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Isaiah 32 - Being A Refreshing, Peaceful Person · 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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Hey, welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.
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Today we are in Isaiah chapter 32 and this is one of those
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mostly good news chapters of the book of Isaiah as Isaiah looking
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at the corrupt nation that he is in the southern Kingdom of Judah
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and the northern Kingdom of Israel.
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That though they were supposed to be the people of God, chosen
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for the purpose of being the family that would bring forth
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the Messiah and show all of the world what God was like, they
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were not living anything like what God had called them to.
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And instead they were living just like all of the other
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nations around them. So there was judgment that was
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going to be coming. We'll see even a little bit of
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that in today's chapter. But there was going to come that
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future day when all of God's promises would come true, where
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Jerusalem, the capital city of that southern Kingdom of Judah,
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would experience new life as God had intended for it to
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experience. As as we saw all the way back in
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chapter 2, with that new Jerusalem where God lives in and
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among His people, and where all of the nations of the world,
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instead of them consistently trying to destroy each other and
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destroy Israel and Judah, they would seek the Lord's wisdom and
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the Lord's way. And so that's the kind of
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picture we're going to be looking at today in chapter 32,
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chapter 32, and verse #1 reads this.
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Indeed, a king will reign righteously, and rulers will
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rule justly. Who is this a king who is going
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to reign righteously? Well, certainly we can think of
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Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, the one who will
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reign in perfect righteousness forever and ever.
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It says each. Each of these rulers ruling
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justly will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the
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rain, like flowing streams in a dry land, in the shade of a
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massive rock in an arid land. These are all comforts,
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protections that are there when you're in the wind.
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A shelter would be incredibly welcome, especially as you think
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about the desert climate that they found themselves in.
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And when there's lots of wind, you wouldn't be able to see
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anything. The dust and stuff in the air,
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the sand in the air would irritate your eyes.
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And so shelter would be a wonderful a refuge from the
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rain. I don't know if you guys have
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ever gotten caught out in the rain before.
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I grew up in Colorado, where there's over 300 days of
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sunshine a year. And then I moved to Southern
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California, where there's already not a lot of rain.
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And I lived in the Antelope Valley, which is about an hour
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45 N of LA, where it's desert and there's even less rain than
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there is down in LA. And then I moved up to
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Washington state, and you might think to yourself, I bet there
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was a lot of rain there. You'd be wrong.
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Again. I was in the desert there in
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Central Washington, and we even had tumbleweeds and things that
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came across during the summer times.
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And so I was in very dry places up till I came here to Maryland.
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And so I'm not used to all of this rain that we get here yet.
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And I was laughing the other night, my wife and I, I think
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we're watching a show or something before bed.
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And there was just this ginormous Thunder clap that just
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reverberated for probably 1015 seconds.
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And we were like, what? The world is going on?
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And so if there's a heavy rainfall, I'm glad for a refuge.
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I'm glad for my house that I can take shelter in here like
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flowing streams in a dry land that water the one of the most
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important building blocks for life.
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When you're in a dry land desert, a wilderness, being able
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to find these streams in the desert is so, so important and
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life giving. And a massive rock providing
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shade in a super hot area of land that would keep you from
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getting, you know, heat stroke and possibly even dying.
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All of these things are what it is when rulers rule justly.
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You might notice even in our world today, there's very few
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times that we live and we would say our rulers are this for me,
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that because of the justice, because of the good laws,
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because of the fair taxes, because of the protections that
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are given by these individuals in positions of leadership.
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This is how my life feels. But one day that is going to be
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the case. And I want to encourage you if
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you are ever called on to lead, whether it's something as small
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as you know, your local school board or City Council, even
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something within your church, lead it well so that for people
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to interact with you feels like a life saving, life giving,
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protecting thing. May people go to you as a
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shelter from the storms of life. May we not be that biting sand,
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the scorching sun. May we not be those things, the
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rain that just consistently downpours on people.
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May we be the safe harbor for them.
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Not a not one of these bad life scenarios.
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Verse #3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and
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the ears of those who hear will listen.
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People in the face of God's truth and character will
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actually pay attention to Him, unlike what happened all
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throughout the Old Testament, even in the life of Jesus when
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He was here on this earth. John in John chapter 12
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highlights this for us, quoting from Isaiah.
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Having eyes they do not see, having ears they do not hear,
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they will not turn, so that the Lord would forgive their sins.
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And what a sad state of affairs that that was.
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But on this day, on this good day that is coming, all those
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encountering God will see Him, they will listen to Him.
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Verse #4 The reckless mind will gain knowledge and the
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stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
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A fool will no longer be called a noble, nor a scoundrel said to
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be important on that day when righteous people are in charge.
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With certainly our righteous king at the helm, there is no
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longer going to be stupid, ungodly, evil, wicked
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individuals that are in charge of the nations of the world.
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And we look forward to that day with joyful anticipation.
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Verse #6 For a spool. For a fool speaks foolishness,
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and his mind plots iniquity. He lives in a godless way and
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speaks falsely about Yahweh. He leaves the hungry empty and
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deprives the thirsty of drink. So here a fool.
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What typifies him, especially in a position of leadership, as
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here, is that he says false things about God and he, if you
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will, he dishonors God with his lips and he dishonors God with
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his actions, that he withholds good.
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He withholds food and drink, the necessary building blocks for
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life from those that require them.
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Contrary to some people's opinions, the government is not,
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is not here to give everyone a handout for everything.
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But at the very least, God holds leaders here in Isaiah 32
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accountable for when there are people that need daily provision
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and they are not given it. That is something that is
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needed. Now, as far as if it's only food
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and drink, if there's perhaps shelter or something that that
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would be included here, you could talk about it here.
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Even in Israel, there's more of a relatively mild climate there.
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In that portion of the world where we're at in Maryland, we
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especially in our summers and our winters encounter incredible
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variety and temperatures. Even this past January or
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February was incredibly cold and my, my heart goes out to those
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even that are experiencing homelessness and various things
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like that, that one of the things that here God says a fool
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does is he doesn't care about the state of others.
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He only cares about himself, and his disrespect for God extends
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to those who are made in God's image.
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So he speaks falsely about the Lord, and he treats as of no
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consequence. Or if you will, he disrespects
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those made in God's image just as he disrespects the Lord with
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his mouth. Verse #7 The scoundrel's weapons
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are destructive. He hatches plots to destroy the
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needy with lies, even when the poor person says what is right.
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But a noble person plans noble things.
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He stands up for noble causes. So one of the ways that you can
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know when a person is a scoundrel, a bad person is when
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they are looking to harm or disenfranchise those that are
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already poor and needy. And it doesn't matter what the
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person has to say. The scoundrel here is one that
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wants to take advantage of the poor.
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Let the reader understand. Verse #9 stand up.
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You complacent women, listen to me.
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Pay attention to what I say. You overconfident daughters, in
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a little more than a year, you overconfident ones will shudder,
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for the grapes will fail and the harvest will not come.
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So here there is an economic downturn that is coming.
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So if you notice, we've kind of taken a turn.
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So there was the hopeful future that Isaiah is prophesying via
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the word of the Lord Lord of the good day that is coming.
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But right now, the fool and the scoundrel, they are in charge of
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Jerusalem and in charge of that southern Kingdom of Judah.
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And so there is going to come even an economic judgment on the
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harvest time that is going to happen here, as God says in a
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little more than a year. Verse #11 Shudder, you
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complacent ones, tremble you overconfident ones.
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Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waist, be
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to your breasts in mourning for the delightful fields and the
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fruitful vines, for the ground of My people growing thorns and
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briars, indeed for every joyous house in the jubilant city.
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So here there is supposed to be repentance and grief for the
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wickedness that has taken place that is resulting now in God's
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judgement. And here even with the thorns
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and briars in the ground. This should make us think of the
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curse in Genesis 3, that as a result of Adam and Eve choosing
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to reject God's way and instead choose their own definition of
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right and wrong and their own way of living, that God said
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what Adam would now encounter is instead of the trees freely
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giving their fruit for the survival of humanity, instead
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Adam would toil in the ground and the ground itself would
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fight him at times and there would be thorns and thistles and
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briars that would make planting difficult.
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So this is you relied on your own wisdom and your own way of
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thinking. And so now you are going to reap
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the consequences of that, that you're not getting divine
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blessing for living life in obedience to God's Word and in
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connection with His character. You wanted to try your own way.
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Wonderful. Try tilling the ground without
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the blessing of God. Verse #14 For the palace will be
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deserted, the busy city abandoned, the hill and the
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watchtower will become barren places forever, the joy of wild
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donkeys and a pasture for flocks, until the Spirit from on
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high is poured out on us. Then the desert will become an
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orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
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Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness
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will dwell in the orchard. The result of righteousness will
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be peace. The effect of righteousness will
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be quiet confidence forever. Then my people will dwell in a
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peaceful place, in safe and secure dwellings.
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But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink into the
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depths. You will be happy as you sow
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seed beside abundant water and as you let oxen and donkeys
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range freely. So here there's this recognition
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of Jerusalem and Judah's inability to get it right.
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Like they're just going to keep on in this process until
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something happens. Isaiah talks about it here.
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We've been in the book of Joel before in the minor prophets he
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talks about it. Peter mentions it in Acts 2 when
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this actually happens that the Holy Spirit comes down and
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indwells the people of God. Not now simply the children of
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Israel that were being talked to here, but all of the children of
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Israel who would believe and all of the Gentiles, the non Jewish
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people that would believe on the Lord.
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And all of them would experience the Holy Spirit living with in
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them. And as a result of the Spirit
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living in them. There is God's blessing that
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comes even in verse #17 the result of righteousness that now
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dwells in this people that is right relationship with God and
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man. The result of righteousness will
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be peace that the people of God ought to be a people of peace.
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Jesus is called the Prince of Peace as we read even in Chapter
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9 if I remember correctly, like around 9 and verse 6.
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So we are to be the people of peace.
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I even remember what James told us in James chapter 3.
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I'm going to turn over there pretty quickly because I want to
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make sure that I have this particular quote correct.
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And what James tells us in James chapter 3 is, but the wisdom
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from above is first pure, then peace, loving, gentle,
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compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering without
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pretense. And the fruit of righteousness
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is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
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And so I'm certain here that then this verse, the result of
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righteousness, will be peace. The effect of righteousness will
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be quiet confidence forever. This passage here in Isaiah is
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what James has in mind as he's writing to those that were
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formerly in his church now scattered all around.
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The people have got out to be peaceful people.
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Are you constantly getting in fights and arguments with other
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people? Is your natural temperament now
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that you have accepted the Lord? Is it going more and more
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towards an even keeled, peaceful personality?
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Or are you still being a volatile, angry, contentious,
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anxious, always stirring something up, gossip filled type
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person? Which one of those
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characteristics is currently defining you?
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Can I encourage you? When the Spirit comes, He
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enables us via righteousness, via right relationship with God
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and man, to be able to cultivate a peaceful spirit.
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It's one of the fruit of the Spirit that we would read in
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Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit is
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Lovejoy, Peace. Can I encourage you today
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knowing this future that is coming, a future that is good,
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in which Jesus rules and there will be good rulers.
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There will be such plenty and abundance that there is a forest
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orchard, if you will think, an entire forest worth of apple
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trees and apricot trees and just plenty of food for everyone.
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Knowing that this wonderful future is ahead for us and that
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Jesus has given us His Spirit now so that we can act like we
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are in that peaceful time. That we are in that time of love
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and joy and so we can live like we're in the new creation even
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while we're in the old creation. Will you choose?
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I'm going to have a peaceful demeanor.
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I'm going to deal peacefully with people today.
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Now, if you make that choice and you say this is the path I want
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to go, know that it will be tested and you will be given
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plenty of opportunities to try out whether or not you actually
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will become a peaceful person today or a peaceful person this
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week. Can I encourage you, no matter
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what the struggle or the temptation, the hurt is, it will
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not take away anything from you that truly matters because of
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what Jesus has accomplished, our future is secure.
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The Holy Spirit of God inside of us, he will never leave.
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And so nothing that we can encounter in our life will
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ultimately destroy us. And so as a result, will you
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choose to walk in a calm, settled, quiet, confident peace
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in the life that God has given you today?
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I hope that would be an encouragement to you.
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I also want to mention as well from the first portion of the
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chapter, have pity, have care, have a concern for the needs of
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those that are poor and needy. If you have food and you know
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someone that needs food, give the food.
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If you have water and you know someone or you see someone that
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needs water, give them water. This is something that is
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valuable in the eyes of God, even though it's not valuable to
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every person on planet earth. This should be something that as
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the people of God that we embrace personally, may we be
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known as once again as charitable, loving, kind people
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giving as our Father has given to us.
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Thanks for tuning in and looking forward to next episode.
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With chapter 33. We are coming up quickly to a
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narrative portion. So we're going to go through a
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story that is given kind of historical account, and I
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believe that starts in chapter 36.
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So we're coming up pretty quick to that.
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Thanks again. Looking forward to seeing you
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next episode.