a part of us mourning because we know what that means. 00:49:57.680 |
Because God is gracious and he's giving plenty of time for people to come to Christ. 00:50:01.680 |
And that's why he says, "Until he comes, what are we to do?" 00:50:05.680 |
Until he comes, take the gospel to the remotest part of the world. 00:50:10.680 |
Because along with this joy, there's devastation coming all at once. 00:50:16.680 |
What Isaiah is feeling is what every Christian ought to be wrestling with on a daily basis 00:50:22.680 |
where there's rejoicing and mourning at the same time. 00:50:27.680 |
Again, the last part of it is going to take us back to the Moabites. 00:50:35.680 |
They always judge because of their pompous pride. 00:50:57.680 |
So when the scripture says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, applies 00:51:02.680 |
to every generation, every man, at all times. 00:51:06.680 |
Because the underlying sin that causes all this stuff, division in the church, you know, 00:51:12.680 |
marriage issues, everything that we know, the underlying problem is pride. 00:51:18.680 |
So if you think about it, like why did Jesus, why was he so harsh with the Pharisees? 00:51:24.680 |
On the surface, they are the ones reading the Bible. 00:51:41.680 |
He said, "Oh, maybe because they were leaders." 00:51:49.680 |
It wasn't just because, "Hey, you leaders, you guys should have set a better example." 00:51:53.680 |
Then I would think that he would come and say, "Okay, you guys have some things you need 00:52:00.680 |
In fact, he just said, "This is all completely rotten." 00:52:05.680 |
And you see the encounter with Nicodemus in chapter 3 of John, and you see the encounter 00:52:13.680 |
He's kind of like coaxing and bringing her along. 00:52:16.680 |
And then with Nicodemus, he says, "You have to be born again. 00:52:27.680 |
Because underlying the greatest sin that keeps us from God is our own pride. 00:52:33.680 |
So even in the context of reading the Bible, and doing religious things, and serving the 00:52:38.680 |
church, and even evangelizing and doing all this stuff, if it is filled with pride, if 00:52:44.680 |
this is what's ruined mankind, if there's any sin that God is more sensitive to than 00:52:50.680 |
anything else, I would think it would be this. 00:52:53.680 |
Because he keeps mentioning this over and over and over. 00:53:02.680 |
So I don't think it was by accident that Jesus came as a servant. 00:53:07.680 |
Because you guys are all trying to be somebody. 00:53:13.680 |
Even to the very end, the disciples are like, "Oh, who's going to sit on the left or the 00:53:17.680 |
The very last thing he does is he washes their feet. 00:53:21.680 |
So he's doing exactly, because he knows what's in their heart. 00:53:24.680 |
He knows that even in the context of following Jesus, like they're competing with one another. 00:53:30.680 |
And Jesus is going exactly the opposite direction. 00:53:35.680 |
So if there's any sin that God is more sensitive to, it's this. 00:53:41.680 |
Because that's where all this stuff stems from. 00:53:52.680 |
Alright, if you guys can take some time to pray and to, again, discuss with your group. 00:53:57.680 |
If you have any questions about your small group or maybe I put you in the wrong place,