provision in our lives. We pray, Father God, that every word that you've spoken, every word that you, that we've studied and will discuss, will serve to strengthen your church and cause us, Lord God, to be mindful of all that we have in you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

I hope that through your study and through your quiet times and, you know, answering some of these questions that you've recognized that there's been some transition, yes? Without me pointing it out? Which I already did, right? Clearly the tone is different. The tone, like there is, chapter 1 through chapter 39, the tone is, is judgment coming, why the judgment is coming, who the judgment is coming for, how long the judgment is, and then in between God would make promises of, even though that's happening, God's going to restore you.

But in chapter 40 and on, you'll see that the tone primarily is about comfort. Now, that doesn't mean that God doesn't mention judgment. Judgment is still there, but you'll notice that the tone is very different. Have you noticed that another transition between chapter 39 and 40? Besides the tone?

History, like in what way? Okay, alright, that's good observation. So you'll notice that in between chapter 39 and chapter 40, where chapter up to that point is talking about what's going to happen because of their sins, and then starting from chapter 40, he begins to explain what happened, right?

Why this happened, and so basically what's happening starting from chapter 40, there's about, so chapter 39 to 40, basically what's happened is the Assyrians came and then they fell. God already judged the Assyrians. Up to this point, up to chapter 39, it's been judgment against the nation of Israel, right?

So judgment has taken place, and then again, it doesn't mention Assyria, it doesn't mention Persia, it doesn't mention Babylonians by name, but if you look at the historical context, that's basically what happens, right? He raises up a nation from the east, right, to bring judgment, and so most commentators believe that's talking about the Assyrians who were judged, they've already been conquered.

The Babylonians already came and conquered them, but it goes even beyond that. It talks about probably King Cyrus who's come and allowed them to restore back into Jerusalem, okay? So about 100, 120 years of history already took place, and so starting from chapter 40, he begins to look at it and say, "This is what I've done, and this is why I did it." And the whole reason why is now he's coming to comfort and to restore, okay?

So that's a big shift in chapter 40, right? Now, that doesn't mean starting from chapter 40 that it's going to be chronological. Just like chapter 1 through 39, it's very thematic, so he may jump back and forth, he may be talking about the restorations of Jerusalem, and then go back and then talk about judgment against Babylon.

So he'll do that also in the second section, but again you'll notice that the tone has definitely changed, okay? So if you look at the first chapter, or chapter 40, verse 1, "Come forth, come forth, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended." Okay, so all the judgment that was prophesied in the first 39 chapters, he said all of that has ended.

Okay, again not completely, just historically. All the stuff prophesied about the end times obviously hasn't happened yet. But the historical application, he says, "Warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned," right? All this time saying, "Because of your sins, these judgments are coming." God carries out his judgment, and now they're taken into captivity, and then now they're returning back to Jerusalem.

Okay, so all of that has already taken place between chapter 39 and 40. "That she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Right? So as much as they were judged for their sins, when God restores, His restoration is going to be double, whatever it is that they lost, right?

So that's the context in which we're starting. Okay, so the first question, "Why is a valley lifted up a mountain, and a hill made low, to prepare for the coming of the Lord?" Okay, again it doesn't say within that context, remember we talked about that, how all the roads, right, that leads to the, what cities?

Cities of refuge. How many cities of refuge were there? There were six of them, and where were they? Huh? They're all spread out in Jerusalem, on top of the hills, right? And they're all Levitical towns, where the Levites basically were the residents in those towns, right? So it doesn't mention that in specifically, but any Jew would know, and like when talking about the best roads, is talking about cities that, the roads that lead to the, to the cities of refuge.

But again, when it's talking about the mountains being, being taken down, and valleys being lifted up, what is the imagery there? Just making the, making the road easy access, right? So that the mountains, they don't have to climb mountains, they don't have to go down the valley. What's another metaphor for that?

High being brought low, low being brought high, proud humbled, right? The lowly being, being brought up, right? When I think about that, the picture that I always get is in John chapter 3 and 4, where Nicodemus, you know, he's a spiritually or by, by law, he's kind of on the top of the hill.

And then you have the Samaritan woman, the next chapter, who's kind of like the sin, sinner among sinners, and even other sinners wouldn't associate with her, how God interacts with both of them. And he brings the high low and the low high, right? So that's the kind of picture we get.

It's to make the path to the Lord the easiest and the quickest. You know, that's another imagery. When we talk about the gospel, you know, the barrier that existed between us and God has been taken away. So again, that's another picture of the, of the gospel message, where the roads that were, were impossible to take, the mountains have been brought low, the valleys have been filled, so that our path to our God has been, has been laid, right?

Again, as I mentioned, the other imagery is for the, the proud to be humbled and the lowly to be raised up. And that's exactly what the gospel does, doesn't it? Right? The proud and the mighty and the honored and the educated, they don't have special access to the kingdom, right?

And the lowly and the poor, the uneducated, the ungifted, they have equal access to God, right? The gospel brings us all through the same door, right? And so after so much warning God's wrath against the enemies of Israel and His discipline against Israel, God now turns to restore what He has always intended, to restore and comfort Israel.

They will receive double the blessing than punishment for sins, just as I, we read in verse 2, right? That she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins, right? So just as they have been judged, God will pardon them, not much more. So again, the period of discipline is, is over, now God will restore.

So what, when He comes to do this, what will be revealed? Right? It says the glory of the Lord. Can somebody go to Colossians 3, 4? Martin, can you go to Colossians 3, 4? And then Shane, can you go to 1st Corinthians 13, 11? And just read it out loud for us.

Yeah, Colossians 3, verse 4. Okay, so whenever we, the Bible prophesies about Him coming, it says that we will see Him in His full glory. And in His glory, His being, being able to have access to His glory is what's going to change us, right? 1st Corinthians? Okay, so 1st Corinthians 13 talks about how everything that we've experienced about God is only partial, right?

Like the theologians say, we're here and not yet. We've gotten a taste of His kingdom, taste of His goodness, taste of His glory, but His full revelation of Himself is going to come when He comes in His full glory, right? So again, if verse 9 through 11 describes Him coming in might, right?

But along with Him coming in His might, in His full glory, God is described as a caring, gentle shepherd that takes care of His flock in tenderness, right? So again, the image is very different, right? When He was talking about judgment, He's talking about His might, He's talking about His power, and He still does that in this section, but He comes to restore.

And in gentleness, He cares for this flock that has gone astray. And again, the imagery that we have is, you know, when He says that He leaves a 99 to go chase after the 1, and that's the imagery that we see here. When the Lord comes in His full glory, He's come to restore.

So there's a tenderness in Him, there's a gentleness in Him that's drawing His lost sheep back to Him. Third question was, what do verses 6 through 8 teach us about God's word compared to everything else, right? Only God's word does not change. So everything He has said has happened, right?

Where first 39 chapters were like, "This is going to happen, this is going to happen," and He's warning them to turn from their sins, right? And then it happens. Now He's returning back and He says, "See, everything I said has happened." Like, everything like grass will fade away and disappear, but the word of God will be fulfilled.

This is why I think that, you know, faith ultimately is something that God gives, but how do we, what avenue did God give us so that our faith can grow? Faith comes from hearing, right? Hearing the word of Christ, right? Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of Christ.

So here He says, He tells them, "This is what's going to happen." Now He's looking back and He says, "Just like everything else, like everything has passed away, everything that you've relied on, right? You've been running to Egypt. Where are they now? You were afraid of Assyria. Where are they now?

You were aligning yourself with the Babylonians. They've been judged. They've disappeared, right? So where are they now?" He's saying, "Everything that you've relied on, all the confidence that you have, they've all disappeared, and now you're on this end. What remains for you? His word, right? The only thing that was constant was His word, His promise." So when He says His word, obviously He's not talking about the pages of His word.

He's talking about God Himself. "Everything I tell you is going to happen." That's basically what He's saying, right? So instead of relying upon the Egyptians when you were running to them, you should have relied upon Me and My words. That's basically what He's saying. He's not simply saying, like, you know, this is just cling on to this, right?

He said, "If you're going to put your confidence in anything, put your confidence in what I tell you, in the promises that I make, right? If you fear anything, fear Me, right?" Okay, I had one question on Friday. "It takes some time to list all the different attributes of God listed in this section.

Be as detailed as possible." Okay, so instead of just going over it, let me give you just a few minutes in your table to discuss in that section what are some things that you found, okay? Because every promise that God, when He says, you know, all the stuff, all the other things are like grass, they pass away, only His word lasts forever.

We're just talking about what He said, right? So recognizing and understanding who He is and believing who He is, is at the foundation upon what they will build on top, right? So what does He say? How is God presented to us, at least in this section? So take a few minutes to talk about what you found, what are some things that kind of stood out to you, right?

Not just like, "Oh, he says this, he says this," but what kind of stood out to you that gives you confidence? When you think about God, "This is something that really like causes me to have confidence and strength. This is what causes me to run to Him," right? That you can put your trust in Him because of this.

Not just objectively, but subjectively. Don't do your study now, okay? Discuss what you found, okay? If you guys can just...if I can get your attention back up here for a minute. So again, you know, we're not talking about objectively, you know, we all know how to read. I'm asking you guys like, "What kind of stood out to you?

What are some things that kind of stands out and say, 'This is what I think about and that gives me confidence and strength.'" Right? Share your blessing with all of us. So how does that comfort you? How does that give you strength? It tells me that, like, you know, this stuff about ISIS going on, communities of hopeless, but God, He has all of this in mind already, no matter what happens.

So it gives you...so it gives you peace that you...okay. As I looked at verse 30 and 31, it made me think about how God is our source of life, and He's not only the source, but He's the sustainer. So how it applies to me is, I guess, over the years of us being involved in church, I hear, you know, I've heard from different people this phrase of "burnout." I burned out, you know, because, you know, when I first started something, I just did it, like, to the max.

And then I got burned out. So then I stopped. But I realized that, you know, as I've been evaluating, kind of, even the last five, ten years, I think it's been a good, I think, kind of, it's been evident to me that God has, I think, helped me do it in my spirit.

So if I'm going through a busy weekend or a busy month, I'm like, how could I get up for a walk, and I'll jump in. But, certainly, I trust that it's not because I'm in juvenile, and automatically, in general, I'm not, you know, in my spirit. >> Right. Right.

Yeah, I think that's crucial. I mean, that's kind of like the main point he's making, right? He's talking to the nation of Israel, who's constantly jumping to, you know, like, other nations, or wealth, or political power, and then when it got bad enough, they jumped to idols, right? And in the end, and now he's looking back at this, see what happened, what did that buy you?

What happened? At that moment, you felt secure, but when you look at the totality of what happened, it's like they're all gone. The only thing that remained was God, right? And I think that, again, throughout our spiritual maturity, as we're growing, I mean, we're human, so we're motivated by all kinds of stuff, right?

Came here motivated by the snacks, right? We saw the pictures, and we're motivated, right? We're motivated by our friends, we're motivated by community. None of these things are bad, right? But in time, everything is going to change. Everything is going to disappoint to a certain degree, right? The only thing that remains that consistent forever, and he says, "He who waits upon the Lord, he'll renew his strength," right?

People wait upon people, people wait upon organization, people wait upon anything. At some point, yeah, burnout's going to happen because disappointment's going to come, right? I don't think it's wrong. I don't think those things are necessarily wrong, but God has a tendency to kind of bring you through all of that to make you see that the only thing constant is God, right?

And he who waits upon the Lord, they're the ones who are going to renew the strength. So that's really the point that he's trying to make through all of this, right? Okay, what else? Have we exhausted it already? What else? What did you guys talk about in your group?

Let's have a couple more people share. Right. Like it says in verse 27, "Why do you say with Jacob, 'And speak, O Israel, my ways is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God,'" because he wasn't answering right away. It seemed like God doesn't care, right?

And sometimes God allows us to go through all of that so that we figure out that God is exactly what we want, right? Okay, let's have one or two more people share. How does that comfort you? I think I shared this many times before, but the thing that always stands out to me is his immutability, right?

Like he doesn't change. He does not faint or grow weary. I think the older I get, the more that, like how important that is, because everything changes. Everything changes. Like everything changes. Anyway, I don't want to milk it. It just seems like the older I get, the more like to see something constant because nothing is constant, and to know that all the attributes of God is constant.

The God that I met over 30 years ago is the same God, has the same passion, same love, the same forgiveness. Like it's the same. And the fact that he did not grow weary, he did not grow tired, even when I'm tired, even when I grow weary, like that's a comfort.

You know what I mean? Kind of like, you know those of you who've been out of your, you know, you're old enough, you've moved out of your house, you haven't lived in your home for a long time, and every once in a while you go back to your parents' home and you just feel safe.

Does that happen? Yeah, sometimes, right? You know what I'm talking about, right? It's kind of like that. Like it's like going to your God is always like he's the same God. That same God that heard you crying when you were lonely and beaten up, and you know, when you felt like he wouldn't forgive your sin, he came back and he received you, and all of that, all of that.

He's that same God. You go to him today, he's that same God. Nothing has changed, right? So to me that's a huge source of comfort, to know that that's the same God I knew 30 years ago is the same God I know today. Okay, you don't have to write this down.

These are just, these are the objective things that are talked about, right? He's sovereign, he's all-knowing, he's immutable, he gives power to those who faint. The challenge is not to simply know this, but to experience this, right? That's the challenge. It's easy to know this, and we have the Bible, but how is this fleshed out in your life?

How is his sovereignty, like, how does that affect your decision-making? How does this cause you not to fear what's going on? Just like, you know, why I wanted you guys to share in your group is not simply say, "Oh, this is what the Bible says about God." But how does his immutability affect you, affect your affection for him?

How does the fact that God is unsearchable, all-knowing, right? How does that affect your life? The fact that he provides water for the thirsty, right? Where there's no water to be found, but then it's in Christ. Like, how does that affect you? That's the challenge for us. Like, how is that real in our lives?

Like, how is that being fleshed out? Alright, so let's transition to chapter 41. So chapter 41, he begins in verse 1, and says, "Listen to me in silence, O coastlands, let the peoples renew their strength. Let them approach, then let them speak. Let us together draw near for judgment." So that part where he says, "Let them approach, then let them speak," right?

So he's basically gathering all the peoples, and before you go around and tell people about who I am, what I have done, come and listen first, right? He's going to lay out who he is, and he's going to show them. So in what way? The first question was in verse 4.

In what way is he the first and the last? So let's look at it in the context. "Who stirred up one of the east from the victory, meets at every step." And so, most commentators believe that that's in reference to Persia. Persia coming in from the east, conquering the Babylonians, and he gives up nations before him so that he tramples kings underfoot.

He makes them like dust with his sword, like drawn, driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely by path his feet have not trod. "Who has performed and done this, calling the generation from the beginning, I the Lord the first and with the last, I am he." So all these nations, these are all superpowers, right?

And at the time they were in power, it seemed like, how can you possibly destroy the Assyrians? But they went. And when the Babylonians, that was the most powerful empire, probably before any other empire, before the Roman Empire came, the Babylonians were the greatest empire ever, right? But even they disappeared.

At one point, Egyptians seemed like, you know, like how can Egyptians, who's going to conquer the Egyptians? But they came and went. And now the Persia here is in power, and he said, "These are my servants." Right? As powerful as they are, I am the first and the last, not them, right?

So he has absolute sovereign control. That's why he's laying out all these nations have come and gone, right? But in the end, they only do what I have purposed, because I am the first and I am the last. I remember years ago, a missionary was sharing about, you know, a book of Revelation, and I said, "Okay, this guy's going to go talk about, you know, what the white horse is and all that." But I was really encouraged because he was sharing from Revelation, like the end history, right?

And he said, after he shared that, he was basically sharing with us how book of Revelation comforts him, because the end history is already determined. He's not predicting. He's saying like, "Oh, if you make the right choices, and if you make the right, you know, place the right thing, and if the church works hard enough, and if we spread the gospel, if we were strategic enough, if we gathered enough, like we're going to be able to do this." He said, "No, that's not what Revelation is saying." Right?

Revelation is saying, "This is what's going to happen." He conquered, period. Right? He's not saying, "It wasn't a challenge to get your act straight, or this is not going to happen." He said, "No, this is determined." Right? And so, he was sharing how every time he reads the book of Revelation, it kind of reminds him that we're playing a small part in the way he's carrying his plan out, but in the end, it's already been determined.

Right? And a source of confidence in that, and in the end, like, you know, we get so caught up in what we need to do, don't need to do, and we forget the big picture. Right? This is a sovereign God we're talking about. God has never lost control of anything.

Right? So, he is the Alpha and Omega, not the United States, not ISIS, not our economy, you know, not our intellect, not our decision-making, but him. Right? Ultimately, what was the cause of fear? Right? And he said, "Why are they commanded not to be fearful?" So, look at verse 6.

It says 6, it's 670, but I forgot to erase the zero. Okay? What is he saying here? "Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, 'Be strong.' The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer, him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, 'It is good,' and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved." What is he saying there?

>>Sounds like the pagan idol worshippers are wavering in their own faith toward their idols, and so they're encouraging the craftsman to do a better job making idols so that the idols don't fall over. Such is the weakness of their own trust in their false gods, because God, the true God, is judging them and causing them to be shaken up and poured out.

>>Right. Did you guys catch that? You see how verse 5 says, "The coastlines have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth tremble. They have drawn near and come." So all this disaster is happening, and so when that happens, they're going to each other and comforting each other, right?

Which is exactly what we do, you know? When disaster comes, we send email, we say, "Hey, we're with you," and we try to bring comfort. And then it said, "The craftsman strengthened goldsmith." In other words, whether it is idols that they're building, or they're just kind of fortifying their walls.

So it's like if disaster is coming, make sure we get proper insurance, you know? Like we put up boards against the windows, and we're doing everything in your power to protect yourself. But in the end, what happens? Nothing. The winds are too strong, right? The disaster is not something that you can hold back, right?

So he's saying when disaster comes, the men are running to each other for comfort. They're running, like they're going to work harder, right? "Hey, we don't have, the economy is bad, so let's be smart, let's work harder." And he said, "In the end, what has it done?" Right? Only the Word of God lasts forever.

So they're trying to deal with their fear by running to things that really aren't going to help them. Whether it's hard work, or idolatry. But he says to the nation of Israel, he said, "But your comfort," right? In verses 8 through 10. This is what they do, verses 6 through 7.

"But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from his farthest corner, saying to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you,' and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Right? So the world will run to each other. They'll run to hard work, they'll run to idolatry, whatever it is that brings comfort. But he said, "You, your source of strength should not be like the others." Right?

He said, "You shouldn't fear because I am with you." Right? Not because you have friends, not because you have a bank account, right? Not because you're part of a good community that loves you, but your fear should be dealt with because I am with you. I have chosen you.

Right? What will happen to those who contend with God? Right? Those who war against Israel will perish, basically, in verses 11 and 12. In other words, after all these years, right? After all these years of their rebellion, after all these years of God's judgment upon them, God has still not forgotten about His people.

Do you remember when Hosea was written? Was it pre-exile or post-exile? Anybody remember? Pre. Right? Hosea is written pre-exile. Do you remember the theme of Hosea? He names his children, "You are not my people. I will not have compassion." Basically, he's saying that, "I loved you like Hosea loves Gomer." He chased after Harlot who kept on adulterating themselves.

And God warns the nation of Israel that because of that, judgment is coming upon you. Right? And so, he says in his judgment, "I'm going to treat you like you're not my people. I'm going to let you go. If you're going to keep adulterating yourself, you're going to do that." And now we're here.

So, this is written, obviously, post-exile. Right? And even after all of that, even after all his frustration, God has still not forgotten about Israel. Right? He's saying, "You are my people." He's still saying that to this nation. Right? So, when you look at the history of Israel and just how often and how many times and how easily they forget who they serve.

You know, and God disciplines them. God doesn't just sweep sin under the rug. He disciplines them. But he still, still he's saying, "You're my people." Right? Because he made a covenant. He said, "Everything else will pass away. You may frustrate your parents. You may frustrate your friends. You may, you know, you may have even your best friends may not be there next year.

But the Word of God will remain forever." Right? Because he said, he said, he made a covenant with Abraham. Right? And he is faithful to his own covenant. And so, even now, right, when you understand the context in which he's saying this, even now he says, "You're my people.

And anybody who messes with you messes with me." Right? "In what way will he protect them?" He said, "I will hold you with my right hand." Right? "I will, I will be the one who helps you." "The Lord will send the kinsman-redeemer." I mean, it's, in your translation, it doesn't, it doesn't say "kinsman-redeemer," but basically that's the same word.

Right? "Boaz, who comes and redeems." Right? It's written into the law of God that a kinsman-redeemer will come, the nearest kin will come and redeem, redeem that line. He said, "I will send him." Who is this in reference to? Christ. Right? So again, a reference that his ultimate restoration is going to come in Christ.

You notice how in verse 14, that even in the context of his judgment and restoration, he says, "Fear not, you worm Jacob." Right? Just in case you become arrogant, thinking that somehow you've earned my favor. Right? Don't forget, right, it's not because you're righteous, it's not because you've paid off your sin and now you're righteous before God.

He said, "Don't forget, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I am the one who helps you," declares the Lord. Right? In other words, God's having compassion on you. "Your redeemer, kinsman-redeemer, is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I make you a threshing sledge." So, you see how he says, "You are a worm, but I will turn you into a threshing sledge, because I will have compassion on you." Right?

So, for whatever the reason, because God has mercy on you, you start becoming arrogant. Don't forget who you are. I'm the one who's being gracious to you. He says, "The Lord will answer the needy and those who seek water, and not abandon them." That even in the, even as you're in the desert and there's no hope for life.

Right? He said, "I will provide." So, who's the Lord speaking to in this section? Starting in verse 21, when He says, "Set forth your case," says the Lord, "bring your proof," says the King of Jacob, "let them bring them and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome, or declare to us the kings to come." Who is He referring to?

Huh? I didn't do "eat"? Oh, okay, I didn't. So, He says, "When He does all of this," in verse 20, "that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created." So, again, He starts in verse 16, "Fear not, you worm Jacob." In other words, don't become arrogant because God is being gracious to you.

Because, remember what the Scripture says? Right? The constant sin of the nation of Israel and the people of God is when they cry out, God has compassion, He feeds them. When they are fed, they become proud. When they become proud, they forget Him. And when they forget Him, they turn to idols.

Right? And that's the constant cycle. So, He says, "I'm going to restore you, but don't forget it is I who will restore you, not you." Right? That's why, again, I think, you know, as we talked about on Sunday, justification by faith, right? Meaning that in the end, we didn't earn it.

So, anytime we see any kind of pride in our righteousness, that's the beginning of the fall. Right? So, who's the Lord speaking to, verse 21 and on? Who's He referring to? Huh? Who? Judah. Judah. Okay. Is there a why you say Judah? It just seems, well, I put Judah question mark.

And it was just, because it seemed like there was this aspect of, like, because Judah was like the better of the two kingdoms as far as like following Him. So, there's this aspect, like, for me, it seemed like there was this strength of, like, or a strength of, like, that parent talked to their child, like, "I don't want to punish you.

Like, tell me why. I'm like, just please give me a good reason why." So, that's, it just, that was my, preserving the right. Okay. Okay. Anybody else? Could it be idols? Like, God's calling their idols into account. What's you telling what's going to happen in the future if you're so powerful and Judah's insisting on worshipping you?

Well, prove it. You know, here's my proof, here's my qualifications in Most chapter 40. What do you got? So, God's, it sounds like He's challenging your idols. Right. Right. I think it pretty much includes everything. Like, everybody and everyone who didn't put their confidence in God, right, He's looking back and saying, "Why don't you predict?

Why don't you thwart the nation? You know, let's see you predict what's going to happen. You tell me what's going to happen tomorrow." But it's kind of a bit of sarcasm. You know what I mean? And so, He's basically taking it to them. It's like, "See all the things that you've trusted, all the false prophets you went to, all the priests that you've relied on, all the other nations, all the other idols, right, where are they now?

You know, tell them to save you. Where are they now?" Right? Right. So, basically, He's challenging them. Like, now He's on this side and we have 120 years of God, God judging, preserving, restoring, right, doing exactly what He said He was going to do. And He's looking back at it and saying, "Now look at all the things that you've been, you've had confidence in.

Where are they now?" Right? Were they able to accomplish anything that they said? Did anything they say come true? Right? Remember the last week we talked about in chapter 36 through 39? Remember how the general of the Assyrian army comes and he begins to mock Israel and say, "Where's your God?

If there is a God, He's for us and not for you." Right? He's like, "Hezekiah is not going to be able to save you. You watch." Right? So, kind of like, now we go to chapter 41 and say, "Where are they now?" You think about everything He said. Did that come true?

Right? All right. So, the last part of it is, consider how Israel saw, and this is one of your, the last question. "Idols time and again in their history, when it is end, it is nothing but man-made objects. Why would a nation favored by the living God be so tempted by something so trivial?

Why does the sin of idol worship in Israel's history reveal about, what does it reveal about the sin that resides in all of us?" This temptation to, you know, I know, I know at church on Sunday, and I know in Bible study, and I know in small groups, God is huge.

Right? But in our day-to-day lives, that's our struggle. That this same God that we talk about in this room, is He, is He big in our daily lives? Right? And I think that temptation, you know, like everything that we see in the nation of Israel, we struggle with the same temptation on a day-to-day basis.

You know, we look at it in history and say, "Why would a nation who's been favored by God, protected by God, loved by God, you know, seen the miracles of God, so easily turn away and turn to idols?" Because that's all in us too. Right? We wrestle with that.

So, that question, I'm just going to leave it up to you. Take some time to discuss in your group, and I'll just kind of end it All right.