back to index03-16-16 Wed Bible Study
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We thank you for the proofs that we have to come and study your word. 00:00:07.400 |
We pray Lord God that you would give us refreshment. 00:00:10.640 |
I know that a lot of brothers and sisters in this room have come from a long week 00:00:15.280 |
of working and maybe studying and need Lord God to meet and 00:00:20.560 |
to be reminded of your grace and love and why we move and live and have our being in you. 00:00:26.800 |
We pray that your word would not just be just empty words, but 00:00:31.560 |
that we would be able to hear your voice, that we would understand your heart. 00:00:35.080 |
And that we may find our comfort Lord God knowing that you are a God who is gracious 00:00:41.400 |
and loving, that you are consistent, that you're somebody that we can put our hope in, 00:00:48.160 |
So we pray Father that you would search our hearts. 00:00:51.160 |
And again, if our brothers and sisters here are in need Lord God of 00:00:59.280 |
I pray that this evening would serve that purpose. 00:01:03.040 |
All right, so let's look at Isaiah 28 and 29. 00:01:06.840 |
Again, within the larger context of end times judgment. 00:01:11.760 |
And so as we get closer and closer to chapter 40, 00:01:14.840 |
you'll see that there is gonna be an increase in mention of the coming Messiah. 00:01:19.240 |
So the whole thing that we see all the way to chapter 39, 00:01:23.120 |
the theme is Israel who is deserving of judgment. 00:01:28.120 |
And along with that all the other nations that are tied up with that, right? 00:01:33.400 |
But the end part of what we're dealing with, all the way up to chapter 39, 00:01:42.240 |
there are some specific historical things that are taking place. 00:01:45.080 |
But there's a lot of language that are very similar to the book of Revelation. 00:01:48.920 |
And I've been trying to point that out as much as I can as we're going. 00:01:53.440 |
But again, we're in that section, first chapter 20 to 29. 00:01:59.480 |
So, upon what and whom does Isaiah pronounce woe in chapter 28? 00:02:41.440 |
How many of you guys use something not ESV, not NASV, not, what did I miss, NASV? 00:02:51.760 |
All right, so this question when I asked you about the woe, 00:02:54.120 |
you probably had some, like, okay, well, where is this woe, right? 00:02:58.680 |
Actually, the word that is translated in the ESV, ah, if you look at the NIV, 00:03:04.320 |
I think the NASV has that too, right, in some parts where it's translated woe. 00:03:10.760 |
It's woe as in like, wait a second, take a look, and 00:03:16.280 |
And so, NAS, ESV, for whatever the reason, has decided to translate it, ah. 00:03:20.800 |
So if you look at these texts, there's six different places in the next four or 00:03:24.400 |
five chapters where the word woe just appears. 00:03:27.680 |
And it kind of connects the section together. 00:03:30.040 |
So it's meant to be understood together because of these woes that 00:03:35.600 |
So I think most of you who guys just using the ESV probably had a hard time, 00:03:44.640 |
What is the main pronouncement of judgment against Ephraim? 00:03:53.440 |
He says, woe, the proud crown of the drunkard of Ephraim. 00:03:56.920 |
So you get the kind of sarcasm in the way that he describes their sin, right? 00:04:10.880 |
you're glorying in something that you should really be ashamed about, right? 00:04:14.760 |
And said, because of that, God's gonna bring judgment. 00:04:16.600 |
The Lord has one who is mighty and strong, and a storm overflowing. 00:04:19.880 |
So you'll see in between as there is pronouncement of judgment, 00:04:26.640 |
And again, as I mentioned before, the closer we get to the chapter 40, 00:04:31.120 |
you're gonna see that the theme where right now it's predominantly judgment and 00:04:37.720 |
And then starting from 40 and on, you're gonna see a greater emphasis on 00:04:42.160 |
the Messiah coming in the midst of judgment, okay? 00:04:45.280 |
So there's gonna be a subtle change, and we see more of that. 00:04:47.680 |
So in between here, he says, behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong. 00:04:57.000 |
Judgment is coming because of your stubbornness, because of your pride and 00:05:01.120 |
But the Lord has one who's going to come, and he's going to bring judgment. 00:05:05.960 |
All right, the next verses, verses one through four, again, 00:05:11.560 |
it is a detailed description of how they became proud over their external beauty, 00:05:17.960 |
right, the things that they had, but how it's going to be fading, right? 00:05:22.320 |
Verse one talks about their like fading flowers, comes and goes, right? 00:05:27.800 |
We see that language in the New Testament, right? 00:05:31.320 |
That all man fades like this flower, but the word of God lasts forever. 00:05:36.320 |
Again, the proud crown of the drunkard will be trodden underfoot, and 00:05:45.440 |
Their beauty is attractive, but here, one day gone the other, it's only temporary. 00:05:53.680 |
So whatever is the source of your pride that's causing you to be arrogant before 00:05:58.440 |
God and disobey, he said it's only here for a minute, it's like a fading flower, 00:06:03.640 |
It's beautiful one day, and it's withered the next day, right? 00:06:09.280 |
Everything that we're tempted by, right, in time, it fades, it's nothing. 00:06:17.360 |
think about the things that you desired so much when you were younger, right? 00:06:22.360 |
In high school, that pants you wanted, you know what I mean? 00:06:25.240 |
That car that you thought was like, if I just had that car, and 00:06:31.920 |
That sunglass you wanted, think how, think all these things that like at that time, 00:06:36.720 |
that's gripped your heart, but when you look back at it now, how foolish it is. 00:06:41.400 |
think about all the things that grip our heart today, and 00:06:47.680 |
So how much we are entangled with things that are temporary, and so 00:06:51.760 |
E-frame chased after superficial booty, not booty, beauty, sorry. 00:07:31.000 |
So again, every time there's a pronouncement of judgment, 00:07:37.280 |
No, it's for the few, for the remnants, right? 00:07:41.920 |
These are the people who end up repenting and returning to the Lord, and 00:07:45.800 |
So he's not saying all the people who are experiencing judgment, 00:07:49.360 |
that all of a sudden God's gonna turn this around. 00:07:50.960 |
He said that because of the judgment, he's going to prune the nation of Israel, 00:07:54.200 |
and the ones who return and repent, there is a promise of glory, right? 00:07:59.000 |
So the Lord of Hosts will be a crown of glory to the remnant of his people. 00:08:02.040 |
In other words, God's people will not run to shallow beauty, but 00:08:08.560 |
After the judgment period is over, right, there's gonna be a period of 00:08:12.960 |
the remnant who are returning to God who's going to experience this. 00:08:20.880 |
And then if you look at verse six, again, when this happens, 00:08:23.680 |
one of the judgments against Israel is, in that day, verse five, that the Lord of 00:08:27.760 |
hosts will be a crown of glory and diadem of beauty to remnant of his people. 00:08:31.960 |
And a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment. 00:08:34.920 |
And strength to those who turn back and battle at the gate, right? 00:08:39.560 |
So again, he's saying that the only one that can carry out true justice 00:08:43.720 |
is Christ who comes, right, the Holy One of God. 00:08:46.000 |
So what caused the people, including their religious leaders, to err? 00:08:57.280 |
So again, the next few verses, verses nine through 13, I think it's nine through seven, 00:09:02.600 |
and seven through 13, is a description of the sin of the leaders of Israel. 00:09:11.920 |
are not able to give sound judgment, verse seven. 00:09:13.960 |
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink. 00:09:18.360 |
The priests and the prophets reel with strong drink. 00:09:26.760 |
In other words, they're so drunk, and again, it could be literal drunk, 00:09:30.520 |
being drunk, but also spiritually, they're just not sober. 00:09:34.680 |
And as a result of that, they don't hear the word of God, right? 00:09:38.680 |
And they're not able to make sound judgment, and 00:09:43.760 |
So the leaders are not able to lead because they're drunk with the world. 00:09:46.280 |
And so what they're saying is that what they were doing in private, 00:09:55.200 |
being carried away, is gonna affect their ministry. 00:09:57.480 |
They're not gonna be able to lead the people. 00:10:03.440 |
And then, verses nine through 13, he goes into detail, right? 00:10:08.600 |
Verse eight says, for all tables are full of filthy vomit with no space left. 00:10:12.360 |
And then, if you look at verse ten and on, it says, for 00:10:19.320 |
it's precepts upon precepts upon precepts, line upon line upon line, 00:10:25.960 |
For by people of strange lips and with foreign tongues, 00:10:32.440 |
the Lord will speak to this people to whom he has said. 00:10:50.160 |
So when they say their teaching is but precepts upon precepts upon precepts upon 00:10:55.680 |
precepts, line upon line upon line upon line, a little here, a little there. 00:11:10.520 |
shallow things in repetition over and over again because they're staggering, 00:11:14.760 |
they're drunk, they're not able to make sound judgment. 00:11:17.160 |
So even their teaching is very shallow, right? 00:11:19.800 |
And he says, in the end, for by people of strange lips with foreign tongue, 00:11:24.920 |
the Lord will speak to this people to whom he has said. 00:11:30.320 |
a particular passage in the New Testament that says something similar to this? 00:11:41.040 |
Remember the Roman chapter 9 through 11 talks about that? 00:11:43.960 |
That Israel has experienced a partial hardening of the heart, right? 00:11:47.920 |
Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 00:11:50.160 |
So again, it says something similar, that now the Gentiles are leading and 00:11:55.280 |
God is using the Gentiles, so the period of the church is a period of the Gentiles. 00:12:00.680 |
And then so because they wouldn't listen to God through the prophets, 00:12:04.520 |
people of strange lips like foreigners, Gentiles are gonna come and 00:12:07.640 |
they're gonna end up teaching you instead of you teaching them. 00:12:11.760 |
This is rest, give rest to the weary, and this is repose, yet they would not hear. 00:12:18.160 |
In other words, God gave these things so that you would be an avenue. 00:12:21.800 |
He said, I will bless you, and through you, many others will be blessed. 00:12:25.040 |
But instead of, because you rebelled against God, the Gentiles are gonna come 00:12:28.520 |
in and they're gonna do what I called you to do, right? 00:12:31.800 |
The church is going to carry out what I called you to do, basically, right? 00:12:36.440 |
And the world, verse 13, and the word of the Lord will be to them, 00:12:39.680 |
precepts upon precepts upon precepts, and upon line upon line, upon here little, 00:12:44.880 |
there little, that they may go and fall backward and broken and snared and 00:12:49.920 |
So if you look at verse 9, to whom will he teach knowledge and 00:12:55.320 |
Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast. 00:12:57.960 |
In other words, right, their teaching is so shallow that only people that 00:13:02.400 |
are able to listen and get anything out of it are infants, right? 00:13:06.920 |
Because they're not able to teach, they're so drunk with the world. 00:13:10.480 |
So all of this, again, is a rebuke that there's a shallowness of the teaching 00:13:15.720 |
that's causing them, not only them, but the nation of Israel to stray away from God. 00:13:21.400 |
And then the Gentiles that they basically hate are gonna be the ones 00:13:28.560 |
And that was, if you look at the early church, the biggest problem in the early 00:13:35.000 |
church was that Jews could not accept the Gentiles into the church, right? 00:13:42.120 |
But what God was doing was flipping the table completely upside down, right? 00:13:45.800 |
It started with the Jews, but eventually, after they get out of the first century, 00:13:50.240 |
it wasn't the Jews who were carrying the church, it was completely the Gentiles. 00:13:54.100 |
When he says, made a covenant, who did he make the covenant? 00:14:05.560 |
The rulers of Jerusalem made a covenant with death, 00:14:07.840 |
meaning that they have no idea that their covenant with other pagan nations for 00:14:14.440 |
They have made lies their refuge and in falsehood their shelter. 00:14:18.240 |
So verse 14 and 15, it says, therefore hear the word of the Lord, 00:14:22.040 |
you scoffers who ruled his people in Jerusalem, because you have said, 00:14:25.560 |
we have made a covenant with death and with Sheol, we have an agreement. 00:14:30.040 |
When the overwhelming will pass us through, it will not come to us. 00:14:32.800 |
So obviously, they didn't make an actual covenant with death, right? 00:14:36.880 |
It's kind of a hyperbole that not realizing that the things that you 00:14:41.240 |
are holding on to is actually a covenant with death. 00:14:44.400 |
In other words, the covenant you made with Egypt, 00:14:46.680 |
the covenant you made with Assyria and to Babylon, 00:14:49.960 |
is ultimately gonna lead to a covenant of death, right? 00:14:53.440 |
A covenant that you made with the world, right? 00:14:56.560 |
I'm gonna follow your pattern, and ultimately is a pattern of death. 00:15:02.480 |
And so as a result of that, what will the Lord lay in Zion? 00:15:17.760 |
I laid a sure father unlike what Israel was relying on. 00:15:25.240 |
So in other words, the covenant of death that you've made with all these other 00:15:29.040 |
nations, thinking that somehow you're gonna find life, right? 00:15:33.280 |
And that's why they made a covenant with Egypt. 00:15:35.200 |
That's why they made a covenant with Babylon. 00:15:37.400 |
You will give you so much and you guys protect us. 00:15:45.720 |
ultimately the reality is you're actually seeking death. 00:15:51.560 |
Even in the midst of this judgment, he has a promise of the Messiah who's going to 00:15:54.920 |
come, and the foundation he's going to lay is gonna actually lead to life, right? 00:16:00.000 |
So all these words, the tested stone, the precious cornerstone, 00:16:04.600 |
the sure foundation, all descriptions of the Messiah. 00:16:10.920 |
I mean it's pretty clear that this is in reference to Christ, right? 00:16:15.640 |
Therefore that says the Lord God, behold, I am the one who has laid as 00:16:19.480 |
a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, 00:16:24.880 |
Whoever believes will not be in haste, like what we talked about on Sunday, right? 00:16:30.280 |
The path to salvation he talks about is to believe, right? 00:16:35.000 |
And then he says that again in verse 18, right? 00:16:40.000 |
The covenant with death will then be annulled for those who believe, verse 18. 00:16:45.240 |
Then your covenant with death will be annulled and 00:16:52.200 |
So clearly this is in reference to the gospel, right? 00:16:56.360 |
But despite all of this, despite you turning against God and 00:17:00.040 |
seeking after these, when the judgment comes and you choose to return and 00:17:04.240 |
you recognize the Messiah, right, and you repent and you believe, 00:17:08.680 |
he says the covenant of death will be annulled, John 5, 24, right? 00:17:28.320 |
His judgment is gonna be so thorough, there's no rest, right? 00:17:33.040 |
But here's something he says, for the Lord will rise up on Mount Perizim, 00:17:37.000 |
as in the valley of Gibeon, he will be roused to do his deeds. 00:17:42.280 |
Strange is his deed, and to work his work, alien is his work, okay? 00:17:47.920 |
I want you guys to take a minute to discuss in your group, what does that mean? 00:17:54.560 |
even though I didn't necessarily ask this question. 00:17:57.080 |
What does that mean, his deeds are strange and his work is alien? 00:20:49.240 |
Why is he describing the Lord's deed as strange and his work as alien? 00:21:19.960 |
So, trying to comprehend why God would judge even his own people, 00:21:42.960 |
There's wrong answers, but there's no right answers, right? 00:21:57.960 |
No, that could, I mean, when we're looking at this passage, 00:22:03.960 |
Looking at God's judgment in the context of this, 00:22:13.960 |
The Jews, I mean, Jews couldn't understand it, right? 00:22:23.960 |
So, that's why when the false prophets came in, 00:22:38.960 |
Is his work of judgment a separate work from his work of 00:22:44.960 |
>> Again, I'm trying to answer the question in the context. 00:22:48.960 |
>> Well, because it previously talked about him being the 00:22:56.960 |
the emphasis is on his belief, but yet there's imminent judgment. 00:23:04.960 |
So, strange and alien as words could mean both of what he 00:23:09.960 |
referenced as being judgment, being strange and alien, 00:23:13.960 |
coming from alien, from Gentiles outside of Israel, 00:23:18.960 |
and strange being not expected, but also the way that Christ 00:23:21.960 |
came through as Messiah was also strange and alien. 00:23:27.960 |
So, they seem both related and almost inseparable. 00:23:32.960 |
So, thinking like a Jew, when he's describing Christ's coming, 00:23:36.960 |
I mean, what is, to a Jew, not a Christian, but to a Jew, 00:23:41.960 |
what is the strangest passage that they have a hard time 00:24:02.960 |
Isaiah 53 is a passage that they don't know what to do with. 00:24:10.960 |
I read a whole book on testimony of this Jewish professor. 00:24:13.960 |
He was hiking through Europe, and then it started raining, 00:24:20.960 |
And so, they were going around reading the Bible, 00:24:26.960 |
He said, "You know, I'm a Jew, so don't push that stuff on me." 00:24:33.960 |
Because he clearly, when he just heard it for the first time, 00:24:36.960 |
he thought, "Oh, this is a Christian Bible study, 00:24:40.960 |
So, when he found out it was the Old Testament, 00:24:43.960 |
And we went home and we started examining the text, 00:24:45.960 |
and sure enough, how could this be anybody else but Jesus? 00:24:49.960 |
And then he ended up becoming a Christian as a result, 00:24:51.960 |
and so he wrote a whole book, a testimony about it. 00:24:55.960 |
Some of you guys probably weren't paying attention. 00:24:59.960 |
So, the whole work of Christ, again, I'm not saying that this 00:25:04.960 |
but the whole work of Christ is alien, right? 00:25:09.960 |
When the prophecy came, they were longing to see 00:25:13.960 |
the suffering of Christ, because it was alien. 00:25:25.960 |
even when Jesus said, "I'm going to the cross to suffer 00:25:30.960 |
they couldn't understand it, because it was so alien. 00:25:33.960 |
So, we talk about the substitutionary atonement 00:25:46.960 |
It's alien because there's Gentiles who's going to come in 00:25:49.960 |
The whole prophecy of how this is going to be fulfilled 00:25:52.960 |
And what's the most alien and strange about all of this 00:25:59.960 |
That the Messiah, the King, who's going to come 00:26:21.960 |
>> Could it be then that God's judgment of some people 00:26:26.960 |
sort of to illustrate God's judgment of the Son of the Cross? 00:26:29.960 |
In that way, both works of their judgment then 00:26:46.960 |
So that's where that illustration may fall apart. 00:26:54.960 |
You know, because we hear the Gospel so often 00:26:58.960 |
and because it's repeated so much in the Church, 00:27:04.960 |
But the more you dwell on and think about it, 00:27:26.960 |
So, the fact that we think about the God of the universe 00:27:30.960 |
who loving just speckled us to the point that He went, right? 00:27:35.960 |
And again, the reason why I think about all of this, 00:27:39.960 |
and again, I'm not going to go like off tangent. 00:27:43.960 |
But, you know, to me, the Gospel only makes sense 00:27:50.960 |
if ultimately the cross was to declare His glory. 00:27:56.960 |
Because no matter how much I try to figure out 00:28:31.960 |
I was wondering, when it talks about the valley of Gibeon, 00:28:36.960 |
is there any reference being made to the Gibeonite deception? 00:28:40.960 |
Because that was when they made a treaty also, 00:28:47.960 |
No, I think there are definitely historical pointers 00:28:54.960 |
But because Isaiah is so sporadic in the way that he presents it, 00:29:08.960 |
So, yeah, definitely that could be a reference to that. 00:29:12.960 |
And part of the reason I'm not going too deep into it 00:29:19.960 |
they'll all give you kind of different angles of it. 00:29:28.960 |
But anyway, I don't have enough time to explain to you 00:29:32.960 |
some of the thoughts that I have concerning this. 00:29:35.960 |
But it makes more sense to me when I put two and two together. 00:29:56.960 |
Obviously, it's his glory. He wants our love. 00:30:00.960 |
But Jesus said he could make the rocks to cry out to him. 00:30:05.960 |
And we're worse than rocks because we rebel and curse God. 00:30:14.960 |
there's nothing more alien and strange than what God did for us. 00:30:28.960 |
"Does he who gives ear and hear my voice and give attention 00:30:30.960 |
and hear my speech, does he who plows for sowing plow continually? 00:30:34.960 |
Does he continually open and harrow his ground? 00:30:37.960 |
When he has leveled his surface, does he not scatter?" 00:30:40.960 |
So he's talking about this order of the farmer 00:30:46.960 |
So he's saying that, again, you see the book of Revelation 00:30:53.960 |
and then the bowl judgments, and how each one progressively 00:30:57.960 |
So, again, he's talking about how all of this judgment 00:31:00.960 |
is not just sporadic boom and he's gone, boom, 00:31:03.960 |
One's leading to the other, and he's doing it systematically. 00:31:10.960 |
in verse 24, 26, he's talking about the varying kinds 00:31:22.960 |
even as the judgment is coming, you know how in 2 Thessalonians 00:31:30.960 |
and he said the reason why you shouldn't be disturbed 00:31:33.960 |
by these false letters that's coming in my name 00:31:36.960 |
is that before Jesus comes, he says, "What's going to happen?" 00:31:55.960 |
And then he's going to declare to be God, right? 00:31:57.960 |
And then there's going to be a heavy delusion that's going to come 00:32:00.960 |
so that those who refuse to embrace truth, right? 00:32:05.960 |
And God's going to allow delusions to come because 00:32:11.960 |
So he clearly says there's these things that are going to happen, 00:32:14.960 |
so when you see these things happening and unfolding, 00:32:19.960 |
But because it hasn't happened, don't let them fool you 00:32:23.960 |
So the point of this is pay very close attention, right? 00:32:26.960 |
So the reason why they were being discouraged is because 00:32:42.960 |
If our hope in everything that, anything that we're working on 00:32:45.960 |
is hoping that if we invest now, that tomorrow there's going to be a payoff, right? 00:32:50.960 |
A lot of people invested everything and then died, right? 00:32:53.960 |
A lot of people invest everything and then they go to prison 00:32:55.960 |
and their life is cut short and they become poor. 00:33:02.960 |
the reason why they were so disturbed was that, 00:33:04.960 |
remember Satan was, you know, he said all these false prophets are going to come. 00:33:07.960 |
One of the first delusions or the deceptions that came 00:33:15.960 |
it means everything that they've sacrificed to follow Christ, 00:33:21.960 |
And that's why he was writing the second Thessalonians, 00:33:26.960 |
There's clear things, God does things in order. 00:33:29.960 |
He's not a God of chaos, he does things in order 00:33:32.960 |
and here, you know, pay attention to these things, right? 00:33:38.960 |
So what does verses 27-20 teach us about the nature of God's judgment? 00:33:50.960 |
but dill is beaten out with a stick and cumin with a rod." 00:33:59.960 |
When he drives his cartwheel over it with his horses, 00:34:12.960 |
We would drive and then these people would have all this stuff on the ground 00:34:22.960 |
He said all the horses, cars would go over it, but they're not crushed. 00:34:25.960 |
So, initially, you know, when we would go to the countryside, 00:34:39.960 |
and then when the cars come, you have to go over it. 00:34:43.960 |
So, every time we go over it, we're thinking, 00:34:44.960 |
"Man, this is going to puncture the car tires." 00:34:48.960 |
So, when we didn't understand it, we thought like, 00:34:53.960 |
And realized the reason why they're doing that is because 00:35:00.960 |
and every time it does that, it shakes it up, and then it loosens. 00:35:03.960 |
Then they go and pick it up, and then they re-send it back. 00:35:08.960 |
We're saying, "When they're crushed, what was the purpose of…" 00:35:11.960 |
So, we were thinking like, "We're destroying it, 00:35:13.960 |
and they're playing tricks on us," or whatever. 00:35:18.960 |
Not realizing that that was part of their technique to get the wheat out. 00:35:24.960 |
It says, "God is crushing, but the ultimate purpose for His people 00:35:30.960 |
It's like, "God doesn't treat you like the pagan nations." 00:35:35.960 |
"He's disciplining His people, because the end result is 00:35:38.960 |
He's trying to separate the wheat and the chaff." 00:35:42.960 |
"He's actually going to cause them to bear more fruit at the end 00:35:49.960 |
"His intent is pruning more than destruction." 00:36:11.960 |
Ariel is a code name for Jerusalem, and it means "lion of God." 00:36:19.960 |
Compound word, "ari" meaning "lion," "el" meaning "God." 00:36:33.960 |
He said, "What would happen to those nations who fight against God?" 00:36:36.960 |
So, first section of chapter 29 is a description of God's anger 00:36:39.960 |
because of their pride, and how God's going to humble them. 00:36:48.960 |
And then he says, "Even though they're being judged, 00:36:51.960 |
and God may allow for a period for Assyria and Egypt and Babylonians 00:36:58.960 |
He said, "Anybody who brings judgment upon them and comes against them, 00:37:01.960 |
eventually God's going to come and protect them." 00:37:12.960 |
"And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, 00:37:15.960 |
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, 00:37:18.960 |
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night, 00:37:20.960 |
as when a hungry man dreams he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied. 00:37:26.960 |
Or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking and awakes faint 00:37:31.960 |
So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion." 00:37:38.960 |
Why is the foreign nations trying to come against Israel like a dream? 00:37:47.960 |
And it's like a hungry man who dreams and wakes up hungry. 00:38:01.960 |
[Audience member] Does it kind of go back to the judgment of Assyria 00:38:12.960 |
obviously God's on our side because we destroyed them. 00:38:17.960 |
And so we're the good people, but God's like, "No, you're just a tool. 00:38:21.960 |
You're not really--now I'm going to crush you because you don't care." 00:38:28.960 |
[Audience member] What they see as victory is really God just setting them up for judgment. 00:38:36.960 |
You're hungry and you want to eat, but then you wake up and it was all just a thought. 00:38:43.960 |
So in other words, anybody who comes against you is not going to happen 00:38:48.960 |
Even though God will temporarily allow it to happen for the purpose of pruning in the end, 00:38:54.960 |
but their power against you is going to be like a dream. 00:38:58.960 |
It's just thoughts. It may seem real to you, but you're going to wake up from it 00:39:06.960 |
And then you're going to realize that there is a God that you don't have any control over. 00:39:11.960 |
So any power in the universe or in human history, 00:39:15.960 |
no matter how powerful they were, they're gone. 00:39:20.960 |
All the superpowers of today, it's temporary. 00:39:24.960 |
And then when reality hits, you realize that there's only one God. 00:39:28.960 |
King of kings and Lord of lords. So that's what he's referencing. 00:39:32.960 |
So they will desire to devolve Ariel, Jerusalem, 00:39:36.960 |
but as a hungry and thirsty person can only eat and drink as a dream, 00:39:53.960 |
Again, he's going back and forth to, "You're my child, but this is what you did, 00:40:01.960 |
When you look at the language of what God says, it's almost like, 00:40:06.960 |
if you have children, when you're punishing your kids, 00:40:09.960 |
you're punishing them, but at the same time, you're trying to remind them, 00:40:12.960 |
"You're my child and I love you, but I'm going to have to punish you. 00:40:19.960 |
And you kind of see that language going back and forth. 00:40:22.960 |
He says, "Anybody who comes against you ultimately are going to realize 00:40:25.960 |
that you're not going to be able to, because I'm behind you." 00:40:32.960 |
He talks about superficial worship in verse 13, 00:40:37.960 |
Chapter 1, very beginning, he outlined why judgment of Israel is coming, 00:40:44.960 |
and he spends a good chunk of chapter 1 talking about superficial worship. 00:40:48.960 |
Verse 13, "And the Lord said, 'Because these people draw near with their mouth 00:40:53.960 |
and honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me, 00:40:56.960 |
and their fear of me is commandment taught by men.'" 00:41:01.960 |
There's no true fear, they're just jumping through the hoops, right? 00:41:07.960 |
So he's not saying, "Yes, some of them went after idols. 00:41:13.960 |
A lot of the kings set up high places and false gods and all that stuff." 00:41:18.960 |
But at the tail end of Israel's history, before the judgment came, 00:41:24.960 |
because they weren't fighting anybody in particular. 00:41:28.960 |
So whether it's Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, 00:41:34.960 |
all these prophets are prophesying during a period 00:41:37.960 |
when they thought their observation of themselves 00:41:43.960 |
Remember the primary message of the false prophets 00:42:00.960 |
But God says, "All that worship that you are relying on, 00:42:04.960 |
thinking that somehow that's going to make you safe." 00:42:06.960 |
He says, "No, God is actually angry with you because you're superficial." 00:42:16.960 |
Remember, they were Romans, "Ah, they're bothering us. 00:42:18.960 |
They're the ones. They won't let us worship." 00:42:20.960 |
And then when they, remember when they asked, 00:42:22.960 |
"Do we give money to the Romans, or do we give it to the temple?" 00:42:26.960 |
Remember what Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar. 00:42:34.960 |
You're worried about the money, but you're not giving to God. 00:42:41.960 |
Even if you don't give it to the Romans, that's not what God desires. 00:42:44.960 |
God desires your worship, and you're not giving God true worship. 00:43:00.960 |
"Woe, or awe, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, 00:43:04.960 |
whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, 'Who sees us? Who knows us?'" 00:43:22.960 |
'He did not make me,' or the thing formed say of him who formed it, 00:43:43.960 |
of why judgment and discipline is coming upon the nation of Israel. 00:43:48.960 |
And again, just to take a minute to look at it, 00:43:53.960 |
just going through the motion, attending church, 00:44:02.960 |
people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. 00:44:09.960 |
what's happening in our hearts in private, right, 00:44:12.960 |
doesn't matter because it's not really pleasing God, right? 00:44:15.960 |
Only person that can feel safe living two separate things 00:44:26.960 |
And in the end, they were, you know, God was not their king, right? 00:44:35.960 |
but instead we're trying to mold Him instead of the other way. 00:44:42.960 |
So what does the future hold for the house of Jacob, Israel? 00:44:52.960 |
"At the end of pruning," the purpose of pruning is not to destroy, 00:44:56.960 |
but that the fruit will be more genuine, it will be more full, right? 00:45:06.960 |
obviously there's a physical component to it, but spiritually. 00:45:09.960 |
People who had no ear to hear, God's going to open their ears 00:45:13.960 |
People who could not see, they're going to see. 00:45:18.960 |
In other words, all of this is a description of revival at the end. 00:45:25.960 |
When revival comes, all of a sudden the Word of God 00:45:32.960 |
and you are able to see His grace and love in a deeper way 00:45:37.960 |
Sometimes God will bring pruning in your life for that very reason. 00:45:43.960 |
Because without the pruning, a lot of times we remain dull of hearing, 00:45:47.960 |
dull of seeing, but the pruning causes us to be more sensitive 00:45:54.960 |
And then ultimately the meek will find joy in the Lord, 00:46:01.960 |
In other words, the very things that the world is chasing after, 00:46:04.960 |
again remember the beatitudes, every part of that beatitude 00:46:08.960 |
is exactly the opposite of what the world teaches us, 00:46:14.960 |
And He said, "But when revival comes, it's the meek who will find joy in Him." 00:46:22.960 |
And along with that, the ruthless will be punished. 00:46:26.960 |
And then the final result is that Jacob will be restored, 00:46:33.960 |
Okay, so you can take the rest of the time to discuss with your group.