Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 719. Bible Study: Isaiah 28 (Jesus is the "Cornerstone" who broke the power of "Death" that Satan held

Transcript

719. Bible Study: Isaiah 28 (Jesus is the "Cornerstone" who broke the power of "Death" that Satan held · Faith by annm2705

• 0:00
  Chapter 27 from the book of Isaiah first to prayer.
• 0:04
  Dear God, please let the Holy Spirit give us wisdom and
• 0:08
  insight as we read through this in Jesus name.
• 0:12
  This says woe to the leaders of Ephraim and Judah.
• 0:16
  So Ephraim is part of the northern Kingdom, and Judah is
• 0:22
  part of the southern Kingdom, and they have different
• 0:25
  leadership at the time that Isaiah was mentioning this.
• 0:29
  So it says woe to that wreath. The pride of Ephraim's drunkards
• 0:36
  to the fading flower, his glorious beauty set on the head
• 0:40
  of a fertile valley to that city, the pride of those laid
• 0:46
  low by wine. OK, when I've read that, I
• 0:50
  wondered, what is the wreath? Actually, the study Bible says
• 0:54
  gives information about that. So what was this wreath?
• 0:58
  This was a picture of Samaria, the capital of the northern
• 1:02
  Kingdom of Israel. Like a floral crown or a wreath
• 1:07
  worn by some some at ancient parties, Samaria sat proudly on
• 1:13
  a hill at the head of a fertile valley.
• 1:17
  Isaiah called Samaria the pride of Ephraim's drunkards.
• 1:23
  The prophet Amos also castigated Samaria for the indulgence and
• 1:29
  drunkenness of its people. So still so this Isaiah is
• 1:35
  comparing them to a wreath. But I didn't quite understand
• 1:40
  what what was significant about the wreath and drunkenness in
• 1:45
  722 BC. So what's that all about?
• 1:49
  So I did look that up and the Laurel wreath was actually
• 1:53
  linked to Apollo in 722 BEC so BCE.
• 1:59
  So again, this is idolatry for God.
• 2:02
  This is like one of the the Greek gods.
• 2:06
  And it's kind of weird that Apollo kind of sounds like
• 2:10
  Apollyon, who is the destroyer. And it all, again, this all ties
• 2:15
  together in my mind that all of these different entities are
• 2:21
  somehow connected, you know, because that's the one thing
• 2:25
  that God doesn't want us to do is worship other gods.
• 2:30
  And so when we see that there's all these other cultures that
• 2:32
  have these different gods, I still believe you can listen to
• 2:37
  my last podcast, so I won't make this one as long.
• 2:40
  OK. Then the wreath also symbolized
• 2:43
  good luck and protection, and it was dedicated often to the
• 2:49
  goddess Ishtar. So again, another false God that
• 2:53
  was worshipped back at the time. But there was a connection to
• 2:55
  that. And then in the Pagan world, it
• 2:58
  was represented. It represented life and
• 3:02
  fertility and especially during the winter solstice.
• 3:06
  The other thing that was kind of interesting about the wreath is
• 3:08
  supposedly the plant would, if you wore it on your head, it
• 3:13
  would help to alleviate some of the, I guess the headaches or
• 3:19
  whatever that came from drunkenness.
• 3:21
  It was believed that that plant would soothe that.
• 3:24
  So people would wear that and these would be at social
• 3:26
  gatherings that they would Greek symposia where they would be
• 3:32
  drinking. It was a social gathering and a
• 3:34
  lot of times it was had. It was relevant to the Olympic
• 3:40
  traditions, the victory celebration, those kinds of
• 3:45
  things. So this is definitely getting
• 3:48
  into the culture back at that time and what was happening.
• 3:52
  OK, continuing on in verse 2, see the Lord has one who is
• 3:57
  powerful and strong like a hailstorm and a destructive
• 4:01
  wind, like a driving rain and flooding downpour.
• 4:06
  He will throw it forcefully to the ground.
• 4:09
  That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, will be
• 4:14
  trampled under foot. It kind of sounds like what
• 4:18
  Jesus will do to Satan in the end, doesn't it?
• 4:21
  Like what was prophesied or what was told in advance in Genesis
• 4:26
  that Jesus would crush his head and he would strike Jesus heel
• 4:32
  in Genesis about Jesus. So let's see that fading flower,
• 4:39
  his glorious beauty. Now see this is talking about
• 4:42
  him. So again, I think this is really
• 4:45
  like a prophetic word like Isaiah may not have even known
• 4:48
  what he was saying and he these words were just coming to him
• 4:52
  through God where he was. He was actually expressing this,
• 4:59
  how Jesus was going to defeat Satan and that fading flower.
• 5:04
  Remember, Satan was supposedly made beautiful and made wise and
• 5:10
  he had all of these wonderful attributes, but that wasn't
• 5:13
  enough. He wasn't satisfied.
• 5:15
  He wanted more and he wanted to be worshipped.
• 5:18
  And I think that's what he did with his fallen angels when he
• 5:20
  came here to to earth and appeared to people.
• 5:24
  And we found out in Deuteronomy chapter 32 that those gods
• 5:28
  recently appeared to the Israelites.
• 5:31
  They had never known them before, but all of a sudden they
• 5:35
  appeared to them. So it's really kind of
• 5:37
  interesting. The Book of Enoch probably
• 5:38
  should be in the Bible. Let's see the fading flower.
• 5:43
  His glorious beauty set on the head of a fertile valley will be
• 5:47
  like figs ripe before harvest. As soon as the people see them
• 5:51
  and take them in hand, they swallow them in that day.
• 5:55
  So again, this is talking about the last days of this age.
• 6:01
  In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown.
• 6:05
  So this is comparing, this is what Jesus is compare is being
• 6:09
  compared to the wreaths that they were wearing.
• 6:11
  But this is referring to Jesus. Again in 722 BC.
• 6:14
  This is referring to Jesus and there's a couple times here too.
• 6:18
  A beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.
• 6:22
  Remember, there's going to be like 12,000 from each tribe
• 6:25
  that'll be saved. And so this will, this is Jesus.
• 6:29
  He will be a spirit of justice, the one who sits in judgement.
• 6:36
  Remember, all authority was given to Jesus and God reigns
• 6:39
  with justice, a source of strength to those who turn back
• 6:44
  at the battle at the gate. So in that day, the Lord
• 6:49
  Almighty will be a glorious crown.
• 6:51
  Jesus will reign for 1000 years. So this is talking about that
• 6:56
  thousands of years. I mean, it still hasn't happened
• 6:59
  yet. So this is still a prophecy that
• 7:02
  has to be fulfilled. And that's what Jesus does.
• 7:05
  He fulfills all these prophecies.
• 7:07
  So he is returning at some point, continuing on in verse 7.
• 7:13
  And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer.
• 7:18
  Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with
• 7:22
  wine. So he's Isaiah's really speaking
• 7:26
  against the priests and the prophets who are not leading the
• 7:29
  people properly and they're getting drunk with them.
• 7:33
  And and then it goes on to show later how they're mocking
• 7:37
  Isaiah, like what he's saying. They reel from beer.
• 7:42
  They stagger when seeing visions.
• 7:46
  So the profits, you know, they see visions and they stagger
• 7:49
  when seeing visions. They stumble when rendering
• 7:52
  decisions. All the tables are covered with
• 7:55
  vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
• 8:01
  Do you ever wonder if maybe that's why scripture says be
• 8:05
  alert and of sober mind? Because the devil prowls looking
• 8:09
  for his next victim. So I know Jesus would drink wine
• 8:15
  with people, but I think there's a point of drinking wine versus
• 8:21
  getting drunk with it. And there's a difference.
• 8:23
  And when people are getting drunk with it, good things don't
• 8:29
  happen in a spiritual sense. Who is he trying to reach?
• 8:37
  To whom is he explaining his message?
• 8:41
  So I guess these guys are out drunk and they're trying to talk
• 8:43
  to people about something spiritual related to children
• 8:51
  weaned from their milk to those just taken from the breast.
• 8:55
  So these must be like new believers, that those who
• 9:00
  believe, you know, the young people and they're talking,
• 9:04
  they're in their drunken state talking to these people.
• 9:07
  For it is do this, do that. A rule for this, a rule for
• 9:11
  that. A little here, a little there.
• 9:14
  Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues, God
• 9:18
  will speak to this people. So this could be.
• 9:22
  I'll read what the study Bible says about this.
• 9:25
  How would God use foreigners to speak to this people?
• 9:30
  The Assyrians are surely in view either their destruction of
• 9:34
  Samaria and the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC or their devastation
• 9:39
  of Judah in seven O 1 BC. If the Israelites couldn't
• 9:44
  understand plain Hebrew, God would teach them through the
• 9:48
  Akkadian language of the Assyrians.
• 9:52
  In reality it was through the Assyrians swords that God would
• 9:57
  speak his message that he was serious about the Israelites sin
• 10:03
  and their need for repentance. So often I talk about us
• 10:07
  learning from Scripture and we are given all these examples and
• 10:12
  the history repeats itself and it goes over and over again and
• 10:15
  God doesn't have favoritism. So if God did this to the
• 10:21
  Israelites, don't you think he would do that to all of us if we
• 10:28
  are continue to sin and we don't have any repentance?
• 10:33
  I mean, again, these these prophets, it seems like their
• 10:36
  main message was repent, turn away from sin and turn towards
• 10:42
  God, you know, become like God through the power of the Holy
• 10:49
  Spirit, surrender your will to God's will.
• 10:53
  That seems to be the consistent message that goes throughout
• 10:56
  Scripture. And a lot of people are, are not
• 10:59
  getting the message and they're looking at all these rules.
• 11:02
  They're, it's, it's not all these rules to follow.
• 11:05
  It's very simple. Just surrender and let God guide
• 11:10
  you and reads, you know, you can read scripture to find out what
• 11:15
  does God, how does God want us to live?
• 11:17
  If you're not familiar with that, that's what the Bible
• 11:19
  does. It says that the Bible is, is
• 11:21
  there for teaching. That's what this book is all
• 11:24
  about and giving us knowledge. And then when we have knowledge,
• 11:29
  the wisdom is the application of that knowledge.
• 11:33
  So continuing in verse 12, to whom he said, this is the
• 11:37
  resting place, let the weary rest, and this is the place of
• 11:41
  repose. But they would not listen.
• 11:44
  So then the word of the Lord to them will become.
• 11:50
  So God had a plan that they would give, they would get rest,
• 11:55
  they would live in this territory of Israel, but they
• 11:59
  were never obedient to God's commands.
• 12:01
  And what He said to do, they would partially do it, but then
• 12:04
  they wouldn't go all the way through.
• 12:06
  And so they never fully occupied all the land that God gave them,
• 12:11
  that God promised to them. Because of their sin, they kept
• 12:15
  getting exiled from their lands. So because they don't listen to
• 12:21
  God, they don't get the rest. It just keeps coming.
• 12:25
  You know, they just keep having to deal with the consequences of
• 12:29
  their sin. And then it says, so the word of
• 12:32
  the Lord to them will become, do this, do that, a rule for this,
• 12:37
  a rule for that, a little here, a little there, so that they so
• 12:41
  that as they go, they will fall backward, they will be injured
• 12:48
  and snared and captured. So if you're thinking about it's
• 12:53
  just a matter of rule keeping, then it's not going to work out
• 12:58
  well again, just because we cannot achieve salvation by
• 13:03
  doing good works. And that's what the Scripture is
• 13:07
  really saying, you know that you can't.
• 13:09
  It's not all these rules because they, the Israelites had a lot
• 13:13
  of rules for things, but it was about becoming holy like God is
• 13:21
  and God giving an example of what he expected because God is
• 13:24
  holy. And to consider the fact that we
• 13:29
  are children of God and we are either rebellious children of
• 13:34
  God, we're all created by God. So ultimately we are all
• 13:37
  children of God, but it's a matter of do we respect God and
• 13:43
  do we reflect God? Are we reflecting God's?
• 13:48
  If somebody sees us, do they see a reflection of God or do they
• 13:52
  see a reflection of his enemy? OK, going back to verse 14.
• 13:58
  Therefore, hear the word of the Lord.
• 14:00
  You scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem, you boast.
• 14:05
  We have entered into a covenant with death, but the realm of the
• 14:09
  dead with the realm of the dead, we have made an agreement.
• 14:14
  Now that just threw me off. And this is interesting though
• 14:21
  the study Bible says why did they make a covenant with death?
• 14:25
  This was probably a reference to an alliance with Egypt, which
• 14:30
  the people of Judah believed would guarantee them life rather
• 14:34
  than death when Assyria, the overwhelming scourge, came.
• 14:39
  Some think this covenant with death may also have involved
• 14:43
  calling on the gods of Egypt, such as Osiris, the God of the
• 14:49
  underworld, instead of finding themselves, instead of finding
• 14:55
  themselves immortal. When the Assyrians swept in,
• 14:59
  however, the self deceived people of Judah would be beaten
• 15:02
  down. So again, it's going to false
• 15:05
  gods. And ultimately, what are these
• 15:08
  false gods? Are these Satan?
• 15:11
  Are these some of Satan's colleagues?
• 15:14
  I don't know, but it sure seems like this idolatry is something
• 15:19
  that is pretty common in what even like the first commandment
• 15:26
  that God gave? As you shall have no other
• 15:28
  before me. So God is the priority.
• 15:31
  No idols, no other gods. And if Satan appears like a God
• 15:38
  to people, which he he does, then I look at this, the
• 15:43
  covenant with death is covenant with Satan.
• 15:46
  And the reason why I also look at that when it talks about
• 15:50
  death, if you want death, it's a covenant with Satan because in
• 15:54
  Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, it says since the children have
• 16:00
  flesh and blood, he too referring to Jesus, shared in
• 16:04
  their humanity so that by his death he might break the power
• 16:10
  of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil.
• 16:18
  So the devil hold held the power of death until Jesus died on the
• 16:23
  cross and that's when he broke that power.
• 16:27
  And so back at this time the the devil or Satan still held that
• 16:33
  power of death and they entered into a covenant.
• 16:36
  Whenever you are turning to any anything rather than God, you
• 16:41
  are ultimately getting into a covenant with an enemy of God.
• 16:45
  You're either for God or you're against God.
• 16:48
  And we need to come to that realization and, and actually do
• 16:55
  something about that. So back to scripture.
• 16:59
  When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us,
• 17:03
  for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood, our hiding
• 17:09
  place. Again, a lie.
• 17:11
  I think I, I really truly believe that all religions
• 17:17
  besides the what's in the Bible is, are, are lies.
• 17:21
  They're lies from the evil 1. All of these false gods, all of
• 17:25
  these idols, all of these ancient hieroglyphics and
• 17:30
  inscriptions on walls and in artifacts, all these deities
• 17:35
  that people worshipped. I think that is all the, the
• 17:39
  workings of the fallen angels. And that's my opinion.
• 17:43
  And, and I think these are all the false gods.
• 17:45
  And, and I think today we even have false religions that don't
• 17:50
  believe in the true God. They make up things.
• 17:54
  It's, it's not, it's not in alignment with the Bible.
• 18:00
  And none of these, oh gosh, I don't even, I don't, I can't
• 18:07
  even comment about all the different religions.
• 18:09
  But Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one
• 18:14
  comes to the Father except through me and that is and then
• 18:19
  again, you know you must be born again if you were going to be
• 18:23
  into the Kingdom of God. So we need the Holy Spirit and
• 18:26
  those are the only ways to be in the Kingdom of God, the creator
• 18:30
  of everything. So let's see, what else over 16.
• 18:37
  So this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
• 18:39
  See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious
• 18:45
  cornerstone for a sure foundation.
• 18:49
  The one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
• 18:54
  Now this is really interesting, so I'll read what the study
• 18:57
  Bible says. What kind of cornerstone did God
• 18:59
  lay? The temple was built on a large
• 19:02
  rock used as a threshing floor. The rock may have been called a
• 19:07
  tested stone because threshing a symbol of judgement and God's
• 19:13
  testing took place on it. Tested stone could also mean a
• 19:17
  rock to which other cut stones were tested for accurate sizing.
• 19:23
  This image of the cornerstone was later applied to Christ and
• 19:28
  it gives 11 reference in first Peter.
• 19:31
  However, if you look up Cornerstone in a
• 19:35
  blueletterbible.org you will find numerous references to it
• 19:42
  and I will read some of those because this is most of, I mean
• 19:47
  there are actually 9 references to Cornerstone that refer to
• 19:51
  Jesus by 7 different people. So God always has a multiple
• 19:57
  witnesses to establish truth. And here we actually have seven
• 20:02
  people who are saying the same thing about the cornerstone.
• 20:05
  So I'm going to read that to you because the cornerstone is
• 20:10
  Jesus. So I'll read this and then.
• 20:14
  Read Isaiah again, but let's start with Psalm 118.
• 20:18
  The stone the build builders rejected has become the
• 20:22
  cornerstone. So the builders of the Jewish
• 20:26
  people, they rejected Jesus and he's become the cornerstone.
• 20:30
  And that was written way before Jesus was even born in Psalm
• 20:35
  118. So it's Psalms have prophecies
• 20:37
  in it which are very interesting.
• 20:39
  And then we have Zechariah verse our chapter 10 verse 4.
• 20:47
  From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent
• 20:53
  peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler.
• 20:59
  So from Judah, Jesus is from the tribe of Judah from him the tent
• 21:05
  peg. I'd need to read that in
• 21:07
  context. I know I've talked about that
• 21:09
  one before from him, the battle bow.
• 21:12
  He basically he can control every war that goes on and from
• 21:18
  him every ruler. God appoints the rulers.
• 21:21
  He he lets them be there and he takes them away and he uses
• 21:25
  their will. We'll see this their desire he
• 21:29
  can use for his purpose and because he gives us free will.
• 21:35
  So then in Matthew chapter 21 verse 42, Jesus said this, Jesus
• 21:42
  said to them, have you never read in Scripture?
• 21:46
  The stone the builders had rejected has become the
• 21:49
  cornerstone. The Lord has done this and it
• 21:52
  and it is marvelous in our eyes. And then in Mark chapter 12,
• 22:00
  verse 10, haven't you read the passage of Scripture?
• 22:03
  The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
• 22:07
  And then in Luke, Jesus looked directly at them and asked then
• 22:13
  what is the meaning of that which is written?
• 22:16
  The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and
• 22:23
  he and then he goes on to say this is in Luke chapter 20 verse
• 22:26
  17 and 18. Everyone who falls on that stone
• 22:31
  will be broken to pieces. Anyone on whom it falls will be
• 22:36
  crushed. That's kind of you have to
• 22:39
  really think about that one. So anyone who falls on that
• 22:42
  stone will be broken to pieces. We we tend to get humble or when
• 22:48
  we are humbled, when we are in a humble place, when we are broken
• 22:52
  to pieces, we tend to fall on Jesus.
• 22:56
  We rely on Jesus and then anyone on whom it falls will be
• 23:01
  crushed. Those would be the enemies that
• 23:04
  will be crushed just like Jesus will crush the head of Satan.
• 23:09
  And anyway. So let's see what else is there.
• 23:15
  In Acts chapter 4 it clearly states this Jesus is the stone
• 23:22
  you builders rejected which has become the cornerstone.
• 23:26
  So they are speaking to the Jews here and then in Ephesians 220
• 23:31
  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with
• 23:35
  Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
• 23:41
  So this comparison to a cornerstone it is off is many
• 23:45
  times made to Jesus. And then we have first Peter
• 23:48
  chapter 2 verse 6. For in Scripture it says, see I
• 23:52
  lay a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the
• 23:55
  one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
• 24:00
  And then first Peter chapter 2 verse 7.
• 24:04
  Now to you who believe this stone is precious, but to those
• 24:09
  who do not believe the stone the builders rejected has become the
• 24:13
  cornerstone. So some people will see it and
• 24:16
  others will not. OK then going back to verse 18
• 24:22
  of Isaiah, your covenant with death will be annulled.
• 24:26
  Your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.
• 24:30
  Could this perhaps be? Actually, I skipped over some
• 24:36
  verses here, so I have to back up.
• 24:39
  So we talked about, I'm just going to read from verse 16.
• 24:43
  See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious
• 24:47
  cornerstone for a sure foundation.
• 24:49
  The one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
• 24:52
  There's this peace without understanding when we have the
• 24:56
  Holy Spirit, peace in all circumstances that comes from
• 25:00
  God. It's not possible to have that
• 25:03
  on our own. We have this peace in knowing
• 25:06
  God that happens in our life. And then he says, I will make
• 25:12
  justice the measuring line and righteousness the plum line.
• 25:17
  So Jesus will reign with justice, righteousness.
• 25:21
  And then listen to this hail will sweep away your refuge.
• 25:26
  The lie and water will overflow your hiding place.
• 25:31
  I think about this every time we have these weather incidences
• 25:34
  where there's this unusual amount of hail or unusual amount
• 25:40
  of water. And I do think these are
• 25:43
  warnings from God, and I know that people can control the
• 25:50
  weather, that they can put particles into the air and
• 25:53
  'cause these things to happen. But then again, remember that
• 25:58
  God can use people's I'll intent for his own purposes.
• 26:03
  He can also make it fail. He could make it not work out
• 26:06
  for them. So even if it's simply just a
• 26:10
  matter of human beings causing this, still I believe this these
• 26:16
  are warnings from God because Scripture talks about this all
• 26:21
  the time where hail is used. Even in the Book of Revelation,
• 26:25
  the hail gets really big. I mean, I think it's there might
• 26:27
  be a two ton hail that comes down or something in the very,
• 26:31
  very end, the wrath of God. So there's there's these going
• 26:35
  to be like significant damage, but God always does a little bit
• 26:40
  to it. It seems like it starts out
• 26:42
  small with his judgement and then it gets bigger if people
• 26:46
  are not listening. And I think right now God is
• 26:49
  trying to get our attention to turn to him for refuge, not to
• 26:54
  rely on ourselves, but to turn to him in all of this.
• 27:01
  So you're your covenant with death will be annulled.
• 27:05
  Your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand Again,
• 27:10
  that reminds that makes me go back to that Hebrews 214 where
• 27:16
  it says since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared
• 27:21
  in their humanity, so that by his death he might break the
• 27:24
  power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil.
• 27:28
  So the covenant with death will be annulled.
• 27:32
  Jesus is going to take that away.
• 27:33
  But they don't even know this. They don't realize what is being
• 27:36
  said in this, in this chap, in this, you know, by Isaiah.
• 27:41
  When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten
• 27:46
  down by it as often as it comes. It will carry you away morning
• 27:52
  after morning, by day and by night it will sweep through.
• 27:57
  So I think this almost says like there's like this periodic an
• 28:03
  overwhelming scourge that comes through and each time it
• 28:07
  devastates people. And we can see that when we look
• 28:11
  at natural disasters and things that happen in the world, we see
• 28:15
  these things repeatedly happening.
• 28:17
  But what if these things, you know, maybe they're from God's
• 28:22
  enemy, the destruction that that the enemy wants, the enemy wants
• 28:28
  to destroy God's people, God's children, all of us.
• 28:32
  So of course it's coming from that way.
• 28:36
  But God uses it for his will. Like a lot of times he will use
• 28:41
  it to wake people up, to get people to prioritize, to put
• 28:44
  their priorities in the right place, to shake them up.
• 28:49
  That's what he says. There's going to be another
• 28:51
  shaking and a very significant one because that's usually when
• 28:55
  people turn, finally turn to God.
• 28:57
  People in good times, there's really, you know, people don't
• 29:02
  realize a need for God. And but then when things get
• 29:08
  really rough, that's when people turn to God.
• 29:11
  But God really wants us to turn to him at all times when things
• 29:15
  are good. He would appreciate us actually
• 29:19
  thanking him for that and being grateful for the good things
• 29:22
  that we have. But often it's just we forget
• 29:25
  about God and we just enjoy the good things.
• 29:28
  But then when something bad happens, then we start praying.
• 29:32
  So hopefully we can start to change that and start praying
• 29:36
  all the time so we can thank God for the good days and then pray
• 29:40
  to him on the bad days when bad things happen.
• 29:42
  Because as this says, you know, especially as a result of sin,
• 29:47
  as often as it comes, it will carry you away morning after
• 29:50
  morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through the
• 29:54
  understanding of this message, will bring sheer terror.
• 29:59
  I mean, yeah, if you think about it like, you don't know what the
• 30:03
  next day holds. You don't know what terror
• 30:06
  awaits, whether it's from God's enemy, but God has ultimate
• 30:11
  control over it. So wouldn't it be good to have a
• 30:17
  relationship with God, to have a relationship with someone who
• 30:20
  can do something about that? What's happening?
• 30:25
  And OK, so the bed is too short to stretch out on the blanket,
• 30:32
  too narrow to wrap around you. The Lord will rise up as he did
• 30:37
  at Mount Parisim. He will rouse himself as in the
• 30:42
  valley of Gibeon to do his work, his strange work, and perform
• 30:46
  his task task, his alien task, So it says in the study Bible.
• 30:53
  At Parisim, God gave David victory over the Philistines.
• 30:59
  At Gibeon, God sent hail and then stopped the sun in the sky,
• 31:04
  stopped the sun in the sky to help Joshua defeat the Amorites.
• 31:09
  So that is pretty phenomenal stuff that happened there that
• 31:13
  God did to help these people succeed in when they were, you
• 31:18
  know, pursuing God's will. And what made this act strange
• 31:23
  and alien? God was declaring that he would
• 31:26
  act towards his people as he had acted towards their enemies.
• 31:30
  The devastating Assyrian invasions, culminating in the
• 31:33
  terrible siege and overthrow of Jerusalem by the Babylons at
• 31:37
  later period, progressively fulfilled this prophecy of the
• 31:42
  destruction decreed against the whole land.
• 31:45
  That this sounded like a strange contradiction of God's covenant
• 31:49
  promises. Well, I also think that when the
• 31:53
  Lord will rise up, as He did at Mount Paris M, and He will rouse
• 31:57
  himself in the valley of Gibeon to do his work, his strange
• 32:00
  work, and perform his task, his alien or foreign task.
• 32:06
  I think this is when the return of Jesus happens and he defeats
• 32:11
  the enemy nations. So that's what's going to happen
• 32:14
  is when Israel is surrounded by all these nations.
• 32:18
  That's when Jesus will return. And there's going to be this,
• 32:21
  this battle against the, the evil 1.
• 32:25
  So I think, you know, this is also a future reference to the
• 32:31
  work that Jesus will do. His work's not completely
• 32:33
  finished. He's going to, you know, stamp
• 32:38
  out, trample on all the enemies like before He takes over.
• 32:42
  He is going to rid the land of evil.
• 32:47
  Now stop your mocking or your chains will become heavier.
• 32:52
  The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me the destruct of the
• 32:56
  destruction decreed against the whole land.
• 33:00
  Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I
• 33:02
  say. When a farmer plows for
• 33:04
  planting, does he plow continually?
• 33:07
  Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
• 33:12
  When he has levelled the surface, does he not sow caraway
• 33:15
  and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its
• 33:19
  place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field?
• 33:24
  His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.
• 33:29
  Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a
• 33:34
  cart rolled over cumin. Caraway is beaten out with a rod
• 33:39
  and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make
• 33:42
  bread, so 1 does not go on threshing it forever.
• 33:47
  The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one
• 33:51
  does not use horses to grind grain.
• 33:54
  All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is
• 33:58
  wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
• 34:03
  So this comparison here is that are the ultimate message is got
• 34:08
  the discipline of God will not last forever.
• 34:11
  And there's also a different way that God has to work with each
• 34:15
  one of us because of our individuality.
• 34:18
  And he does different things in different people's lives based
• 34:24
  on who he's dealing with because God knows each one of us
• 34:27
  intimately is in Jeremiah, it says that he knows every single
• 34:31
  hair on our head. So he knows what, how to
• 34:35
  interact with each of us because he created us.
• 34:38
  And some are a little bit more stubborn than others and some
• 34:41
  can be, you know, that's probably why some people, you
• 34:46
  know, grew up Christian, pretty much stayed Christian, stayed on
• 34:49
  the narrow path. And I'm.
• 34:50
  And I'm sure God is very pleased with those people.
• 34:53
  And then there are other people who were rebellious and get into
• 34:58
  other things and God would gently correct them.
• 35:01
  And then when they wouldn't turn to that, then he would do
• 35:04
  something a little bit stronger. And so God works differently
• 35:08
  with each of us, but when he disciplines us, it doesn't last
• 35:12
  forever. There is a period of time until
• 35:15
  he refines us that there's a comparison in the Bible that
• 35:20
  I've seen many times about refining of silver and how it
• 35:25
  goes into the fire. Like the so there's like this
• 35:30
  turmoil that we experience, but it keeps going in and the
• 35:35
  refiner keeps watching it until he can see his image in it.
• 35:40
  And that is what God does with us.
• 35:42
  He'll keep putting us into the fire, you know, having us have
• 35:47
  hardships until we are refined, until we are broken down enough
• 35:51
  to where we actually reflect the nature of God, not the nature of
• 35:58
  God, the the character of God. And until we become holy, he
• 36:03
  will keep working away at our life and changing us and getting
• 36:07
  rid of the evil stuff in US and making us more holy like him.
• 36:15
  And so I will read a couple more questions and answers and then
• 36:18
  we will wrap up this chapter. So let's see what which ones I
• 36:23
  missed on here. What battle was fought at the
• 36:31
  gate? And this is referring to to
• 36:35
  those who turned back at the Battle of the Gate.
• 36:39
  Isaiah probably wasn't speaking about a specific battle.
• 36:42
  Many battles were fought at the gate, at least in part because
• 36:45
  that was usually the most most vulnerable part of a city's
• 36:48
  wall. Isaiah may have been looking
• 36:50
  beyond the the fall of Samaria and Jerusalem to a new beginning
• 36:55
  in the last days when God would give strength to the surviving
• 37:00
  remnant, enabling them to do what Israel and Judah had failed
• 37:06
  to do, resist evil. Who was teaching whom?
• 37:11
  Isaiah was quoting what the drunken priests and prophets had
• 37:14
  said to mock and to criticize him.
• 37:17
  They argued that they were old enough to know the difference
• 37:20
  between right and wrong. What they had picked up,
• 37:23
  however, were simply a few stray syllables, some of them
• 37:27
  repeated, like baby talk that delights a child but insults an
• 37:31
  adult. They mouth this gibberish back
• 37:35
  at the prophet and was God revoking His promise of
• 37:41
  spiritual rest? The Israelites had replaced
• 37:45
  their dependence on God with self-sufficiency and God was
• 37:50
  honoring that desire. So God will let us do what we
• 37:55
  will. He gives us free will, but when
• 37:58
  we are self reliant that's not going to go well.
• 38:02
  When we rely on God, things we can do things that are
• 38:06
  impossible for man. It says with God all things are
• 38:09
  possible and he can do the impossible.
• 38:11
  So it's so much better to rely on God to surrender the self
• 38:16
  thinking that you have to, that you know it all, that you can do
• 38:19
  it, that you can handle it, turn it over to God, ask God for
• 38:23
  help, ask God to guide. He can do it through you.
• 38:26
  So you're still going to be involved with it.
• 38:28
  You're not just going to, you know, say, OK, take over.
• 38:30
  And that would be nice actually in some circumstances to just
• 38:34
  say God, just take over. I've actually prayed that
• 38:36
  before. I'm like, I don't know what to
• 38:38
  do, Just you take over. But God will, he'll, I guess,
• 38:43
  teach us that we can deal with these things, but it comes from
• 38:47
  God. God had brought them into the
• 38:50
  Promised Land, but they had rejected his promises.
• 38:53
  Instead of rest and freedom, they would be struck by the
• 38:56
  Assyrians. And then what did a short bed
• 39:01
  and narrow blanket have to do with Judah?
• 39:03
  Likely using a proverb of the day, Isaiah said that Judah
• 39:07
  would find no rest or protection in their treaty with Egypt.
• 39:11
  And it's also, I think, a comparison, you know, just never
• 39:14
  enough. You know it'll never be enough
• 39:16
  for you. Like everything that you seek is
• 39:18
  never going to satisfy until you turn to God.
• 39:23
  I think we read all the other ones.
• 39:28
  So why did Isaiah include all these references to agriculture?
• 39:33
  Threshing was a well known symbol of judgement.
• 39:36
  Perhaps the point is that God would not thresh or punish
• 39:40
  Israel forever. Alternatively, it could mean
• 39:44
  that just as God had provided instructions for farmers to
• 39:48
  produce a good harvest, he also had given instructions for the
• 39:53
  nation to produce righteousness. So that's insightful, that
• 39:58
  comment. And that concludes all for
• 40:00
  Chapter 28 this time.