Oct. 27, 2024

Isaiah 40-55: Introduction Pt 1

Isaiah 40-55: Introduction Pt 1

We introduce our series on Isaiah 40-55

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We introduce our series on Isaiah 40-55

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All right, this morning, for the first hour, have a bible.

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Turn it to the Book of Isaiah. I've been listening

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to the podcast you know where. If you haven't, I'll

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get you all caught up here as fast as I can.

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All Right, this all started because for a podcast episode,

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I thought I'll have a little bit of fun, have

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a little bit of fun. So what I did was

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I told everyone listening to get a timer or a stopwatch,

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and that we were going to start reviewing sermons on

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Isaiah chapter forty three, and we were going to time

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how long how fast it took pastors to insert us

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into Isaiah chapter forty three. I'm like, this will be fun,

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it'll be no big deal. Here we go. So we

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took sermon number one. I'm like, here we go, let's

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start the sermon, and in less than forty seconds, less

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than forty seconds, the pastor had inserted us into Isaiah

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forty three. And I was like, well, this is it's crazy.

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So I did a review of it. It got very frustrating.

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I got very irritating because I'm like, what is happening

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here to the text. So then I chose a second sermon,

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and that one took literally zero zero seconds because the

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title of the sermon was the work of the Holy

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Spirit in the believer, And I'm like, how in the

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world is that Isaiah forty three And it was actually

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a discussion on the Heidelberg Catechism on the work of

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the Holy Spirit, but they used Isaiah forty three, and

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I'm like, what is happening here? Right? So the more

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we kept looking at I'm like, there, I don't get

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what's going on here. So let's first read the section

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that we never got past, verse seven. But here we go,

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Isaiah forty three one through seven. Let me at least

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read it for you Isaiah forty three, verse one. But now,

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thus saith, the Lord that created this is Isaiah forty

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three one created thee. Everybody see the word the right now.

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If you see the word THEE, any good Bible student

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would do, what who is the thee? There? Well, then

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what does it say the following line, Oh, Jacob and

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he that formed thee O Israel? So who is he

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referring to? He's referring to Israel. And he goes from

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Jacob right, whose name was changed to Israel. Basically, he

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goes from the very beginning of their name right, and

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any what does he say, fear not? For I have

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redeemed THEE. I have called THEE by thy name. Thou

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art mine. Okay, I think we know who that's about, right,

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I mean I think I don't know. Like it doesn't

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require seminary education to figure this out. Correct. Well, then

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it says, when thou, who's the thou Israel. When thou

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passest through the waters, I will be with THEE, and

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through the rivers they shall not overflow THEE. When thou

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walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither

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shall the flame kindle upon THEE. Now, if you just

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look at all of that, the these the Thou. But

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for some weird reason, when pastors in twenty twenty four

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open up the Book of Isaiah, it's no longer THEE

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or Thou, it's you, me, we us. And I'm like,

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I like, I don't even understand. I mean, it's just ridiculous, right,

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verse three. For I'm the Lord, I'm the Lord, thy God,

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the Holy One of Israel. Right, thy Savior. I gave

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Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for THEE, since

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thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable,

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and I have loved THEE. Therefore will I give men

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for THEE and people for thy life. I mean, you

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should go in and just circle and underline all of that.

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Fear not, For I am with THEE. I will bring

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thy seed from the west, and together THEE from the west.

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I will say to the north give up, and to

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the south keep not back. Bring my sons from Afar,

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my daughters, from the ends of the earth, even everyone

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that is called by my name. For I have created

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him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I

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have made him. All right. So you're like I, that

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seems pretty obvious who this is about, correct, I mean,

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I don't even know this. This is where I just

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start losing my mind, right, because if as believers we

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can't read a passage that is that clear, then ladies

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and gentlemen, let's just stop pretending that means the Bible

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cannot be understood, the Bible cannot be interpreted, and that

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every every bit of attempt to understand it is just

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it's just foolish and we're just playing a game, right

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if we can't figure out that. I mean, I mean, look,

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the there's no way we can figure out the deity

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of Christ, the Trinity, we can't figure out salvation. If

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we cannot figure out when you've got THEE and thou

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and we can't figure out who the and thou is about,

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then ladies and gentlemen, it's just over. And to insert

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ourselves into the text, you're kicking those people out. So

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it was already frustrating, right, So we reviewed sermons. I

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did all kinds of discussion about it. Some of the

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sermons I was just baffled and how in the world

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this was even happening. But then it got worse because

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then I was looking for another random sermon and I

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started listening and instead of being a sermon, it was

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a dramatized version of a very famous book. And as

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soon as it was about a five minute clip from

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a small section of a very very famous book, everyone

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here knows the book. And as soon as it started playing,

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I'm like, oh, you gotta be kidding me. So then

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I'm like, okay, everyone, put away your timers, put away

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your stop watches. We need to build a time machine

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and we need to go back to see sixteen eighty

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seven or sixteen seventy eight. Okay, it's numbers. I'm gonna

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mess him up. Sixteen seventy eight. We're gonna go back

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to sixteen seventy eight, and there's someone in a prison

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cell writing a book, and we need to go in,

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take the pencil from him, remove the paper, and tell

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him you can't write this book. Now what book? It

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was written in sixteen seventy eight by someone in prison.

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First name his the author's name, first name, John Banyan.

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What book Pilgrim's Progress, Pilgrim's Progress. And so then we

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discovered that this is the book that started a lot

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of the problems. Now, as much as I have I've

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told everyone to read Pilgrim's Progress, as much as i've

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in a since recommended the book, I've always recommended the

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book from this perspective. Oh, this is an allegorical book.

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So it's always fun to go what does this represent?

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What does this represent? What does this represent? Because I

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love doing that. I did not realize the hermoneutical implications

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the book caused. I did not realize the influence that

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it caused. But it caused a lot of problems because

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maybe I knew it, maybe I didn't pay any attention

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to it. Maybe I did not perceive the threat of it,

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but he utilizes, he uses scriptures to justify his allegory,

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and so by doing that he then leads to then

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you interpreting the scripture from an allegorical perspective, right, So

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sixteen seventy eight, he's in prison, he's writing the Pilgrim's Progress,

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and then what did he do. There's a scene in

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the book called the River of Death, the river of Death,

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and the scene is often interpreted as drawing on Isaiah

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chapter forty three, which verse look at verse two. We

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just read it, when thou passest through the waters, I

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will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall

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not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire. And

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then this particular case, he doesn't mention the fire because

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he's talking about the river of death, all right, When

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in the allegory, Christian and hopeful must cross the river

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of death to reach the celestial city, which symbolizes heaven.

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Banyan uses the crossing to represent the final journey through

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death that all believers must take. For Christian the waters

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are turbulent and frightening, symbolizing the fear of struggle that

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can accompany death. Hopeful, however, crosses more peacefully, showing the

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assurance some believers have in their final moments. So Bunyan

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takes Isaiah forty three and turns it into what an allegory?

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And what is the river? The waters? They represent death,

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and so we are going to God is going to

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be with us, and we're gonna make it through death

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to the other side. And so that sounds good. That

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preaches good, right, and everyone in the congregation will say, Amen, Oh,

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such good preaching, pastor. The only problem is has literally

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nothing to do with Isaiah forty three. All right, that's

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not what Isaiah forty three is talking about. Bunyan and

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allegorizes the promises in Isaiah forty three to two for

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his scene and the original context. Isaiah forty three speaks

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of God's presence with Israel through their trials, specifically as

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he promised to bring them through the Babylonian exile and

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return them to their land. For Israel, the promise that

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they will not be overwhelmed by the water a fire

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was a literal assurance of God's protection through their national hardships.

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It has nothing to do with you. Nothing in Pilgrim's

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progress Bunyan and reinter Britz. Please note reinterprets. I'm gonna

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say misinterprets, but reinterprets these promises as an allegory for

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the Christian's journey through death. He takes the imagery of

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passing through waters and applies it to the spiritual experience

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of death, suggesting that God's presence will protect the believer

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through life's final trial. Thus, he fully allegorizes Isaiah forty three,

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adopting it to communicate hope of eternal life rather than

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Israel's historical deliverance. Now here's the thing. You can preach

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that and it may give people a sense of comfort,

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It may give people a sense of peace, It may

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give people a sense of assurance. But if your comfort

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and your peace and assurance is based off a complete

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misinterpretation of the text, what you should be what ticked

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off that someone is trying to give you assurance based

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off a misapplication of the text. But will people get

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upset and ticked off about it? Absolutely not, because it's

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not going to make them mad, because they like peace,

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comfort and assurance. Because the reality is, nobody in the

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pew really cares about the truth of what is preached

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as long as they agree with it. Now, if they

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disagree with it, then all of a sudden they care

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about truth. But everyone should be bothered by that. Well,

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is anyone bothered by No? One's bothered by it. That's

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the problem, all right. Bunyan's application of Isaiah forty three

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in the River of Death scene is spiritual. Is a

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spiritualized adaptation and is meant to encourage readers by illustrating

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how God promised to be with Israel on their trials. So, well,

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that's great. He allegorizes it, he spiritualizes it to bring comfort.

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But you should never find comfort from an allegorized, spiritualized

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use of the Word of God, because that's not comfort

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for you. Who's the comfort for Israel? Look at Isaiah

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forty verse one. How does Isaiah forty verse one be

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in comfort? Ye? Comfort ye my people? Who are the

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people there? Not you? Not me? So I obviously you

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can hear in my voice. Got pretty ticked off by

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listening to all these sermons. And the reason I get

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ticked off is I just don't understand, right. These are

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sermons that have you know, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

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either streams downloads with all these comments, Oh, this was

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so amazing, this is so great. Oh I got so

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much comfort from it, and I just want to scream

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it just wants it just shows you that Biblical interpretation

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is a joke. In fact, this is I phrased this,

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This is the reality. Christians are nothing more than narcissistic

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textual hijackers. That's all we are. We're narcissistic because we

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think the Bibles about us were textual hijackers, because we

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go in hijack the scripture to make it about us.

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Then we fly the plane to wherever we want to

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fly it and land it and say, not only have

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I hijacked the plane, this is the right interpretation. And

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if you don't agree with me, then I'll go to

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a church that does. And that's all it is. It's

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a joke. The whole thing is a joke. Biblical hermeneutics

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is a joke. Bible interpretation is a joke. Everyone does

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what they want with the Bible. The whole thing is

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a joke. Everyone should just stop pretending that we take

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the text serious. The text has never been the authority.

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We've always been the authority. The Protestant Reformation was about

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determining who was going to be the authority. And it

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wasn't about making the Bible the authority. It was about

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making who the authority the individual. And that's the way

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it's been and that's the way it's going to be.

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Everyone interprets the Bible in any way they want. Do

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they need to know hermonutics? No? Do they need to

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read hermonuticts? No? They get to say, this is what

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it means. And you're wrong. Who cares if you've been

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to Bible college seminary, Who cares? If you're a pastor,

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I'm right, you're wrong, and I will determine truth. We

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are as relativistic as the world. And we need to

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stop pretending anything other the Bible. If we just make

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the Bible say whatever we want it to say. And

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Isaiah forty three is just one of a million examples

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on it. Do Christians agree on what baptism is or isn't?

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We don't even agree the meaning of the word repentance.

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Do we agree on the meaning of the word We

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can't even agree on the meaning of a word. So

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I mean, I was like you just at this point,

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you just want to throw up your hands and just like,

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you know what, let's just come to church and just

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let's just go around in a circle. Hey, you just

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tell me what the text means. Well, sounds good. You

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tell me what the text means sounds good? Does truth exist? Okay,

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it doesn't. Really. The church is not the place of truth.

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The church is the place of personal interpretation. And then

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we determined that my interpretation then is what true, and

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then it's binding on whom everyone. The whole thing is maddening.

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So then I was like, Okay, Now, one of the

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things I try to do whenever I do any reviews

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for any messages. I know I can just continue to

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get ticked off and continue to get irritated, but I

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always try to step back. We did it with Psaum

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eighty three. I always try to step back and go, well,

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I've got to do something positive with this, right, I

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gotta do it because I could just keep listening to

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sermons and then you know, get a door dash direct,

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you know, bringing me alcohol and just be behind the

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microphone getting drunk as I review sermons on Isaiah forty three,

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because it's going to lead me to drinking, because that's

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just insane, right, And like, I don't get it because

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it's not even about Bible college or seminary. It's just

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about I mean, that's just reading comprehension one oh one.

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And it's like, I I'm gonna blame the public schools.

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The public schools haven't taught people how to read, and

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then they come to church, and then the church just

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doubles down on our inability to read, because just we

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should be able to figure this out, should we not?

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But I'm like, okay, what do I do with this?

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So here's what we're going to do. I don't know

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which hour we're going to use because we still got

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work on romans to do, but we're going to began

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a lengthy series from going from Isaiah forty to Isaiah

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fifty five. And the reason we're going to go from

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Isaiah forty to Isaiah fifty five is because that's one

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entire section, all right, forty to fifty five. Okay. In fact,

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I was reviewing a sermon on Isaiah forty just the

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other day, and guess what, Isaiah forty somehow turned into

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a discussion about the twenty sixteen presidential election. How in

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the world do you get Isaiah forty to the presidential

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election of twenty sixteen. How does this even happen? Okay, no,

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it's just nobody cares and all the comments under the sermon,

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Oh this was a great sermon. Oh this was amazing.

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Oh this is so great, and it's like, no, this

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is trash, and it's trash not just because I disagree.

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It's trash, because that's not what Isaiah forty is about.

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Does everyone understand that, Like, it's not about me. Look,

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I can someone can preach a different theology and I

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may disagree with the theology. That's one thing. It's one

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thing to go to a text of scripture and literally

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make it say something that it doesn't say under any

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reasonable understanding of reading. Right. This is not about different interpretation, right.

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This is not about like, oh they're lordship or I'm

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not lordship, or they're all millennial and I'm not a millennial.

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This is about how do we read words? And if

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we can't agree as Christians and how to read words,

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then maybe we should just stop being in a religion

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where the revelation of God is in written form? Right?

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Why just abandon Christianity? Because the whole the Bible is

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not I've said it a million times. The Bible is

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not the authority. The Bible is not the authority. The

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individual is the authority, and we can read it any

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way we want. So that's what we're going to begin.

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We're just gonna begin going. We're gonna go from Isaiah

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forty to Isaiah fifty five. It's not going to always

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be truly verse by verse, but what the goal is,

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by the time we're done with those chapters and that section,

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you're going to know it better than you've ever known

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it in the entire history of your life. And we've

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not done a lot of work on Isaiah forty to

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fifty five in the history of the church. So it's

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going to be very important. And the reason we're doing

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it is because I'm sick and tired of listening to

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sermons that seem to think that Isaiah forty through fifty

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five is a canna plato and you can just turn

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it into whatever you want. It's not. Now, guess what,

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when you deal with the text and you're true to

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the text, what is almost one thing you can guarantee

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is going to happen. It's not going to be as

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interesting and as fun preaching, right because because it's fun

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to preach by doing what making it about us? If

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I'm make it about us, that's cool, that's fine, that's awesome. Right.

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If I just make it about the text, you may

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be like, well then it's.

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Kind of boory. What am I supposed to do with that? Okay, yeah,

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what about me? I'm gonna find me in it. If

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it's not about me, I don't want to come to church.

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I went three little points and a nice little sermon.

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I can get out at noon, go to the buffet. Well,

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if you deal with the text, guess what it may be. Maybe, oh,

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I know the word that this church has been criticified

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too academic feels like I'm in school. Well it's a text, right,

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So we got to figure it out. So that's what

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we're going to do. You can hear my frustrations. Just

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it's just maddening. You just pick random sermons and you're

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just like, what is happening? I don't get this. So

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we're gonna try to figure it out. So everybody ready,

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we're gonna do It's. Uh, well, we got a little

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bit of time. We're gonna see how far we can get.

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All right, So we're gonna take the section Isaiah forty

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to fifty five. All right, Now, a lot of what

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we're gonna do is this is introductory work. We're gonna

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cover things. We may repeat them because one of the

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key ways of learning is what repetition. All right, So

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if I go forward, then kind of back back up,

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go forward, kind of back back up. I'm gonna be

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adding different layers so we get this down. So everybody ready,

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make sure you've got a cleaning page on maybe a

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new notebook. Here we go, be Isaiah forty to fifty five.

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If this is the last thing we ever do here,

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then we're going to make sure we know this better

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than any other church on the history in the history

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of Earth. Okay, so we're going to try to understand this.

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Everybody ready, all right, Isaiah forty through fifty five. This

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section has been given various names by scholars and theologians.

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They've given these names to reflect the themes and content

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of these chapters. I'm gonna give you some of the

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most common names used to describe this section throughout church history.

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You ready, all right? This section Isaiah forty to fifty

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five has been called Number one, the Book of Comfort

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or the Book of Consolation, the Book of Comfort or

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the Book of Consolation. Why do you think possibly they've

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called it that? How does Isaiah forty one begin? For

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chapter forty verse one begin? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,

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saith your God? Right? This title reflects the opening words

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of Isaiah chapter forty, verse one, where God commands comfort

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for his people. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

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This chapter emphasizes hope, restoration, and God's faithfulness to his

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covenant people despite their exile and suffering. Now I'm not

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going to go too far into this, but I want

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to emphasize a couple of things. Chapter forty emphasizes hope, restoration,

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and god faithfulness to his covenant people. That's key, right,

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because how does the verse read. Look at Isaiah forty

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verse one, comfort ye my people? Who is the my people? Well,

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it seems that you can just put everyone there if

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you want. But I think it has a specific context,

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do you at least I think so? Or we'll try

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to figure that out, all right? So what's the first name?

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Book of Comfort or Book of Consolation? Second? The second

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one no pun intended, is sometimes referred to as second

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Isaiah or doutero. Isaiah number two is second. To get

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it number two. That's nobody finds that funny okay okay.

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Number two is Second Isaiah Dutero Isaiah. Some scholars refer

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to Isaiah forty through fifty five as Second Isaiah or

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Dutero Isaiah to distinguish it from the earlier chapters chapters

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one through thirty nine of the book. This title is

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based on the view that these chapters forty through fifty

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five represent a distinct section potentially written or addressed to

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the exiles in Babylon, and they differ in tone, content,

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and audience from chapters one through thirty nine, which focuses

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more on judgment and the Assyrian threat. So one through

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thirty nine is about judgment and about the threat of Assyria.

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Starting in chapter forty, we see obviously a drastic change

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in tone because it starts not with judgment, with what

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comfort comfort? Right? Everybody see that. I mean, I'm gonna

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repeat forty verse one amount a million times, all right.

393
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So it's a separate section. Not only that, it seems

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to be focusing on Babylon and the Babylonian exile or

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babylan captivity. So it's a complete separate section. Everybody got that,

396
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all right? So it's called second Isaiah Ordutero Isaiah. All right,

397
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that's the second possible name. So number one, Book of Comfort.

398
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Number two, second Isaiah, if you want to just go that.

399
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Number three, the Book of Redemption, the Book of Redemption.

400
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This name highlights the theme of redemption found throughout Isaiah

401
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forty through fifty five, where God promises to redeem is

402
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re from Babylonian captivity and to restore them to their lands.

403
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It also points to the spiritual redemption prophesied and relation

404
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to the suffering servant and the forgiveness of sins. But

405
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the idea is, this is the Book of Redemption, and

406
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the primary redemption is redeeming people in Babylonian exile to

407
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come back to the land. That's the primary redemption here.

408
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Now you may say there's more important redemption mentioned in it,

409
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but this is the context. Though. Everybody got that. So

410
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what's the first possible name for the section comfort constellation?

411
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Number two, Second Isaiah, Dutero Isaiah, Number three, the Book

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of Redemption, all right? Number four The Servant Song or

413
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the Servant songs. The Servant song or the Servant songs.

414
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Some scholars refer to Isaiah forty through fifty five as

415
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the Servant's Songs or Servant's Song because of the significant

416
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focus on the servant of the Lord, a figure who

417
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appears prominently in these chapters particularly. Everybody got your bibles.

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Look in Isaiah forty two and see if you see

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the servant of the Lord mentioned forty two. You see it?

420
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What does it saying forty two to one? Behold my servant?

421
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Everybody see that? All right? Look at chapter forty nine.

422
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Do you see something similar in forty nine? Okay, what's diverse?

423
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Verse three? And said unto me, thou art my servant?

424
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Now this one is identified, oh Israel. But we have

425
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this idea of servant. Right, everybody see it? How about

426
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chapter fifty? Yeah, over and over and over in forty nine, alright,

427
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you're gonna see it over and over and over. Okay,

428
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chapter fifty do you find it in chapter fifty fifty

429
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may be questionable? Oh? Ten? Okay? Who is among you

430
00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:08.880
that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant?

431
00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:11.720
Everybody see it? See the idea of the servant? Okay,

432
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and look at fifty two and fifty three. Yeah, we

433
00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:22.519
definitely know. In fifty three do we find it in

434
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fifty two thirteen everybody see it. Behold my servant, everybody

435
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.559
see it? And then chapter fifty three sometimes referred to

436
00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:44.599
as the Suffering Servant. Correct, does it mention the word servant? There?

437
00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:54.480
What verse? We see it as the suffering servant? But

438
00:27:54.599 --> 00:28:00.960
is it mentioned in fifty three or do we just

439
00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:13.640
impose it? It's only eleven verses, so obviously speaking of someone, right,

440
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I don't know if we see it, but we typically

441
00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:19.839
refer to this as the suffering servant, do we not? Okay?

442
00:28:19.880 --> 00:28:22.720
So we can put there there? But these there are

443
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sometimes referred to as servant songs. Is sometimes how it's described,

444
00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:30.319
speak of the servant's role and bringing justice, light and

445
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salvation through suffering and redemption. So some refer to forty

446
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.680
to fifty five as the servants Songs. I think that's

447
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probably the more appropriate title, if you're gonna go with that.

448
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When the servant.

449
00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:52.319
Songs, Okay, yeah, he shall see of the travail of

450
00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.480
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge.

451
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Shall my righteous servant justify many? There we go, thank

452
00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.720
you for finding it. We typically refer to the whole

453
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:04.240
chapter as the suffering Servant, but there we go, all right,

454
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everybody got that? So it's mentioned in all of those chapters,

455
00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:11.920
all right? How about number five? Sometimes called the Prophecy

456
00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:17.720
of Restoration, This title reflects the promise of national restoration

457
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.920
for Israel. These chapters look forward to Israel's return from

458
00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:24.519
babylon exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It emphasizes the

459
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:27.880
future hope that God offers his people and their time

460
00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:33.039
of suffering. All right, So what's number one? The Book

461
00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:37.400
of Comfort or Consolation? Number two, second Isaiah Dutero, Isaiah,

462
00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:41.839
number three, the Book of Redemption, Number four the Servant Songs.

463
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:46.039
Number five the Prophecy of Restoration, and number six the

464
00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:51.279
Book of the Suffering Servant, the Book of the Suffering Servant.

465
00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:54.440
This title emphasizes the central role of the suffering servant,

466
00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:58.200
particularly in Isaiah fifty two, chapter thirteen all the way

467
00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:02.319
to fifty three. Twelve passage presents the servant as the

468
00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:04.559
one who will atone for the sins of the people

469
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.039
through his suffering and death, a key theme and understanding

470
00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:15.039
God's redemptive plan. Yeah, kind of goes along, but it's

471
00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:17.279
some Just call it the Book of the Suffering Servative

472
00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:22.720
versus the servant songs. All right, everybody got those, So

473
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.200
they give them different titles. And why do they give

474
00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:31.119
them different titles? They're focusing the title may focus on

475
00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:34.720
a specific aspect of it, all right, So we can

476
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.640
call it, I like the idea comfort just because it

477
00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.880
starts in chapter forty, verse one with comfort, and so

478
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.200
that kind of begins to section. Right. Does that make sense? Yes? Okay,

479
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:50.240
I think it makes some sense. Right, So those are

480
00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:54.839
the different sections. Okay, now those are the different titles.

481
00:30:54.839 --> 00:30:57.599
I should say, those are the different titles for the section. Now,

482
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:00.000
what we're going to do in the next thing is

483
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:02.599
that's the possible titles. I don't know if we'll come

484
00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:04.880
up with a title. I think we'll possibly maybe wait

485
00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:06.920
until we're done and then see if a title kind

486
00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:10.319
of we think focuses on the majority of it. Where

487
00:31:10.359 --> 00:31:13.400
I'm going to go with the Book of Comfort or

488
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:16.359
the section of Comfort just because of how it starts,

489
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:18.960
That's kind of where I'm going to go. But before

490
00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:21.519
we can move on, we have to deal with the

491
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:26.079
subject related to timing. And this can get a little confusing,

492
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:31.440
all right, everybody ready, all right? Isaiah forty through fifty

493
00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:35.319
five is sometimes referred to as a message of comfort

494
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:40.079
for Israel in exile. That's how it sometimes referred to.

495
00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:44.400
It's a book of comfort for those in exile. But

496
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:49.480
this is very important. This words of comfort for those

497
00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:56.480
in exile was spoken, was written, was given way before

498
00:31:56.759 --> 00:32:00.279
the people ever went into exile. And this can be

499
00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:03.240
somewhat confusing if you're not paying attention and listen, or

500
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.920
if even if you're listening to sermons. All right, the

501
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.680
section of Isaiah forty through fifty five offers comfort, hope,

502
00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:14.279
and assurance to the people of Israel during their Babylonian exile. However,

503
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:18.720
it is important to recognize that this message was given

504
00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:24.119
to Isaiah and written down long before the exile actually occurred.

505
00:32:26.279 --> 00:32:28.880
So many times you will read a commentary that or

506
00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:33.759
a sermon saying, this is Isaiah speaking to the people

507
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.599
in exile, or this is a message to the people

508
00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:40.880
in exile, and in your mind, how do you interpret

509
00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:45.440
that that they're going through it right then? Or the

510
00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:49.160
one of the sermons we spoke of we listened to yesterday.

511
00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:51.880
Now he kind of corrected it, but he almost said,

512
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.160
God gives these words to Isaiah for Isaiah to talk

513
00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:59.200
to the people. Well, okay, wait, a minute. Isaiah couldn't

514
00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:02.480
be preaching this the people in exile because Isaiah is

515
00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:07.279
way dead before the exile occurs. All right, do you

516
00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:10.000
see how that can be confusing? All right? Now again

517
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:14.240
most sermons, most churches, who cares about being accurate? Because

518
00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:18.000
the passage is about whom as it becomes about us?

519
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.559
So who cares about those little, you know, academic details

520
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:24.119
that you don't want church to feel like a seminary, right,

521
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:26.400
But well, if it doesn't feel like a seminary, then

522
00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:30.119
the people in the pew can completely misinterpret. Are you

523
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:31.880
ready for a little bit of kind of like a timeline?

524
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:33.960
All right, here we go, let's kind of go through

525
00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:36.640
a little bit of kind of going through some order here.

526
00:33:37.079 --> 00:33:43.640
Isaiah's Ministry eighth century BC. Isaiah was a prophet in

527
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:46.920
Judah during the latter half of the eighth century, around

528
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:53.599
seven forty to seven hundred BC. Seven forty to seven

529
00:33:53.720 --> 00:34:01.279
hundred BC. During Isaiah's time, the dominant threat to Israel

530
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:05.960
and Judah came from the Assyrian Empire, which conquered the

531
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:13.920
Northern Kingdom in seven twenty two BC. So when Isaiah's ministrying,

532
00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:19.239
who's the threat Assyria? Not Babylon. In fact, the north

533
00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:22.719
is taken when around seven twenty two. I always say

534
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:25.360
around because you know, depending on the different books you read,

535
00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:28.760
you're gonna get some variation. Okay, So seven twenty two

536
00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:32.800
that would have been during Isaiah's ministry, which was between

537
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:37.519
seven forty and seven hundred, right. Judah under the reign

538
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:41.239
of King Hezekiah, survived the Assyrian threat. We read about

539
00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:44.840
this and Isaiah thirty six and thirty seven. Most would

540
00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:47.920
say that that's what is referring to. But Judah's future

541
00:34:48.039 --> 00:34:51.559
was still uncertain. Now it was only uncertain in whose mind.

542
00:34:53.719 --> 00:34:55.719
It was uncertain in the minds of maybe the people.

543
00:34:55.880 --> 00:34:58.119
It was not uncertain in the mind of God, all right,

544
00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:00.360
because God knew what was going to happen. Let's make

545
00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:03.360
sure we have that down, all right. Isaiah lived during

546
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:07.119
the reign of several kings of Judah, and his prophecies

547
00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:11.559
addressed the current threats of Assyria and Judah's own unfaithfulness. However,

548
00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:16.280
Isaiah also looked ahead to future events, including the rise

549
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:22.840
of Babylon as the next great empire. So Isaiah's ministry

550
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:26.199
is eighth century BC, and his focus. He talks a

551
00:35:26.199 --> 00:35:29.119
lot about Assyria. He does look to the future, but

552
00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:35.559
this is all way before Babylon comes to power. All right,

553
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.679
So number one, I want you to see Isaiah's ministry.

554
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:41.239
Number two the prophecy of the Babylonian exile, which is

555
00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:45.719
a future event. Though Babylon had not yet risen to

556
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:50.480
power during Isaiah's lifetime. Everyone hear that Babylon had not

557
00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:55.880
risen to power during whose lifetime Isaiah? That's very important,

558
00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:59.559
all right. Isaiah foresaw the Babylonian captivity that would occur

559
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.039
in the future as a result of judah ongoing rebellion

560
00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.880
against God. Look at Isaiah thirty nine six through seven.

561
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:10.920
Isaiah thirty nine six through seven, and just tell me

562
00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.119
what you see. I'm not going to tell you what

563
00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:19.039
you should see. Everybody see. I want to make sure

564
00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:25.480
everybody sees it the day. Yeah, everyone's going to Babylon.

565
00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:27.679
Everybody see that in Isaiah thirty nine, sixty through seven.

566
00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:33.159
All right. So preceding the section of comfort, what is

567
00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:38.840
there a clearer indication of what's going to happen Babylonian captivity?

568
00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.960
Does everyone see that? So before you get so, what

569
00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:48.639
is the setting for forty through fifty five Babylonian captivity.

570
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:53.400
What is the setting for forty to fifty five Babylonian captivity?

571
00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:59.320
But this is spoken way before the Babylonian captivity even occurs.

572
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:04.119
Everybody understand that, all right. So in Isaiah thirty nine

573
00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:07.800
six through seven, Isaiah specifically prophesied that the Babylonians would

574
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:10.840
come take away everything from Jerusalem, including members of the

575
00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:15.000
royal family. This foreshadowed the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. And

576
00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:25.639
what year five eighty six, when does Isaiah minister seven

577
00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:30.400
forty to seven hundred, meaning that when Isaiah was preaching,

578
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:35.760
those people will be dead before the Babylonian exile occurs.

579
00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:42.840
Isaiah will be dead before it occurs. All right. So

580
00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:45.320
if you hear a preacher say God gave him the

581
00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:48.760
message to Isaiah to go preach to the people in exile,

582
00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:55.440
that's trash. Now I can understand why a preacher may

583
00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:58.440
do that. It's trash, But I can at least have

584
00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:01.000
sympathy for a pastor who does, because if you look

585
00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:04.280
at any commentary, the commentaries will say this is Isaiah's

586
00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:07.719
message to the people in exile, which seems to indicate

587
00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:11.360
that Isaiah was the one delivering the message went away.

588
00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:15.960
He's delivering the message. He's just delivering the message about

589
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:19.039
one hundred and forty years before it happens, meaning Isaiah's

590
00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:22.000
already dead and the people are already dead. So the

591
00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:26.159
people who go into exile are the children of the

592
00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:30.639
people who was around when Isaiah was around? Are the

593
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:35.880
children's children? You get the idea, right, So that's very

594
00:38:35.880 --> 00:38:39.920
important to understand because so much of the preaching I

595
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:42.119
just I get frustrated with it. In fact, one of

596
00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.480
the things I was listening to I even got confused

597
00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:46.639
for a minute because the way the preacher said it.

598
00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:48.679
I think even in the podcast, I'm like, well, wait

599
00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:50.480
a minute, wait a minute, Okay, I gotta correct this,

600
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:53.320
because I was even confused because I had I had

601
00:38:53.320 --> 00:38:56.599
a study Bible who gave notes that made it sound

602
00:38:56.679 --> 00:39:00.079
like it was happening, and I'm like, wait, wait a minute.

603
00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:01.920
And so then I caught it, and then I had

604
00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:04.440
to back up and correct it in the podcast because

605
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.599
even I got confused because depending on how you read what,

606
00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:11.159
depending on what source you're reading, it's just like you think, oh,

607
00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:14.559
this is happening right now. Now. Some people say, well,

608
00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:19.159
who cares? Well, you know why we should care, because

609
00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:23.320
what's the one thing we should care about. Look, yes,

610
00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:26.599
we should obviously care about our own sin and be

611
00:39:26.639 --> 00:39:28.599
convicted by it. Yes, but the one thing we should

612
00:39:28.599 --> 00:39:30.599
also care about is being accurate with the word of God.

613
00:39:31.239 --> 00:39:33.559
We should at least care about that. I know that

614
00:39:33.559 --> 00:39:37.599
that seems like that nobody actually really cares about being accurate.

615
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:41.440
Nobody really. I mean, the reality is, nobody cares. Look,

616
00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:44.400
as long as you are a good communicator, you kiss babies,

617
00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:48.000
you shake hands, you have lots of activities, and you

618
00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:51.039
just do all the right things, people are gonna come

619
00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:53.960
to your church. Okay, But the one thing people don't

620
00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:56.000
care about in church is the accuracy of the preaching.

621
00:39:56.039 --> 00:39:58.079
Because if they actually cared, they would be a great

622
00:39:58.280 --> 00:40:00.559
There would be a lot more concern than really is.

623
00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:03.000
But we have to be at least concerned. Does that

624
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:07.440
make sense? All? Right? Now? The Babylonian exile was God's

625
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:10.280
judgment on Judah for its continued idolatry and disributed it

626
00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:13.280
to the Covenant. This judgment comes, are ready, ready, I'm

627
00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:17.480
gonna make an emphatic statement. This judgment comes over one

628
00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:28.360
hundred years after Isaiah is dead. Right now, now, and

629
00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:30.159
one of the sermons we listened to, they did make

630
00:40:30.199 --> 00:40:35.840
a great point. Many times in the Bible, prophetic statements

631
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:39.239
or prophetic events are spoken of as in past tens,

632
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:44.559
and the reason they are done so is because God

633
00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:48.639
speaks of these events as being so certain that you

634
00:40:48.679 --> 00:40:51.519
can see them as being passed even though they're yet future.

635
00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:55.360
And that can be very confusing and reading. But it's

636
00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:58.679
a literary device. It's a literary device to say this

637
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:02.039
is so sure that you don't have anything to worry about,

638
00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:05.199
right it's done. Because when you read some of this section,

639
00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:07.039
you'll be like, well, wait a minute, this sounds like

640
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:10.360
it's already happened, or well it's britten and prophesied one

641
00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:13.960
hundred years before it even occurs. But God sometimes will

642
00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:16.719
speak of an event as passed even though it's yet future,

643
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:19.639
even for the people who are getting the original message,

644
00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:23.320
and that can be all confusing, right, But it's a

645
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:25.679
literary device to say that what God says is going

646
00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:31.320
to happen is as good as done. Right now, that's awesome,

647
00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:34.039
But you got to catch the literary device, right. You

648
00:41:34.159 --> 00:41:36.360
gotta be clever enough to catch it, right. If you're

649
00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:38.920
not catch it you're and because the Bible doesn't give

650
00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:40.960
you a little timestamp, like like when you're watching a

651
00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.480
movie and it's not linear, it'll be like, you know,

652
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.880
six months before or five years later. Well, some movies

653
00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:49.159
don't do that, and then people get all confused and going, well,

654
00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:52.079
I didn't understand what happened. Well, because it's nonlinear. Right,

655
00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:56.039
we've talked about nonlinear storytelling, right? What have I talked about?

656
00:41:56.119 --> 00:41:59.039
Nonlinear story Also? Anytime someone watches a movie, was that

657
00:41:59.079 --> 00:42:04.519
linear nonar storytelling? Uh? Just stop watching movies? Okay? Right?

658
00:42:04.760 --> 00:42:07.079
But and I say that because if we can't figure

659
00:42:07.079 --> 00:42:10.320
out a movie, you can't figure out the Bible. Because

660
00:42:10.360 --> 00:42:14.320
it's same concepts, right, it's what it's interpretation, it's hermeneutics, right,

661
00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:18.800
linear nonlinear. Well, in some cases the Bible, you're like, well,

662
00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:20.880
wait a minute, what is happening here? I thought this

663
00:42:20.960 --> 00:42:24.000
hasn't happened. It hasn't happened yet for them? Does that

664
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:29.039
make sense? Are we good? So? When? So? The Babylonian

665
00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:32.679
exile was God's judgment on Judah for its continued idolatry.

666
00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:36.440
That's some loud motorcycles, okay, all right? And disobedience to

667
00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:40.559
the Covenant. This judgment comes one hundred years after Isaiah's death, right,

668
00:42:40.840 --> 00:42:44.079
So number one, what do we have here? Isaiah's ministry

669
00:42:44.239 --> 00:42:47.480
eighth century. Everybody got that seven forty to seven hundred.

670
00:42:47.639 --> 00:42:50.760
The prophecy of the Babylonian Exile is a future event

671
00:42:51.159 --> 00:42:53.880
that happens over one hundred years after Isaiah's long dead,

672
00:42:54.159 --> 00:42:57.440
meaning the original people who we have heard the message

673
00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:03.119
would be long gone, right everybody? Now, that does raise

674
00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:05.800
some weird questions, does it not? I mean, from a

675
00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:10.559
practical standpoint, doesn't that kind of confuse you? All right?

676
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:12.360
I kind of want to raise my hand, like if

677
00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:15.679
I'm in God's classroom and I'm like uh and hula okay,

678
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:18.039
And I'm like, yeah, I've got a question. Why are

679
00:43:18.079 --> 00:43:22.159
you sending Isaiah one hundred years before it happens? If

680
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:23.960
you want the people to be comforted, why wouldn't you

681
00:43:23.960 --> 00:43:28.280
send Isaiah at the moment, or at least a few

682
00:43:28.360 --> 00:43:31.400
years before. Why so far in advance. I don't have

683
00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:33.840
a good answer, but I think it's a reasonable question,

684
00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:38.280
is it not? Okay? All right? Now? So number three,

685
00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:42.760
So number one we have Isaiah's ministry. Number two, we

686
00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:46.119
have the prophecy of Babylonian Exile. Number three, Isaiah forty

687
00:43:46.119 --> 00:43:49.000
through fifty five, is a message of comfort and restoration

688
00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:53.920
written before the exile. It's a message of comfort and

689
00:43:53.960 --> 00:43:59.760
restoration before the exile. Isaiah forty through fifty five were

690
00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:04.400
likely written during Isaiah's lifetime around the eighth century BC,

691
00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:08.079
well before the Babylonian x Ale occurred. These chapters contain

692
00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:11.079
prophecies meant to comfort Israel in the future when they

693
00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:14.679
would be in Babylonian exile. Now, I'm gonna try to

694
00:44:14.679 --> 00:44:18.679
remain calm, but this is where I get ticked off

695
00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:26.159
at Christianity. If these words were given to Isaiah to

696
00:44:26.400 --> 00:44:29.039
the people so that they could be comforted in the

697
00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:32.760
future when they go through a horrible, horrible situation. They're

698
00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:35.320
gonna go through a horrible situation. Does everyone understand what's

699
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:38.559
going to happen? Jerusalem is gonna be destroyed, the Temple's

700
00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:40.880
gonna be destroyed, They're gonna be carried off into slavery.

701
00:44:41.079 --> 00:44:46.599
That's a horrible thing, right, And how dare some stinking

702
00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:50.079
preacher stand behind a pulpit on a Sunday and say,

703
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.639
I'm gonna take these words of comfort and just slap

704
00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:56.079
them in the face and say, forget you. We're gonna

705
00:44:56.159 --> 00:45:00.719
steal them for ourselves. Do you understand how messed up

706
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:08.000
that is? Right, they'd be like, something horrible happens to Sarah,

707
00:45:08.039 --> 00:45:12.199
something horrible, tragic, right, and then someone's gonna write her

708
00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:14.440
a letter to give her words of comfort, and I

709
00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:16.440
take it. And I'm like, well, I'm just gonna take

710
00:45:16.480 --> 00:45:18.400
this and say thank you for the words of comfort.

711
00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:21.079
You're be like, well, no, no, the for Sarah. Forget Sarah.

712
00:45:20.960 --> 00:45:24.480
We don't care about her. I want the comfort, I

713
00:45:24.559 --> 00:45:29.920
want the promises. That's exactly what we do. And we

714
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:32.199
do it in the name of Jesus, in the name

715
00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:35.559
of God, in the name of being a church. Now

716
00:45:35.960 --> 00:45:41.079
it's just messed up. There's nothing godly about that. How

717
00:45:41.199 --> 00:45:44.199
dare we take comfort meant for them and turn it

718
00:45:44.280 --> 00:45:47.760
into about us. You're not there, get yourself out of it.

719
00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:54.000
When you realize what's happening. This is God saying I'm

720
00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:59.360
gonna have the comfort waiting for them. In some ways,

721
00:45:59.519 --> 00:46:02.400
this is kind of like, hey, even before it starts,

722
00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:06.719
you're already gonna know comfort is coming. That's pretty awesome, right,

723
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:09.599
But no, that's not awesome for us because what do

724
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:13.719
we want? We want the comfort. But when you take

725
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.400
comfort that belongs to someone else, is it really your comfort?

726
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:24.079
In this section, God speaks words of comfort to the

727
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:29.000
exiled Israelites, offering them hope of future restoration and deliverance

728
00:46:29.039 --> 00:46:32.360
from captivity. Look at Isaiah forty verses one through two.

729
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.679
I'm gonna have you read this probably fifty times, all right?

730
00:46:37.519 --> 00:46:41.800
What does it say? Comfort? Ye? Comfort ye, my people,

731
00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:47.440
saith your God speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. That's not

732
00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:52.880
the church. Sick and tired of hearing that it is okay,

733
00:46:53.400 --> 00:46:59.559
and cry unto her, that's not the Church, that her

734
00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:03.719
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned for she

735
00:47:03.880 --> 00:47:09.280
hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

736
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:16.800
Everybody see that these chapters speak directly to a post

737
00:47:17.119 --> 00:47:21.400
exile audience. Though who would eventually return from who will

738
00:47:21.400 --> 00:47:25.440
eventually return from Babylon? They were written long before the exile,

739
00:47:25.519 --> 00:47:28.480
showing that God had already planned their restoration even before

740
00:47:28.559 --> 00:47:32.119
their judgment occurred. Isaiah forty through forty eight focuses on

741
00:47:32.159 --> 00:47:34.800
the immediate return from Babylon, while Isaiah forty nine through

742
00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:37.559
fifty five introduces the servant of the Lord and points

743
00:47:37.559 --> 00:47:41.360
to a greater spiritual restoration beyond just the return from exile.

744
00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:46.000
All right, everybody got that? So Isaiah forty through fifty

745
00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:48.280
five is a message of comfort and restoration written before

746
00:47:48.559 --> 00:47:55.800
the problem even happens. How dare us come in and hijacket? Okay?

747
00:47:56.079 --> 00:47:59.559
Forty through forty eight focuses on the immediate return from Babylon.

748
00:48:00.079 --> 00:48:02.800
Forty nine through fifty nine. Forty nine through fifty five

749
00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:06.199
introduces the servant, which points to a greater spiritual restoration

750
00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:09.400
beyond the exile. And we'll get into all it well, Brett,

751
00:48:09.400 --> 00:48:12.199
We're going to break the entire section down here soon,

752
00:48:12.280 --> 00:48:16.039
all right. Number four The Babylonian Exile five eighty six PC.

753
00:48:16.440 --> 00:48:19.679
The Babylonian Exile began when King Ebucinezer of Babylon conquered

754
00:48:19.719 --> 00:48:23.079
Judah and destroyed Jerusalem and five eighty six PC, carrying

755
00:48:23.079 --> 00:48:26.320
the people into exile. The people of Israel were captive

756
00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:29.440
for approximately seventy years. During this time, they experienced great

757
00:48:29.480 --> 00:48:32.880
suffering and question their future, but God's promise of deliverance

758
00:48:32.920 --> 00:48:36.599
or restoration remained during this exile. The prophecies of Isaiah

759
00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:39.639
forty through fifty five would have been incredibly relevant to

760
00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:42.920
the people, offering them a hope of a future return

761
00:48:43.280 --> 00:48:51.360
to their land. The Babylonian exile is prominent and reading

762
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:53.599
forty to fifty five. So when you read Isaiah forty

763
00:48:53.639 --> 00:48:55.679
to fifty five, what do you need to see written

764
00:48:55.679 --> 00:49:03.159
across it? Babylonian exile. That's not you. This is the

765
00:49:03.159 --> 00:49:06.519
same trash we do with Jeremiah. Right. The plans I

766
00:49:06.559 --> 00:49:11.519
have for you, they're not for you. Now, say when

767
00:49:11.519 --> 00:49:14.199
you do this, when you teach this, you just take

768
00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:17.559
Christians off. They don't like it. They get offended, they

769
00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:20.960
get mad because they want it all about them, and

770
00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:22.840
if you call them out on it, they just get

771
00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:25.159
mad at you and say you're just being too picky

772
00:49:25.280 --> 00:49:27.360
or your whatever whatever words they want to use. But

773
00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:31.639
it's about the Babylonian exile. Number five, the Return from

774
00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:34.920
Exile five thirty nine BC and after and five thirty

775
00:49:35.039 --> 00:49:39.320
nine BC. Cyrus the Great. Now, I want you to

776
00:49:39.320 --> 00:49:41.960
write Cyrus the Great down, and I want you to

777
00:49:42.039 --> 00:49:45.920
circle it about seventy five times and thirty seven exclamation points,

778
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:48.199
just to take people off who don't think you should

779
00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:50.599
use more than one exclamation point. All right, I mean,

780
00:49:50.679 --> 00:49:53.119
and I'm not joking. I want you to put Cyrus

781
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:56.599
to just take an entire page, put Cyrus the Great

782
00:49:56.719 --> 00:50:00.039
in all caps, and then circle it, circle it, and

783
00:50:00.039 --> 00:50:02.159
then all kinds of exclamation points. You think I'm joking?

784
00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:08.519
This is critical here, right, you'll see why. And five

785
00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:11.519
point thirty nine BC, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered

786
00:50:11.599 --> 00:50:15.440
Babylon in issued a decree allowing the Jewish exiles to

787
00:50:15.519 --> 00:50:19.280
return to their homeland and rebuild the temple. Where do

788
00:50:19.360 --> 00:50:23.119
we read about that happening? Ezra chapter one, verses one

789
00:50:23.199 --> 00:50:27.000
through four. It's a historical event. It's talked about in

790
00:50:27.039 --> 00:50:31.719
the Bible, Cyrus the Great. If you listen to my

791
00:50:32.199 --> 00:50:34.519
discussion last night on the podcast, you know why I'm

792
00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:37.920
so emphasizing this, Okay, because once again I was reviewing

793
00:50:37.920 --> 00:50:41.280
another sermon from Isaiah forty to fifty five that once

794
00:50:41.320 --> 00:50:45.280
again did wacky things with the text. All right, In fact,

795
00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:47.920
do you want a little preview, Do you want a

796
00:50:47.920 --> 00:50:52.960
little preview? Look at Isaiah chapter forty. Comfort ye, comfort ye,

797
00:50:53.079 --> 00:50:57.079
my people, saith your God, speak comfortably to Jerusalem and

798
00:50:57.159 --> 00:51:00.000
cry under her that her warfare is accomplished, that her

799
00:51:00.039 --> 00:51:02.960
iniquity as pardon for she hath received of the Lord's

800
00:51:02.960 --> 00:51:06.039
hand double for all her sins. Now, this is what

801
00:51:06.079 --> 00:51:09.840
the pastor that we were reviewing said, Well, that sounds great.

802
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:12.280
All these things are going to happen. How is it

803
00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:15.079
going to happen. Who's going to make it happen? You

804
00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:18.440
know how it happens because God himself will come to

805
00:51:18.880 --> 00:51:22.199
this earth. Well wait, wait, wait, wait, what are they

806
00:51:22.239 --> 00:51:27.679
referring to. Look at verse three the voice of Him

807
00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:30.000
that Christ and the wilderness prepare. Ye, the way of

808
00:51:30.039 --> 00:51:32.760
the Lord makes straight in the desert a highway for

809
00:51:32.920 --> 00:51:38.400
our God. Well where is that quoted? And the New Testament?

810
00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:44.199
So the pastor said, hey, they this verse forty, chapter forty,

811
00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:46.800
verse two is going to be accomplished. Is when Jesus

812
00:51:46.840 --> 00:51:50.800
comes to earth in the incarnation. Well, that's literally the

813
00:51:50.840 --> 00:51:53.960
most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life.

814
00:51:55.639 --> 00:52:01.840
When are they released by Cyrus? That's five hundred plus

815
00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:05.320
years before the incarnation, So why are you connecting it

816
00:52:05.360 --> 00:52:12.599
to the incarnation? It makes no sense. By the time

817
00:52:12.599 --> 00:52:15.239
the incarnation has happened, what has happened? They've come out

818
00:52:15.239 --> 00:52:20.199
of Babylonian captivity, right, They've rebuilt Jerusalem, they've rebuilt the temple. Oh,

819
00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:22.559
and they now found themself under the Hill of Rome.

820
00:52:22.920 --> 00:52:25.639
A lot has happened in five hundred years. So you

821
00:52:25.719 --> 00:52:28.760
can't say that the way it's accomplished by Jesus coming

822
00:52:28.760 --> 00:52:32.559
to the earth, because it was accomplished before then. So

823
00:52:32.639 --> 00:52:35.880
then guess what when we read Isaiah forty verse three

824
00:52:36.239 --> 00:52:39.400
about the voice in the wilderness, who's going to prepare

825
00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:43.280
the way and make everything straight? Guess who that's probably

826
00:52:43.320 --> 00:52:52.360
our reference of, and it's historical context saus Oh, I'm

827
00:52:52.360 --> 00:52:56.159
not supposed to say that now. Now, if you remember that,

828
00:52:56.239 --> 00:52:59.679
we did like twelve parts in our beginning to study

829
00:52:59.719 --> 00:53:03.119
of Romans where we talked about how New Testament writers

830
00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:08.000
use Old Testament scripture. Remember I did like twelve parts

831
00:53:08.039 --> 00:53:09.679
on this because I said it was one of the

832
00:53:09.719 --> 00:53:12.800
most important hermoneutical lessons you could learn, right, And why

833
00:53:12.800 --> 00:53:15.639
did I spend twelve parts on it? Because guess what?

834
00:53:17.880 --> 00:53:20.920
New Testament writers used Old Testament passages in ways that

835
00:53:21.000 --> 00:53:24.960
make absolutely no sense. Sometimes right, sometimes they paraphrase it,

836
00:53:25.159 --> 00:53:27.800
sometimes they take a little phrase. Sometimes they use it

837
00:53:27.800 --> 00:53:29.400
to reman this. I mean that we're like, what in

838
00:53:29.440 --> 00:53:31.719
the world's going on? Here's the thing. They can do

839
00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:33.559
whatever they want with the text because they're doing it

840
00:53:33.639 --> 00:53:38.000
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We can't. So

841
00:53:38.199 --> 00:53:40.920
in the New Testament, this part is now he is

842
00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:44.880
used to reference whom John the Baptist. That does not

843
00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:47.960
mean it's referencing John de Baptist to the original audience,

844
00:53:48.039 --> 00:53:51.280
because John de Baptist is not coming around for when well,

845
00:53:51.320 --> 00:53:53.880
if this is given during the time of Isaiah, John

846
00:53:53.880 --> 00:53:55.320
the Baptist is not showing up to the scene for

847
00:53:55.400 --> 00:53:58.119
over seven hundred years. Okay, has nothing to do with

848
00:53:58.199 --> 00:54:02.480
John de Baptists. Now, if the New Testament writers want

849
00:54:02.519 --> 00:54:05.360
to use it, then that's fine. They have the authority

850
00:54:05.400 --> 00:54:08.920
to do so. But in the historical context, that's not

851
00:54:09.119 --> 00:54:12.719
John the Baptist. The only person who makes sense is

852
00:54:12.760 --> 00:54:18.559
whom Currus, because he is the one who does what

853
00:54:20.639 --> 00:54:23.719
he makes straight the path. He's the one who does it.

854
00:54:23.960 --> 00:54:26.800
So we'll talk about Cyrus being more of a fulfillment

855
00:54:26.840 --> 00:54:28.400
of this. But I just want you to see that,

856
00:54:28.679 --> 00:54:32.000
all right, Everybody see that. Everybody got that, all right?

857
00:54:32.159 --> 00:54:35.880
So if we break this down, Oh, mem we're already

858
00:54:35.880 --> 00:54:39.079
after eleven Okay, here we go, all right, So we

859
00:54:39.119 --> 00:54:42.360
have Isaiah's Ministry eighth century BC. Number two. We have

860
00:54:42.400 --> 00:54:45.079
the prophecy of the Babylonian Exile, which is a future event.

861
00:54:45.519 --> 00:54:47.760
Number three. We have Isaiah forty three fifty five, which

862
00:54:47.840 --> 00:54:51.199
is a message of comfort and restoration written before the exile.

863
00:54:51.559 --> 00:54:54.880
Number four, we have the Babylonian Exile, which is five

864
00:54:54.920 --> 00:54:58.559
eighty six BC. Number five. We have the return from

865
00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:02.559
Exile which is five thirty nine and under Cyrus the Great.

866
00:55:02.800 --> 00:55:04.920
Now we need to put these in proper order, but

867
00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:06.679
we're out of time, so we're gonna have to stop,

868
00:55:07.079 --> 00:55:11.000
all right, So we'll stop. I know, I'm gonnaugh. I

869
00:55:11.039 --> 00:55:12.880
need to get to Romans chapter four, but I think

870
00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:16.079
we'll just use the next hour to just continue this

871
00:55:16.119 --> 00:55:18.039
since we're right here. I mean, I want to go

872
00:55:18.039 --> 00:55:21.119
to Romans four, but we'll at least get the introduction

873
00:55:21.199 --> 00:55:23.400
of this done in two parts today, right, So we'll

874
00:55:23.400 --> 00:55:26.239
stop now. If you have any questions, have them ready,

875
00:55:26.679 --> 00:55:29.440
and then we can try to answer them at the

876
00:55:29.440 --> 00:55:31.519
beginning of the next hour, and then we'll see if

877
00:55:31.519 --> 00:55:34.079
we can finish at least the introduction here. I want

878
00:55:34.079 --> 00:55:35.960
to get the introduction because it's gonna be a long

879
00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:39.199
journey through chapters forty through fifty five. You know, you know,

880
00:55:40.559 --> 00:55:42.840
I'm gonna try not to go our normal verse by verse,

881
00:55:43.320 --> 00:55:45.840
but it's gonna be a We're gonna be taken at

882
00:55:45.880 --> 00:55:48.960
apart and we have no choice. I mean, like, the

883
00:55:49.039 --> 00:55:52.360
preaching on this section of Scriptures is abysmal. It's horrible.

884
00:55:52.920 --> 00:55:55.239
It's just I don't know what it is. But people

885
00:55:55.320 --> 00:55:56.880
just think they can just go to these sections. And

886
00:55:57.360 --> 00:55:59.039
we know some of these sections are gonna be quoted

887
00:55:59.079 --> 00:56:02.559
doing I mean, they have forty verse three the voice

888
00:56:02.559 --> 00:56:04.239
of Him in the Willness, it's getting ready to be

889
00:56:04.320 --> 00:56:07.960
advent time, and it's going to be quoted. And guess

890
00:56:07.960 --> 00:56:12.760
who's going to be completely left out? The original recipients

891
00:56:13.559 --> 00:56:16.440
because we don't care about them. We just want to

892
00:56:16.440 --> 00:56:18.000
put it on a Christmas card, or we want to

893
00:56:18.039 --> 00:56:21.159
just talk about us us us us us us. Is

894
00:56:21.199 --> 00:56:24.400
there an application obviously, because the New Testament uses it,

895
00:56:24.760 --> 00:56:26.760
but you use it in the New Testament way when

896
00:56:26.800 --> 00:56:31.440
you're reading the New Testament, when you're reading here, what

897
00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:35.239
do you need to do understand it in its context?

898
00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:40.239
I mean everybody says context, context, context, but nobody actually

899
00:56:40.280 --> 00:56:43.280
believes it, right, because we actually believed it, we'd be

900
00:56:43.360 --> 00:56:46.679
like Huh, what is going on in verse three? You

901
00:56:46.719 --> 00:56:49.400
can't tell me that the way verse two is accomplished

902
00:56:49.679 --> 00:56:52.840
is by Jesus coming to the earth, because that would

903
00:56:52.960 --> 00:56:56.000
do would that be of any comfort to them? Hey, guys,

904
00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:58.920
I know you're in captivity, but your solution is coming

905
00:56:59.360 --> 00:57:03.719
five hundred years you're all gonna be dead. That there's

906
00:57:03.760 --> 00:57:07.239
gotta be some that's not comfort. Hey, five hundred years

907
00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:09.239
from now, someone's going to come. And I wouldn't even

908
00:57:09.239 --> 00:57:11.320
fix all the problems. Because even when Jesus came back,

909
00:57:11.360 --> 00:57:14.280
that was one of the big misconceptions, Right, what did

910
00:57:14.280 --> 00:57:18.400
the Jews think when he showed up that he was

911
00:57:18.440 --> 00:57:20.320
going to fix all that. He didn't fix all of

912
00:57:20.320 --> 00:57:23.480
their physical problems. He didn't take care of their captivity.

913
00:57:23.639 --> 00:57:25.519
In fact, seventy eight d they're wipped off the face

914
00:57:25.559 --> 00:57:27.679
of the earth. He doesn't fix the things. They thought.

915
00:57:27.679 --> 00:57:29.519
That's why they finally got ticked off and they were like,

916
00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:35.199
you know what, crucify him. We need somebody else. They

917
00:57:35.239 --> 00:57:37.880
didn't understand either, because it is confusing, is it not?

918
00:57:38.800 --> 00:57:41.639
So there had to be some comfort for them. But

919
00:57:41.679 --> 00:57:48.320
the comfort for them obviously the cyrus seventy years later,

920
00:57:49.039 --> 00:57:50.920
they're going to defeat the Babylonians, and then what is

921
00:57:50.920 --> 00:57:53.280
he going to do? He gives literally a decree for

922
00:57:53.360 --> 00:57:56.239
them to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. He makes the pack,

923
00:57:56.440 --> 00:58:00.000
he removes the obstacles. Right, what is the obstacle from them?

924
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:08.679
I'm leaving Babylon. Babylon who defeats the Babylonians Persians? Cyrus?

925
00:58:09.079 --> 00:58:15.119
So who makes the way straight? Cyrus? All right, that's

926
00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:17.599
the only way to understand it from a historical standpoint,

927
00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:20.159
is it not? But do we ever do you ever

928
00:58:20.159 --> 00:58:27.679
hear it preached in its historical context? No? Which, yeah,

929
00:58:27.800 --> 00:58:30.280
I give up. I just sometimes you just want to

930
00:58:30.320 --> 00:58:32.239
just say, there's no point and even attempting this. But

931
00:58:32.480 --> 00:58:34.719
all right, we're going to attempt it. So we'll stop now.

932
00:58:34.960 --> 00:58:37.440
Then we'll wait a few minutes and then we'll get started,

933
00:58:37.679 --> 00:58:39.599
and then we'll do the next hour. Right, Lord God,

934
00:58:39.639 --> 00:58:42.079
we come before you this morning. We asked you to

935
00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:46.320
be with the peerces and the medical situation there. Pray

936
00:58:46.400 --> 00:58:50.280
for everyone involved there, Pray for anyone else's out today.

937
00:58:50.719 --> 00:58:52.960
The Lord just continued to just we are grateful and

938
00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:55.440
thankful for us to have a place where we can

939
00:58:55.800 --> 00:58:58.679
deal with some of these questions and hermonutical issues in

940
00:58:58.760 --> 00:59:01.360
a way that we couldn't somewhere else. We are grateful

941
00:59:01.360 --> 00:59:02.920
for that, and as long as we're here, I pray

942
00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:05.840
that we continue to do our best to be committed

943
00:59:05.880 --> 00:59:07.440
to doing this very thing. And we have sis in

944
00:59:07.480 --> 00:59:10.679
Jesus name it Gost people said