Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #149. The King Who Was Written Into History Before He Lived: One of Scripture's Most Astonishing Prophesies | Isaiah 41-48

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#149. The King Who Was Written Into History Before He Lived: One of Scripture's Most Astonishing Prophesies | Isaiah 41-48 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is the Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we have the delight of going through Isaiah 42 through 48.
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  We're in the third section of Isaiah, and so much of it points to Christ.
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  There's a reason Isaiah is known as the fifth gospel.
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  Yesterday, God comforted his people who were in exile in Babylon.
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  But wait, Isaiah lived and wrote around 700 BC, And the Southern Kingdom didn't even fall to Babylon until 586 BC.
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  So how is Isaiah writing this?
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  Well, he certainly proved himself as a worthy prophet in the previous chapters And if you'd like to understand a little bit more About the different theories on how his prophecies came to be I'm going to link a helpful
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  video from the Bible Project that explains it a little bit more.
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  in chapter forty-two, we encounter some verses that are directly quoted of Jesus in Matthew twelve.
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  It occurs right after Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath.
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  And the Pharisees conspire how to destroy Jesus Jesus is aware of this.
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  He withdraws and many follow him, and he healed them all, and ordered them not to make him known.
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  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah.
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  Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
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  I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
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  He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his
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  name the Gentiles will hope."
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  Jesus knew that healing the people and proclaiming the truth would ultimately end his life.
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  But he did it, and he didn't just do it for Israel He did it for the Gentiles and for you and I as well.
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  You may have had a little bit of an issue learning yesterday that the angel of the Lord killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, and it's quite likely that this was Jesus before He took on human flesh.
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  You might wrestle a little bit in your spirit to reconcile this Jesus who came to restore and heal and save with a Jesus who also brings judgment, but He is certainly the same perfect God.
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  He is a Savior that lays down His life so that we don't have to, but to all who reject Him, He will judge, and He will certainly protect His bride There have been many times in my life where
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  I've meditated on that phrase, a bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.
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  There are times I felt so beaten down by circumstances, and I feel I just can't take anymore.
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  I've come to this verse and said, "Lord, have mercy.
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  I'm pleading with you to protect me from any more trials right now."
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  Sometimes, in His kindness, I felt Him spare me, yet often, I felt Him strengthen me to handle more, and I can only rejoice in the fact that He goes with me to bear it all More of Christ's mission
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  is unveiled in verses six through nine.
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  As the Father says to him, I am the Lord.
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  I have called you in righteousness.
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  I will take you by the hand and keep you.
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  I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
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  I am the Lord, that is my name.
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  My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
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  Behold, the former things have come to pass, and the new things I now declare.
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  Before they spring forth, I tell you of them."
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  Israel has chosen to not submit to the Lord,, to the lordship of Yahweh.
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  So he's initiating a new covenant but the people are thinking, "How can you be a good God if you let us go into captivity?"
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  Chapters 41 through 47 are like a trial scene in which God is saying, Not only did I allow it, I sovereignly ordained it, but I did it for your good you'll probably recognize these next verses from Isaiah 43
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  But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you.
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  I have called you by name, you are mine.
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  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.
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  When you walk through fire, you shall not be burnt, and the flame shall not consume you.
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  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
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  I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
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  Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you, I give men in exchange for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
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  Fear not, for I am with you And verse ten says, "You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
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  Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
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  I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
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  I declared and saved and proclaimed."
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  Before my third son was born, god put a portion of this chapter on my heart for his life verses I've talked about it before, but when he was five, he went through several lengthy hospital stays.
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  And I remember thinking, "Why in the world did I choose these verses for him?
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  Clearly, they speak of trial."
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  But I watched as God strengthened my little boy and his character.
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  I watched him be God's witness to every nurse and doctor that came in the room, a few years ago, Everett's siblings asked him, "Do you wish it never happened?"
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  And he said, No.
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  how could I wish away God's plans for me?
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  He has a good plan for my life, and I trust Him."
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  I saw how the Lord strengthened him through this, and through the years, I've learned to understand why God called me to select these verses for him As he's endured more and more health challenges, And I've realized not to
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  pray off this part of his story, but to rejoice in God's nearness and protection over his life.
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  But I don't mean to make it seem that I think these verses are just about us, because God's greater purposes are certainly at work.
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  as verse eighteen says, Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
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  Behold, I am doing a new thing.
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  Now it springs forth.
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  Do you not perceive it?
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  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
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  The wild beasts will honor Me, and jackals and ostriches.
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  For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, the people whom I formed for Myself, that they might declare My praise."
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  We have the honor of being God's witnesses and of bringing Him the praise He so rightly deserves as He does this new thing of rescuing us through Jesus Christ But Israel still doesn't recognize it, and in the next
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  verses, God rebukes them for not being faithful to Him.
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  And that's what makes God's response in verse 25 all the more beautiful.
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  I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
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  God continues to reveal his character in forty-four six through eight.
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  Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last.
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  Besides me, there is no God.
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  Who is like me?
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  Let him proclaim it.
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  Let him declare and set it before me since I appointed an ancient people.
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  Let them declare what is to come and what will happen.
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  Fear not, nor be afraid.
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  Have I not told you from of old and declared it?
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  And you are my witnesses.
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  Is there a God besides me?
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  There is no rock, I know not any As God rightfully elevates His perfect character, there are also several portions that rebuke the worship of idols.
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  One such section is in 44:14 through 20.
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  And as I read the absolute absurdity of worshiping what we can make with our hands, I hope it inspires you to consider if there's anything in your life that you pursue more than the Lord would have you The
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  carpenter cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
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  He plants a cedar, and the rain nourishes it.
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  Then it becomes fuel for a man.
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  He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
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  Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.
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  Half of it he burns in the fire; over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied.
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  Also he warms himself and says, “Aha!
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  I am warm, I have seen the fire”; and the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down and worships it.
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  He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
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  They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
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  No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals.
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  I roasted meat and have eaten.
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  And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
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  Shall I fall down before a block of wood?
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  He feeds on ashes.
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  A deluded heart has led him astray.
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  And he cannot deliver himself or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
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  This satire is so convicting about the foolishness of worshiping anything apart from the Lord Chapter 44 concludes with God declaring that Cyrus is his shepherd and that he will fulfill God's purpose and help rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
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  Chapter 45 continues, Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him, that gates may not be
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  closed.
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  I will go before you and level the exalted places."
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  I'm gonna pull out a few other phrases from God's declaration to Cyrus.
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  You may not know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by name.
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  For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel, my chosen, I call you by name.
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  I name you, though you do not know me.
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  I equip you, though you do not know me."
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  King Cyrus, or Cyrus the Great, is mentioned about 30 times in scripture.
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  He reigned over Persia between 539 and 530 BC, and this is what is so incredible.
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  These verses not only declare what God used Cyrus to do, they say his very name And Isaiah wrote these about 150 years before Cyrus walked the earth.
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  This king that did not submit to the God of Israel was used to accomplish His purposes and fulfill His prophecies.
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  They're some of the most specific, incredible prophecies in Scripture.
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  Could we serve a God that is more powerful or sovereign?
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  Remember that proverb that says that a king's heart is like water in the Lord's hands, and that He moves it whichever way He pleases?
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  It's absolutely true.
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  So do you and I need to fear about anything today?
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  Is anything too hard for the Lord?
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  Is there anything that he's not able to work in our kids' hearts or in our marriages?
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  Or in our circumstances?
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  Absolutely not God is going to use this pagan King Cyrus To bring good, to be God's shepherd, and to rebuild the temple.
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  It's astounding that 45:1 even says that Cyrus is God's anointed, which is sometimes translated Messiah.
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  the historian Josephus even wrote that Cyrus was informed of the biblical prophecies written about him, and it's likely that this was done by the prophet Daniel.
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  I just love how God reveals Himself and what He's going to do, and how some prophecies are shrouded in mystery, and we don't understand until they happen, and some could not be more clear like these In 45:19, God
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  says, I am the Lord, and there is no other.
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  I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness.
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  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, Seek me in vain.'
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  I, the Lord, speak the truth.
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  I declare what is right.
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  Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.
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  For I am God, and there is no other.
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  By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance."
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  This new thing that God is doing is for all the people as he says, "Be saved to the ends of the earth."
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  In chapter 46, God repeats this phrase again, For I am the Lord, and there is no other.
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  I am God, and there is none like me."
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  And that's why it's completely appropriate that God condemns the lovers of pleasure who say of themselves, "I am, and there is no one beside me."
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  God tells them, "You felt secure in your wickedness.
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  You said, 'No one sees me.'
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  Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray."
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  After God calls Israel obstinate and stiff-necked, in Isaiah 48 verse 9, he begins, For my name's sake, I defer my anger.
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  For the sake of my praise, I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.
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  Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver.
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  I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
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  For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it."
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  For how should my name be profaned?
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  My glory I will not give to another.
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  There's an elder at my church that talks about God's glory gauntlet, that He rightfully loves His glory.
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  But the thing is, God's glory is good for you and for me because in verse 17 He says, I'm your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
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  I am the Lord your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
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  Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments.
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  Then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea."
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  Your offspring would have been like the sand and your descendants like its grain.
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  Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me God has good things stored up for us, and when we give Him His glory and walk in righteousness, peace is available to us But the last line
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  from our reading today is a striking juxtaposition to this.
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  There is no peace," says the Lord, for the wicked."
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  Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that You are the Lord and there is no other.
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  And what You declare will come to pass.
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  You are sovereign over kings and nations.
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  And we ask for forgiveness when we pray so shortsightedly, pleading with You to change the hearts of our family members and acting as though this is a difficult thing for You We recognize that sometimes you use affliction and
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  captivity to refine us.
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  So we pray that we would not be stiff-necked, but instead readily surrender to your ways.
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  May we choose and our children choose to follow your commandments that we could walk in the peace that righteousness brings Thank you that you're with us in difficult times.
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  We pray that our kids would experience that when they walk through the waters, you are with them, and through the rivers that they would not be overwhelmed, and through the fire that they shall not be consumed.
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  But we know that's only true if they look to you as their salvation, and we pray you bring it about for every child of every mom listening.
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  I also pray for those that feel like a bruised reed or a faintly burning wick.
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  Jesus, we thank you that you will be merciful to them.
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  It's in your name we pray, amen