Oct. 26, 2024

Isaiah 40: American Politics?

Isaiah 40: American Politics?

As we prepare for our study of Isaiah 40-55, I review a sermon on Isaiah 40

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As we prepare for our study of Isaiah 40-55, I review a sermon on Isaiah 40

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central.

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Good afternoon everyone. It is Saturday, October the twenty sixth,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently twelve fifty seven pm

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Central Time, and I am coming to you live from

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the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

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Saturday afternoon. Now, I know there's always a lot of

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things going on on any Saturday afternoon, but obviously for

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most of my adult life, Saturday afternoon, of course, is

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sermon prep. It's all about preparing for Sunday, right hour

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after hour after hour, looking at things, reading things, trying

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to figure out, okay do I do? What do I

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do for the first hour? What do I do for

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the second hour? It used to be what do I

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do for the third hour? You know, how am I

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going to work this? So Saturday is always about sermon prep,

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and this Saturday, I'm really conflicted on exactly what I

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should do because there's a lot of things we need

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to do. All right, for Sunday School. We've been doing

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a series on eschatology. We got to the Dividic Covenant

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and we took a lot of detours. We took a

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lot of detours, so we really need to get back

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to that. We're working on the there fours in the

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Book of Romans, so tomorrow has to be Romans chapter four.

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I believe it's verse sixteen that's the next Therefore, in

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the Book of Romans, we really need to get there.

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There's been I don't even know now how many sundays

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I've you know, on my way to church going Okay,

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this is what we're going to do, because in many cases,

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because of circumstances beyond my control, people are gone, this happens,

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this happens. I've made kind of a decision on the

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spot to go, well, we'll just we'll continue with this

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and we'll go with this idea. We'll go with this idea.

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So we need to work on eschatology. We need to

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work work on Romans four sixteen. But at the same time,

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while I'm trying to figure out what to do there,

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there's also a lot of things right here for the

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podcast that we need to work on. Right I mean,

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we've been working on the Secrets of the Christian Life.

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Six Secrets of the Christian Life. We looked at three

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of them. I've gotten number four ready to go. But

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every time I sit down, I'm like, well, do I

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really want to do this? You know what value? I

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don't know. So we really need to do that. And

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actually what we need to do is not just get

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through the six secrets. We really need to put together.

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I mean, this is a very important question, a solution

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to how as Christians, how we should understand the reality

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of sin, the reality that we cannot keep the law,

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and how that should impact us. I've written out kind

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of a possible solution. I mean, it's nothing great, but

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at least maybe give us something to do. We definitely

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need to get to that. And then obviously we have

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this on going discussion about hermoneutics. Right, it started with

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a floating axe head and then it kind of went

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to hey, and and it kind of started someone as

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a joke, right. It was kind of being like, just

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have a little bit of fun. Right, Oh, here's a

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pastor who preached a sermon on Isaiah forty three. All right, guys,

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let's time it and see how fast this pastor is

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preaching a sermon on Isaiah forty three. How fast it

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takes for him to insert us into the text. So

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we did that in less than forty seconds. Less than

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forty seconds, a pastor is like, I'm preaching on Isaiah

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forty three and immediately started talking about you, me, we

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and forgot about them. Are they?

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They? They?

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And them was pushed out of the text. Israel was

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pushed out of the text. We were inserted into the

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text and this and Isaiah forty three became about us.

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So then we reviewed another sermon, still having a little

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bit of fun, and this one we didn't even need

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to stop watch because because it was in the title, right,

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it was immediately they the title made Isaiah forty three

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about us. Then we went to what sixteen I believe

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seventy eight. It's a number. I forget numbers. Then we

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went to sixteen seventy eight to find out, hey, this

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is where all the problems began. We looked at a

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section in the Pilgrim's Progress where once again Isaiah forty

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three becomes about us. So we've been looking at all

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of that, and obviously it's been everything from the floating

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axe head everything to Isaiah forty three. I mean it's

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I mean, you can say I've become very jaded. I've

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been very jaded. I've been very cynical when it comes

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to Christians handling the Word of God. I mean, I

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basically have given up all hope. I mean, I just

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think if you want to know what a Christian is,

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they are a narcissistic textual hijacker. Christians are narcissistic. We

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think everything's about us, and then we go to the

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text and we hijacket and we make text about us.

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We take promises that are not meant for us and

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we make them about us. And it's a problem. And

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if you think about this, I mean, I think this

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is very important because I'm going to bring all of

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this together.

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Now.

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On one hand, how should Christians ever be able, I mean,

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why should we ever even think that Christians could come

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to some kind of biblical logical understanding about how we

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should view sin, deal with sin, deal with the reality

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of sin. If we can even figure out how to

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handle text in scripture that seem to be so clear

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that it shouldn't even be an issue. I mean, when

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you go to Isaiah forty three and you read that,

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but now thus saith the Lord that created the oh Jacob,

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and he that formed the O Israel. When you go

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to Isaiah forty three, and Israel specifically named, and you're like, well, no,

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that's about us. When pastors go to Ezekiel, that's Isaiah

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forty three, when they go to Ezekiel thirty six and

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it's like Israel Israel, Israel, Israel Israel, and then it says,

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I'm going to give you a new heart, new spirit. Oh,

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that's about us. When Christians can't even go to text

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where the text itself is identifying who it's about and

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we can come in kick those people out and push

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ourselves into the text. If we can't even figure out

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how to handle the text correctly, then how are we

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going to deal with major important theological issues. The reality

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is everyone just does what is right in their own

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eyes when it comes to Bible interpretation. And it is

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maddening when you can go to a text about a

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floating axe head and next thing you know, the ax

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head can just represent whatever you want. You can go

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to Isaiah forty three when it says, when they'll pass

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it through the waters, you can make the waters, you

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can make the river be whatever you want it to be.

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I mean, there's just really the only thing limiting how

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we handle the text is our own imagination. Because Christians

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don't agree on hermoneutical principles. They're not bound by hermoneutical principles.

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Everyone can just do whatever they want with the text,

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and to think otherwise, it's just you're just being naive,

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You're just you're just ignoring reality. So real, in reality,

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people can just do whatever they want with the text,

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and that's that's what we have seen. So But because

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I became so very irritated and frustrated with the Isaiah

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forty three situation, I mean, I got frustrated with the

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floating axe head, but the Isaiah forty three section, for

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some weird reason, I'm not going to say it bothered

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me more than the floating axe head, but it led

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me to go, wait a minute, Isaiah forty three, Isaiah

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forty three. Everyone's just doing these weird things with Isaiah

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forty three. But can we really understand Isaiah forty three

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apart from this very important section in the Book of Isaiah,

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which starts in Isaiah chapter forty and goes to Isaiah

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fifty five. I'm like, hmm, well, maybe maybe, just maybe

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I know what I know what I'll do. We're going

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to begin a series and we're going to work through

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Isaiah forty to Isaiah fifty five and a pretty systematic,

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detailed way, and we're going to really deal with all

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of the hermeneutical issues. And what we're going to do

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is deal with Isaiah forty through fifty five by actually,

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I don't know, making the text about who the text

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is actually about. I know, what a crazy idea, what

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a radical concept. Let's study Isaiah forty through fifty five

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and literally understand it in light of who it was

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written to and who it is about. I know that's crazy,

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but obviously someone needs to do that. So that's what

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we're what we're going to do. So I have spent

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this morning and sermon prep trying to figure out, Okay,

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I still got to get Romans four sixteen in tomorrow,

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so I gotta do that. Maybe the second hour, the

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first hour. We do need to work on the Dividic Covenant.

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We do need to kind of work on, you know,

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my solution to Christians and sin. I do need to

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work on the six Secrets of the Christian I've got

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all of these things, but I think what I may do,

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at least at this very moment, because I spent I mean,

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what it's now one it's a little after one pm

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Central time. I've spent basically all morning and Isaiah forty

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to fifty five. That's basically all I have done. I

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have looked at Isaiah forty through fifty five through every

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hermoneutical perspective I can have. I have done, I've been.

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It's all I've worked on, over and over and over.

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So I think that's the goal tomorrow is we'll begin

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Isaiah forty through fifty five and so in my kind

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of prep. So here's what I would challenge you to do.

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Just over the next I don't know, I don't even

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know how long we'll be in the section, but just

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start making Isaiah forty through fifty five your new friend.

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All right, spend some quality time with Isaiah forty to

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fifty five. I need you reading it and reading it

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I could give you. Maybe maybe we'll utilize some Bible

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study methods on parts of Isaiah forty three fifty five.

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Maybe we'll do that. We're just gonna go all in

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Isaiah forty through fifty five. This is gonna be like

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one of our Bible study exercises. Right, We're gonna we're

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just gonna go all in and one of the things

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we're gonna be doing is we're going all in through

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Isaiah forty through fifty five. Is we're gonna maintain what

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we've been doing through all of twenty twenty four our

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sermons two point oh our sermons two point oh app

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sermon challenge, right, So where I'm gonna just say, hey,

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grab the sermon's two point oh app and look up

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random sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five and just

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see it. Because why do I tell you to do that?

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One.

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I'm getting you to listen to sermons. I'm getting you

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to utilize all of the resources you have. But here's

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the main reason is I want you to hear how

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other people approach the text. I want you to hear

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their perspectives, their hypotheses. And at the same time, I

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do want you to feel the frustration that should arise

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from it, because at some point you're gonna be like,

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this is just crazy. I guess you can basically make

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Isaiah forty to fifty five say whatever in the world

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you want to say, and that's the reality, and then

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you can compare it to mine. You may agree with them,

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you may agree with mine, whatever the case may be.

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It's up to you. But the point is, by the

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time we're done, you're gonna know, hopefully more about Isaiah

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forty through fifty five than you've ever known in your

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entire life. So that is the goal. That is the goal.

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So why am I here right now? Well, because I

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grab the Sermons two point oh and I typed in

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Isaiah forty enter and the first thing that popped up

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was a sermon entitled Election Day Sermon twenty sixteen. Election

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Day Sermon twenty sixteen. I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait,

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the text is Isaiah forty and this is going to

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be about election Day, like American election action Day, like

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American politics. We're going to go to Isaiah forty to

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talk about American politics and the election of twenty sixteen. Now,

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I'm just gonna be honest with you. At first, I

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was like, well, this could be great, right, this may

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be another example what I've been talking about of the

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just the hermeneutical anarchy that exists out there. But then

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I was like, you know what, I'm actually kind of curious.

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If Isaiah forty is the text.

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How in the world does this fit with Election Day

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twenty sixteen, And if it fits with Election Day twenty sixteen?

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Does it fit with election day, well, twenty twenty four

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coming up very soon. Maybe there's some great insight into this.

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I don't know, so I'm curious. So since I've been

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spending all morning on Isaiah forty through fifty five, and

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this is a sermon on Isaiah forty and there's a

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high probability that tomorrow morning, you know, tomorrow morning, I

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will be standing behind the pulpit and I'm going to

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be introducing everyone to Isaiah forty five through fifty five. Well,

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this can't hurt, right, I mean, this is I'll just

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call this a part of my sermon prep and well,

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it'll get us started. It'll get us started on our

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journey through this section. So I have no idea this.

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I have not listened to anything yet. I just found

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it downloaded it. I don't even know if the audio

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is loud enough. I'm hoping that it is, and we're

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just gonna see what happens. But I think this is

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going to demonstrate may now I don't know. My feeling

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is this is about to demonstrate exactly why we need

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to go through Isaiah forty through fifty five because of

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what people are doing to the text. But we've already

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demonstrated that with the craziness of the sermons from Isaiah

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forty three. I mean we've already demonstrated it. I mean,

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we've already demonstrated it with the craziness with the axe head, right,

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I mean, I mean we literally I don't really need

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to prove my point anymore, but sometimes I feel like

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it's I'm constantly having to prove my point. So are

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you ready? I don't know how far we're going to go. Typically,

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a typically a sermon review typically goes well over an

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hour by an hour and a half. But the goal here,

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I mean the sermon is sixty one minutes. So if

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I was to review sixty one minutes a sixty one

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minute sermon you're talking, it would be six seven hours.

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So I think here's what we're going to do.

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We're going to first basically try to find out what

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is the text and supposedly his Isaiah forty so let's

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hopefully we'll verify that. Second, what's his basic hypop what's

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his basic thesis for his sermon? And then three, how

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does Isaiah forty I mean, obviously his thesis has something

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to do with the election of twenty sixteen, Right, so

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how does Isaiah forty fit it? We're basically want to

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just get the basic idea of how he's handling Isaiah forty.

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That's basically what we want. Okay, then you can go

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listen to the rest. Now this is very important. He

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may make some absolutely amazing, brilliant, fill a lot correct

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comments about Christians politics election day. My concern is, even

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if all of those comments are accurate, how is Isaiah

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forty have anything to do with that? How is Isaiah

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forty being utilized?

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All right?

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That I have no idea. I don't know. I have

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not I haven't listened to it, so I don't know.

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I saw some of the comments underneath the message and

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everybody and the comments were like, this is like the

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greatest sermon ever. I mean me a little bit of hyperbole,

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but this is amazing. This is awesome. So obviously the

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people who heard the sermon thought it was amazing. So

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I don't know. I really don't know what's about to happen,

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But here we go. All right, sit back, buckle up.

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This is just the beginning of what's going to be

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a very long journey between Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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We will be reviewing a lot of sermons during it.

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We will be breaking things down and we'll just I

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don't know. I'm hoping it's to somehow be beneficial. It's

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going to be more about It's going to be about

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a lot of things. But you know, we'll get there

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when we get there. But for now, here we go

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Isaiah forty and a sermon about election day in the

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United States of America back in twenty sixteen. Your guess

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is as good as mine. Here we go. If you

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want to write down your predictions right now what's going

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to happen in the sermon, go ahead and just start

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writing your predictions. Now. You can go ahead and make

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your predictions. Get your bets in now right, put in

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your bet, Walk in that bet. I mean you're not

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going to win anything, but go ahead, all right, and

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you can take a screenshot. Make sure you got the

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time right there, so you can prove to me that

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you major predictions prior to hearing it.

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Are you ready?

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Here we go.

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Our scripture is that isaay a forty for prayer and

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remain standing out of reverence for the reading of the

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Word of God.

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Now I'm not saying anything's going to go bad in

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this sermon. I'm not saying that. I am going to

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point this out here. A lot of churches do the

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standing for the reading of God's word to show reverence

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to God's word. Then everyone sits down, and then the

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word of God is twisted, manipulated, and made to say

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things that it never was intended to say. Now, what

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I would say is, if you want to show reverence

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to God's word, anybody can put on a little show

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and say, everyone please stand for the reverence of God's word.

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Anyone can do that. That's just an external expression. That's

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just like you know, we're doing these wonderful things outwardly.

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But if you really want to show respect to God's word,

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it's not everyone standing to show respect and the reading

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of it. It's when you sit down to actually read

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it and study it and actually preach it. That's where

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reverence has shown and how we handle it. I just

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I'm not condemning. Make it very clear, I'm not condemning

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the external expression of reverence. That's great if you want

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to do that. I don't think anyone should be condemned

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if a church doesn't do that. But if you do it.

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Whether you do it or don't do it, it's wonderful, it's great,

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but at some point it can just be an external

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ritual that really loses any meaning because it doesn't matter

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if you stand to show reverence, if you're going to

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immediately then treat the Word of God like a you know,

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like Plato, and you just hijack it, insert things in

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it they're not.

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Now.

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I'm not saying that's what's getting ready to happen here.

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I'm just speaking in a general sense. I'm not saying

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this is what this pastor does, not saying what this

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sermon does, because I haven't listened to it yet. But

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I've listened to too many sermons where they do this

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standing to show reverence, and in the next forty five

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minutes those scriptures are ripped into shreds and turn into

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who knows what, and like, well, you know what, I

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don't think you really the lack of reverence is not

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the fact that you stood, it's how you preached it

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and taught it. So I think that that's just a book.

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But it's easy. Look, it's easy for all of us

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to put on the external show. That's always been the

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problem within Christianity. We were always good at being able

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to say the right words, dress up, have our little

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traditions and rituals, and well, but that's always the problem.

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Right.

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But let's see they're going to stand and let's hope

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that their external expression of reverence is demonstrated in the

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handling of the text.

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We rejoice, Oh Lord, that you have spoken so clearly,

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so powerfully in your word.

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Help us to understand this.

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And particularly this week, apply it to our lives.

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For Christ's sake. Amen.

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All right, two things about his prayer? Has God spoken clearly?

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Has God spoken clearly in his word? Is the word

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of God clear? Is it? Is it really clear? I

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will argue it's not. And the reason I would argue

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that it's not clear is we have two thousand years

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of church history and nobody literally can agree on anything.

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So if it's clear, then that means no one possesses

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the ability to understand the clear. So I'm going to

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argue it's not clear. If it was clear, there wouldn't

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be There would be just a never ending arguments about everything.

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So I'm gonna argue it's not clear. I know that

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goes against almost all philological beliefs and almost every church

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which believes that the scriptures are clear and plain. I disagree.

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They're not clear. They're not playing because nobody can understand,

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and the lack of understanding and the lack of agreement

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demonstrates the lack of clarity. That would be my argument.

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Number two.

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Does God actually help us understand the Bible? He says, Lord,

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help us understand. Does God actually help us understand the Bible?

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Does he? Now? Many Christians believe he does. Now, Again,

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here's the problem. If God helps us understand the Bible,

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why is there no agreed upon understanding? Number two. If

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God helps you understand the Bible, then and you believe

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that your understanding comes from God, then your understanding is

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infallible because it came from God. So then you would

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be well, God give me the understanding of the text.

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My understanding is infallible because it came from God, and

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everyone now is bound to follow my understanding of the text.

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But guess what Pastor A would say, God gave me

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the understanding of the text. Pastor B would say, God

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give me the understanding of the text, and their understanding

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is contradictory to one another. So clearly someone is lying

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and now on that you now create basically a magistraal

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authority where you're like, well, God gave me the understanding,

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therefore my understanding is infallible. The whole thing is ridiculous

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again when it comes to Christians and handling of the text.

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Here's the things we hear right before the sermon even begins.

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That God speaks clearly in his text, and God is

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the one who gives us understanding. I reject both of

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the concepts outright, and again reality disproves these ideas. He

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gave the original RECIPI. He gave the original writers understanding,

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at least enough understanding to write it. He gave them understanding.

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He gave the apostles understanding. He gave the prophets some understanding.

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I don't believe. I believe our understanding comes from the

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reading of the text and the study of the text

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by applying principles of interpretation. And even that does not

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guarantee understanding, because nobody can agree.

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Isaiah forty comfort, Oh comfort, my people, says your God,

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speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that

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her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed,

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that she has received of the Lord's hand double for

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all her said, A voice is calling, clear the way

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for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the

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desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be

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lifted up, and every mountain in the hill be made low,

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and the rugged terrain abroad valley. And let the rough

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ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley.

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Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and

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all flesh will see it together. For the mouth of

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the Lord has spoken. A voice says, call out. Then

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he answered, what shall I call out? All flesh is grass,

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and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

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The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of

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the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass.

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The grass withers, the flower fades. But the word of

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our God stands forever. Get yourself up on a high mountain, Ozion,

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bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, Oh Jerusalem,

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bearer of good news, lift it up. Do not fear,

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say to the cities of Judah, here is your God.

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Behold the Lord God will come with might, with his

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arm ruling for him. Behold his reward is with him,

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and his recompense before him. Like a shepherd. He will

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tend his flock in his arm. He will gather the

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lambs and her them in his bosom. He will gently

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lead the nursing ews. Who has measured the waters in

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the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens

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by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth

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by the measure, and weighed the mountains into balance, and

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the hills in a pair of scales. Who has directed

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the spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has

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informed him with whom did he consult, and who gave

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him understanding, and who taught him in the path of justice,

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and taught him knowledge and informed him of the way

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of understanding. Behold, the nations are like a drop from

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a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust

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on the scales. Behold, he lifts up the islands like

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fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor

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its beasts enough for a burn. All the nations are

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as nothing before him. They're regarded by him as less

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than nothing and meaningless. To whom then, will you liken God?

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Or what likeness will you compare with him? As for

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the idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it

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with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

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He is two impoveries.

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For such an offering, selects a tree that does not rot.

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He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare

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an idol that will not totter?

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Do you not know?

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Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to

465
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:44.680
you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the

466
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.720
foundations of the earth. It is he who sits above

467
00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:52.960
the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

468
00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:57.480
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads

469
00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:00.640
them out like a tent to dwell in. He it

470
00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:05.359
is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges

471
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:11.079
of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely

472
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.359
have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root

473
00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:18.079
in the earth. But He merely blows on them, and

474
00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:21.920
they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble.

475
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:26.039
To whom then, will you liken me that I should

476
00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:29.839
be his equal? Says the Holy One. Lift up your

477
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:33.200
eyes on high and see who has created these stars,

478
00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.279
the one who leads.

479
00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:36.480
Forth their host by number.

480
00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:40.279
He calls them all by name, because of the greatness

481
00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:42.240
of his might and the strength of his power.

482
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.279
Not one of them is missing.

483
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.759
Why do you say, old Jacob, and assert, O Israel,

484
00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.920
my way is hidden from the Lord and the justice.

485
00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:57.200
Do me escapes the notice of my God? Do you

486
00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:57.680
not know?

487
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.240
Have you not heard the every land asking God? The Lord,

488
00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:03.440
the creator of the ends of the earth, has not

489
00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:08.599
become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives

490
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:12.079
strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might,

491
00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:17.319
he increases his power. Though yous grow weary and tired,

492
00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:22.279
and vigorous young men stumble badly. Yet those who wait

493
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:25.920
for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount

494
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:29.440
up with wings like eagles. They will run and not

495
00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:33.240
get tired. They will walk and not become weary.

496
00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:34.839
You may be seated.

497
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:43.559
Okay, so he read the entire chapter, you can. Everyone

498
00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:47.440
has their opinion on that, good or bad. Some people

499
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:51.039
love that, some people may hate that. It's all about

500
00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:53.839
your preference and preaching style. I mean, that's a lot

501
00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:58.240
to read and one sitting. I mean, that's a total

502
00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:02.839
of thirty one verses. You know, hopefully everyone was sitting

503
00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:04.519
there looking at it. I don't know what you can

504
00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:07.000
retain or not retain there. It's always like, you know,

505
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:10.759
what are you hoping to accomplish? But the Word of

506
00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:14.000
God had been read? That's great. Now what is he

507
00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.880
going to do with this? All right? What is he

508
00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.960
going to do with this? Here we go, let's find out.

509
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:24.839
I'm I'm going to be cautiously optimistic.

510
00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:25.359
Here we go.

511
00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:33.559
Election day sermons have a long history in our country.

512
00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:39.240
The earliest election day a sermon on record, it was

513
00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:43.519
in Massachusetts in sixteen thirty three.

514
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:49.519
Okay, that is a hard a hard turn. Okay, I

515
00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:53.000
think the card just flipped. He just read Isaiah forty

516
00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:58.799
Isaiah forty thirty one verses, and he immediately is like,

517
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:02.400
election days Germans has a long history in this country.

518
00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:05.319
The first one is in Massachusetts. And what wait wait

519
00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:07.920
wait wait wait wait wait wait, how are we getting

520
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:13.119
to an election day sermon when the text is Isaiah forty, Like,

521
00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:15.960
how how do we get to America? How do we

522
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:20.519
get to America? American politics? How do we even get there? See?

523
00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:23.079
At this point, if I'm sitting there, I would have

524
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:24.640
this look on my face. If I was sitting in

525
00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:28.640
the congregation, I'd be looking around at everybody like what

526
00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:33.160
just happened? What Like? After reading all of that, I'd

527
00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:35.279
be like, okay, wait a minute, Okay, so Isaiah forty

528
00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:37.759
all right, Well I know that I know that that

529
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.319
serting of verse three, the voice of Him that Christ

530
00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:42.200
in the wilderness prepare you the way of the Lord

531
00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:45.000
makes straight the desert a highway for our God. Hmmm,

532
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.319
that sounds like John the Baptist. I think that's quoted

533
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:49.759
in the New Testament. I wonder where that cross reference is.

534
00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:52.079
So I may be putting a little mart next to

535
00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:55.200
verse three. Then I would be thinking, hmm, I wonder

536
00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:58.400
how verse three fits into the original historical context, because

537
00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:01.160
if why would isa why would I say I be

538
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:04.359
telling the people in the context that they're in about

539
00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:06.839
some guide that's gonna come way after all of them

540
00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:09.400
are dead, to prepare the way. I wonder if this

541
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:11.680
has an immediate context. I wonder what that could be.

542
00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:14.519
So I'd be thinking about that. I'd be like, comfort, yee,

543
00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:17.079
comfort ye, my people, who are my people? These are

544
00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:19.599
just some of the hermeneutical and interpretive questions that would

545
00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:21.559
be coming to my mind when we were standing there

546
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:23.759
reading all of it, and then we sit down and

547
00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:34.240
then instantaneously we're off to election day sermons. Now, but hey,

548
00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:37.200
it may make sense. I'm just telling you. I'm being

549
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:39.799
honest with my reaction. I would probably be looking at

550
00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:42.720
everyone around in the congregation, looking going has anybody else

551
00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:45.079
got the same look of confusion on their face as

552
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:47.799
I do? Because I'm not very good at hiding my

553
00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.720
my thinking, right, So I mean, it would be clear

554
00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:53.200
on my face. I'd be like looking at the guy.

555
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:56.720
I would be looking at him like, what is happened?

556
00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:03.400
What is happening right? What is going on?

557
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.680
How did we get to America? How did we get

558
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:08.279
to elections? How did we get to Massachusetts? I don't

559
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:14.279
even understand what's happening. But but that's that's that's my

560
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.400
initial reaction. There may be it may take about three

561
00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:18.440
or four minutes, and I'll.

562
00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:20.400
Be like, oh, well, now it makes perfect sense, right,

563
00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:22.039
so let's let's give it some time.

564
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:27.440
And since then, they've been preached in churches and meeting

565
00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:33.680
houses and uh, political buildings, h year after year after year,

566
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:36.680
and in fact, in the early days of our country,

567
00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:41.119
many of these election day sermons were printed at the

568
00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:46.799
expense of the government and distributed to the various towns

569
00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:51.880
in various colonies. The purpose of these election day sermons

570
00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:57.440
was to preserve and perfect a genuinely Christian and thoroughly

571
00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:01.680
biblical civilization in North America for the glory of God,

572
00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:05.160
as a model, a city set on the hill for

573
00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.640
the rest of the world to see and to imitate.

574
00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:14.640
Nowhere is the purpose of these election day sermons more

575
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:19.079
clearly and intensely stated that in a book by a

576
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:24.039
man named David Gregg, written in eighteen ninety six, is

577
00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:30.160
what he says, As patriotic Christians, there's only one cry

578
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:37.799
in our souls, and that is America for Christ, Christ

579
00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:38.680
for America.

580
00:33:40.039 --> 00:33:41.440
I mean to push this matto.

581
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.200
I put it on three grounds, for America's sake, for

582
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:50.599
the world's sake, for Christ's sake. First, we demand America

583
00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:55.319
for Christ. For America's sake. Divorce your nation from Christ,

584
00:33:56.440 --> 00:34:00.279
and you ring its death knell. Marry your nation to

585
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:05.400
Christ and you open for it, adore into a new future,

586
00:34:06.119 --> 00:34:09.760
and secure for it a place among the nations of

587
00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:14.400
the world. Tell me how the American Republic will treat Christ,

588
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.280
and I will tell you the future of the American Republic.

589
00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:25.800
America needs Christ, the rule of Christ, the truth of Christ,

590
00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:30.960
the Spirit of Christ, the Gospel of Christ, and the

591
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:35.199
men of Christ. We demand America for Christ for the

592
00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:40.920
world's sake. America taken for Christ means the nations of

593
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:46.079
the world far and near taken for Christ. Christian nation

594
00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:50.360
means a mighty witness for God among all lands of

595
00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:55.440
the earth. In the Christianizing of our nation, the Republic

596
00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:04.079
has its life at stake, society its order, labor, its reward, home,

597
00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:07.639
it's happiness, and the world is future.

598
00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:11.199
So this is an election daser.

599
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:18.480
One. He seems to be like crazy emotional, crazy emotional,

600
00:35:18.760 --> 00:35:20.039
it appears to me. I mean I don't. I mean

601
00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:21.639
I don't even know how to process that. You can

602
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:25.639
process that. The second I don't still don't know how

603
00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:27.000
in the world has any of this to do with

604
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:31.519
Isaiah forty and only that stop. I completely obviously disagree

605
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:35.559
with the entire philosophy. We do not christianize America. Christianize

606
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:40.360
the Church, all right, Christianize the Church. The church evangelizes

607
00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:43.679
and people become Christians. Our job is not to try

608
00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:48.360
to christianize America. No, it's not. There's nothing like that.

609
00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:51.239
That's that's not even a biblical concept in any way.

610
00:35:51.639 --> 00:35:55.320
Jesus didn't say, go make you know, Rome Christian, go

611
00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:57.119
go go call people to christ.

612
00:35:57.280 --> 00:35:58.519
As people become.

613
00:35:58.280 --> 00:36:01.719
Christians, well then the people will then live out the

614
00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:05.320
Christian life in the midst of society. But okay, we

615
00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:08.079
can get even get into this whole concept here, which

616
00:36:08.119 --> 00:36:12.719
I and yeah, and don't even get me started on patriotism,

617
00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:14.760
and okay, all right, there's just a lot of issues

618
00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:16.599
I have here, but that's not the points I don't

619
00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:18.559
want to get. I don't want to get distracted from

620
00:36:18.679 --> 00:36:21.800
what we're doing here. This is a sermon on Isaiah forty.

621
00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:24.920
I want to know how in the world Isaiah forty

622
00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:28.840
has literally anything to do with politics America and the

623
00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:32.199
election of twenty sixteen, twenty twenty four of any year.

624
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:38.320
That's what I want to know. You may one hundred

625
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:42.719
percent agree with his patriotism pro America America. God. You

626
00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:45.960
may be like, yeah, I mean, let's go make America Christian.

627
00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:49.119
You may be full blown Christian nationalists. Good, go go

628
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:51.920
do your thing. Okay, So I'm not going with you. Okay,

629
00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:52.519
but that's fine.

630
00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:52.599
Go.

631
00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:55.320
My issue here is not that. My issue is how

632
00:36:55.320 --> 00:36:57.400
when the world is Isaiah forty coming to play here?

633
00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:05.800
How in the world is this the text? That's the

634
00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:09.159
issue now. So we're waiting now as he's gone through

635
00:37:09.239 --> 00:37:12.480
this introduction, at some point he's going to return to

636
00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:15.039
Isaiah forty, right, and he's going to have to I

637
00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:17.760
know he's going to at least mention the historical context.

638
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:20.119
But is he just going to mention it and then

639
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:23.880
immediately Israel's going to be kicked out and we're going

640
00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:26.159
to be inserted? Is that? What is that? Is that?

641
00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:30.440
Is that what is going to happen? Or am I?

642
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:33.760
Or maybe I should just wait here we go.

643
00:37:35.760 --> 00:37:41.559
Well, in Isaiah forty, when Isaiah wrote those words, Israel

644
00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:48.119
was facing its worst economic crisis. It was facing terroristic

645
00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:54.119
armies about to overrun the country. The political establishment was

646
00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:57.039
unjust and moving toward tyranny.

647
00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:01.400
No way, and wait wait wait, wait, wait wait wait

648
00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:07.400
Isaiah forty to fifty five, this section is addressed to

649
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:12.960
the Babylonian exiles. They're already in exile. And you notice

650
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.360
he's using words there that are trying to describe the

651
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:24.039
political climate of America at that time, economic terroristic injustice.

652
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.440
I mean, it's using very American political language and trying

653
00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:31.360
to insert this upon the text. They're already in exile.

654
00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:33.800
This section the Book of Comfort was written about one

655
00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:37.239
hundred and fifty years before the time of Cyrus promised

656
00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:46.000
the exiles from Judah that they would return to Jerusalem. So, okay,

657
00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:49.119
all right, look, let's say what he does here. I'm

658
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:51.480
already getting a little nervous. I'm already getting a little nervous,

659
00:38:51.559 --> 00:38:55.280
right because he's using the very political charged language of

660
00:38:55.320 --> 00:38:59.800
twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and kind of at placing it

661
00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:04.679
a upon the text. He's taking a contemporary situation and

662
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:09.400
placing it upon the historical text. And I'm okay. So

663
00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:12.559
all right, let's see if he offers more insight. I mean, okay,

664
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:13.440
let's see what happens.

665
00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:22.039
Idolatry and lawlessness were rampant. Content for God's truth was widespread,

666
00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:26.719
Respect for the sanctity of human life was almost absent,

667
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:30.960
and with that, the breakdown of the family was obvious.

668
00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:35.880
Wise and godly leadership in church and state and society

669
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:42.400
was disappearing. Fear would soon consume the nation as it

670
00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:50.280
faced its last days. Before conquered by Babylon. Sound'm familiar

671
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:59.000
into this moral, social, and religious chaos. Stepped Isaiah with

672
00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:03.320
a powerful mess sage of hope, preach to a people

673
00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:07.559
on the verge of apostasy and devastation under the judgment

674
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:12.920
of God. Isaiah forty is a record of that message.

675
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:18.960
That. Okay, so I guess it depends on what where

676
00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:22.800
you read. I have a my study Bible right here

677
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:26.719
says this section is addressed to the Babylonian exiles, and

678
00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:29.480
a prophetic masl Okay, never mind there it goes all right.

679
00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:32.239
At first it just says the section is addressed to

680
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:35.800
the Babylonian exiles. But the next phrase and a prophetic manner.

681
00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:40.079
So this is anticipating what's coming. So he's describing it, right,

682
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:41.599
this is what's going to happen. So I had to

683
00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:43.519
look something else up because I wanted to make sure

684
00:40:43.559 --> 00:40:47.119
that I was absolutely correct here. All right, hang on,

685
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:48.480
where are.

686
00:40:50.480 --> 00:40:50.679
You know?

687
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:51.519
Where is this?

688
00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:52.039
Yeah?

689
00:40:52.079 --> 00:40:54.519
And Isaiah forty the people of Israel were not yet

690
00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:57.760
in Babylonian captivity at the time of Isaiah's ministry. Isaiah

691
00:40:57.800 --> 00:41:00.320
forty begins a section of the book that anticipate and

692
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:03.320
addresses the future Babylonian exile, even though it had not

693
00:41:03.400 --> 00:41:07.400
yet occurred when Isaiah prophesied. Isaiah's ministry took place during

694
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:10.559
the latter half of the eighth century BC, roughly seven

695
00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:13.119
forty to seven hundred BC, during the time when the

696
00:41:13.119 --> 00:41:15.880
Assyrian Empire was the dominant power and threatening both the

697
00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:19.480
Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. Babylon would not become

698
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:24.320
the dominant power or conqueror Judah, a conqueror of Judah

699
00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:27.159
until more than a century later in five eighty six PC,

700
00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:30.960
when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the people into exile.

701
00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:35.320
Isaiah forty addressing a future situation, the Babylonian exile that

702
00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:39.159
would come after Isaiah's lifetime. The message is intended to

703
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:41.920
comfort and encourage the people of Judah, anticipating in time

704
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:46.719
when they would be in exile. So this is basically saying,

705
00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:49.840
here's the comfort you're going to need when you are there,

706
00:41:50.119 --> 00:41:53.440
all right. So he's right to describe it as hey,

707
00:41:53.480 --> 00:41:56.000
they were facing all of these things. They were facing

708
00:41:56.039 --> 00:41:58.559
all of these things. They were facing all of these

709
00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:01.880
things with an absolutely certainty that they were going to

710
00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:06.000
encounter all of those things, and yet here's the comfort

711
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:08.800
being offered. So it's being spoken as if the people

712
00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:11.719
are there. The people are just not yet there, so

713
00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:16.599
it's it's comfort. It's prophetic comfort, right, it's prophesying the

714
00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:19.599
comfort you will need at a specific time when you

715
00:42:19.719 --> 00:42:22.320
are there, all right, So I think that's a correct

716
00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:24.480
way to look at it. So if you read the

717
00:42:24.519 --> 00:42:27.239
section is addressed to those in Babylonian exile, well, in

718
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:29.880
some ways it is. It is addressed to the people

719
00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:33.320
in Babylonian exile. When they are there, then this section

720
00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:37.519
will be for them, but it's actually given before they're there,

721
00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:40.280
so it's given before they're there, but it's really written

722
00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:42.679
as if they are there. Now, here's what you need

723
00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:46.480
when you are there. So it's prophetic comfort. Here's the

724
00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:49.800
comfort you will need when you're there. I'm prophesying the

725
00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:52.800
comfort you will need at a specific time when you

726
00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:56.119
were there. So it's in a sense it's addressed to

727
00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:58.880
those in exile, but actually it's being given to those

728
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:02.760
before they get into exile, if that makes sense. So

729
00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:05.280
that can be depending on what you read. You may

730
00:43:05.320 --> 00:43:08.880
read something, well, this is addressed to those in Babylonian exile.

731
00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:12.039
Well that's true, but it was given before they were

732
00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:14.920
into Babylonian exile. If that makes sense.

733
00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:21.360
Church then needed to hear, and the Church today needs

734
00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:25.880
to hear as we approach one of the most frightening

735
00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:32.480
elections in our history. The message may be surprising to some.

736
00:43:35.079 --> 00:43:39.039
Please note so in twenty sixteen, we're facing the most

737
00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:42.840
frightening election ever. The whole future of the world hangs

738
00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:45.320
in the bellas. We're all going to die. And well,

739
00:43:45.400 --> 00:43:48.920
twenty sixteen happened, twenty seventeen happened, twenty eighteen happened, twenty

740
00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:53.239
nineteen happened, twenty twenty happened, twenty twenty happened, twenty twenty two, happened,

741
00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:56.119
twenty twenty three, and now we're facing the most dangerous

742
00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:57.800
election in the history of mankind.

743
00:43:57.960 --> 00:43:59.199
We're all going to die.

744
00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:02.000
It's going to be of the world. We've been hearing

745
00:44:02.039 --> 00:44:03.679
this like I don't know, I feel like I've been

746
00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:06.320
hearing it my entire every time. Oh oh, this is it.

747
00:44:06.360 --> 00:44:10.719
Because how do politicians get elected by inciting fear into

748
00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:13.159
the mass? You tell everyone, if you don't elect me,

749
00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:16.280
your future is over. The country is done. You're all

750
00:44:16.320 --> 00:44:19.079
going to die. So now give me my vote so

751
00:44:19.159 --> 00:44:22.119
I get power. And what changes, Nothing really changes. The

752
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:24.239
world just continues on and on and on until the

753
00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:26.000
next time. We got to go, oh, we need to

754
00:44:26.039 --> 00:44:28.760
incite some fear. We got to give some fear. We

755
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:31.440
gotta make it. We need enemy, we need fear, we

756
00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:35.159
need division. Okay, And it's just all people. You're just

757
00:44:35.679 --> 00:44:39.519
being manipulated. Your puppets. They just play you so that

758
00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:41.960
you give them money, give them your vote, and they

759
00:44:42.039 --> 00:44:45.719
get power, they get positioned, they get fame, they get money,

760
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:48.760
and you get basically what a lot of empty promises.

761
00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:50.719
And I don't know why people keep buying into the

762
00:44:50.760 --> 00:44:53.599
whole game. But okay, yes, I'm very cynical about the

763
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:57.320
whole thing. But I just always find it funny. Whatever

764
00:44:57.360 --> 00:44:59.519
whichever election you go back to, it's always like, this

765
00:44:59.599 --> 00:45:03.199
is the and this is the most important election in history.

766
00:45:03.440 --> 00:45:06.159
If this goes wrong, our country is not going to exist.

767
00:45:06.199 --> 00:45:08.920
We're gonna be We're gonna be locked up in FEMA camps.

768
00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:11.559
We're all gonna become Muslims. They're gonna take our bibles,

769
00:45:11.599 --> 00:45:13.840
they're gonna take our guns. It's the end. We're all

770
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:16.079
gonna get marked with the mark of the peace. It's over.

771
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:19.079
It's and then the election happens. Remember all the all

772
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:21.039
the fear and panic that was gonna happen if Obama

773
00:45:21.079 --> 00:45:25.079
got elected. We're all, oh, well that okay, no, no, oh,

774
00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:28.800
this is oh now, how many times are you gonna

775
00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:32.079
fall for it? Right? When are you gonna wake up?

776
00:45:32.119 --> 00:45:39.719
And He's like, you're getting played, You're getting played, stop it? Right, So,

777
00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:42.280
but we still want to know with Isaiah forty, so

778
00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:45.920
he's at least correct to say Isaiah forty was written

779
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:48.159
to people who were going to be facing some very

780
00:45:48.239 --> 00:45:51.679
dire situations. But they were gonna face those dire situations

781
00:45:51.800 --> 00:45:54.159
because I mean, God obviously tells, I mean, he's giving

782
00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:56.840
them the prophecy of the comfort knowing they're going in there,

783
00:45:56.880 --> 00:45:58.800
so they're I mean that that's what's going to happen.

784
00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:02.119
It's going to happen, and it doesn't matter, it's going

785
00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:04.880
to happen. All right. So all right, that raises a

786
00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:07.880
whole lot of other issues about God's eternal decrees, God sovereignty.

787
00:46:07.880 --> 00:46:10.039
But okay, right, we still want to know how this

788
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:12.320
has anything to do with Isaiah forty. Here we go.

789
00:46:14.840 --> 00:46:20.599
Offensive to others encouraging to steal others. The message of

790
00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:27.199
Isaiah forty to us is simple and profound.

791
00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:34.280
Did you just hear that Isaiah Forty's message to us?

792
00:46:37.159 --> 00:46:41.559
Isaiah's message was to just so that you know, all right,

793
00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:43.360
just so that you know, all right, I'm just going

794
00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:45.719
to help you here, all right. I'm going to just

795
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:48.360
help you here because I've got I put a bunch

796
00:46:48.400 --> 00:46:50.280
of notes down, just so that you know, I've got to, like,

797
00:46:50.320 --> 00:46:52.719
I don't even know how many points here, just so

798
00:46:52.840 --> 00:46:57.000
that you know here all right. Isaiah forty provides several

799
00:46:57.039 --> 00:47:00.199
textual clues that indicate who the chapter is about and

800
00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:03.719
who it was addressed to. The chapter is primarily focused

801
00:47:03.760 --> 00:47:07.840
on Israel, particularly those in Babylonian exile, and serves as

802
00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:10.480
a message of comfort see please it. Note how sometimes

803
00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:13.280
it states depending on what you're reading, it states that

804
00:47:13.320 --> 00:47:16.559
the people are in Babylonian exile, but it is particularly

805
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:19.599
written to those in Babylonian exile. They're just not there yet,

806
00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:22.079
so it can be a little confusing, and depending on

807
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:24.519
what you read, it serves as a message of comfort

808
00:47:24.559 --> 00:47:28.119
and reassurance from God regarding their future there. So it's

809
00:47:28.440 --> 00:47:33.559
them Babylonian exile their future bill a. Below are here

810
00:47:33.639 --> 00:47:37.000
are the key textual clues from Isaiah forty that highlight

811
00:47:37.079 --> 00:47:41.239
the intended audience. Number one Comfort comfort my people Isaiah

812
00:47:41.320 --> 00:47:44.679
forty one. The phrase my people refers to Israel, God's

813
00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:47.480
covenant nation. This shows that the message is directed to

814
00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:51.840
Israelites and emphasizes God's enduring a relationship with them despite

815
00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:56.159
their current exile. Again, it's that their current exile, or

816
00:47:56.199 --> 00:47:58.920
it's written when they will be in exile, so they

817
00:47:58.960 --> 00:48:03.000
will see how that can get confusing? All right again,

818
00:48:03.159 --> 00:48:05.519
how this has how it describes Israel's in a state

819
00:48:05.559 --> 00:48:09.119
of exile, suffering and babbelone. But God is commanding comfort

820
00:48:09.159 --> 00:48:12.800
for them. But again it's written prophetically for when they

821
00:48:12.840 --> 00:48:15.039
go there. They're not actually there at the time. That

822
00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:18.280
can really look if you're looking at commentaries, that can

823
00:48:18.320 --> 00:48:22.199
be very confusing to you, right, I mean, even like

824
00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:24.639
I look down, I got a study Bible, like this

825
00:48:24.679 --> 00:48:28.159
section is addressed to the people in exile. Wait, but

826
00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:30.239
then you can read wait, it's addressed to people in

827
00:48:30.280 --> 00:48:33.400
exile prophetically. Wait, they're not actually there. But then everything

828
00:48:33.400 --> 00:48:35.760
else will reread as if it's being addressed to the

829
00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:38.039
people there, but it is being addressed to the people there,

830
00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:42.559
just they're not there yet. Right But again, so immediately

831
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:44.159
right out of the start, we know that this is

832
00:48:44.159 --> 00:48:47.480
about Israel. Number two, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry

833
00:48:47.559 --> 00:48:49.679
to her that her warfare is ended. The mention of

834
00:48:49.760 --> 00:48:52.599
Jerusalem representing the whole nation of Judah makes it clear

835
00:48:52.639 --> 00:48:55.239
that this message is for the people of Israel, specifically

836
00:48:55.239 --> 00:48:58.639
those in exile. The reference to Jerusalem emphasizes the national

837
00:48:58.679 --> 00:49:03.599
identity of the people being addressed. Number three, that their

838
00:49:03.639 --> 00:49:06.760
iniquity is pardon that she has received from the Lord's hand,

839
00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:09.760
double for all her sins. The focus is on Israel's

840
00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:12.719
iniquity and its pardon signals that this chapter is addressing

841
00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:17.159
the spiritual restoration of Israel. Number four. A voice in

842
00:49:17.199 --> 00:49:19.679
the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord makes straight,

843
00:49:20.119 --> 00:49:22.559
and the desert a highway for our God. The imagery

844
00:49:22.559 --> 00:49:25.280
of a wilderness and highway suggest a preparation for Israel's

845
00:49:25.320 --> 00:49:30.159
return from exile. Right, so again, this is about Israel.

846
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:32.880
Number five. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

847
00:49:32.880 --> 00:49:35.159
and all flesh you'll see together. Well, it speaks to

848
00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:38.320
God's universal glory. It's first and foremost Israel that will

849
00:49:38.440 --> 00:49:42.360
witness God's glory. And I could go through here number seven,

850
00:49:42.599 --> 00:49:45.280
here's just number seven. I'm skipping go on up to

851
00:49:45.320 --> 00:49:49.079
a high mountain o Zion, Herald of good News, the

852
00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:51.880
Mountain of Zion, another name for Jerusalem. The land of

853
00:49:51.920 --> 00:49:55.119
Israel directly indicates that the message is addressed to Israel.

854
00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:57.559
I mean, I could go through the entire chapter and

855
00:49:57.599 --> 00:49:59.679
show you over and over and over all these textual

856
00:49:59.719 --> 00:50:03.360
clues to say, Israel Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel Israel. And

857
00:50:03.400 --> 00:50:07.519
we just heard the message of Isaiah forty for us,

858
00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:14.440
where did we get when did we get into the text?

859
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:22.840
Terrible days are on the horizon. But God's faithful people

860
00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:28.199
do not need to panic or to live and face

861
00:50:28.239 --> 00:50:29.440
the future in fear.

862
00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:35.199
So what He's going to do? Terrible days on the

863
00:50:35.400 --> 00:50:37.320
or on the horizon. Okay, that's what they say in

864
00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:40.119
every election. And now you don't need to fear. So's

865
00:50:40.159 --> 00:50:43.280
he got to go take promises they're given directly to Israel.

866
00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:45.800
Knock them, just slap them in the face and say

867
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:47.920
give me those promises, and then they come go and

868
00:50:47.960 --> 00:50:50.679
give them and then come give them to all of us.

869
00:50:50.760 --> 00:50:54.559
Is that is that is is that what is about

870
00:50:54.599 --> 00:50:58.159
to happen. Let we'll go at least far enough to hear.

871
00:50:58.199 --> 00:50:59.639
If that's what's about to happen.

872
00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:06.480
Why, says Isaiah forty, Because Christ sits on the circle

873
00:51:06.519 --> 00:51:11.280
of the earth, and Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are grasshoppers.

874
00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:18.920
That's the message of Isaiah forty. Now, Isaiah is divided

875
00:51:18.960 --> 00:51:23.880
into two sections. The first section is chapters one through

876
00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:28.840
thirty nine Judgment, Judgment, Judgment, judgment upon Israel that had

877
00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:34.280
turned her back on the Lord. Chapters forty through sixty

878
00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:42.559
six Restoration, Restoration, Restoration, Hope for the future. And that

879
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:46.559
second great section begins with the chapter that we've just read.

880
00:51:46.599 --> 00:51:49.480
So let's look at it, verse at a time.

881
00:51:50.199 --> 00:51:53.559
Praying that God would cause us to believe it and

882
00:51:53.679 --> 00:52:00.480
live consistently with it this week. In verse one, God

883
00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:06.440
addresses the prophet Isaiah, and God calls him to bring

884
00:52:06.519 --> 00:52:12.320
comfort to his people burdened down with apostasy and judgment,

885
00:52:13.519 --> 00:52:18.400
and to do that by preaching his word comfort or

886
00:52:18.519 --> 00:52:22.320
comfort my people is not addressed to you and me.

887
00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:27.880
It's not addressed to the citizens of Israel. It's addressed

888
00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:33.519
to the prophet Isaiah. I have comfort a message of comfort,

889
00:52:34.039 --> 00:52:37.480
says your God. That I want you, Isaiah, to bring

890
00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:41.400
to my people. I want you to preach to their hearts.

891
00:52:43.079 --> 00:52:47.559
Verse two, speak kindly to Jerusalem. Literally in Hebrew is

892
00:52:47.599 --> 00:52:49.719
I want you to preach to their hearts. I want

893
00:52:49.760 --> 00:52:51.519
you to lay it on their hearts. I want it

894
00:52:51.519 --> 00:52:55.360
to be something more than intellectual. I want you to

895
00:52:55.400 --> 00:52:58.480
sink it deeply within them, so that it makes a

896
00:52:58.559 --> 00:52:59.440
difference within them.

897
00:52:59.480 --> 00:52:59.800
By my.

898
00:53:01.800 --> 00:53:06.719
Notice the phrases comfort, Oh, comfort my people, says.

899
00:53:06.480 --> 00:53:08.400
Your God, my people.

900
00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:15.159
Your God, speak kindly to Jerusalem, where my people live,

901
00:53:15.760 --> 00:53:19.880
says your God. Those two pronouns, you see, set the

902
00:53:19.920 --> 00:53:23.000
stage for the rest of this chapter. This is God

903
00:53:23.119 --> 00:53:27.039
talking to his church that's in bad shape by this time.

904
00:53:29.920 --> 00:53:35.480
This is God talking to his nation. Okay, but if

905
00:53:35.480 --> 00:53:37.599
you don't want to draw a distinction, at least he's

906
00:53:37.599 --> 00:53:41.480
making at least some distinction. This is God speaking to Isaiah,

907
00:53:41.639 --> 00:53:45.679
and Isaiah is discomfort his people that is Israel. Speak

908
00:53:45.679 --> 00:53:50.079
comfortably to Jerusalem, that is Israel. Now, if you want

909
00:53:50.079 --> 00:53:51.960
to refer to them as a church, you can do that,

910
00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:55.119
but it's you don't. You can't use the term church

911
00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.360
to destroy their national identity. That God made a covenant

912
00:53:58.360 --> 00:54:03.840
with a nation, and they that nation has not nation

913
00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:09.519
nationalistic promises addressed to it that has well have not

914
00:54:09.599 --> 00:54:12.320
all been fulfilled. And you can't go take those promises

915
00:54:12.440 --> 00:54:12.960
from them.

916
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:17.679
This is God talking to his covenant people that are

917
00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:21.199
turning their back on him, and yet he comes to

918
00:54:21.239 --> 00:54:23.639
them with a message of grace that they don't deserve

919
00:54:23.719 --> 00:54:26.840
to hear, a message of hope, a message of repentance.

920
00:54:27.400 --> 00:54:29.719
And he says, Isaiah, I want you to.

921
00:54:29.719 --> 00:54:33.880
Comfort them and encourage them in this time, even though

922
00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:37.360
they're on the verge of being conquered by foreign power.

923
00:54:39.280 --> 00:54:41.320
I want you to preach comfort to them. And here's

924
00:54:41.320 --> 00:54:44.960
the message I want you to preach. Verse two.

925
00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:47.400
Speak kindly to Jerusalem and.

926
00:54:47.360 --> 00:54:50.880
Call out to her that her warfare has ended, that

927
00:54:50.920 --> 00:54:54.840
her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of

928
00:54:54.840 --> 00:54:58.079
the Lord's hand double for all of her sin. Call

929
00:54:58.159 --> 00:55:02.920
out to her, make sure she doesn't miss this. Of course,

930
00:55:03.039 --> 00:55:05.960
tell the truth about her apostasy and about her turning

931
00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:06.719
her back on me.

932
00:55:07.480 --> 00:55:09.440
Of course, Warner.

933
00:55:09.119 --> 00:55:11.639
As he has done in the previous thirty nine chapters,

934
00:55:12.079 --> 00:55:15.519
about the judgment that's imminent if Israel does not repent.

935
00:55:16.079 --> 00:55:19.519
But I want you to comfort them with these three words.

936
00:55:20.800 --> 00:55:25.280
Your warfare is over, your iniquity has been removed, and

937
00:55:25.320 --> 00:55:28.679
you've received from the Lord's hand double from all your sin. Now,

938
00:55:28.719 --> 00:55:31.800
remember what the prophets used to do, and we brought

939
00:55:31.800 --> 00:55:36.000
out this before they would prophesy things to take place

940
00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:43.719
in the future using past tense verbs. Sounds a little unusual,

941
00:55:44.000 --> 00:55:46.800
but that was a literary device that had a great

942
00:55:46.840 --> 00:55:51.360
theological implication with it. You preach about future happenings that

943
00:55:51.440 --> 00:55:55.280
God has prepared and predestined for the future in past

944
00:55:55.400 --> 00:56:00.360
tense verbs, because every one of those future prophecies are

945
00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:02.159
bound to be fulfilled.

946
00:56:04.360 --> 00:56:08.840
That right, there is gold, Right, there is gold. That

947
00:56:09.039 --> 00:56:14.360
is very important when reading any of the prophetic sections.

948
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:18.760
As many times it speaks of future events and past

949
00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:23.800
tense terms because it's speaking as if it is done

950
00:56:23.880 --> 00:56:26.320
and so and so. That can be confusing, right, because

951
00:56:26.320 --> 00:56:28.159
you can be like, well, wait a minute, like that's

952
00:56:28.159 --> 00:56:31.159
why already we were seeing some of the some depending

953
00:56:31.159 --> 00:56:34.079
on your commentary, on your source, it's like, well, the

954
00:56:34.079 --> 00:56:37.039
people are in exile, Well, the people aren't actually in exile,

955
00:56:37.079 --> 00:56:40.239
because this is comfort being prophesied. This is the comfort

956
00:56:40.239 --> 00:56:42.559
they're going to need when they go into exile, sile.

957
00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:44.880
This is what needs to happen. This is the comfort

958
00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:46.119
they will need when they're there.

959
00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:48.119
But in many cases it's spoken as.

960
00:56:47.960 --> 00:56:52.079
If they're already there. It's spoken like when it says,

961
00:56:52.199 --> 00:56:55.519
cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. The warfare

962
00:56:55.559 --> 00:56:58.599
here most likely refers to their exile and suffering that

963
00:56:58.639 --> 00:57:01.039
the Israelites have endured, and the message of hope is

964
00:57:01.079 --> 00:57:02.800
that their period of judgment is coming to an end.

965
00:57:02.800 --> 00:57:06.400
It's being spoken of, Hey, you your exile, your your

966
00:57:06.480 --> 00:57:09.320
time and bondage is over. It's already over. Your sins

967
00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:12.480
are wait wait, wait, this is being prophesied before it's

968
00:57:12.519 --> 00:57:15.320
even happened yet. But it's already being told that it's

969
00:57:15.320 --> 00:57:18.639
already over before it's even begun. So that can be

970
00:57:18.679 --> 00:57:21.000
confusing depending on how you're reading. So that's a very

971
00:57:21.119 --> 00:57:25.480
very important. Now, so all any frustration here, now that's

972
00:57:25.559 --> 00:57:27.920
just right there. Made that made this entire sermon worth

973
00:57:27.960 --> 00:57:31.320
it right there. That's that's man. You want to write

974
00:57:31.360 --> 00:57:33.199
that down and you really want to consider that. There

975
00:57:33.239 --> 00:57:35.760
are many times in your Bible where it is speaking

976
00:57:35.800 --> 00:57:39.719
of a future event, but it's using past tense terms.

977
00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:43.760
But it's not really past tense. It hasn't even happened yet,

978
00:57:43.840 --> 00:57:46.719
but it's being spoken of in past tense because it's

979
00:57:46.760 --> 00:57:49.679
a literary device. It's a philological device to show you

980
00:57:49.719 --> 00:57:52.199
it's a certainty. Because if God says it's going to happen,

981
00:57:52.519 --> 00:57:55.679
it is well, it's as good as done. That is

982
00:57:55.800 --> 00:57:57.480
very important, and you've got to be able to notice

983
00:57:57.519 --> 00:57:59.920
that though, because sometimes you'll be like, well, wait a minute,

984
00:58:00.039 --> 00:58:01.480
how do I see this? Do I see this as

985
00:58:01.480 --> 00:58:03.840
already being done well? In one sense, yes, but in

986
00:58:03.880 --> 00:58:06.440
a practical sense no, So then you have to kind

987
00:58:06.440 --> 00:58:07.559
of take it apart.

988
00:58:10.280 --> 00:58:12.880
It's as if they were already fulfilled and the plan

989
00:58:12.960 --> 00:58:16.199
of God, God planned them. God's plan cannot fail, and

990
00:58:16.239 --> 00:58:20.920
so Isaiah would prophesy things about the future in past tense,

991
00:58:21.039 --> 00:58:24.079
certain that God would cause these things to take place.

992
00:58:24.960 --> 00:58:27.360
As we go on, we're going to see this passage

993
00:58:27.679 --> 00:58:32.519
is focusing on Christ. It's not simply about Babylon overrunning Israel,

994
00:58:32.599 --> 00:58:35.679
destroying the Temple in five eighty six, taking the people

995
00:58:35.679 --> 00:58:39.639
of God captive for seventy years, and then the Persians

996
00:58:39.639 --> 00:58:42.360
allowing them to come back and rebuild Jerusalem. All of

997
00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:47.400
those things are in the background. They haven't taken place yet.

998
00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:52.400
But the real focus that God is pointing his people too,

999
00:58:52.679 --> 00:58:55.840
the comfort that's going to come to them after judgment

1000
00:58:56.320 --> 00:59:01.719
after judgment, after devastation, is going to be in Christ alone.

1001
00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:07.119
So these various these three words of hope and comfort

1002
00:59:07.159 --> 00:59:12.000
for the future presupposed Christ. Your warfare is over. That

1003
00:59:12.159 --> 00:59:15.760
hadn't It's not over yet. Remember he's foretelling the future

1004
00:59:15.760 --> 00:59:19.079
with past tens. It's absolutely certain your warfare is going

1005
00:59:19.119 --> 00:59:22.519
to be over. That's a Hebrew idiomatic phrase that more

1006
00:59:22.599 --> 00:59:28.239
literally means your hard surface surface service, your hard service,

1007
00:59:28.719 --> 00:59:33.639
your misery because of your apostasy and because of your judgment.

1008
00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:36.559
It's going to be over. When the Lord Jesus Christ appears,

1009
00:59:37.559 --> 00:59:39.960
the misery will be gone.

1010
00:59:41.920 --> 00:59:44.840
Okay, now here I would struggle. Now he's jumping to

1011
00:59:44.920 --> 00:59:53.480
this as being a somehow pointing to what Christ. I

1012
00:59:53.559 --> 00:59:57.960
think this is just a reference that your your exile.

1013
00:59:58.440 --> 01:00:01.039
This is about the Babylonian exile. He's moving the Babylonian

1014
01:00:01.039 --> 01:00:03.320
exile more to the background. I'm now trying to make

1015
01:00:03.320 --> 01:00:05.400
it about Christ. So now is he going to now

1016
01:00:05.400 --> 01:00:07.800
go to all these passages and say, well, this is

1017
01:00:07.800 --> 01:00:10.760
about Christ. Well, now you're going to start spiritualizing the text.

1018
01:00:10.760 --> 01:00:12.960
See that's where that's where the problem. This is where

1019
01:00:12.960 --> 01:00:16.000
things already start breaking down. Right, So all right, but

1020
01:00:16.079 --> 01:00:18.280
let's let's see. Let's just let it play out.

1021
01:00:20.119 --> 01:00:22.679
Your iniquity has been removed. Let me tell you what

1022
01:00:22.679 --> 01:00:25.639
it means in it says in Hebrew, which is a

1023
01:00:25.719 --> 01:00:29.239
highly unusual way of speaking. We don't have any idioms

1024
01:00:29.280 --> 01:00:33.480
like this in English. Your iniquity has been shown favor.

1025
01:00:35.159 --> 01:00:39.559
Your iniquity has been shown favor. Your iniquity has been.

1026
01:00:39.400 --> 01:00:43.320
Shown favor, or another way of saying it, your iniquity

1027
01:00:43.800 --> 01:00:52.199
has shown satisfaction. You see where he's hitting satisfaction. There's

1028
01:00:52.239 --> 01:00:58.360
a sacrifice that has been offered. It has satisfied God's anger,

1029
01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:01.840
It's been accepted by God, and.

1030
01:01:01.719 --> 01:01:03.239
The iniquity has been removed.

1031
01:01:04.280 --> 01:01:07.320
They deserve to have been destroyed because of their iniquity,

1032
01:01:07.440 --> 01:01:10.599
never to have risen again. But God in grace would

1033
01:01:10.639 --> 01:01:15.199
in Jesus provide a sacrifice that would satisfy the claims

1034
01:01:15.239 --> 01:01:16.840
of God's justice against them.

1035
01:01:19.039 --> 01:01:21.000
I said, I don't know if we can take this

1036
01:01:21.079 --> 01:01:22.159
and jump to Christ.

1037
01:01:22.239 --> 01:01:22.519
Here.

1038
01:01:23.480 --> 01:01:26.679
God made a covenant relationship with them that he would

1039
01:01:26.760 --> 01:01:30.000
remain faithful, that he made a covenant with himself for them,

1040
01:01:31.000 --> 01:01:39.559
so okay, well, all right, let's see where it goes.

1041
01:01:41.320 --> 01:01:44.320
And in mercy he would forgive them of their sins.

1042
01:01:47.159 --> 01:01:51.000
And the last is another hebreak phrase, you have received

1043
01:01:51.000 --> 01:01:54.239
from the Lord's hand double for all your sin. Now

1044
01:01:54.280 --> 01:01:56.719
that's not a literal statement. God's not going to punish

1045
01:01:56.760 --> 01:01:59.000
anybody twice as much as he deserves.

1046
01:02:00.440 --> 01:02:01.800
That would be unjust.

1047
01:02:02.840 --> 01:02:06.239
God punishes his enemies according to what they deserve or less.

1048
01:02:07.559 --> 01:02:08.639
And that's the point here.

1049
01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:15.239
The word double simply denotes abundance, and he says, now, Jerusalem,

1050
01:02:15.400 --> 01:02:20.719
Israel has received abundant judgment from the Lord's hand for

1051
01:02:20.800 --> 01:02:25.119
all of her sins. She has suffered enough for her sin,

1052
01:02:25.800 --> 01:02:30.760
though she's not suffered as much as she deserved. And

1053
01:02:30.800 --> 01:02:33.440
so even though this severe judgment would come through the

1054
01:02:33.480 --> 01:02:37.400
Babylonians and others for hundreds of years before Christ, they

1055
01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:40.440
were becoming a time in which God says, that's enough.

1056
01:02:42.559 --> 01:02:47.840
Okay. Now, He's very emphatic on how for she had

1057
01:02:47.880 --> 01:02:50.360
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

1058
01:02:51.639 --> 01:02:56.159
This just This phrase has been a subject of various

1059
01:02:56.199 --> 01:03:00.920
interpretations throughout Church history. Understanding this phrase in its context

1060
01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:03.880
seems to be key to trying to grasp its meaning.

1061
01:03:04.119 --> 01:03:07.519
All right, So the interpretive options for double for all

1062
01:03:07.519 --> 01:03:11.920
her sins, full payment, or sufficient penalty. One common interpretation

1063
01:03:12.039 --> 01:03:14.320
is that double signifies that Israel has paid a full

1064
01:03:14.360 --> 01:03:17.400
and sufficient penalty for her sins. It does not necessarily

1065
01:03:17.480 --> 01:03:21.199
mean twice as much punishment, but indicates that the punishment

1066
01:03:21.239 --> 01:03:25.159
for her iniquities has been fully met. And again, if

1067
01:03:25.599 --> 01:03:28.280
this is not, remember he just said in the previous

1068
01:03:28.320 --> 01:03:31.320
phrase that well, Christ paid for all your sins. Christ

1069
01:03:31.440 --> 01:03:33.880
died for all your sins, that he took the punishment.

1070
01:03:34.559 --> 01:03:36.800
But well, no, no, no, this is the idea. No,

1071
01:03:37.159 --> 01:03:40.079
you paid for it, you were punished for it. So

1072
01:03:40.360 --> 01:03:44.440
do we bring Christ into a section where it's clearly stated.

1073
01:03:44.320 --> 01:03:46.440
You you basically.

1074
01:03:47.440 --> 01:03:50.920
That you have paid a full and sufficient penalty for

1075
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:55.079
your sins. So are you going to say that that's

1076
01:03:55.320 --> 01:03:57.880
that Christ did when the text seems to be saying.

1077
01:03:57.679 --> 01:03:58.320
That they did?

1078
01:03:59.280 --> 01:03:59.719
All right?

1079
01:03:59.800 --> 01:04:03.400
The double portion can mean complete abundance and the sense

1080
01:04:03.440 --> 01:04:07.320
that punishment Israel endured in exile was severe but now complete.

1081
01:04:07.400 --> 01:04:09.400
The idea here is that Israel has endured enough to

1082
01:04:09.400 --> 01:04:13.320
satisfy the judgment required for her sins. So do we

1083
01:04:13.360 --> 01:04:14.840
go to this verse and go, wait a minute, wait

1084
01:04:14.880 --> 01:04:18.159
a minute, No, No, this is about Jesus. No, the text

1085
01:04:18.199 --> 01:04:20.079
seems to be saying, no, they pay. So I don't

1086
01:04:20.119 --> 01:04:22.280
know how we insert Jesus into this. I don't know

1087
01:04:22.320 --> 01:04:25.079
how we insert us into this. I think we got

1088
01:04:25.119 --> 01:04:27.679
to be very careful here. This seems to be like, no, Israel,

1089
01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:31.360
you have paid for your sins, and we can say

1090
01:04:31.360 --> 01:04:34.119
the double is just a complete and abundance. But in

1091
01:04:34.159 --> 01:04:37.639
either way, they suffered, and that time of punishment has

1092
01:04:37.679 --> 01:04:42.119
come to an end. Doubling something often meant in the

1093
01:04:42.199 --> 01:04:45.119
ancient world, completing or bringing something to its fullness. Therefore,

1094
01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:48.000
the phrase likely indicates that the penalty was sufficient in

1095
01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:53.079
God's eyes. Another interpretation sees doubles indication of a severity

1096
01:04:53.079 --> 01:04:55.880
of Israel's punishment. Israel may have experienced more than what

1097
01:04:56.039 --> 01:04:59.599
seemed proportionate for her sins in terms of destruction, exile,

1098
01:04:59.639 --> 01:05:03.519
and suff She underwent that she underwent, but the point

1099
01:05:03.559 --> 01:05:06.360
is that God has now declared the punishment complete. This

1100
01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:08.960
view could be supported by the overwhelming nature of the

1101
01:05:08.960 --> 01:05:12.039
Babylonian exile, the loss of the land, the destruction of

1102
01:05:12.039 --> 01:05:14.559
the temple, and the suffering and captivity, which may have

1103
01:05:14.599 --> 01:05:17.679
felt like a severe and comprehensive punishment. So some people

1104
01:05:17.760 --> 01:05:21.840
may say no, she Israel suffered even more than her

1105
01:05:21.880 --> 01:05:25.519
sins actually deserved, So some people say no. But in

1106
01:05:25.559 --> 01:05:29.000
either way, whether it's more, whether it's just an abundance,

1107
01:05:29.079 --> 01:05:29.800
it doesn't matter.

1108
01:05:30.880 --> 01:05:32.400
She paid for her.

1109
01:05:32.320 --> 01:05:36.039
Sins with her suffering. I don't see where this thin

1110
01:05:36.360 --> 01:05:40.199
we're gonna make this about Christ. I don't all right.

1111
01:05:40.920 --> 01:05:43.480
Some suggest that the phrase is a literary device, a

1112
01:05:43.480 --> 01:05:48.320
form of parallelism that emphasizes abundant forgiveness or complete justice,

1113
01:05:48.480 --> 01:05:51.440
rather than emphasizing the amount of punishment. It highlights that

1114
01:05:51.639 --> 01:05:54.159
justice has been fully carried out and that Israel's sins

1115
01:05:54.159 --> 01:05:56.840
have been completely dealt with. In other words, double can

1116
01:05:56.880 --> 01:05:59.960
be an idiomatic way of saying that God's justice is

1117
01:06:00.079 --> 01:06:02.920
been fully satisfied, and now is the time for mercy

1118
01:06:02.960 --> 01:06:06.880
and comfort. Some interpretation sees a contrast in the use

1119
01:06:06.920 --> 01:06:10.440
of double as a precursor to God's abundant grace and restoration.

1120
01:06:10.960 --> 01:06:15.159
Those israel sin brought about severe consequences. God's restoration and

1121
01:06:15.199 --> 01:06:20.159
redemption will be even more generous and abundant. Right, But

1122
01:06:20.400 --> 01:06:25.679
the point is it's about Israel suffering. Right, because he

1123
01:06:26.760 --> 01:06:29.599
went to the first part, your warfare has accomplished her

1124
01:06:29.599 --> 01:06:32.800
iniquity as pardon, and he immediately inserted Christ and that

1125
01:06:32.880 --> 01:06:36.719
Christ suffered. But then it says you have received of

1126
01:06:36.760 --> 01:06:40.679
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Well, is

1127
01:06:40.719 --> 01:06:43.519
that do we see that as you have received of

1128
01:06:43.559 --> 01:06:47.920
the Lord's hand double for all her sins? Does that

1129
01:06:47.960 --> 01:06:50.400
seem I mean, it seems to indicate that they suffered.

1130
01:06:50.599 --> 01:06:53.239
So then that kind of removes Christ from it. See,

1131
01:06:53.280 --> 01:06:55.679
you see what the problem is when you start spiritualizing

1132
01:06:55.719 --> 01:06:59.079
the text. Once you start spiritualizing the text, things start

1133
01:06:59.199 --> 01:07:03.039
falling apart, Like it's hard to remain consistent. Look, we've

1134
01:07:03.079 --> 01:07:05.960
seen this in the Song of Solomon, Right, everyone's like, oh,

1135
01:07:06.039 --> 01:07:08.599
this is a beautiful picture of Christ and his love

1136
01:07:08.639 --> 01:07:10.840
for the church. You start going through that, that gets

1137
01:07:10.880 --> 01:07:15.559
really weird. That starts getting really uncomfortable and bizarre. Right,

1138
01:07:15.719 --> 01:07:18.280
you have to just start doing weird things. That's always

1139
01:07:18.280 --> 01:07:21.840
the problem. The more you spiritualize to try to maintain

1140
01:07:21.920 --> 01:07:25.559
the spiritual picture, that it becomes inconsistent.

1141
01:07:29.159 --> 01:07:33.559
Now people deserve to be punished far more, but there

1142
01:07:33.599 --> 01:07:34.199
will be.

1143
01:07:34.079 --> 01:07:38.360
A satisfaction in their place. Now how is this going

1144
01:07:38.400 --> 01:07:38.840
to happen?

1145
01:07:40.760 --> 01:07:42.920
See, he says there's going to be a satisfaction in

1146
01:07:42.960 --> 01:07:45.719
their place. He is saying that the people who that

1147
01:07:45.800 --> 01:07:48.039
someone else is going to satisfy God for their sins.

1148
01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:50.559
But the text seems to be implying that that they

1149
01:07:50.599 --> 01:07:54.280
have suffered enough, they have now satisfied the punishment. So

1150
01:07:54.360 --> 01:07:56.760
now do you just remove that from the historical city.

1151
01:07:56.880 --> 01:07:59.239
I mean, they're the ones who actually suffered for seventy years.

1152
01:07:59.320 --> 01:08:01.760
They're the ones who actually the temple was actually destroyed,

1153
01:08:01.840 --> 01:08:03.920
they were actually went into exile. There was actually pay

1154
01:08:04.000 --> 01:08:07.400
suffering and death. I mean like they literally suffered. Okay,

1155
01:08:07.639 --> 01:08:09.519
you can't just spiritualize that.

1156
01:08:13.719 --> 01:08:17.880
How is this comfort, this cessation of warfare and misery,

1157
01:08:18.520 --> 01:08:22.720
this forgiveness of iniquity, this ending of judgment, how.

1158
01:08:22.600 --> 01:08:23.399
Is it going to come?

1159
01:08:23.560 --> 01:08:27.479
Verses three through five tell us a voice is calling,

1160
01:08:27.680 --> 01:08:30.079
clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, Make

1161
01:08:30.159 --> 01:08:31.640
smooth in the desert.

1162
01:08:31.279 --> 01:08:33.960
A highway of our God, for our God.

1163
01:08:34.079 --> 01:08:37.119
Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain, and

1164
01:08:37.159 --> 01:08:38.119
he'll be made low.

1165
01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:39.560
Let the rough.

1166
01:08:39.359 --> 01:08:42.880
Ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain abroad valley.

1167
01:08:43.560 --> 01:08:47.399
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and

1168
01:08:47.479 --> 01:08:50.239
all flesh will see it together. For the mouth of

1169
01:08:50.279 --> 01:08:53.000
the Lord has spoken, how's all this coming are going

1170
01:08:53.079 --> 01:08:58.520
to happen. God's going to come to Earth. That's how

1171
01:08:58.520 --> 01:09:03.039
it's going to happen. Prepare away for God, the creator

1172
01:09:03.039 --> 01:09:05.239
of the universe, is going to come to Jerusalem.

1173
01:09:08.039 --> 01:09:12.479
So wait, So the Babylonian exile and all of this

1174
01:09:12.520 --> 01:09:15.319
is going to come to a conclusion because God is

1175
01:09:15.359 --> 01:09:18.640
going to come to an earth, to the earth. So now,

1176
01:09:22.159 --> 01:09:28.880
oh man, okay, so wait now before Jesus shows up,

1177
01:09:29.800 --> 01:09:34.680
the Babylonian exile has been way over. They've returned like

1178
01:09:34.840 --> 01:09:42.880
what I did. So the way the Babylonian exile is

1179
01:09:42.920 --> 01:09:45.840
going to come to an end is God is going

1180
01:09:45.880 --> 01:09:47.520
to come to the earth. And now he's going to

1181
01:09:47.520 --> 01:09:50.520
go to Isaiah forty verse three and following, and he's

1182
01:09:50.560 --> 01:09:53.279
going to immediately take this to the New Testament context.

1183
01:09:53.479 --> 01:09:55.399
But are you not now forgetting how this would have

1184
01:09:55.439 --> 01:09:58.439
to be understood in its historical context first and foremost,

1185
01:10:01.239 --> 01:10:02.319
And that's how He's.

1186
01:10:02.159 --> 01:10:04.039
Going to comfort her and forgive of of her ends

1187
01:10:04.039 --> 01:10:07.520
and into warfare and in his anger. God's coming to

1188
01:10:07.640 --> 01:10:14.560
Jerusalem and nothing can stop him everybody inside and outside

1189
01:10:14.640 --> 01:10:18.840
Jerusalem will throw up hindrances. There'll be all kinds of obstacles.

1190
01:10:19.239 --> 01:10:20.880
But God will clear the way.

1191
01:10:21.000 --> 01:10:24.119
He'll make smooth in the desert a highway for himself.

1192
01:10:24.439 --> 01:10:27.119
Every valley will be lifted up, every mountain will be

1193
01:10:27.159 --> 01:10:29.119
made low, the rough ground.

1194
01:10:28.840 --> 01:10:31.239
Made a plain, the rugged terrain of broad valley.

1195
01:10:31.520 --> 01:10:35.760
Nothing is going to keep God from revealing his glory

1196
01:10:35.880 --> 01:10:44.479
in Jerusalem, and all flesh will see it. Now you

1197
01:10:44.479 --> 01:10:46.479
remember reading any of these words of the New Testaments.

1198
01:10:47.840 --> 01:10:50.560
You remember how the Gospel according to Mark begins, for instance,

1199
01:10:51.359 --> 01:10:52.760
and various other the Gospels.

1200
01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:58.000
I understand there's a New Testament use of it, But

1201
01:10:58.039 --> 01:11:01.279
you can't say the way their warfare is going to end,

1202
01:11:01.319 --> 01:11:02.640
the way they're going to be parton. The way all

1203
01:11:02.680 --> 01:11:04.760
of this is gonna come to an end, is Jesus

1204
01:11:04.800 --> 01:11:06.239
is gonna come to the earth. Because by the time

1205
01:11:06.359 --> 01:11:08.720
Jesus comes to the earth, they've not only been in

1206
01:11:08.760 --> 01:11:12.119
Babylonian captivity. Know only they come out of Babylonian captivity.

1207
01:11:12.239 --> 01:11:14.880
Not only have they rebuilt the Temple, they're now under

1208
01:11:14.920 --> 01:11:17.760
the control of Rome. Okay, so like like what are

1209
01:11:17.760 --> 01:11:23.079
you talking about? All right, We're gonna have to stop there.

1210
01:11:23.479 --> 01:11:28.560
We're gonna have to stop there, right, We've definitely will

1211
01:11:28.640 --> 01:11:32.560
We'll go back and do some work on this. There's

1212
01:11:32.680 --> 01:11:37.439
good here. I'm just perplexed. I'm perplexed at the entire

1213
01:11:37.479 --> 01:11:39.760
structure of it all right, But once again, what does

1214
01:11:39.760 --> 01:11:42.239
it demonstrate? You go to a section like Isaiah forty

1215
01:11:42.239 --> 01:11:45.119
to fifty five and just chaos reigns.

1216
01:11:45.520 --> 01:11:47.479
Right, It's just like what what?

1217
01:11:49.600 --> 01:11:52.920
There's no there's just no way of knowing what someone

1218
01:11:52.960 --> 01:11:55.359
is going to do with these texts. It's it's just

1219
01:11:55.520 --> 01:11:59.000
so frustrating to follow. However, we did learn a very

1220
01:11:59.000 --> 01:12:02.520
important hermonutic principle here, very good. We kind of stumbled

1221
01:12:02.560 --> 01:12:07.439
into it, right, and the hermeneutical principle that he established

1222
01:12:07.439 --> 01:12:10.199
and that he stated accurately, and it's and it mixed.

1223
01:12:10.199 --> 01:12:14.920
The entire sermon Worth you listening to is this that

1224
01:12:15.000 --> 01:12:19.720
there are times in prophetic passages where the prophetic event

1225
01:12:19.880 --> 01:12:24.520
is being spoken of in past tense even though it

1226
01:12:24.600 --> 01:12:29.039
hasn't happened yet. That's very important because you can get

1227
01:12:29.079 --> 01:12:32.600
become very confused and even reading about Isaiah forty depending

1228
01:12:32.640 --> 01:12:35.000
on which commentary I pick up, because I was reading

1229
01:12:35.039 --> 01:12:40.439
from multiple sources, it's speaking to people in Babylonian captivity.

1230
01:12:40.920 --> 01:12:43.199
But then if you continue to read, however, they're not

1231
01:12:43.279 --> 01:12:46.039
yet in Babylonian captivity. Well wait a minute, then why

1232
01:12:46.039 --> 01:12:48.079
do all the commentaries say this is being spoken to

1233
01:12:48.079 --> 01:12:51.720
people in Babylonian captivity. Actually the prophecy was given before

1234
01:12:51.760 --> 01:12:55.079
the people went into Babylonian captivity, right, and then if

1235
01:12:55.119 --> 01:12:58.000
it's if we say comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,

1236
01:12:58.039 --> 01:13:02.840
saith your God. If that is spoken to Isaiah, here's

1237
01:13:02.840 --> 01:13:05.039
a question. Here's a question. Now here's here's here's a

1238
01:13:05.039 --> 01:13:09.600
good question. Is Isaiah alive at the time of the

1239
01:13:09.640 --> 01:13:25.920
Babylonian captivity? Hang on, because I don't hang on. I

1240
01:13:25.960 --> 01:13:28.520
gotta I gotta just make sure I don't want to

1241
01:13:28.560 --> 01:13:32.279
say anything incorrectly. So I'm gonna I'm gonna verify. I'm

1242
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:35.560
gonna verify, you verify. You know, No, Isaiah was not

1243
01:13:35.720 --> 01:13:40.399
alive during the Babylonian captivity. So we have to deal

1244
01:13:40.399 --> 01:13:42.680
with this fact and the text if because he made it,

1245
01:13:42.920 --> 01:13:45.640
he made it clear the Isaiah forty one is spoken

1246
01:13:45.680 --> 01:13:49.319
to Isaiah, not to you, not to me, not to them,

1247
01:13:49.439 --> 01:13:51.720
to Isaiah. Well wait a minute. And then and then

1248
01:13:51.760 --> 01:13:54.079
he said Isaiah was going to go provide comfort to

1249
01:13:54.119 --> 01:13:58.000
the people. Well, he's providing comfort to the people who

1250
01:13:58.039 --> 01:14:00.279
are not yet in captivity. So he's basically he say,

1251
01:14:00.319 --> 01:14:04.600
when you get into captivity, remember this. But again, this

1252
01:14:04.640 --> 01:14:08.079
is very important. Isaiah was not alive during the Babylonian captivity.

1253
01:14:08.119 --> 01:14:12.760
Isaiah prophesied during the eighth century BC, specifically around seven

1254
01:14:12.840 --> 01:14:15.239
forty to seven hundred BC, which was during the reigns

1255
01:14:15.279 --> 01:14:18.439
of Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. His

1256
01:14:18.479 --> 01:14:21.199
ministry took place during primarily during the period when the

1257
01:14:21.239 --> 01:14:24.079
Assyrian Empire was the dominant threat to both the North

1258
01:14:24.479 --> 01:14:28.399
Kingdom and Israel the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The babylon

1259
01:14:28.520 --> 01:14:31.920
Captivity occurred more than a century later, in five eighty

1260
01:14:31.920 --> 01:14:35.720
six BC, when Babylon conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and took

1261
01:14:35.760 --> 01:14:39.800
the people into exile. This was long after Isaiah's time

1262
01:14:40.439 --> 01:14:43.760
Isaiah's prophecies about the future exile. Although Isaiah was not

1263
01:14:43.800 --> 01:14:47.439
alive during the Babylonian captivity, he prophesied about it in

1264
01:14:47.479 --> 01:14:52.000
the latter chapters of Isaiah, particularly Isaiah thirty nine forty

1265
01:14:52.039 --> 01:14:56.439
through forty eight. He foretells the future Babylonian exile and

1266
01:14:56.560 --> 01:14:59.640
Judah's deliverance from it. Isaiah's prophetic words in these chapters

1267
01:14:59.640 --> 01:15:02.600
and tis to paint the exile and the subsequent restoration

1268
01:15:02.680 --> 01:15:05.880
of God's people, though these events would happen long after

1269
01:15:05.960 --> 01:15:09.199
his death. Well, he said and discernment that these words

1270
01:15:09.199 --> 01:15:12.760
were for Isaiah to take and bring comfort to the people.

1271
01:15:13.359 --> 01:15:16.159
But the comfort is for when they go into exile.

1272
01:15:17.039 --> 01:15:18.039
All right, so.

1273
01:15:19.920 --> 01:15:22.560
I think again we have This is what happens when

1274
01:15:22.600 --> 01:15:24.960
you get into this is you've got to really get

1275
01:15:25.079 --> 01:15:28.560
very very technical, or you just start creating all kinds

1276
01:15:28.600 --> 01:15:33.640
of wrong impressions and wrong ideas. So even commentaries can

1277
01:15:33.640 --> 01:15:36.159
confuse the average person sitting here reading a commentary. You

1278
01:15:36.159 --> 01:15:38.600
may go, oh, look, these were the words spoken to

1279
01:15:38.600 --> 01:15:45.880
the people in Babylonian exile. Yes, and no, it was

1280
01:15:45.960 --> 01:15:48.840
prophetically spoken to the people in exile, because when the

1281
01:15:48.840 --> 01:15:53.199
words were actually given to Isaiah, it was way before

1282
01:15:53.960 --> 01:16:01.119
the actual exile took place. They're like, that's key to

1283
01:16:01.159 --> 01:16:05.399
the message. Now what he is doing, He's going and

1284
01:16:05.479 --> 01:16:07.960
next thing you know, he's now just removed. He I

1285
01:16:08.479 --> 01:16:11.159
don't know, he's just it's all kind of starting to

1286
01:16:11.199 --> 01:16:13.840
fall apart. But we will. We'll go back and public

1287
01:16:14.079 --> 01:16:16.239
listen to more because this gets us. This is a

1288
01:16:16.239 --> 01:16:18.640
good start. This is why we're gonna spend so much

1289
01:16:18.680 --> 01:16:21.279
time in Isaiah forty to fifty five. This is why

1290
01:16:21.479 --> 01:16:23.920
because just listening to one sermon, look at it, and

1291
01:16:23.960 --> 01:16:25.920
we've only made it, I don't even know, probably about

1292
01:16:26.000 --> 01:16:28.920
twenty minutes into the sermon maybe maybe if that, and

1293
01:16:28.960 --> 01:16:31.199
look what's happened. We're already like, wait a minute, so

1294
01:16:31.239 --> 01:16:31.680
what about this?

1295
01:16:31.720 --> 01:16:31.840
Well?

1296
01:16:31.880 --> 01:16:35.520
Wait what about this? When when? Because there's all of

1297
01:16:35.560 --> 01:16:39.199
these hermoneutical issues and trying to interpret it. That's why

1298
01:16:39.239 --> 01:16:42.479
we have to do Isaiah forty through fifty five. It's

1299
01:16:42.520 --> 01:16:48.399
almost like it's a necessity. So that's what we're going

1300
01:16:48.439 --> 01:16:48.680
to do.

1301
01:16:49.760 --> 01:16:50.439
So there you have it.

1302
01:16:50.479 --> 01:16:52.479
I wish, I wish I could give you something profound,

1303
01:16:52.520 --> 01:16:55.600
but this gives us a good start. Right now. What

1304
01:16:55.640 --> 01:16:59.000
we'll do is we'll introduce it. We'll go and we're

1305
01:16:59.000 --> 01:17:01.680
gonna mention some of these renewable issues, and then we're

1306
01:17:01.720 --> 01:17:05.000
going to try to establish him very good, like okay,

1307
01:17:05.079 --> 01:17:08.720
this is being prophesied, and now we'll interpret it from that.

1308
01:17:08.840 --> 01:17:10.960
We're gonna try to interpret it in light of its context.

1309
01:17:11.039 --> 01:17:13.560
Because look, if you go to Isaiah forty and say

1310
01:17:13.600 --> 01:17:15.760
the way they're going to be basically removed from Babylonian

1311
01:17:15.800 --> 01:17:18.680
captivity is what happens in versus three through five. To me,

1312
01:17:18.800 --> 01:17:22.199
that just is absolutely makes no sense because three through

1313
01:17:22.199 --> 01:17:25.680
five happens way after the Babylonian exile, So that can't

1314
01:17:25.720 --> 01:17:29.680
be the solution to the Babylonian exile. Three through five

1315
01:17:29.760 --> 01:17:33.439
has to be understood. First, it's a historical context, but

1316
01:17:33.640 --> 01:17:38.319
it has obviously it is used for a future prophetic

1317
01:17:38.520 --> 01:17:41.880
thing related to Christ, but in its original context, Christ

1318
01:17:41.920 --> 01:17:52.479
is not the subject here. All right, I'm just gonna

1319
01:17:52.479 --> 01:17:55.640
say the bell rung, class, Like, okay, class, the bell

1320
01:17:55.680 --> 01:18:04.079
has rung, and so I have to stop. I'm going

1321
01:18:04.119 --> 01:18:06.600
to blame it on an imaginary bell and saying class

1322
01:18:06.680 --> 01:18:09.239
is over. Class is over for now. But that gets

1323
01:18:09.279 --> 01:18:12.079
us a good start. So over. I don't know for

1324
01:18:12.119 --> 01:18:14.560
how long. Isaiah forty through fifty five needs to become

1325
01:18:14.680 --> 01:18:17.439
your very close companion. Read it, and read it, and

1326
01:18:17.479 --> 01:18:20.439
read it, continue to listen to sermons about it. We'll

1327
01:18:20.479 --> 01:18:24.000
review sermons as we work through it, and we'll just

1328
01:18:24.119 --> 01:18:26.520
as long as it takes is what it takes. So

1329
01:18:26.600 --> 01:18:28.560
that's what we're going to be doing. And this is

1330
01:18:28.600 --> 01:18:32.840
a good example of why, because even in that one sermon,

1331
01:18:32.880 --> 01:18:37.119
I'm still a little bit perplexed. He made it sound

1332
01:18:37.199 --> 01:18:43.119
like he did not articulate exactly how Isaiah like, but

1333
01:18:43.239 --> 01:18:44.960
at the same time he kind of did. I mean,

1334
01:18:45.000 --> 01:18:48.159
he did acknowledge that they hadn't gotten into Babylonian captivity yet.

1335
01:18:48.399 --> 01:18:51.079
So was Isaiah's words really meant for the people at

1336
01:18:51.119 --> 01:18:53.279
the time or were the words really meant to be

1337
01:18:53.359 --> 01:18:56.239
preserved so that they could hear them at the appropriate

1338
01:18:56.279 --> 01:19:03.039
time we could have that discussion. And then he inserted

1339
01:19:03.079 --> 01:19:05.359
Christ with the very next phrase, seeming to contradict that.

1340
01:19:05.880 --> 01:19:09.439
So I there's a there's a lot going on there alright.

1341
01:19:09.720 --> 01:19:14.479
Thanks for listening, everyone, Have a great rest of your Saturday.

1342
01:19:15.359 --> 01:19:15.880
God bless