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Isaiah 41-43
Skip Heitzig

Isaiah 41 (NKJV™)
1 "Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment.
2 "Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow?
3 Who pursued them, and passed safely By the way that he had not gone with his feet?
4 Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.'"
5 The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came.
6 Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, "Be of good courage!"
7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, Saying, "It is ready for the soldering"; Then he fastened it with pegs, That it might not totter.
8 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
11 "Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them and not find them--Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing.
13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'
14 "Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 "Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 "The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together,
20 That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 "Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob.
22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together.
24 Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
25 "I have raised up one from the north, And he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, As the potter treads clay.
26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, 'He is righteous'? Surely there is no one who shows, Surely there is no one who declares, Surely there is no one who hears your words.
27 The first time I said to Zion, 'Look, there they are!' And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.
28 For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion.
Isaiah 42 (NKJV™)
1 "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law."
5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them."
10 Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD, And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.
14 "I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills, And dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, 'You are our gods.'
18 "Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the LORD'S servant?
20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear."
21 The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!"
23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the LORD, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, Nor were they obedient to His law.
25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart.
Isaiah 43 (NKJV™)
1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth--
7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."
8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, "It is truth."
10 "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says the LORD, "that I am God.
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?"
14 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives--The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."
16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters,
17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
18 "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.
21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
22 "But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.
27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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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 41. It was Edmund Burke who once said, "Superstition is the religion of feeble minds." And superstition has been a part of man's religion for generations. If you were to go back, for instance, to primitive days in Europe in the countries like Germany and Holland, and picture this scene.

Two guys, one named Hans, one named Franz, they meet each other in the forest of one of those countries. And Hans might say to Franz, Franz, I got a brand new house, and it's a good one too. And Franz would say, that's really good. And suddenly they would realize their mistake.

They would rush to one of the nearby trees in the forest and start pounding on the wood or the tree because of their superstition that gods lived within the trees. They were listening. They could hear what is being said. And they were angry and jealous of any goodness that would be done to mankind, any favor.

And so because of that, they would rap hard on the trees to dispel the gods who would menace them. Hence the term "knock on wood." That's where it comes from, an old superstition. So when somebody says, hey, how's it going? Great. Knock on wood. Be careful. It's the old superstitious beliefs of feeble minds.

Gallup organization did a poll not too long ago, and they discovered that one out of every four Americans believes in ghosts, and one out of every six claims to have contacted the dead. People like Miss Cleo and John Edwards have not helped in that. All sorts of superstitions that people have held to, superstitions that come even once a year. On Friday the 13th, people say that you can't spill salt on that day. You can't walk under a ladder on Friday the 13th. You can't sit under an umbrella if it's inside. Man's superstitions.

Well, in Isaiah chapter 41 through 48, God confronts the superstitious beliefs of the nations around the nation of Israel. The idols, the false gods that people had called out on. And he confronts them. It's like a battle of the gods. He summons them to a courtroom scene. He summons the nations. He summons his people, Israel, as witnesses to see what God can do versus what these false idols can do.

The overarching theme of these chapters, of course, as we have seen last week and we continue this week, is the supremacy of God. The incomparable nature of God. He's unique. There's none like him. "Whom can you compare me to?" God will ask. And he'll call upon these gods to produce proof in comparison to his greatness.

When you think about it, when you're in trouble who do you want to call out on? You want to call out on the God that is true and living. You don't want to call out on a little figurine that you've made, some little statue or idol that you've manufactured it would do you no good. They can't speak. They could never counsel you in times of trouble. They can't predict the future. Only God can, and God sustains his people. That's the theme of these chapters. God is incomparable, and God sustains his people.

I heard about a Sunday school class somewhere in Ohio, and one of the eight-year-olds was praying in his class. Cute little prayer. Something like, "Oh God, bless our moms and our dads, and bless all of our teachers and all of our pets and our brothers and sisters. And God, please take care of yourself, because if anything happens to you we're all sunk."

[LAUGHTER]

It's cute. The truth is, nothing's going to happen to God. He's fully in charge. You can bank on it. Verse 1. "Keep silence before me, O coastlands. Let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together for judgment."

To tie in with last week's study, chapters 40 through 66-- remember that's the second part of Isaiah where the tone of the book is hope for the future. The ancient rabbis called it the song of consolation, and here's why. They realized that the prophet Isaiah spoke this second half of the book for the captives who would be in Babylon, though they weren't at the time that this was uttered or it was written. But God anticipated. Knowing the future, knowing the end from the beginning, God anticipated the return of the Jews and wrote these chapters through Isaiah to console his people. Hence the rabbis called it song of consolation.

"Who raised up one from the east?" God asks. "Who in righteousness called him to his feet? Who gave the nations before him and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow?" The reference is no doubt to the Persian King Cyrus. Wasn't born yet, won't be born for another 100 years from the time this prophecy was uttered. There'll be another mention of him in verses in the next couple of chapters, and then he will be named by name in chapter 44 and chapter 45.

Cyrus came from the northeast, and so sometimes you'll see a reference to the one coming from the east. Sometimes he's called the one coming from the north. Cyrus moved swiftly through Asia Minor. Victory after victory, unbroken successful military victories. However, God is taking the responsibility for him. Cyrus is just a pawn on God's chessboard, moving him from one place to another. And you'll see why as we go on.

"Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first and with the last I am he.

The coastlands saw it and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid. They drew near and came. Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, "Be of good courage!" So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes with the anvil, saying, "It is ready for the soldering." And then he fastened with the pegs that it might not totter."

Here was God sovereignly moving the Persian King Cyrus from one place to another, conquering the world. God predicted it. The idols couldn't predict it because they weren't gods at all. They had no power at all, only that which man assigned to them. The nations feared. They were afraid of Cyrus. They heard of his victories.

The only thing they could do was encourage those who made the idols, come on, man. Keep building. We need those gods quickly. We need to make a phone call to them rapidly. We need their protection. So one is encouraging the other to call upon the false gods for a protection.

You remember the story in 1 Samuel, chapter five. It's one of my favorites. The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, and they brought it down to Ashdod to the temple of Dagon. Now, Dagon was the god of grain, of agriculture. And they took the Ark of the Lord and they put it in this false temple. And God has such a great sense of humor.

They put the Ark in the temple to display that Dagon was a greater god than the God of the Hebrews. But when the people came into the temple the next morning, their god Dagon was fallen over on its face as if worshipping before the Ark of the Lord. Remember that old commercial where the gal fell down and then the guy fell down. He said, I've fallen and I can't get up!

The gods had fallen. They couldn't get up. So the Philistines helped up their false god, put it in place. The next day, they came back into the same temple. That god had fallen over again. This time, the head had broken off and the palms had broken off. Utterly powerless before God. Utterly powerless before the Ark that represented the presence of God.

Man has always had a problem with the invisible nature of God. We long for visibility. We want to see that which we worship. Even Moses had a hard time with it. He had seen the miracles of God and the representation of God, the shekinah glory of God. But he cried out, "Oh, God. Show me your glory. I want to see you face to face." Of course, he couldn't because as a man he would be killed at that point, at that time in his life.

Man has always had a problem with the invisible God. Thus, mankind has tried to make representations of God to make God more visible, and then project an ideal into that image and worship the image as if they are worshipping God. You remember the old HG Wells fantasy story, The Invisible Man. The story will turn sour because how can you trust someone you can't see? How do you relate? How do you have a personal relationship with someone that you can't see?

At our very core, we long to see God. And here's the good news, one day you will, face to face. Until then we walk by faith and not by sight. But you will see God.

There was a little girl who was raised in a Christian home. Her parents taught her to confide in God, to trust him always. One night during those summer thunderstorms they have back in the Midwest, and the lightning was so loud and the lightning was so bright and a clap of thunder struck right outside along with lightning, right outside their door. And the little girl got scared, ran into her mother's arms, and grabbed her tight. And mom said, now, honey. I told you. In times like this, never be afraid. You can always pray. Call on God and he'll answer you. And the little girl said, Mommy, I believe that. But at times like this, I want someone with skin on him.

[LAUGHTER]

That's what Jesus was, God with skin on. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And though we have never seen him, yet we believe and we rejoice with joy unspeakable. But our hope, our confidence, is one day we will see him.

"But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend." Isn't that a great title for God to call someone? And we can say, God is my friend. Here God says, Abraham is my friend. By the way, three times in the Bible Abraham is called the friend of God.

Now, there's a thought that both boggles the mind but delights the heart. I could be God's friend. And that's what Jesus said to his disciples, isn't it? "No longer do I call you my servants. I call you my friends." What a privilege. But then Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you."

Now, there's a key in maintaining friendship with God. You want to be God's friend? Obey him, and obey him unconditionally. Whatever I command you to do. You are my friends if you do whatever I command. The best way to get along with God and to be his friend, the kind of friend that God will honor, are those men, those women, who obey him unconditionally.

"You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest regions and said to you, "You are my servants." The second time Israel is called that. "I have chosen you and have not cast you away." Now, let's insert a note here at this point. There's going to be three references to servants in the book of Isaiah, four if you count Cyrus. But three that are named servants of the Lord.

One is David in Isaiah chapter 37. He's called the servant of God, the servant of Jehovah. The second is the nation of Israel. God several times will segue and refer to his people in a singular sense, "my servant." But you're going to see the reference as being God's blind and deaf servant. You'll see that in a minute.

The third reference is to God's ideal servant, the messiah. And he will be spoken of and described very differently than the servant of the Lord, David, or the servant of the Lord, Israel. Verse 10. "Fear not." By the way, that's a repeated phrase in the book of Isaiah. 13 times God says "Do not feat" or "Fear not."

"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish."

And remember back in verse five the nations feared in hearing of Cyrus and his advance rapidly across Asia Minor. They had a reason to fear. They didn't have the living and true God as their protector. And so God tells his people, don't fear. "Fear not, I am with you. Be not dismayed, I am your God." They have a relationship with him.

It is said that fear is the most debilitating and constricting emotion of all human emotions. It destabilizes people. It immobilizes people. In fact, Walter Stone, a reported expert on such matters, said "Fear is the most destructive force in the world today. It's much easier to frighten people than it is to persuade them." And yet fear is the natural reaction in a difficult time. When an enemy attacks a nation, the normal natural response is to be afraid.

And yet God says, stop it. Don't do it. Fear not. It's a lot like what Paul the Apostle writes in Philippians, "Be anxious for nothing." A command. "But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will rule or guide your hearts and your minds."

There's a point to be made here. Your emotions are not always trustworthy. If you go by feeling, you'll be deceived. You'll go through some of life's experiences and you'll say, "I don't feel God. I don't feel like God is with me." And yet he is. If you're a believer, you're walking in fellowship with God, it's not an issue of what you feel but what is the truth. You and I need to educate our emotions frequently and tell our emotions what to believe and what to feel.

It's called renewing your mind. "Be not conformed to this world," Romans 12, "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Reeducating our emotions. Now, here's why God says "don't fear." He says, "Fear not, for I am with you."

There's nothing worse than feeling all alone in times of difficulty and darkness. I'll never forget my son Nathan, who's now 18, when he was just a toddler he'd have nightmares. And they were pretty vivid nightmares because I remember him crying out in the middle of the night. And I'd run into his bedroom and he'd look up and he'd say, "Hold you." And so I'd pick him up and I'd cuddle him in my arms, and I'd hold him. And it was so reassuring to him just to know I was there. Dad's there. It's going to be OK. He's holding me.

The second reason God gives is he says, "I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Mark that. It's God who's holding on to you. It's not you. Don't rely on your grip to hold on to God. I'm holding on! Really? I'm not. He's holding on to me. That's a safer place.

Again, I remember when my son was quite young. When we would walk across the street, I never said, "Hold my hand, son." I didn't trust his grip. No, I grabbed ahold of his hand, and I made sure that I was grabbing on firmly, tightly, confidently. "I will uphold you." These are God's promises to Israel. These are God's promises to you. God's with you. He will uphold you with his righteous right hand.

There was a guy in Canada, Kitchener, Canada, named Everett Storms who tabulated that there were some 7,400 odd promises in the Bible that God made to man. Direct promises that God has made to us. Over 7,000 promises.

Here's the question. What do you do with them? What do you do with all those promises? Now, your answer might be, well, I underline them.

[LAUGHTER]

In fact, I've got a whole bunch of different colors of pens in my pocket, and I underline different ones with different colors. Well, that's great. And you might say, well, I memorize them. That's good too. But it's better if you live by them, if you make them your own, if you apply them. God is with me. He will uphold me. Take it to heart.

Verse 12. "You shall seek them and not find them. Those who contended with you, those who war against you, shall be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, "Fear not. I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob."

Now, be careful. Don't get insulted by that. I just think God knows our frame, and he remembers that we're dust. God knows who we are. You know, we like to strut about like we're the wolf before the pig's house. I'm going to huff and puff and blow your house down. God knows our nature. He knows we're weak.

And yet in love but in honesty, he says, "Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I will help you," says the Lord, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." That word "redeemer" in verse 14 is a very important Hebrew word. It's a familiar one to some of you. "Goel." It's the kinsman redeemer.

It's that word that is found in the book of Ruth where Boaz becomes the kinsman redeemer because he is related to Ruth and takes her to be his wife, redeems the land. It's a beautiful picture of what Jesus will do in Revelation chapter five in buying the world back through his blood. And at the end, that full redemption is complete.

A kinsman redeemer, a goel, had to have and meet three qualifications. Number one, he had to be related. Number two, he had to be able to do it, able to pay the price, had the money. And number three, he had to be willing. Jesus as our kinsman redeemer fits all three.

He is related. That is, God became man. He took upon himself humanity. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but he emptied himself and took upon himself the form of a servant. The word became flesh.

Second, Jesus was able to pay the price. He hung on the cross and he said, "It is finished." "Tetelestai" is the Greek word. It means "paid in full." He was able to pay the price.

And number three, he was willing to do it. He wasn't forced to the cross. He wasn't coerced into doing it. He said, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down and to take it again. Our kinsman redeemer.

"Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth. You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small and make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them. The wind shall carry them away, the whirlwind shall scatter them. You shall rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none.

Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together."

All of these were indigenous trees to that southern land of Israel known as the land of Judah. "That they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel created it."

Between Babylon and Jerusalem-- Babylon, the place they were taken captive, Jerusalem the place they would have to return to rebuild their land and their temple. Between those two cities is a vast desert. And I'm talking barren desert. I told you before that I took that trip. It took me 25 hours one way by car. It's a vast desert.

God is promising protection and provision as they go all the way back through that desert land from Babylon to Jerusalem. And then I also believe that this has future implications. That this is not only the near, but the far view that is considered. That in the millennial kingdom, the restored and renewed earth, there will be incredible geographical and topographical changes upon the earth where the deserts will be pools of water, springs of water, verdant, green lush.

Now, if you're listening by radio tonight and you live out in Palm Springs or Phoenix or out toward Albuquerque and it's hot, hold on to this verse. Your day is coming.

[LAUGHTER]

A day of refreshing water, pools of water, and forests. "Present your case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen. Let them show the former things what they were, that we may consider them and know the latter end of them or declare to us things to come."

God is challenging now the nations , challenging the false gods. A battle of the gods. Can you do what I can do? Can you predict the future? He's going to repeat that in chapter 43. "Show the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination."

You see what God is saying? He's challenging them, isn't he? He's saying, present your case. Predict the future. Account for the past. Do good, do evil, do something. They can't do anything because all they are is little figurines concocted, contrived, constructed by man, but absolutely impotent when it comes to doing anything.

You remember that basically Elijah the prophet issued the same challenge to the people of Israel who had followed Baal and Astaroth. There were the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Astaroth on Mount Carmel. And he issued a challenge. He said, let's meet on top of the mountain and let's have a duel. Your gods, all of them, against God.

I'm going to call upon the name of my God. You call upon the name of your gods. And the God who answers by fire, he is the Lord. You know the story. God, singular, the true and living God, answered by fire. By the way, that was a fair contest because Baal was considered the storm god. And it was awfully embarrassing that there hadn't been rain for three and a half years, because the prophet Elijah, through God's spirit, declared it so.

And they couldn't produce rain. And Baal, the god of the storm, the god of fertility, the god that supposedly made all things grow, was impotent. And so Elijah the prophet told them to choose. Quit hopping between two forks of the road. Choose this day whom you're going to serve.

Verse 25 has another reference to Cyrus. You're going to see him mentioned until he is even named in the coming chapters. "I have raised up one from the north." Remember, before God said he's coming from the east. Here he says, "I have raised up one from the north." Cyrus first came from Persia. That is over in the east. And then he conquered Media, which is up in the north. So that was the route that he followed. He went from east, went north, and then he's coming down.

"And he shall come from the rising of the sun. He shall call on my name." Interesting reference. "And he shall come against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads the clay." This is one of the most remarkable scriptures in all of the book of Isaiah. It mentions that he will come, that he'll call upon the name of the Lord, which he did.

Josephus, the historian, the Jewish historian, writes some interesting tidbits about Cyrus. He writes that Daniel the prophet approached Cyrus the king with the prophecies of Isaiah and showed him this. Showed him this one and showed him his name in chapter 44 and chapter 45. He was so impressed, so influenced, so moved, that one of his first decrees was to tell the Jews to return back to their land, and even funded the rebuilding of their temple with money from his own treasuries. And he in fact did acknowledge God as the one who guided him and provided for him.

In the book of Ezra, chapter one verse two, we read "All of the kingdoms of the earth--" this is Cyrus, the Persian king, speaking. "All of the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me," says Cyrus. "And he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Isn't that fascinating? "He will call on me." He acknowledged God as the one who gave him that power.

"Who has declared from the beginning that we may know, in former times that we may see? He is righteous. Surely there is no one who shows, surely there is no one who declares, surely there is no one who hears your words. The first time I said to Zion, "Look, there they are!" I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings, for I looked, and there was no man.

I looked among them, there was no counselor. Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word? Indeed, they are all worthless. Their works are nothing. Their molded images are wind and confusion."

I love it. God is saying, you have nothing to be afraid of when it comes to their gods. They can't touch you. They can't hurt you. They can't do anything. Sometimes people will ask, what should I do if somebody who is like a Satan worshipper puts a spell on me, a hex, a hoax, an incantation? I say go to bed and get a good night's sleep. Who cares? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

I remember hearing the testimony of a guy who was an occultist. He came to faith in Christ, and he was touring different churches as an evangelist. He said, when I practiced the black arts, I was involved in occultism, one of the things I was taught to be sure of is to make sure that the people that I was casting spells on were not born again Christians. He said, because we found out that if you cast a spell, it would reverse and would come upon the one who cast it.

[LAUGHTER]

Isn't that cool?

[LAUGHTER]

God says they're worthless!

[APPLAUSE]

We had a guy years ago in Albuquerque who called our church in the middle of the night for several nights in a row, threatening us, threatening me, threatening my family. And he did it in this spooky weird voice, left it on the answering machine. "Skip." Seriously.

We had a spiritual warfare conference at our church, and this group of Satan worshipers threatened our church. They threatened to burn down our building because we were exposing the dark side. The interesting thing is that our building was metal. I don't know how they were going to burn it down. But I thought, this will be fun.

But he called about 2:00, 3:00 in the morning and left phone messages. It scared the secretaries. One day, he happened to call during working hours. It was my day off, but I happened to be in. And the secretary said, "It's him." So I picked up the phone. And I said, this is Skip. And he said, "Skip."

And he made those threatening remarks. And I asked him his name. He told me. And I said, you are a coward. You make phone calls that the secretaries will get in the middle of the night, but you won't make them face to face. I challenge you. I'll meet you in an hour. And I told him the restaurant I'd meet him at. He goes, I don't have a car.

[LAUGHTER]

I'm thinking, how are you going to burn down the building?

[LAUGHTER]

But I'll tell you what. The Lord showed up. I met him in an hour. I spent two hours talking with him, led him to Christ. He came back to the church. He apologized to all the secretaries, and he humbled himself before God.

Isaiah 42. "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my elect One in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out nor raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break. Smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law."

Now, again, the context will show us which servant God is referring to. This is the ideal servant. This is not the failed servant, the blind and deaf servant, Israel. This is God's ideal servant, messiah. It's the first of four servant songs of the messiah in the book of Isaiah. It speaks of his gentle manner. He's not going to cry out. He won't bowl people over.

Jesus said, "I'm meek. I'm lonely. You'll find rest to your souls." Notice it says "a bruised reed he will not break." Reeds were those long, tall, thin pieces of vegetation that grew along riverbanks. They were, if bruised, weak, unstable, and fragile. The idea here is that Jesus would be gentle. He wouldn't push. He wouldn't agitate.

The next description is "a smoking flax he won't quench." Smoking flax. A piece of flax is what went into the oil lamps in ancient times. And the idea here is a smoldering, dimly lit, almost out oil lamp. He won't quench it. He won't snuff it out.

And I think the idea here is that he's going to pour oil in it and keep it going, fan it into flame. He's going to pour oil into it. He's going to bring power to it. One of the descriptions of the Lord is he won't bowl you over. He'll be gentle and meek, and he will empower those who are weak. The ideal servant of the Lord. And he did that, didn't he?

The woman caught in adultery. They wanted to stone her. And he wrote in the sand. You know how the story goes. And he said, "Woman, where are your accusers?" "I have none, sir." "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." So gentle. So sweet, encouraging her to not sin, but to serve him.

Now, beginning in verse five, it's as if the creator is addressing the messiah talking about the purposes that he will accomplish through him. "Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it.

'I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand and will keep you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them."

Now, go back to verse six and notice God says to the messiah, "I will give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles." The King James version says, "I will give thee for a covenant of the people." And there's a question mark as to which it is. Is God saying I'm going to give you as a covenant to them, or is God going to give them, the Gentiles, as an inheritance to the son?

Fact of the matter is both are true. "For God so loved the world that he gave his Son." His only son. Jesus is God's gift to the world. At the same time, Jesus in John chapter 17 indicated that the disciples were gifts that the Father had given him. He prayed and he said, "I have manifested your name to the men that you have given me out of the world."

Now, if anybody ever chides you and says, who do you think you are, God's gift to the world? You can correct them and say, no, actually. I'm God's gift to Jesus Christ. Because you are God wanted you to be redeemed so that he would give you to his son. Whom the Father has given Jesus. You belong to him.

When you gave Jesus your life, you handed the pink slip of your life over to him. He is the Lord now. You are bought with the price. He owns you. You belong to Jesus. Great place to be.

Verse 10. Now Israel calls on the earth's nations to join in praise of the messiah. "Sing to the Lord a new song, and his praise from the ends of the earth. You who go down to the sea and all that is in it, you coastlands, you inhabitants of them, let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing."

These nations that were to the east of Israel, east of the Dead Sea. "Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the coastlands." There is a command that's given there in verse 10, "sing to the Lord a new song." I counted nine times that the Bible tells us to sing a new song to the Lord.

"Sing a new song," it says in the book of Psalms a few times. Now, why is that? I think that God wants every single generation to have fresh expressions of worship and praise to him. God never wants us to live in the past. I love old songs. I love songs that we sang 30 years ago around here. They warm my heart. They bring back great feelings, great memories. I love singing the old hymns.

But if all I do is sing songs that were written 30 years ago or 500 years ago, I'm making a statement. I'm saying oh, yeah. God used to work 500 years ago. God moved around here 30 years ago. But to sing new songs, fresh expressions, we're saying God's still moving. The Jesus movement is still happening. He's still at work.

Think in history. In 1524, Martin Luther decided to take some bar songs and bring them into the church and put Christian lyrics to them. How controversial was that? But today they're some of our old favorites. Like "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," "Away in a Manger." Bar melodies transposed.

In 1690, a young boy told his dad, "Dad, songs at church, with all due respect, are boring." His dad got angry and said, "If you think you can do any better, go ahead." And so young Isaac Watts did. Wrote "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king." Or "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

In every generation, there is that mandate. "Sing to the Lord a new song." So I'm looking forward to the composers that God is raising up here today. Fresh expressions of his love and glory.

"The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man. He shall stir up his zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud. He shall prevail against his enemies. 'I have held my peace a long time. I have been still and restrained myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor. I will pant and gasp at once."

This is a metaphor of judgment, a judicial metaphor. God has been patient a long time. Now, God says, now like a pregnant woman gasping, I've restrained myself long enough. It's time to give birth to judgment upon the earth. He'll settle all scores.

"I will lay waste the mountains and the hills and dry up their vegetation. I will make the rivers coastlands. I will dry up the pools. I will bring the blind by a way they did not know. I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to molded images, 'You are our gods."

So God is saying, I've restrained myself long enough. I've been patient long enough. Now it's time for me to act. And eventually, if we look not just retrospectively but prospectively into the future, there is coming a time in history, folks, Jesus said will be the worst time ever called the great tribulation period. And some of the descriptions that are mentioned here in verse 15 and 16 are also mentioned in the book of Revelation.

For instance, in the trumpet judgments. The first trumpet is sounded by the angel, and hail mixed with blood comes down upon the earth, and a third of the trees are burned up, and all of the green vegetation on earth is consumed. Think of all the grass, all the farmland, all the pasture land, all the food for livestock, all the wood that is used to build houses, destroyed during that period of time.

"Hear, you deaf. Look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?" This is not the messiah servant. This, in context, is obviously the servant Israel. God calls deaf, blind.

"Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but you do not observe. Opening the ears but he does not hear. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered. All of them are snared in holes. They are hidden in prison houses. They are for prey, and no one delivers, for plunder, and no one says restore."

God refers to Israel, his servant, as one who is deaf and one who is blind. That shouldn't surprise you. God already told the children of Israel through Moses, "You're stiff necked. You're stubborn." When they were in the wilderness.

Then in the book of Judges, they're described as "everyone doing what is right in his own eyes." Paul the Apostle described them as being blind. "Their minds are blinded," he said. 2 Corinthians chapter three. "For even to this day, the veil remains when they read the Old Testament, but the veil is taken away in Christ."

Now, here's the good news. Though the modern Jew today having the Old Testament, having the promises of God, having the heritage, is blinded to the fact that their mashiach, their messiah, has come in Christ.

Though they're are blind to it, there is indication that the veil is being lifted. I have a statement that comes from a source-- it's a Jewish source-- of the dissatisfaction with traditional Judaism. The author says, "We're living in an age where people want something more tangible in their religion. Judaism has always been very abstract. It raises more questions than it gives answers." And then the author says, "The Jesus movement has all the answers."

In Romans, Paul said, "Blindness, in part, has happened unto Israel till the full number or the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." You and I, by the way we live, by what we say, should be provoking the Jewish people to a godly jealousy. We have your messiah. We're worshipping your chosen one, the servant of the Lord. And should be active in Jewish evangelism as the Lord opens that door.

"Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, nor were they obedient to his law.

Therefore he has poured on him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle. It set him on fire all around, yet he did not know. And it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart."

Now, in this 43rd chapter of Isaiah, you're going to notice God speaking in such tender tones to his people, to the nation of Israel. He's telling his people, you have no need to fear. I created you. I formed you. I'm going to direct to you. I'm going to protect you.

By the way, if anyone ever thinks that God is through with the nation of Israel, read this chapter. God promises a plan that transcends the present suffering, that God will protect them. In Romans 11, Paul asked the question. "Has God cast away his people?" And then he answers it. "God forbid." And this chapter would dovetail with Romans 11.

"But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned nor shall the flame scorch you."

What a key verse. What a key promise. God doesn't promise that you're going to sail over the waters. He doesn't say you're going to go under the waters and be consumed and drowned. He says, you're going to make it through. You're going to go through hard times, but you're going to make it through. Sometimes the only way out of a trial is through it. And God says, I'll be with you. You're going to make it through.

Remember what David said in the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd." He said that "He leads me beside still waters. He takes me into green pastures." But then he said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your staff, your rod, they comfort me."

We go through trials. We go through circumstances, through the waters, through the valleys. We don't like it. If we could have a vote on getting rid of trials, I bet it would be unanimous. We'd all have them taken away. We don't want the valleys. Lord, airlift me from mountaintop experience to mountaintop experience.

[LAUGHTER]

But God knows you need to go through them. That's where the victory is, the lessons that are learned. "For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Notice that word. It's mentioned eight times in the book of Isaiah.

"I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you. Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, give them up. To the south, do not keep them back.

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, I have formed him. Yes, I have made him."

Now, this promise was literally fulfilled when the Jews returned from captivity. It was as though God rewarded Cyrus in letting the Jews go back to their land, rebuild their land, rebuild their temple, in giving people for those that he let go. History tells us that Cyrus and his son Cambyses, after they let the children of Israel, the people of Judah, go back to the land, that he and his son took over the entire region of the nations that are mentioned here, Ethiopia, Egypt, Seba. That is that vast area between the White and the Blue Nile River contiguous with Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea. All of those areas were given into his hand when the children of Israel returned.

Now, verse eight. "Bring out the blind people who have eyes, the deaf who have ears. Let the nations be gathered together. Let the people be assembled." Now, God is summoning Israel and the nations to court. "Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses that they may be justified. Let them hear and say it is truth.

You are my witnesses, says Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me."

Now, when the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, says, "you are my witnesses," he is not referring to modern day Jehovah's Witnesses, though this is the verse they will take. This is a courtroom scene. He's saying, Israel, you're my witnesses. You have seen me make predictions that have come true. The gods of the nations can't do it. They can't produce the witnesses. But you're my witnesses.

You've seen prophecy fulfilled. You've seen my hand at work. "I, even I, am the Lord. Besides me there is no savior. I have declared and saved. I have proclaimed there was no foreign god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God. Indeed, before the day was, I am he, and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I work and who will reserve it?"

Now, once again, God is calling upon the nations to a very strategic point. I am God. I can predict the future. You and your gods aren't gods. They can't do it. My calling card is prophecy.

You know, we can't even remember our own history. God can foretell the future with incredible accuracy, and yet it takes historian after historian to weed through past historical facts, weed through revisionism, to come to what actually happened. We can't even remember our past. God knows the end from the beginning. Foretells it with incredible accuracy.

Of the 25 books in the world that claim to be scripture, there's one thing conspicuously absent from all of them except the Bible, and that's fulfilled prophecy. Whether it's the writings of Lao-Tzu or the writings of Confucius or the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads of the Hindus, there's no fulfilled prophecy. God repeatedly predicts events, names people, and fulfills them.

Some years ago, an interesting study was done by-- well, it's not too reputable a magazine, but it's an interesting study. The National Enquirer. The National Enquirer. They did a little article on modern day prophets, and they asked modern day prophets to make predictions. They gave 66 or 67 predictions of different events. They asked them to predict the future in the next six months.

What would happen in politics? What would happen in the sports world? And what would happen with movie stars? And these modern day prophets made their predictions. How many do you think were right? You think half? A third? None. Absolute zero they got on the test. God's scores 100% all the time.

Verse 14. "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives-- the Chaldeans who rejoice in their ships." God is determined to crush Babylon for Israel's sake. "I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea."

Oh, sorry. "Who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, who brings forth the chariots and the horse, the army and the power. They shall lie down together. They shall not rise. They are extinguished. They are quenched like a wick."

You see that phrase in verse 16? "The Lord who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters." There was a guy named Matthew Francis Mowery who is called the father of oceanography. And he was even called by some the Pathfinder of the Seas because in reading this scripture, he sought to find pathways, currents in the world's oceans. It's because he had an uncle named John who was observant to discover the Gulf of Mexico and the currents that flow in the Gulf Stream. And being influenced by his father, this guy studied the pathways of the sea and saw the mighty currents that would take ships across the world.

"Who brings forth the chariot and the horse." We read that, verse 18. "Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall you not know it? I will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

The beasts of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give a drink to my people, my chosen. This people I have formed for myself. They shall declare my praise."

The name "Judah" means "praise." This is a play on words. "They shall--" my people, Judah, "shall declare my judah." My praise. God again promising to keep his people as they would go back from Babylon to Jerusalem. But look at verse 21. "This people I have formed for myself." Here is an important point a lot of people overlook.

We are placed on this earth for one reason, to give glory to God. In Revelation chapter four, it's plainly stated. "For thy pleasure they are and were created." So if you're looking for the meaning of life, why am I here, what's the purpose of life? One reason. You were born and put on Earth to please God. Find out what God wants you to do, please him, and you will find fulfillment. Live to please yourself, and you'll be miserable.

God made you for his pleasure. You might say, I don't like that! Tough toast.

[LAUGHTER]

You want to live a happy and fulfilled life, live to please the Lord. Those are the rules of his game. And you will have abundant life as you do that.

"But you have not called upon me, O Jacob. You've been weary of me, O Israel. You have not brought me the sheep for your burnt offerings. You have not honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings nor wearied you with incense. You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities."

God is taking them back to pre-captivity days when they were weary of God. They were prayer-less. They brought their sacrifices, but it was just going through the motions. It was done in a perfunctory kind of a way. No real heart worship to the Lord.

Now, you remember that Jesus wrote a little postcard to the church of Ephesus. It's called a letter, but it's short so I call it a postcard. He said, "I know your works, your labor, your patience. You can endure those who are evil. You've labored for my name's sake," et cetera. He gives them all straight A's. And then he says, "But I have this against you. You've left your first love." Or as the Weymouth translation puts it, "You don't love me like you did at first."

It's possible to grow weary of God and lose that intimate first love relationship. Remember the night, the day you were saved and how excited you were about Jesus. And so Jesus says, "Remember from where you have fallen. Repent and repeat, or do your first works over again." That first love relationship, that pure, simple devotion.

I, as a pastor, will often hear couples say, "We don't love each other anymore." And I remember when they dated. I think, what happened to that young girl whose heart skipped a beat when he walked into the room? What happened to that young man who couldn't wait to buy her flowers, open the car door for her? Now he slams it on her.

[LAUGHTER]

Their love has grown cold. It's eroded over time. That first love isn't there anymore.

Martha was busy serving the Lord, wasn't she, in the gospels? And she was angry that Mary was sitting, listening to Jesus, in love with him. And she says to Jesus, "Tell my sister to help me. I'm doing all the work." Jesus said, "Martha, you are distracted by many things, but Mary has chosen the better part and it won't be taken from her." It's not an either/or situation.

It's not like you either have to get busy for God or sit at his feet. It's a balance of both. Work. Serve the Lord, but with the love relationship. Don't grow weary of him. You can be so busy about the king's business that, well, you forget the king.

Remember Fiddler on the Roof? Remember Tevye? Tevye was the father, husband in the story, the Jewish father. And one day he says to his wife, (SINGING), "Do you love me?" And she looks at him, like, are you from Mars? Well, men are from Mars. That's true, aren't--

And she says, do I love you? I wash your clothes. I cook your meals. I make your bed. I know, he says. But (SINGING) do you love me? It's not what you do, but do you love me? Do you love him?

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance. Let us contend together. State your case, that you may be acquitted. Your first father sinned, your mediators have transgressed against me. Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary. I will give Jacob to the curse and Israel to reproaches."

So though the future of Israel is glorious, Israel will suffer in the intervening ages. Well, there is our God. Willing to forgive, willing to guide, willing to direct, willing to protect. So think back to that eight-year-old saying, God, if anything happens to you, we're sunk. I guess we would be. But not to worry. Not to worry at all.

One dark night, a man was walking down a lonely stretch of road, and on either side was a ravine, he was told. It was just empty darkness. He lost his footing and he slipped over the edge, and he found himself in space, crying out. Flailing his arms, he grabbed a bush on the side of this ravine, and he cried out for help. No one heard him. He cried again. In desperation, he cried again, and he knew he had to let go and plunge to his death. And so he finally let go and he fell six inches.

[LAUGHTER]

If he would have only known. A waste of energy when he was only six inches from the ground. Sometimes we hold on to things too tightly. We just need to let go and let God. Trust him who loves us.

Heavenly Father, we have seen such a full and complete description of how you love and care for your covenant people, holding them into account, calling them as witnesses, promising to be with them, to direct them, to not let the streams of water or the floods overwhelm them. Lord, what an honor it is to be your child. What a privilege it is to bring our lives and those things that concern us before you.

And we think of the song, "Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." And so we leave our lives before you tonight, and we cast our cares upon you because we know you care for us. And all of God's people said amen.

Thank you, Skip. Shall we stand? Skip talked about the little girl that told God to take care of himself. The little eight-year-old. Well, I heard of a little eight-year-old boy who was in Sunday school, and they'd had the lesson on how God put Adam to sleep and out of his-- took a rib and formed his wife. And a couple of days later he was lying on the floor, and obviously in pain. His mother said, what's wrong? He's holding his side. He said, I think maybe I'm getting a wife.

[LAUGHTER]

Pastors are down here at the front. They're here to minister to you tonight. If you have any need, we would encourage you after service just to come on forward. They'll be glad to pray for you, physical needs, financial needs, relationships, whatever. Our God is an awesome God. He wants to help you. He loves you. And he delights in doing good things for his children.

So if you have a need tonight, don't just go, but come. Come on down to the front, and let the Lord work in your life. You'll be blessed for doing it.

(SINGING) Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God.

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-W-O-R-D.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/13/2004
completed
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Isaiah 17-19
Isaiah 17-19
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6/20/2004
completed
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Isaiah 20-22
Isaiah 20-22
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6/27/2004
completed
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Isaiah 23-25
Isaiah 23-25
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7/4/2004
completed
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Isaiah 26-28
Isaiah 26-28
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7/11/2004
completed
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Isaiah 29-31
Isaiah 29-31
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7/18/2004
completed
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Isaiah 32-34
Isaiah 32-34
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7/25/2004
completed
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Isaiah 35-37
Isaiah 35-37
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8/1/2004
completed
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Isaiah 38-40
Isaiah 38-40
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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
completed
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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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