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Isaiah 26-28

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7/4/2004
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Isaiah 26-28
Isaiah 26-28
Skip Heitzig
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23 Isaiah - 2004

During His ministry on earth, Jesus quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet. In this series, Skip Heitzig takes a look at this well-known book in which Isaiah called for Israel to repent from their sins, pointing to the ultimate Deliverer who would bring salvation.

Please note: this series is missing chapters 1-16. No recording of these chapters are available.

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Isaiah chapter 29 through 31 tonight. 2,800 years ago, the nation of Israel experienced incredible prosperity. At the same time that she was prospering, she also experienced tremendous apathy and idolatry. There were problems in the land. The Assyrian muscle was being flexed as Assyria was sweeping through the known world conquering city after city, territory after territory.

God wanted to send a representative to his people. Someone who would bring forth a clear and understandable message. And so in chapter 6, Isaiah saw a vision of God, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. And God spoke and said, whom shall I send? Who will go for us? And you know how the story goes. Isaiah said, here am I Lord, send me. And so God sent this prophet to be a spokesman to, not only the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, the country of Judah, the lower kingdom, but also kingdoms and nations around.

Isaiah the prophet was available. And it's been well said that the greatest ability is availability. Saying, Lord use me. And you know what happens? When you say, Lord, use me, God will use you. You just be available to the Lord to see what he has. Lord, here am I, send me. You know a lot of Christians never get around to asking what the Lord wants them specifically to do and say, Lord, I surrender, here I am, send me.

Well Isaiah was sent but it wasn't easy. The Lord gave him some tough words to share and some tough things to do. For instance, Isaiah was called by God to walk naked and barefoot for three years. How would you like to have that job? No thank you, Lord. We're going to see in our text tonight that the prophet wore a placard around Jerusalem, indicting the nation for its stubbornness and disobedience.

It was a tough thing to be called to. And eventually Isaiah the prophet would be killed. He would be sawn asunder. As the book of Hebrews tells us and as history records, that Isaiah the prophet was sawn in two with a wooden saw. Rejected by the nation to whom God sent him. It was a tough job to be a prophet in those days. Somebody once said that a leader should have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. This prophet was tough and tender all at the same time.

Now chapters 29 through 31 are all lumped together because they deal with Judah, the southern kingdom. And specifically in chapter 29, the city of Jerusalem. Now Isaiah has already brought several messages against different cities, including Babylon and Damascus and Tyre. And now he brings one against Jerusalem specifically. A message for the city. One wonders, if God were to send a prophet to the city of San Francisco today, what would that message be like? Or to Hollywood perhaps? It would probably begin very similar to what we read in Isaiah-- woe to that city. A message, perhaps, of judgment. Chapter

29, we come to a nickname for the city of Jerusalem. We've noticed that certain cities have nicknames. New York has the nickname, the Big Apple. Chicago is called the Windy City. Los Angeles, the City of Angels. Santa Fe, New Mexico, the City Different, and if you ever go there, you'll know why. God nicknames the city of Jerusalem, Ariel. Ariel means lion of God probably speaking of strength, but also Ariel is sometimes translated not only the lion of God, but sometimes it is translated the hearth of God, or the altar of the Lord.

Now we know that the temple was in Jerusalem, and there was an altar of sacrifice as well as the altar of incense. And at the altar of sacrifice, that is where the animals were slain for the sins of the nation. And so this city of Jerusalem, Ariel, thought of itself as being strong and self-sufficient, would actually turn into the place, or the altar, of sacrifice where the people, the inhabitants, would become those who would be on the altar sacrificed-- the victims on the altar. It is sad when a city or a nation fails to reach its potential for what God has for it.

And so it begins, "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt," you know it was called the City of David, "add year to year, let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel. There shall be heaviness and sorrow, it shall be to Me as Ariel." in other words, Jerusalem will become, says the Lord, as the name implies, a place of burning, an altar, a hearth, an altar covered by blood. "I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with the mound, and I will raise up siegeworks against you."

Interesting that God is taking responsibility for the siege of Jerusalem. Notice the pronouns-- I will distress Ariel, I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you. The Lord is using Assyria as a method of discipline to bring the people of Judah to their senses, to their knees. But the Lord is orchestrating it. He's assuming responsibility. He's taking the rap for it. He's saying, I'm the one who's doing it.

So often when we're going through a time of trouble, a time of trial, we like to say it's an attack of the devil. And it might be. But could it be also something used by God to hone you, to discipline you, to refine you? It could actually be both. I believe that the devil, Satan, was inciting Jerusalem to rely on her own strength, to try to make allies with other foreign powers. But God would use this as a rod of discipline to bring his people back to their knees. Joseph said to his brothers who sold him into slavery, as for you, you meant this for evil, but God meant it for good. And Assyria was God's chastening rod.

I'll never forget a trial that we had back in Albuquerque at our church Calvary Chapel. We were growing to the extent that we didn't have room, and so we had to blow out some doors and add some space. And the owner who lived here in Southern California, lived in Beverly Hills, heard that we had grown to quite an extent. And so he wanted to double our rent, even though it wasn't in the lease to double the rent. I said, no way, we got a good deal, we're not going to change it, wait until the lease runs out. He said, well you did change some of the doorways and that's against code, so I'm going to have to kick you out. And so he decided to take us to court over it. I said, great, take us to court. Because you're not going to take the Lord's money.

During that episode I would go home and say, Lord, why. This has got to be the devil. Why would you allow this to happen? These are your people. We're worshipping you in spirit and truth and now we're getting taken to court. Well what we didn't know is that through that, the Lord had us looking for other property. And we were able to move to a place that was about four or five times the size of that property-- and I thought it was way too large. But it became the property that we settled in now, and had to expand later. The Lord used him as a prod to get us out and to move us to a higher place of blessing. And so yes, Assyria is encamped around Jerusalem. It looks bleak. But God is going to use it as his chastening rod. It's going to be glorious in the end.

Now Jerusalem has been besieged probably more than any other city in history. Somebody counted 27 times. Another person counted 40-some times where it was besieged, often leveled to the ground, and then rebuilt. It's been attacked time after time. And that's the reason, when you go and attend a tour, go on a tour of Israel, especially Jerusalem, even though some of the tour guides might say you're walking where Jesus walked, you actually have to dig down 20 to 50 feet to walk where Jesus walked because of all the rubble. The city has been built over and over again on different strata, different layers. You could be at the Pool of Bethesda, and to see the Pool of Bethesda you will look down into a hole that's about 55 feet deep. That's the ground level. That's where Jesus walked. The city has been attacked and besieged time and time again.

"You shall be brought down," verse 4, "you shall speak out of the ground. Your speech shall be low, out of the dust. Your voice shall be like a medium's, out of the ground. And your speech shall whisper out of the dust." Like a humiliated captive barely able to speak. And at the last moment, God would intervene. "Moreover the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away. Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly."

Now God started turning up the heat on this altar, on this hearth at about 701 BC. And that's when Assyria came down and started pressing around the city of Jerusalem-- surrounding it, threatening the leadership. The heat was turned up. Hezekiah the king took the letter that was given to him by the scribe from the representative of the Assyrian army, and he spread it before the Lord. And in humility, he prayed. And that's when God, at the last moment, intervened.

And I love what the scripture says. We'll get to it in Isaiah chapter 37. In one night, 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army were wiped out by a single angel of God. Talk about the strength of an angel of the Lord. 185,000 to 1. Now that sheds some light on the statement that Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane.

What he said to Peter, who had the sword trying to defend Jesus-- it's a funny story, really. Peter put your sword away. Don't you know that I could call on 72,000 angels? 12 legions of angels? Between 36,000 and 72,000 angels? Now if one angel can wipe out 185,000 imagine the kind of damage they could do. The power of God through his messengers.

"You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire." So we see the story twisting. Jerusalem, a besieged city, but then God defends her and wipes out her enemies. "The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look-- he eats. But he awakes, and his soul is still empty. Or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look-- he drinks. But he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves. So the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion."

Assyria was hungry to conquer Jerusalem, thirsty for blood. And Assyria assumed that it would devour Jerusalem. God says, in your dreams. You're dreaming. No way. It's like somebody who dreams about eating but he wakes up and he's still hungry.

If you've ever traveled to a foreign country, you experience, well you experience culture shock if you're there long enough. It can be as simple as missing a hamburger, American food. I was in India once for three weeks, and then shortly after that in the Philippines for two weeks, and I remember dreaming one night in India of a hamburger. Oh, it was juicy, it was great, I couldn't wait. And I woke up, and it was a dream. And I went down to breakfast and they said-- it was the same thing every day-- we have curry today for you. It was all a dream.

Then when I went to the Philippines, I went to a hamburger stand. I couldn't wait. Good old American food. Tasted funny, however. And I didn't know why. I couldn't put my finger on it until the next day a seasoned missionary said, you didn't eat at that place did you? I said, well, yes I did. I had a hamburger. He said, never do that again. I said, OK, tell me why. He said, they use worms for the meat of the hamburger. Now that's a nightmare.

Now you'll notice in our text, in verse 7 and in verse 8, it speaks about the multitude of nations. Here, Isaiah is going far into the future, when the nations of the world will gather together around Jerusalem in that final battle-- the battle of Armageddon. Psalm 2 gives a hint of that, "Why do the nations rage," asked the Psalmist, "and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the world or the earth gather together and the people set themselves against the Lord and against his Christ."

It's like a worldwide ACLU convention. All of these people gathering together to overturn God in his government. God goes on to say, "he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. He will hold them in derision." So we reach, not only to the immediate conflict with Assyria and Jerusalem, but far into the future in the battle of Armageddon, when Jesus Christ comes and sets up his kingdom.

Zechariah 14, the Lord says, "I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle." No doubt promises like these, that we just read, sustained Israel through periods of grief and other enemy attacks. They would look back and say, God promised that he would sustain us. God promised that he would defend us.

That's why we need constant exposure to the scripture and constant fellowship to be reminded of God's promises over and over again. To hear as others talk to us about the promises of God and say, that's for me. I apply that Lord to my life. You know, the Psalmist sometimes even talked to himself. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Trust in God, hope in God. These promises sustain them time and time again.

Now go back and look at verse 6. "You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire." It's interesting terminology. What you might want to do is go through the Book of Revelation and you'll notice the same terminology at the end of every series of God's judgments.

For instance, at the conclusion of the seals there is the same phenomena-- noises, thundering, lightning. At the blowing of the seventh trumpet, same phenomena. At the pouring out of the final vial bowl of wrath upon the earth, same natural phenomena-- earthquake, thunder, lightning. In fact, it says an earthquake that's the worst ever.

Tell you what, try as the earth people do to save this planet, they won't be able to do it. It's all temporary. Trying to save this planet-- though we should be good stewards of our environment-- but trying to save planet earth, Mother Earth as they call it, I'm convinced part of God's judgment is because, instead of giving God the glory, they give the earth the glory. But trying to save the earth is sort of like trying to save a Christmas tree. It's dead.

You can water it, you can take it outside in your yard and plant it, you can spray paint it green, you can fertilize it, you can put Save the Christmas Tree bumper stickers on your car, but it's dead. And there will come a time when God will shake this earth, and judge this earth, before he recreates it in the Millennium. Nothing-- no one-- will be able to save it because of God's wrath.

Now we go from besieged city, now to a blind city in verse 9. "Pause and wonder. Blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine. They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and close your eyes, namely, the prophets. And covered your heads, namely, the seers."

The episode that happened with Assyria surrounding Jerusalem, that close call where they almost got wiped out, should have brought the nation to its knees, to its senses. Not just temporarily, but perpetually. But it didn't. Because soon, King Hezekiah died and the people go right back, failing to learn the lesson, sliding back into idolatry and apathy.

And so what happened? What happened is, in 586 BC, somebody else came around Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar was his name. And he built siege mounds against Jerusalem and over took the city. And it became truly Ariel-- an altar, a hearth, a place of burning. If you go to Jerusalem today and you check out the City of David ruins, you can walk into whole buildings, rooms, where you will still see the fires from 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar turning that city into a burning, an altar, a hearth.

"The whole vision," verse 11, "has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is a literate, saying, 'Read this, please.' And he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.' Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, 'Read this, please.' And he says, 'I am not literate.'"

It's as if they were in a spiritual stupor. They were unable to comprehend the message that the prophet Isaiah was giving to them about not relying in Egypt, not going to other allies. They should be trusting God. The learned and learned, the educated and the uneducated weren't able to comprehend what Isaiah was telling them. God's word was unintelligible to them. The spiritual truth was, to them, like a sealed book.

There's a lot of people who say that about prophecy. They say, I don't get it. I can understand it. And they'll say, interestingly enough, oddly enough, the Book of Revelation is a sealed book. Well the very word Revelation-- apocalypse, apocalypsis-- means an unveiling. God is taking the veil off the future, showing you prophetically, plainly, exactly what's coming down. In fact, at the end part of the Book of Revelation, Revelation 22, we read, "seal not up the vision of the prophecy of this book."

There's a lot of people who look at the Bible like it's a sealed book. I don't get it. I don't understand it. I read the New Testament, it's all Greek to me. I don't get the message. Well there's a reason for that. One of the reasons is found in 1 Corinthians where the Lord says-- Paul is writing, "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them."

Modern man, especially intellectuals-- pseudo-intellectuals-- like to mock Bible-believing Christians, saying that we checked our brains at the door. I'll never forget in one of my college courses, integrated zoology, first day of class, the professor asked this question-- any Bible-believing Christians here, raise your hand up. I thought he was a Christian, so I raised my hand high in the air. I was the only one. He spent the rest of the class talking about how foolish it was to believe in scripture.

I heard about a Quaker and an atheist having a conversation. The Quaker of course, believed in the Bible, the atheist was demeaning the Quaker for his belief in scripture. He didn't even believe God existed. So the atheist said to the Quaker, have you ever seen God? The Quaker said, no. Well have you ever touched God? Quaker said, no I haven't. Nay, he said, he was a Quaker. Have you ever smelled God or tasted of God? Nay. Then how do you even know that there is a God? Trying to apprehend God by the senses. The Quaker's response was classic. He said, hast thou seen thy brain? Well, no, the irritated atheist said. Hast thou ever touched thy brain? No. Hast thou ever smelt thy brain? No. Then how dost thou know that thou even hast a brain?

The natural man doesn't get it. Now perhaps to you, the word of God has become dry, boring, a mystery to you. You're a Christian but you open it up and you feel sort of like this. God isn't speaking. I have found the key-- the excitement comes-- is when you read the Bible with the intention of putting it into practice. Hearing it that you might do it.

Samuel said, speak, Lord, your servant hears. It's an interesting Hebrew word that means, I am paying attention because I intend to follow through on whatever it is you tell me to do. Martin Luther said the Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet, it runs after me. It has hands, it embraces me. It's the difference between just reading it and feeding on it, because you intend to do it and obey it.

"Therefore the Lord said, 'inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but they have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.'"

In Isaiah's day people were going to the temple. Temple was packed. Sacrifices were going on regularly. Why, if you were to look at Israel 2,800 years ago you would think, there's nothing wrong with this place spiritually. The temple's packed, the sacrifices are going on, but it had become an empty ritual for so many people. One of the ancient rabbis said, there's 10 parts of hypocrisy in the world. Nine reside in Jerusalem and one is distributed to the rest of the earth.

There at the very heart, the very center, of Jewish worship, people were drawing near with their lips saying the right words, singing the songs, but their hearts were far from God. Hypocrisy is basically living with a mask. A lot of people like masks because they are convenient. You can hide behind them. You can pretend to be somebody else.

I remember in high school a lot of guys wore the I'm tough mask. They really weren't tough, but they wanted you to think they were tough. A lot of people wore the I'm cool mask. They were aloof, they were just a little bit better than everybody else. I remember some who wore, and still wear, the I'm scholarly and intellectual mask. You know what the worst mask is? The I'm more spiritual than you are mask.

And it would seem that the temple was filled with people who had these I'm holy with an air of superiority masks on. Now, a few words to the church. Look at verse 13 again. "They honor me with their lips, but they have removed their hearts far from me." My encouragement to all of us is that we honor the Lord with our lips and with our lives. That what we say matches up to how we live. But that when we worship, we should honor him with our lips.

In Hebrews chapter 10, we are told to draw near with a true heart-- that is, a genuine heart, an authentic heart. Worship whole-heartedly. Hey, whenever you pray, whenever we worship, whatever the songs are led by the worship team, and it's our turn to worship and praise God, enter in with everything that is in you. Put your all into it. Engage your mind, thinking about the words, giving heartfelt praise and adoration to God. Your having an audience with God. Drawn near with your lips, but also with the life.

Verse 15-- "Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from God, their works are in the dark. They say, 'Who sees us?' and, 'Who knows us?' Surely you have things turned around. Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay. For shall the thing made say of him who made it, 'He did not make me'? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, 'He has no understanding.'" Now here's the secret plan of the leaders of Jerusalem, conspiring in secret to form an alliance with Egypt against the Assyrian superpower.

And they're conspiring and they're thinking, nobody sees us. We're even hiding this from God. And God says, that's ridiculous. Even a potter knows his pots. Any potter in a pottery shop knows what kind of pots are there. He made them. He knows the rough pots, the smooth pots, the weak pots, the strong pots, the crackpots. He knows them all. God says, you have things reversed. You can't hide anything from me. I'm the potter, you're the clay.

Verse 17-- we now go to the best part of this chapter. Not a besieged city, not a blind city, but in the future, a blessed city. Isaiah looks ahead now, "Is it not a very little while till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, the eyes of the blind shall be out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble shall also increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off-- Who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words."

Today, Lebanon is a devastated land. A land of land mines, fences, bombs. But now, taking it as the example of all of the lands once devastated and redeemed, and turned into a fruitful field. That will happen on a worldwide basis. The devastated lands will become a paradise. It goes on to say there won't be scoffers. There'll be honest politicians, honest leaders, wonderful time in the kingdom age.

"Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, 'Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face grow pale, but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.'"

There is coming a day when all of this speech on earth will be substantive speech, correct speech, filled with holiness and right doctrine, right teaching, not filth, not empty words, wholesome words. Notice the use of the historical names Jacob, Abraham, Israel, all combined. I think what God is doing is basically saying, you should remember your spiritual heritage. Where you started, where I've taken you, what I've taken you through, and what I have planned for you in the future. We do well to think about our spiritual heritage.

It's good, as we did last week on the 4th of July, to think back on how this nation was founded. In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men were created equal." Not evolved equally. They were endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights and among these, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. God created us. And God, by his grace, allowed this nation to be formed. So we as the pot are not self-sustaining, but we must look to our maker as well.

Chapter 30 is also to Judah. God told Judah not to turn to Egypt for help. They listen to Isaiah the prophet, cried out to God-- at least Hezekiah did in his court. But Israel ignored and were taken captive. So Judah can learn from her neighbor up north. "'Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, 'who take counsel, but not of Me, who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. Who walk down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.'"

That's how Isaiah opened his prophecy, isn't it? In chapter 1, verse 2, "I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me." Isaiah will also close his book. In Isaiah 63 he will say, "the children are rebellious against my spirit." And here again, he mentions woe to the rebellious children. See, God had done so much in their history to prove that he was trustworthy, and yet they trusted in Egypt, in foreign alliances. They had every reason to trust him, but they didn't.

Hey, why is it that God is so often our last resort? Why is it that we trust in so many other forms of help and then when they don't work, we run out of steam, we run out of gas, we go, man, things are really bad. I guess I better pray. See, Paul the Apostle said, "be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard, keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus."

So often when we should be praying about everything-- what we would call, the little things-- we don't. We're so busy praying about the big things, when it gets out of hand. But you know what, if we would start praying for all the things we call little things, they probably wouldn't grow to be big things.

Woman came up to G. Campbell Morgan, the great preacher in London, and said, Dr. Morgan, do you think it's OK that we tell God and pray about the little things in life? And Morgan, in his characteristically British manner said, Madame, can you imagine that there is anything in life that is big to God? It's all little stuff to him. Bring it all to him, at all times.

"Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation. For his princes were at Zoan, his ambassadors came to Hanes," that is Tanis, "They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, or be help or benefit, but a shame and also a reproach. The burden against the beasts of the south. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness and the lion, the viper, the fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, the treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who shall not profit. For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth."

You might translate that Rahab, the do-nothing. Rahab is the ancient name for Egypt. It means arrogant or prideful. They won't be able to help at all. They'll be able to sit idle only and watch, and not be able to help God's people. "Now go, write it before them on a tablet, note it on a scroll, that it may be for a time to come, forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children. Children who will not hear the law of the Lord."

How'd you like to have that job? Writing on a placard and carrying it around-- liars, disobedient to the law of God, rebellious children. Carrying those words and walking around so that people could see it. No wonder he had a tough time. Verse 10, "Who say to the seers, 'do not see,' and to the prophets, 'do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.'"

They wanted false prophets. They wanted someone who would come and speak to them in the name of God and say, it's going to be all right. You can go ahead and go off in your rebellion. God will just wink at it, and you can live your lifestyle without any changes at all. Jeremiah spoke of these prophets saying, that "they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying peace, peace, when there is no peace." Promising something that wasn't coming.

Isaiah was honest. He was the honest prophet. Tough, but tender. Heart of a child, hide of a rhinoceros. But his heart broke. He told them the truth. You know prophets sometimes are called to comfort the afflicted. Sometimes they are called to afflict the comfortable, and Isaiah was doing that.

"Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, 'because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.'" Their high wall of protection would collapse. "'And he shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, which is broken in pieces. He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern.' For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.' But you would not."

He is saying your hope lies in quiet trust, not in frenzied activity going to Egypt for help. He's saying to his children, shh. Rest, relax. Trust me. I think the Lord might be saying that to some of us tonight. Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Enter into that rest.

"'In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.' And you said, 'No, for we will flee on horses.' Therefore you shall flee and we shall ride on swift horses. Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain, as a banner on a hill."

When Assyria came in, the Jews in Jerusalem were unable to escape on the horses that they had gotten from Egypt. They were terrified just by a few of the Egyptian soldiers. Now we really get God's heart as we look at the last part of this chapter. He goes from rebellion to restoration, "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you." One translation says, "he rises to show you compassion," picture that.

God sees his people in distress and it's as if he's going to get up and defend his children. It's sort of like your own children. You can spank them, but if somebody else spanks them you're going to defend them. God did send Assyria and Babylon as a rod to adjust the attitude, the character, the spiritual state of Israel. But then God also defended Israel and brought them back into their land.

"Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you," and notice the end of that verse, "for the Lord is a God of justice, blessed are all those who wait for Him." Listen, God is waiting for you to wait for him. Rest. Wait on the Lord. You might be saying, but waiting on the Lord is so hard. But if you don't wait on the Lord, it's going to get harder. In quietness and confidence will be your strength.

"For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry, when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers." This is Israel restored to the land, enjoying the blessings of the kingdom. "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."

Here's the lesson. Even in adversity there will come a time when God will speak through his spirit and will direct your steps. He will not abandon you. He will be there to direct and guide. "You will also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your gold images or images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing. You will say to them, 'Get away.'"

Go look at verse 26, "Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, the light of seven days, in that day the Lord binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound." Imagine the gladdened look on the faces of redeemed Israel. The 144,000 as they see their Messiah coming. Revelation 19 beginning around verse 11, "when John sees that vision of heaven opening and the white horse, and him who sat on it faithful and true, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

And Israel is gladdened. "And He heals the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with his anger, and his burden is heavy. His lips are full of indignation, his tongue like a devouring fire. His breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility. And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err."

We're going now into the future, dealing with the great tribulation period when the Antichrist, that charismatic figure who makes an alliance with Israel, will be judged after he seeks to dominate the world. Verse 30, "the Lord will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the Lord Assyria will be beaten down, or the Assyrian will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod. And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the Lord lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps, and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it. For Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made a deep and large. Its pyre is fire with much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it."

Tophet was the Valley of Hinnom. It was a valley outside of Jerusalem to the south side, where the worshippers of Molech sacrificed their children to the idol. King Josiah, when he brought his reform, overturned that idolatry. And he turned it into a garbage dump, renamed it the Valley of Hinnom, or Gei ben Hinnom-- the valley of the son of Hinnom. It became the place where garbage was burned perpetually. And it became one of the words for the lake of fire. A symbol for hell.

When people died in the Old Testament-- people of faith-- they went into Abraham's bosom, Luke chapter 16 tells us. But there was also a place, a compartment of punishment called Hades-- hell. When Jesus died on the cross Abraham's bosom was emptied. He that ascended, first of all, descended into the lower parts of the earth. Let those who were captives out of their captivity, they were looking toward the future, looking by faith toward the coming of Messiah, but that place of Hades is still in business-- occupied.

But it's not the final destiny of man. For in the Book of Revelation chapter 20, death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire. This, says John, is the second death. It's the place of outer darkness. It's the place of perpetual torment. It's the place of everlasting hell. People would say, well, why would God create a place like that? Notice what it says. It's a place of torment for the king. It's going to be a place of torment for the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the devil.

Jesus said in Matthew 25, it's an everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Man was never intended to inhabit hell. God made heaven for mankind to inhabit. But you know, if a person really wants to go to hell, God will let him. I had a person tell me one time, I don't want to go to heaven, all my friends will be in hell. So that's the reason you want to go there? Because you know people there? But hell exists as a dignity to human choice. If one chooses to reject God, they will be like the king that they serve, and be in punishment.

Luckily, chapter 31 is short. "Woe to them who go down to Egypt for help," recapping what we read, "and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord. Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster. He will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of evil doers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, not God. And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down. They all will perish together."

In the past, Israel relied on the wrong allies-- Assyria. Excuse me, Egypt and Ethiopia. In the future, Israel will also rely on wrong allies, namely the Antichrist. Jesus predicted this. "I have come my father's name," he said, "and you did not receive me. Another one will come in his own name. Him you will receive." And of course the Antichrist will break the covenant in the middle of that week, that seven year period, bring in the abomination of desolation, and that's when the great tribulation breaks out.

"For the Lord has spoken to me, 'as a lion roars, as a young lion over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise. So the Lord of Hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for it's hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it. Passing over, He will preserve it.' Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver, his idols of gold-- sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. 'Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor. He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner,' says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem."

Think of all the money Judah would have saved if they would have just trusted in the Lord. Instead they sent caravan after caravan laden with treasure to buy off the mercenaries of Egypt to help them defend against Assyria. It's much more cost efficient to just rest in God, to trust in him, in his great arm of strength. And think of all of the distress that wouldn't have had to be theirs if they would have just said, the Lord is our strength, the Lord is our shield.

Oh, what needless pain we bear all because we don't not carry everything to God in prayer. As we pray together tonight, you take the burden that's on your heart, those concerns that are in your heart, and you leave them here. You leave them before the Lord. In quietness and confidence, not frenzied activity, shall be your rest. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, some of us have been looking to and relying on the wrong things, weak things. We've been drinking out of dry cisterns. We've been trying to be filled with what this world has to offer in terms of refreshment, vitality, direction. And we feel burned out, empty, Lord. Lord, I pray that we would come to that place that Jesus invited us to come and to take his yoke upon us to find his rest. To let our burdens be on his shoulders, not ours.

And so Lord, we come to that place of rest, trust, bringing everything before you. Asking you to take it and we would walk out of here tonight, Lord, unburden, excited for what you're going to do this week in our lives. You're our God and we place our trust in you. And we say that by faith, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Shall we stand. As we have mentioned in the past many times, as you deal with these prophesies, and as Skip has pointed out, there is oftentimes a dual fulfillment. It's called the near and the far. It can be prophesying over events that will soon be taking place right after the prophecy, but also in the dual fulfillment, it's also looking ahead. And seeing something that will take place in the future.

Here in the 31st chapter we have one of these interesting dual type of fulfillments in verse 5. "As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending also, He will deliver it. And passing over, He will preserve it." In 1917 when Jerusalem was being held by the Turks, General Allenby with the Allied forces had come to Jerusalem and was preparing to attack Jerusalem. And in preparation for the attack, he had planes fly over Jerusalem so that they could observe where the Turkish forces were massed and where they had prepared their defenses, so that he could plan his own attack against the city.

When the Turks saw the planes flying over they thought that the planes would be soon dropping bombs on them, and so they surrendered the city of Jerusalem without a battle. And thus, the city was preserved from being destroyed or damaged. And here, the prophecy of Isaiah-- which really was dealing with another situation-- had a very interesting fulfillment there in 1917.

The word of God is so exciting. The word of God is just so rich that you can never really exhaust the treasures that are there for us. Who will apply ourselves and study the word. And so we are blessed to have, really, Pastor Skip giving to us the understanding and background for these interesting prophecies.

And it only is going to become more interesting as we see the prophecies fulfilled, and the destruction of the Assyrian army, which the Lord has predicted that in the quietness and so forth, possess themselves. Not having to rely upon the help or strength of Egypt, but discovering what God can do when you rely upon him.

And tonight I would pray that you also would discover what God can do when you turn the situation over to him. It is interesting. We, like Judah, so often are running everywhere to find help, to find strength, rather than just relying upon the Lord.

And as Pastor Skip was pointing out, the tremendous amount of money that they spent in order to secure the strength of Egypt, which never came. But the help came from the Lord. And God wants to help you. And God will help you in your need. And the idea and the lesson is to seek the Lord. To turn the situation over to him and let God work in your behalf.

Tonight, the pastors are down here at the front to pray for you. And if there are issues that are troubling you, issues where you are needing help or needing the work of the Lord, they're here to minister you. God wants to help you. Now of course, you can go and spend a lot of money on other means of help. You can hire expensive attorneys and you can hire the best doctors and everything else, but maybe God wants to deliver you without all of that expense. At least, you should give him a chance and give him the opportunity to do so.

And so I would encourage you tonight, cast your cares upon him. Because he cares for you. And as Pastor Skip was quoting, don't be anxious about things, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. These men are here to agree with you in prayer tonight. Where two or three will agree on earth concerning anything, the Lord said he would do it for you. So do take advantage tonight of God's desire to help you. Let God do it. And you'll be blessed for having done that.

As soon as we're dismissed I'd encourage you to come on forward and spend some time seeking the Lord and waiting on the Lord just to see what God will do when you give him the opportunity to do so.

(SINGING) I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh my soul. Rejoice. Take joy my King in what you hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

God bless you.

This is the end of this message. If you would like further information on any of our products or to receive our free catalog, contact The Word For Today. The address is PO Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628. Or you may reach us by our toll-free number, 1-800-272-WORD. That's 1-800-272-WORD.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/13/2004
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Isaiah 17-19
Isaiah 17-19
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6/20/2004
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Isaiah 20-22
Isaiah 20-22
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6/27/2004
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Isaiah 23-25
Isaiah 23-25
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7/11/2004
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Isaiah 29-31
Isaiah 29-31
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7/18/2004
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Isaiah 32-34
Isaiah 32-34
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7/25/2004
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Isaiah 35-37
Isaiah 35-37
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8/1/2004
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Isaiah 38-40
Isaiah 38-40
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8/8/2004
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Isaiah 41-43
Isaiah 41-43
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8/15/2004
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Isaiah 44-46
Isaiah 44-46
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8/29/2004
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Isaiah 50-52
Isaiah 50-52
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9/5/2004
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Isaiah 53-55
Isaiah 53-55
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9/12/2004
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Isaiah 56-58
Isaiah 56-58
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9/19/2004
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Isaiah 59-61
Isaiah 59-61
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10/3/2004
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Isaiah 65-66
Isaiah 65-66
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There are 14 additional messages in this series.
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