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Isaiah 2 - The Church as God’s Temple, Revelation, and Isaiah’s 2nd Prophecy · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. Today we are in Isaiah chapter
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  2. Isaiah chapter 2 and in Isaiah 1
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  we saw God had an issue with the southern Kingdom of Judah.
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  He called them Sodom and Gomorrah.
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  He, he said that they were incredibly wicked, that he would
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  bring, if you will, a a purging fire through Jerusalem and that
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  what would be left in Jerusalem would be good, godly people
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  because of the redemption of the Lord.
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  That the rulers, that they, the rulers and advisors and judges
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  that they would have would be good.
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  It would be the ones that would actually enforce justice and
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  goodness in the land. And so that was kind of the
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  first prophecy from Isaiah that we saw, which was Judah is in
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  trouble. This southern Kingdom of Judah
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  is in trouble. They've not been walking with
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  the Lord. And so they needed, if you will,
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  to have some holy fear of God put into them.
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  And then today we're going to be looking at Isaiah chapter 2.
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  I don't know if we'll get all the way through the chapter, but
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  let's begin reading together, says the vision that Isaiah, son
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  of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
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  Jerusalem, there being the capital city of Judah, says in
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  the last days the mountain of Yahweh's house will be
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  established, if you will. That's the Temple Mount, where
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  God's temple is placed on top of that mountain there.
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  He says it'll be established at the top of the mountains and
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  will be raised above the hills. Now for those of you that maybe
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  know about Jerusalem's topographical landscape, you
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  would know the Temple Mount isn't even the tallest mountain
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  in the area. Here this is speaking
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  metaphorically, that God's Temple will be the foremost
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  temple, that it will be the highest of all.
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  If you think about how the people of the ancient Near East
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  thought about the skies in the land or heavens and earth
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  mountains are these overlapping places where heaven and earth
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  meet, where there is a meeting of, you know, the land people,
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  humans and the sky people, the gods.
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  And so you can think even of the Garden of Eden as talked about
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  as the mountain of God or Mount Sinai where Moses met with God
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  and received the 10 commandments.
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  All that kind of stuff is ought to be in view here.
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  So he says the mountain of Yahweh's house will be
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  established at the top of the mountains and will be raised
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  above the hills. He says all nations will stream
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  to it, that there is universal worship here of Yahweh.
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  What a day that will be when not just actually this is part of
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  what Jesus has done that me, a decidedly not Jewish person, not
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  of Jewish ancestry, I come to worship the Lord and his holy
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  temple and if you will, he is building up his church as his
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  holy temple. That's what we would read in
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  first Peter 2 and in Ephesians 2 many other places but that God's
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  people are being built up together from all nations and
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  tribes and tongues and together we worship the Lord.
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  He says all nations will stream to it and many people's will
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  come and say, come, let's go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to
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  the House of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about His ways
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  so that we may walk in his paths.
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  I want to know how to better follow God, and I'm just going
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  to go to the Lord's temple from every nation to be able to learn
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  about God, to be taught by him. And man, what a joy that even as
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  we're reading today, I know that because of what Jesus told the
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  disciples that the Holy Spirit even now is teaching me some
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  things and he is teaching you some things.
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  And that together, God's people from I, I saw the other day, we
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  have people that watch our various channels or listen to
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  our channels from almost every continent on planet Earth.
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  Not Antarctica, not yet. We're still trying to reach
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  Antarctica. And I didn't see any countries
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  from South America yet. I don't speak Spanish on
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  Tabernacle talk, so I'm not totally blown back by that.
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  But what a joy that together we are learning from the Holy
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  Spirit who inspired the Word of God, and He teaches us his ways
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  and his paths. So we get to see a little bit of
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  it now. One day Jesus will return, and
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  on that day this will find its ultimate fulfillment.
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  But right now we get a little taste of glory divine, according
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  there from the old hymn Blessed Assurance.
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  Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.
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  He says for instruction we'll go out of Zion and the word of
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  Yahweh from Jerusalem. I apologize to my people
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  watching. I accidentally scrolled when I
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  should have clicked, He says. Instruction will go out of Zion
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  and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem, we think even like
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  where did the apostles who wrote the the New Testament, where did
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  they come from? They came from Jerusalem and
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  Paul was a teacher there in Jerusalem and that's where he
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  came back to after he got saved. And though he went to many other
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  places from Jerusalem, from this center place of where Christ
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  died and was buried and rose again and ascended, and where He
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  will one day return, Jerusalem is the centerpiece of where the
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  word of Yahweh comes out from verse #4 He.
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  So this is the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
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  He will settle disputes among the nations and provide
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  arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into
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  plows and their Spears into pruning knives.
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  Nation will not take up the sword against nation and they
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  will never again train for war. What a thought that this is that
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  God himself is going to live in Jerusalem here.
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  It's not just that there will be good people that are in
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  Jerusalem, but God himself is teaching and arbitrating.
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  I got to tell you guys, I don't know what all this looks like.
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  It just sounds beautiful. This is the story that we were
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  made to believe and to adopt into our lives.
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  Also want to throw out there, war is bad.
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  Unfortunately, that needs to be said in today's day and age.
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  War is an evil, occasionally a necessary evil to protect, but
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  it should never be something that we rejoice in, that we look
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  forward to, that we really want to happen.
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  War is a bad thing and part of Jesus coming back is saying
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  there is no more warring verse #5 House of Jacob come and let's
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  walk in Yahweh's light, for you have abandoned your people, the
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  House of Jacob, because they're full of divination from the east
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  and a fortune tellers like the Philistines.
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  They are in league with foreigners.
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  Their land is full of silver and gold and there is no limit to
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  their treasures. Their land is full of horses and
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  there's no limit to their Chariots.
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  Their land is full of worthless idols.
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  They, they worship the work of their hands with their fingers
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  have made so. Humanity is brought low and each
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  person is humbled. Do not forgive them.
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  Go into the rocks and hide in the dust.
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  From the terror of Yahweh and from His majestic splendor, the
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  pride of mankind will be humbled and human loftiness will be
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  brought low. Yahweh alone will be exalted on
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  that day. OK, I got to rewind because we
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  definitely took a turn, as I'm sure that you heard as well.
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  So verse #5 sounds super encouraging.
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  He says House of Jacob come and let's walk in Yahweh's light,
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  because then it says this. So we need to walk in light of
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  that coming day of God's Kingdom.
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  He says, for you've abandoned your people, the House of Jacob
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  because and here he gives just this giant list of the sins of
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  the nation of Judah. He says, because they are full
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  of divination from the east. So divination is I want to
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  figure out from a spiritual being and that could be through
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  a rolling of dice. It could be through, you know,
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  selecting a specific straw, if you will, kind of in today's day
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  and age it, it could be looking at tarot cards.
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  It could be, you know, using a Ouija board, things like that.
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  That is divination. It is trying to figure out from
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  a spiritual source what might happen in the future, what a
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  right decision is. Previously unknown facts do not
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  ever as the people of God do not do that here.
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  This is talked about as something that will cause God to
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  abandon a nation through consulting other spiritual
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  beings. He says divination from the
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  east. This would be likely Iran, Iraq
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  area, Babylon, Assyria, those types of places.
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  And he says and a fortune tellers like the Philistines
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  that here Judah had looked to people pretending to know the
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  future. Frankly, these days, hopefully
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  not a lot of people are going to fortune tellers anymore.
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  They should know that that's an exercise in futility.
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  Like that's stupid. Don't ever do that.
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  But many people will use AI and they will consult AI about what
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  to do before they'll ever talk to, you know, a pastor or before
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  they will ever talk with like good godly friends, other
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  believers in their local church about what they should do.
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  And that is not a good path to walk down.
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  Consult the Lord, consult the word of God, consult in prayer
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  the Holy Spirit who will guide you into all truth that you need
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  to know instead of seeking the Lord and what the Lord's word
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  says. These people, they weren't going
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  to the prophets, they weren't going to, you know, the Torah,
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  the law, the word. Instead, they were going to
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  divination and fortune tellers says they are in league with
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  foreigners. He says their land is full of
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  silver and gold. Judah was very rich at this
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  time. He says there's no limit to
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  their treasures. Their land is full of horses and
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  there's no limit to their Chariots.
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  Those were two things that Israel's kings were not to amass
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  for themselves. God specifically set that out in
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  the Old Testament law because he said then the kings will place
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  their faith and their trust in their own military might because
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  they have Chariots and horses. He says don't trust in that,
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  trust in me. And here there was a trust in
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  divination, a trust in fortune tellers, a trust in the gods of
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  the other nations, a trust in riches, a trust in military
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  might. Verse #80 says their land is
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  full of worthless idols. They worship the work of their
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  hands, what their fingers have made, what you and I build in
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  our lives, our 401K's, our houses, our families, our good
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  names and reputations, our toys, our possessions.
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  It is just stuff and it cannot save us.
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  It cannot give us ultimate meaning and purpose.
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  And so do not rely on the worthless work of your own
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  hands. Instead, rely on God who richly
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  gives us all things to enjoy. As we just read not too long ago
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  in First Timothy chapter 6 he says so in verse #9 humanity is
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  brought low and each person is humbled.
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  Do not forgive them. Here there is like this prayer
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  from Isaiah for God not to, if you will, not dealing kindly
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  nicely with these people that have turned their back on God
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  and as a result have plunged Judah into wickedness.
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  And then verses 10 and 11. If you've ever read through the
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  Book of Revelation, it'll sound familiar.
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  He says go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror
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  of Yahweh and from his majestic splendor.
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  You can read in Revelation. John applies this and he talks
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  about people hiding from, as he quotes it there, the wrath of
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  the Lamb. That is of course, Jesus Christ,
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  that Jesus is Yahweh. And on that day when Jesus
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  returns, He is bringing judgement with Him.
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  He is. He came the first time as the
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  Lamb that was slain. The next time He's coming, He's
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  coming as the lion of the tribe of Judah.
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  And so on that day with His majestic splendor there, verse
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  #11 the pride of mankind will be humbled and human loftiness will
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  be brought low. Yahweh alone will be exalted on
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  that day. Can I ask you, who are you
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  lifting up today? Are you trusting in riches?
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  Are you trusting in military might?
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  Are you trusting in your 401K or even in your family to be able
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  to give you ultimate meaning and purpose?
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  They cannot and will not ever be what you need ultimately in
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  life. That has to come from Yahweh
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  verse #12 for a day belonging to Yahweh of Heaven's armies.
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  If you're looking here, this is the Lord, that's the
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  Tetragrammaton Yahweh. And then here of armies, kind of
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  older way to phrase it would be the Lord of hosts or Yahweh of
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  hosts. I like specifying the armies
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  here talked about are Yahweh of Heaven's armies, that it is
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  God's angels that are coming with Him.
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  He says for a day belonging to Yahweh of Heaven's armies is
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  coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is
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  lifted up, it will be humbled. So everything in human
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  governments and societies that think that it is strong and
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  mighty and able to be built on God is going to bring all of it
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  down. This world's systems and
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  societies will all crumble before the face of God Himself.
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  He says against all the Cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up
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  so great like timber, shipbuilding, creations, all of
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  that is going to be brought down and humbled, he says against all
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  the oaks of Bashan. This was a place of actually
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  there was a lot of idol worship That's there.
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  You can read, I think it's Psalm 22 that one of the Gospel
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  accounts references, it talks about the oaks of or sorry, the
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  oxen of Bashan have pierced me through in that it's kind of a
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  Messianic Psalm talking about Jesus and what he went through
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  and attacks both like spiritually and physically that
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  he was going through. But here oaks, this would be
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  timber. You would use it for building,
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  He would use it for ships, all that kind of stuff.
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  As with Lebanon, he says. Against all the high mountains,
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  against all the lofty hills, these places of false worship of
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  the gods. It's going down, he says,
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  against every high tower, against every fortified wall,
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  against military might. It's coming down in the face of
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  Jesus, He says, against every ship of Tarshish and against
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  every splendid sea vessel, the pride of mankind will be brought
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  low, and human loftiness will be humbled.
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  Yahweh alone will be exalted. On that day, the worthless idols
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  will vanish completely. You want to know what some idols
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  are here? Commerce, false worship,
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  military might, and like the greatest accomplishments of
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  mankind, all of it is worthless in the face of God.
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  Verse 19. People will go into caves in the
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  rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of Yahweh
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  and from His majestic splendor. When He rises to terrify the
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  earth on that day, people will throw their worthless idols of
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  silver and gold which they made to worship, to the moles and the
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  bats, these cave dwelling creatures.
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  He says they will go into the caves of the rocks and the
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  crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of Yahweh and
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  from His majestic splendor. When He rises to terrify the
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  earth, put no more trust in a mere human who has only the
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  breath in his nostrils. What is He really worth if you
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  will? Don't rely on the other nations.
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  Don't rely on gods. Don't rely on commerce.
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  Don't rely on military might. Instead, trust only in God.
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  And for you and I today, we can think that other things will
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  keep us safe. We can think that people will be
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  our ultimate answer and hear what God says is no.
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  On that day of judgement, all that matters is your
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  relationship with him. Because when God shows up, you
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  can either be one of the people who have been awaiting him and
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  you're excited to see your God. He is the one that you have
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  wanted, the one you have lived for.
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  Or he can be the one that you are accountable to, that you
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  have rebelled against him, you have worshipped everything but
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  him, or you have worshipped him and a bunch of other stuff.
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  And on the day when Jesus returns, all that will matter is
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  your relationship with the judge of the whole earth.
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  Can I ask you today, do you know Him as your Lord and your
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  Savior? There is no more important thing
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  that you can know in life than if you have a relationship with
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  God through Jesus Christ. I love the the pictures of this
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  even as I think about Jesus's return.
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  Certainly a a fearful day, a day of dread, but Oh my goodness, I
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  cannot wait to see my Jesus in power, destroying all that is
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  broken and evil in our world and in its place putting His
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  ultimate goodness and righteousness.
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  That there will be no more war and instead all the peoples will
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  come to Jesus. We will be taught by Him.
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  We will learn what to do and what is right from the mouth of
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  the eternal Word, the Lamb who is slain and the Lion of Judah
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  who reigns on the throne of his father David forever.
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  Looking forward to that. Well, next episode we'll hit up
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  chapter 3 and looking forward to that time with y'all.