Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 742. Bible Study: Isaiah 55 (Jesus said "I will"... these same things Isaiah had heard from the Lord!)

Transcript

742. Bible Study: Isaiah 55 (Jesus said "I will"... these same things Isaiah had heard from the Lord!) · Faith by annm2705

0:00
Let's start today with chapter 55.
0:03
We might get into 56 if this doesn't take too long.
0:08
Chapter 55 from Isaiah. First let's pray.
0:11
Dear God, please be with us. Open our eyes, open our ears and
0:16
let us receive your word and learn from this.
0:21
We ask for this in Jesus name. Isaiah says come all you who are
0:29
thirsty and he's hearing this from the Lord, come to the
0:34
waters. All you who have no money, come
0:38
buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
0:43
money and without cost. I'll stop right there.
0:46
That's only the first sentence, but there's lots of scripture
0:51
first. I will read what the study Bible
0:52
says. How can someone without money
0:55
buy something? If a merchant were to set the
0:57
price of wine, milk and bread at 0, then the poor who had no
1:02
money could buy it. The merchant's work would be
1:05
unprofitable, but his generosity would help the poor.
1:09
This is a picture of what the Lord has done spiritually for
1:14
his people. Actually what He's done for all
1:17
people spiritually. So there are there are other
1:22
things that came to my mind as I read this.
1:24
So I will get into those to start.
1:29
If you if you want to do this on your own, blueletterbible.org
1:34
just search the word thirsty and you'll come up with the
1:37
scripture because when I heard this of you know, I remember
1:43
Jesus said this quite often. And so I'm going to read the
1:46
things that Jesus said where again, this is chapter 55.
1:51
And I'm seeing Jesus again because the prophet, the prophet
1:56
Isaiah spoke this first. He received it from the Lord.
2:00
But he's like quoting things that Jesus quotes.
2:03
And remember Jesus said that he didn't can't come to take away
2:06
anything, any of the word or any of the law.
2:10
In fact, he even said that heaven and earth will pass away.
2:17
But the law will remain, the words will remain, like
2:22
everything that he's spoken will remain, will last forever.
2:24
The word will remain. I should get the exact quote
2:28
before I say that because I paraphrase things sometimes and
2:31
it's much better to look at what the Scripture says so it's not
2:34
misquoted. But anyway, Jesus talks about
2:38
being thirsty and having no money and not charging people
2:42
for it. And it's a symbolic thirst.
2:45
It's a spiritual thirst. And so in John chapter 4, Jesus
2:51
answered, this is when he's with the woman at the well and
2:56
they're getting water from there.
2:58
And Jesus says to her, everyone who drinks this water will be
3:03
thirsty again. So the water, the human water
3:07
that we drink it, it's never finished.
3:10
We have this ongoing thirst for it, but I actually I need to
3:15
read the rest of it because if I just read you that verse, it's
3:18
not going to make sense. So the next verse he says, but
3:22
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
3:28
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of
3:34
water welling up to eternal life.
3:38
That's like the IT makes me think about the pouring out of
3:42
the Holy Spirit, like when Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, the
3:48
Holy Spirit becomes that spring of water that just comes out of
3:52
us and it it is our deposit for eternal life.
3:58
And so then the woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so
4:03
that I won't be thirsty and have to keep coming here, coming here
4:06
to draw water. So then the next part of it, he,
4:13
he, it's interesting the conversation with her because he
4:18
points out her sin very subtly and well, he doesn't he, he just
4:22
lets her come to the realization actually.
4:25
So he says he told her, go call your husband and come back.
4:29
And then she replied, I have no husband.
4:31
She replied, Jesus said to her, you are right when you say you
4:35
have no husband. The fact is, you have had five
4:39
husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.
4:44
What you have just said is quite true, Sir, the woman replied.
4:49
The woman said, I can see that you are a prophet.
4:53
Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim
4:57
that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.
5:03
Woman, Jesus replied, Believe me, a time is coming when you
5:06
will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in
5:11
Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you
5:15
do not know. We worship what we do know, for
5:19
salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming, and now
5:24
has come when true worshippers will worship the Father in the
5:28
Spirit. Is that maybe that well of water
5:32
that flows from a person and in truth, For they are the kind of
5:39
worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and his
5:44
worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.
5:48
The woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming.
5:54
When he comes he will explain everything to us.
5:58
Then Jesus declared, I the one speaking to you, I am he.
6:04
It was really interesting because throughout the accounts
6:09
of what happened when Jesus was here on earth, he at many times
6:14
he hid his identity and he wouldn't say who he was, but to
6:19
this woman, he actually revealed who he was and that he changed
6:24
her life. But he you know, let's see we we
6:29
should probably just continue to read this because the the
6:32
outcome was that many, many Samaritans believed so just when
6:36
the his disciples returned and were surprised to find him
6:39
talking with a woman, but no one asked what do you want or why
6:42
are you talking to her? Then leaving her water jar.
6:46
The woman went back to the town and said to the people, so she
6:49
didn't even take the water jar. She was there to get water and
6:52
she just left and went back to her people and said, come see a
6:55
man who told me everything I ever did.
6:57
Could this be the Messiah? So she's questioning it now if
7:02
she's pretty excited about it and going back to tell other
7:05
people. They came out of the town and
7:07
made their way back to him. Meanwhile his disciples urged
7:11
him, Rabbi eats something. But he said to them, I have food
7:15
to eat that you do that you know nothing about.
7:20
Then his disciples said to each other, could someone have
7:22
brought him food? My food said Jesus is to do the
7:27
will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
7:32
Jesus spoke in code a lot. So remember how he Jesus said to
7:39
the Father, not my will but yours be done when he was before
7:45
he was crucified. So he knew that he was here to
7:49
do the will of the Father and to finish his work.
7:54
So his death on the cross was the the finished work that was
7:59
done by Jesus death on the cross.
8:02
He enabled all of us to inherit the Kingdom of God to be in in
8:08
God's presence because he was the final one true sacrifice
8:15
that was required by the law to break the curse because this the
8:22
wages, the payment for sin is death.
8:26
But Jesus broke that curse so that we could have life.
8:31
So that's why what Jesus did on the cross is so important for
8:35
us. If he didn't die on the cross,
8:36
we couldn't be in the Kingdom of God.
8:40
So then let's see Jesus said, don't you have a saying it's
8:44
still still four months until harvest.
8:48
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields.
8:52
They are ripe for harvest. I think there's probably
8:55
something more to this, but I don't have time to go into that
8:58
right now. So even now, the one who reaps
9:01
draws a wage and harvests A crop for eternal life.
9:07
Think about that. Even now, the one who reaps,
9:11
draws a wage and harvests A crop for eternal life.
9:15
So he's talking about spiritual things so that the sower and the
9:19
Reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 1 sows and
9:24
another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have
9:29
not worked for. Others have done the hard work,
9:34
and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.
9:38
So, you know, this is also true about what Jesus did on the
9:41
cross. Like none of us would be able to
9:45
save ourselves or anybody else because we're not perfect.
9:49
We're not the unblemished land. If even if we died for another
9:52
person, we couldn't atone for their sin, but Jesus could
9:57
because he was the Son of God. And that's why, you know, it was
10:01
God's own arm who did this, who brought salvation to all people.
10:06
That's when he talks about his own arm, his own offspring,
10:10
Jesus, you know, in the flesh, the Son of God who was able to
10:15
do this for us. So then the whole reason why
10:18
Jesus revealed who he was to this woman was so that
10:22
Samaritans would believe, because it says many of the
10:25
Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the
10:28
woman's testimony. He, he told me everything I ever
10:32
did. So when someone comes up to you
10:35
and tells you everything that you ever did, it probably is a
10:38
little bit surprising. So when the Samaritans came to
10:42
him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
10:48
Again, a lot of people have seen these patterns of two and three
10:51
days in the Bible, kind of interesting.
10:53
And that's another subject. So I won't go there.
10:56
And because of his words, many more became believers.
11:00
They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of
11:04
what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves
11:09
and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.
11:15
So isn't that interesting that these people then they came and
11:18
checked them out and then they they were like, we believe it
11:21
too pretty interesting. And then another part is the
11:26
bread of life because so, oh, I wonder if I, you know what, I
11:32
have to go back. I missed some things, some
11:35
important things actually. So Jesus then Jesus declared I
11:39
am the this is a separate story. This is in John chapter 3 verse
11:45
John chapter 6 verse 35. Then Jesus declared I am the
11:50
bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never
11:53
go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
11:58
So we can see this, this water it first we have to believe in
12:03
him. Whoever believes in me will
12:05
never be thirsty. But I think that's, you know,
12:09
receiving the Holy Spirit first we have to believe and then we
12:13
can receive the Holy Spirit when we repent and we turn away from
12:18
our sin and turn towards God and the bread of life.
12:22
That's also very symbolic and spiritual.
12:26
Like it's something that people, it's nourishment like we eat
12:32
from it, like we are nourished by it.
12:34
And just like when we are when Jesus is the bread of life.
12:38
So when we are quote in Christ, when we are aligned with Christ,
12:44
when we have sought, we I guess, seek God and repent of knowing
12:51
that we did a lot of rebellious things against God and ask for
12:56
forgiveness and then decide in our minds that we're not going
13:00
to do that anymore, that we don't want to do that anymore.
13:04
Then Jesus will give us the Holy Spirit to help us.
13:07
And it says in Scripture that God will never give us a
13:10
temptation that will be anything greater than any other person
13:15
has endured. But every time, if there is a
13:19
temptation, God will always provide a way out.
13:23
So we have to be able to take that way out or seek that way
13:27
out. We can't just say, oh, I was too
13:29
weak. I couldn't handle it because
13:31
that's not what Scripture tells us.
13:35
God says He gives us a way. If we choose to still do what we
13:41
know is wrong, that's our own rebellion.
13:44
We have to be accountable for that.
13:46
That is not. That's a choice.
13:48
And salvation is is essentially a choice because Jesus made it
13:53
possible for everyone. So if somebody isn't saved,
13:57
that's because of our own choices.
14:01
What we choose every day either gets us closer to God or further
14:07
from God. So then let's see in John
14:13
Chapter 7, Jesus said on the last and greatest day of the
14:17
festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, let anyone who
14:22
is thirsty come to me and drink. Isn't that interesting?
14:27
Isaiah 55 says, come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.
14:32
I mean, this is just these are things that point to Jesus all
14:37
over the book of Isaiah. Let's see there's and then we
14:44
get to Revelation chapter 21 and this is Jesus talking to John.
14:51
It says he said to me, it is done.
14:56
I am the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end to the
15:02
thirsty. I will give water without cost
15:07
from the spring of the water of life.
15:11
So Jesus is the one who gives us life.
15:14
That's what he means. Jesus is the way, the truth and
15:17
the life. No one comes to the Father
15:19
except through me, is what Jesus said.
15:22
Then in Revelation chapter 22 verse 17, the Spirit and the
15:27
Bride say come. Let the one who hears say come,
15:33
let the one who is thirsty come, and let the one who wishes take
15:40
the free gift of the water of life.
15:45
So it doesn't cost money to get to obtain this.
15:51
There is, I guess the only cost I can think of is just our own
15:56
decision because it does say, you know, take up your own
15:59
cross. You know, those who are not
16:01
willing to take up their own cross are not worthy.
16:04
And so it's not that it's an easy decision to make because we
16:10
are naturally drawn in opposition to what God says.
16:15
But when we make that decision, when we want to serve God
16:20
because we are grateful that Jesus died on the cross for us
16:25
and we want to do something back, you know, it's not like
16:28
God needs any of this, but it's a way of showing respect to God
16:32
for what he did. And it's a way that God
16:35
recognizes that we love him because Jesus said if you love
16:38
me, obey my commands. So how clear is that?
16:42
Like we talk about love language and Jesus says if you love me,
16:46
obey my commands. So if we are being disobedient,
16:52
then that should be the opposite of love.
16:54
So love comes with obedience to God's will.
16:59
And there's, I think it's really important for us to recognize
17:04
that because it has eternal implications to us.
17:09
All right, let's go back to verse 2 from Isaiah 55.
17:15
Why spend money on what is not bred and your labor on what does
17:20
not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat
17:25
what is good and you will delight in the riches, the
17:30
riches of Fair. So this is the, you know, eat
17:34
what is good, like the word of God, consume it.
17:38
Read scripture, dive into it, seek God because this is where
17:45
you will like treasures will be opened for you there.
17:49
There are rewards. Jesus talks about rewards coming
17:53
as a result of doing this. Those who you know, listen and
17:58
obey, those who act on what they believe.
18:01
If you don't believe, you're not going to act on any of this
18:03
because it's just going to be like work for you to do.
18:06
But if you truly believe, then you will do these things not out
18:11
of obligation, but out of desire.
18:15
And eventually that happens. But you can't love somebody
18:18
without knowing somebody. So in order to know somebody,
18:23
you, in order to know God, we need to read the word of God.
18:28
That's how we know Him. It's all written about him.
18:30
Everything about Him is written in the Bible.
18:33
Everything we need to know right now is written about Him.
18:36
There's a lot we don't know, but there's a lot that we can learn
18:39
about God. And that's what the Bible is
18:43
here for, for us to learn about God and understand Him and grow
18:49
closer to Him. And it never for me personally,
18:53
going to any church, it didn't impact me.
18:56
Now, other people could be differently and could respond
19:00
differently because I do think churches are valuable because if
19:03
that's the only place that you're hearing it and you're
19:05
actually hearing the truth from Scripture, the one the churches
19:09
that read a lot of Scripture or get into the word a lot, I think
19:13
are very valuable because if people don't read the Bible
19:17
themselves, this is their one, one and only time that they're
19:19
actually going to hear something from the Bible.
19:23
So that is probably the most important part is that the word
19:28
of God is actually read in church and that it's discussed
19:34
and it's, you know, made known how it applies to your life.
19:38
It's really important because it has implications on us.
19:43
OK, so he says give, give ear and come to me.
19:47
Listen that you may live. So see, there's a consequence if
19:51
you listen. This is how you will live.
19:53
Eternal life is what he's talking about.
19:56
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
19:59
This is the covenant that Jesus brought about with his death on
20:04
the cross. My faithful love promised to
20:07
David, and he promised David he would always have someone on
20:11
this throne. David comes from the tribe of
20:15
Judah and so does Jesus, so that's when Jesus returns.
20:21
He will return to take back everything and reign as king.
20:27
So that's how the His throne will be forever from that point
20:30
forward. See, I have made him a witness
20:34
talking about David. See, I have made him a witness
20:37
to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.
20:40
Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do
20:44
not know will come running to you because of the Lord your
20:48
God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with
20:52
splendor. Seek the Lord while He may be
20:56
found. Call on him while he is near.
20:59
I think this is really important because right now we are able to
21:06
be forgiven. Actually, I guess even after
21:10
Jesus returns, we can, but it says in Scripture that most
21:15
people won't because there's going to be so much calamity
21:18
because the wrath of God comes with it.
21:20
So when Jesus returns, there's going to be some people that are
21:23
elated and then there's going to be other people that are fearful
21:27
and terror, you know, they're in terror because they they'll know
21:30
that this is all true. What was in the Bible is true.
21:34
And so you're going to have two different reactions of people.
21:37
And then there's going to be the wrath of God that's going to
21:41
come upon them. And so how many people are
21:43
really going to love God when all of a sudden this judgement
21:47
comes and bad things really happen?
21:50
I mean, the majority of people won't because they will be angry
21:54
with God when all these things start happening.
21:57
And it's only because they rejected him and chose their own
22:02
way. When he, he's always just, he's
22:05
always fair. He will come to everybody and
22:07
let everybody make their decision.
22:09
But some people will reject him. And there are consequences for
22:13
that. And it, it is said in the Bible,
22:15
but there are consequences. So it's important for people to
22:19
know, OK, you can do that, but prepare yourself because there
22:23
are going to be spiritual consequences for that.
22:26
And make sure you know what those consequences are and make
22:30
sure that you're really ultimately OK with that.
22:33
Because I think a lot of people will say they're OK with it, but
22:35
they have no idea what it means that what's going to come upon
22:41
them. And the Book of Revelation is a
22:43
good book to read about the, I guess the trumpets, what will
22:48
happen, and then the bowls of wrath.
22:52
Those are things to read and see what that's the wrath of God.
22:58
All right, let's go to seek the Lord while he may be found, call
23:02
on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their
23:07
ways and let the unrighteous their thoughts.
23:10
So our actions and our thoughts, we need to get stop those
23:15
things. And it says, let them turn to
23:18
the Lord and he will have mercy on them and to our God, for he
23:24
will freely pardon them. So God is gracious and merciful
23:30
and it it, but it takes a choice.
23:32
It takes a decision from us to choose God.
23:37
He doesn't force it on us, but he wants us to do it.
23:41
But a lot of people just don't want to do it.
23:45
And then it it says, Isaiah says in quotations from the Lord, For
23:50
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
23:55
my ways. God does things differently than
23:58
we expect. And it takes us a while to we're
24:02
never good. I mean, we can't know the mind
24:05
of God, but we can know some of it from the Bible.
24:10
And we just know that He's saying, you know, my thoughts
24:13
are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways my ways.
24:17
Like we're very, very different, but we have to seek the Lord and
24:21
then he will reveal himself to us and he will guide us and
24:24
protect us and all those things. And then it continues in verse
24:29
7, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
24:34
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts, as
24:38
the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to
24:42
it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish.
24:49
So think about this. The rain comes down and it makes
24:52
things blood bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the
24:59
sower and bread for the eater. I think these are also well, let
25:03
me finish this So. So is my, so is my word that
25:07
goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty,
25:13
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose
25:18
for which I sent it. We have to remember that God it
25:21
said that God spoke things into existence.
25:26
We're talking about like the power of God's words, like he
25:29
can just speak something into existence.
25:34
That's very different than what we we have to like build
25:38
something from other things, from something that exists
25:41
already. God takes something that doesn't
25:44
exist and speaks it into existence.
25:48
And he is, this is, you know, very symbolic because as he
25:53
talks about in the in the last days, that he pours out his
25:59
spirit on people, it's kind of like pouring out the seed from
26:03
heaven. And he talks about seeds being
26:06
sown and the sowers and the reapers and the manna, which is
26:10
like, it was just heavenly bread that was given to the Israelites
26:15
when they were wandering in the wilderness after they left Egypt
26:19
and were rescued by Moses from slavery out of Egypt.
26:24
So this, this seed and bread and harvest and budding and
26:31
flourishing and being poured on the water, the water of life,
26:35
the eternal water of life, the Holy Spirit that's coming down
26:38
from heaven. I mean, there's so much like
26:41
symbolism in what is said here. And of course, it's kind of a
26:45
poetic way, but it, it just has so much of eternal truth in it
26:50
that if we think about what God is saying here, that he's giving
26:55
us all the things that are necessary for us to flourish,
27:00
But it's a matter of us accepting them and using them.
27:05
And some will and some will not, but the purpose behind God
27:11
speaking things into existence and doing these things will be
27:15
accomplished. And that's what God is saying,
27:18
You know, my will will be done. And let's see, you will go out.
27:25
Now here's the positive part. You will go out in joy and be
27:29
LED forth in peace. The mountains and hills will
27:33
burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will
27:37
clap their hands. Instead of the thorn Bush, there
27:40
will grow the juniper, and instead of the breers, the
27:43
Myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's
27:47
renown, for an everlasting sign that will endure forever.
27:53
So there is AI think there's going to actually be a physical
27:58
restoration. I mean, the Bible, I know a lot
28:01
of the Bible is symbolic, but the way things are written, I
28:05
think it's more than just poetic or poetry or something like
28:11
that. I think this is this is actually
28:13
going to be a physical restoration.
28:16
It's going to be amazing when Jesus restores the earth and
28:21
restores the city of Jerusalem. And this is going to be such a
28:25
wonderful time. I know we, we get so focused on
28:28
all this, this time of transition between what is
28:33
called like this age into the age of the Millennium when Jesus
28:38
reigns on earth. But we're getting very close to
28:40
that time period where, you know, according to different
28:44
calendars, you know, some calendars may have it as a few
28:47
100 years, some calendars have it as 50 years from now.
28:52
And that day is not really known, but speculated by a lot
28:58
of people. But it's pretty close if you
29:01
think about that. If it's, if it's like within 50
29:05
years, it's like really close and it could be even sooner than
29:08
that. We just, we don't know.
29:10
There's a lot of signs right now that look like Bible prophecy.
29:15
But again, God is slow in acting because he wants people to be
29:21
saved. So it's also in God's nature to
29:26
kind of slowly do these things over time.
29:29
So as people, we might just get all get excited and say, well,
29:33
it is right around the corner. It's in the next year or so, our
29:37
next month. Some people are even saying
29:39
we're recording this in August of 2025.
29:43
Now, it could happen. A lot of things would have to
29:46
happen first. I mean, as I've mentioned
29:48
before, I believe that, you know, someone needs to put
29:52
something on the Temple Mount. That's an image that is an
29:58
abomination to God, and if that happens, then yes, it and then
30:04
somebody needs to I guess claim to be God on the Temple Mount
30:07
area. If those if that happens, then
30:10
we're absolutely in the final hour of this.
30:16
But unless that happens, God could just make a little bit
30:22
happen and then slow it down just to kind of get people
30:24
refocused on the Bible and to think about it.
30:27
Like I, I do believe that 2020 was a wake up call to all of us.
30:33
And I started seeing that, wow, these things are being fulfilled
30:38
in prophecy. And there's other people who
30:40
study prophecy for like 40 years or something.
30:44
And they have also said that historically speaking, according
30:49
to documents, a lot of prophetic events happened around a Jubilee
30:54
year, which this year is a Jubilee year.
30:57
So things just, it's kind of like the wake up call.
31:01
So either it's a wake up call to get people refocused on God and
31:06
we know that when these events happen, they draw people to God.
31:09
Now the hopeful thing is that when people get drawn to God,
31:13
they stay with God because you know, that is another historical
31:19
thing that happens is there's this kind of revival or refocus
31:24
on God and everybody, not everybody, but a lot of people
31:27
get close to him, but then nothing more happens and then
31:32
they fall back into their own ways.
31:34
This happened over and over throughout history of Israel,
31:38
and Israel's no different than any of us.
31:42
So we just pray that God will sustain us and keep us close to
31:48
him for however long it is until the day that Jesus returns.
31:53
And whether it's, you know, next month, next year, 50 years from
31:58
now or a few 100 years from now, that whatever the remainder of
32:03
our life are, you know, we always have to be prepared
32:05
because we never know when our life will be taken, when God
32:10
will say, OK, your time's up, I'm bringing you home.
32:13
So we can't, we, we should not live life with the knowing that
32:20
we are doing something that God says, don't do it.
32:23
We need to reconcile our lives with God and live the way God
32:28
wants us to live. And when we are weak in doing
32:30
that, we just need to ask God for the Holy Spirit.
32:34
Ask God for the Holy Spirit to change our mind like, you know,
32:39
speak that to God, say God, you know, I'm willing to let you
32:43
change me. And the word of God does change
32:46
you when you see the promises and the consequences and the
32:51
rewards. And there's just so much in
32:53
there that they're, you know, don't be short sighted and live
32:58
for the you only live once attitude because eternity's a
33:03
lot longer than if we live to be 120 years old here on Earth,
33:08
Eternity's a lot longer than that.
33:11
So if you're celebrating everything here on Earth because
33:16
you think this is it, then you don't know reality because
33:21
eternity is going to happen for everyone and everyone is created
33:26
to be eternal beings. But the bad thing is if you
33:29
reject God, you will be in an eternal place and it's going to
33:33
be eternal torment. Like it's just horrible.
33:37
Like what people, I don't know, just you don't want that.
33:44
Anyway, I this is long enough. Oh actually I didn't read all of
33:48
the questions and answers, so I will.
33:50
I will read those and then wrap this up.
33:52
So why was another covenant necessary?
33:56
God had made and sometimes renewed covenants with His
33:59
people through men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David,
34:02
and others. Some were unconditional.
34:06
Jesus Christ fulfilled God's promise to David that His throne
34:11
would be established forever. Others were conditional and
34:14
could be cancelled if God's people failed to live up to
34:18
them. So God would say, you know,
34:20
you'd have these blessings if you do this, but if you do that,
34:23
here's what the consequences are.
34:25
Isaiah said that through though Israel had broken the covenant
34:30
given through Moses, a new covenant would be given.
34:34
This new covenant, described by Isaiah as an everlasting
34:37
covenant, would put into effect with the shedding of the blood
34:42
of Christ, which would allow them to once again become God's
34:47
people. How did God give his people
34:49
splendor? Typically, nations that were
34:52
conquered or taken into captivity lost their national
34:55
identity forever. They were assimilated into other
34:59
peoples and simply disappeared as a distinct people.
35:03
God gave splendor to Israel by #1 preserving its national and
35:08
religious identity while the Jews were in exile, and #2
35:13
returning the Jews to Jerusalem after humiliation at the hands
35:17
of Babylonians. God's people would again be able
35:20
to hold their heads high. What is God promising?
35:24
2 things primarily #1A period when great trouble will come to
35:30
God's people, and #2A later time when the problems will end and
35:35
God will once again bless His people.
35:39
The images in this chapter vividly show the contrast.
35:43
Nearly deserted, Jerusalem will again be full of people.
35:47
It will go from poverty to wealth, humiliation to respect,
35:51
weakness to power, captivity to freedom.
35:54
These predictions were fulfilled to some extent when Jerusalem
35:59
fell to the Babylonians in 586 and when the Exiles returned to
36:04
Jerusalem under Shesh Bazaar and later during the time of Ezra
36:10
and Nehemiah. The restored Jerusalem of post
36:14
exilic times, however, was lacking in the ornate splendor
36:19
and inviably described in this passage.
36:24
Thus, these promises awaited complete fulfillment in a
36:28
different era. See the description of the New
36:31
Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Well, if you look at the prior
36:35
podcast, I talked a lot about that, so I'm not going to go
36:38
there. These promises can also be
36:40
understood in terms of a general principle for the people of God.
36:45
Jerusalem can be a metaphor for those who serve God.
36:48
When God's people drift from their their commitment to him,
36:52
they will face his judgement. When they return to him, they
36:56
will again experience God's blessings.
36:59
I think that's something really important for us to listen to.
37:02
Again, it says when people's, when God's people drift from
37:08
their commitment to him, they will face his judgement.
37:13
So when bad things happen, when we are living sinful lives, it's
37:17
not just a coincidence, I don't think.
37:19
Then it says when they return to him, they will again experience
37:23
God's blessings. I think that's also true, that
37:27
when we return to God, He does bless us.
37:31
God is God is kind and loving. What was this word of God?
37:37
During Isaiah's lifetime, God's people primarily heard the word
37:40
of God through his prophets, an oral word.
37:43
After the exile, they came to think more and more of the
37:47
written Word of the Lord, the Scriptures.
37:50
Does exposure to God's Word guarantee salvation and
37:53
spiritual growth as long as God's Word is believed and
37:58
obeyed? It does.
38:00
Not because there is anything magical about the Bible, but
38:03
because God lovingly promises to make sure that those who believe
38:08
and obey His Word will benefit from it.
38:12
It is His revealed guidebook for how to be saved and how to grow
38:18
spiritually. Paul reminded Timothy of his
38:21
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which are able to.
38:25
These are in quotations are in italics.
38:28
Which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
38:34
Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God breathed
38:38
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
38:44
training in righteousness. So God wants he said like be
38:49
holy because I'm holy. Like in God's Kingdom, people
38:53
will be holy like. Finally, the imperfections of us
38:57
will be taken away from us. When Jesus returns, we get our
39:00
new immortal bodies. There will be no sin in God's
39:04
Kingdom and so there's we we will eventually be made
39:10
completely righteous, not here on earth because it's still
39:15
corrupted, but eventually we will become we will be changed
39:19
completely. And so it's you know, Scripture
39:23
is God breathed the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of
39:28
Scripture and it's useful for teaching.
39:31
So we're learning things from it.
39:33
Rebuking, I guess that pertains to us and other people.
39:37
Like when it, when we see like, oh, this is something I do and
39:41
it's written in here and it says that people that do this will be
39:44
punished or they will be excluded from God's Kingdom,
39:48
then that certainly rebukes us. It corrects us and training in
39:54
righteousness. So it teaches us what we need to
39:56
do. We can't rely on what the world
39:58
says, because what the world says is contrary to what?
40:03
God says in a lot of ways it says that Satan is the ruler of
40:08
the air. So if you think about like Satan
40:11
has some kind of effect right now on the earth and God gave
40:16
him this time period to do what he's doing.
40:20
And some of it's probably testing us and teaching us and
40:25
the consequences for things we've done.
40:29
And but there is a promise that things will be different.
40:33
And then when we turn to God, he will bless us and he's going to
40:37
restore this earth. And I guess the last paragraph
40:42
says, how will nature praise God?
40:44
This may be figurative language to describe the breath of the
40:48
New order. Chapter 54 speaks of God's
40:51
people being restored. Chapter 55, in a broader scope,
40:55
encompasses all of creation. The fallen world, trapped under
41:00
the curse of human sin, will be set free.
41:04
There will be no more thorns or breeders.
41:07
Although nature now testifies to the glory of God, it is nothing
41:12
compared to what will take place in the new world.
41:16
I always think about that, just looking around at the beautiful
41:20
places around the earth and just thinking that it's all broken
41:25
like it. It's a broken world that we live
41:29
in. So if if it's broken and it
41:31
looks this beautiful in certain places, then just think about
41:36
what it will look like when it's fully restored, when God turns
41:41
it back to the way he desired, the unbroken way that he
41:47
originally designed it to be. It's going to be like
41:50
phenomenal. And I just, I look forward to
41:53
that. So I hope you do too.
41:55
And I hope you come back to stay in the word.