Jan. 26, 2025

Isaiah 40: Importance of Questions

Isaiah 40: Importance of Questions

A discussion about how asking questions is essential to bible study.

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A discussion about how asking questions is essential to bible study.

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Sunday, January the twenty sixth, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently ten oh one am Central Time, and

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I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Yes, I'm not not

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coming to you live from Victory Baptist Church. Well, we

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haven't been able to go live at Victory Baptist Church

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for a very long time since we got rid of

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all the ability to do any live streaming from there.

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But I'm coming to you live from well where I

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typically come to you live from, right here in Abilene, Texas.

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And I'm hoping there's a lot of hope going on here.

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I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to accomplish

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something that will be beneficial. There's a little bit of

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doubt there, because man, yesterday was bad. Today is bad. Man.

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My neurological headache issues, feeling and like I'm going to

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have a seizure at any moment is bad, Which means

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that you probably shouldn't be sitting in front of a

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microphone trying to talk about important things like theology, doctrine,

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Bible study, hermeneutics, church history. You probably shouldn't be doing that, right,

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that's probably the best idea. But here I am. I'm

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going to do my very best. We'll see, We'll see.

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Sometimes sometimes I can have multiple feelings here, right, because

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sometimes I get done when I'm having really bad headache

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neurological issues, and people will be like that was awesome,

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that was great, and I'm like, so I actually do

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better when I feel like I'm you know, going to

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fall on the floor and have a seizure. That's troubling, right,

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that's bad news, right, Hey, you perform better when when

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you feel like you're going to die. So what you

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need to do is feel like you're going to die

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all the time, and then you'll be a better broadcaster.

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Okay with that that, you really don't want it to

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work that way, But yes, I'm going to do my

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very best and hopefully this will be beneficial. We have

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a lot to do. We are so far behind and

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our work on Isaiah forty, but we're gonna try to

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bring up We're going to try to bring a whole

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bunch of things together for this hour, right, so let's

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just if you haven't been listening to the podcast, here's

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all the things we have been working on really the

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entire month of January, right, we have been focusing on

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artificial intelligence over and over and over. We've kind of

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we looked at artificial intelligence in the future of the church,

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and I raise some very important questions about the future

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of the church. We're going to be doing even more

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discussing discussion about that kind of the direction churches are

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going and where we're We're going to continue to talk

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about that, but we have that has been a major focus,

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which that kind of that discussion about artificial intelligence really

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kind of turned into artificial intelligence versus sermons, And in

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every test that we have done, artificial intelligence has outperformed

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every single sermon that we've listened to, we've reviewed, we've

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considered artificial intelligence not only can it predict what the

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sermons are going to get wrong, well, like, hey, this

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I'm about to listen to a sermon on this text.

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What do you think the sermon will do wrong with

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the text? And every single case, AI, even without being

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given the title of the sermon, has been able to

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predict all of the ways in which the text will

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be mishandled, misinterpreted. It is almost scary how quickly AI

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can go, oh, you're going to listen to a sermon

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on this, well, most likely it's going to do this wrong,

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this wrong, this wrong, this wrong. If you give it

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the name the title of the sermon, it then increases

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its correctness even more so, almost to one hundred percent.

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If the title anything reflects what the sermon is about,

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AI is able to go well, based off that title,

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based off that text, based off everything I know about preaching,

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here's all the ways it's going to get it wrong.

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And it is crazy to have that list in front

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of you that AI provides. Listen to a sermon and

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be like check check check, check check. And then what

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is even to me even crazier is at the end

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of that list of everything AI says the sermon is

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going to get wrong. AI will say, here's the way

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it should be approached, and then AI will break down

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the text and you'll be like, well, that's exegetical, that

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avoids isogesis. It's actually exogesis. It's not Isa Jesus, it's

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handling this handle. And you're like, well, that's well, that

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makes preaching pretty much irrelevant. So we've been talking about

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that a lot, talking about artificial intelligence. Then we took

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artificial intelligence and we said, okay, artificial intelligence, here's this

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stillological system known as lordship salvation. Analyzed critique and it

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just ripped it apart. And as I have been saying forever,

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it basically artific social intelligence said, lordship Salvation is basically

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a form of Catholicism, which is what I've been saying forever. Then,

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also not just at the podcast, but this is where

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the focus has been at church is we've been working

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on Isaiah forty through fifty five. Why have we been

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working on Isaiah forty through fifty five? Not because of

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the health bad Ai handles Isaiah forty through fifty five,

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but because sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon that

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we've listened to on any chapter between Isaiah forty and

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fifty five have been absolutely horrific. They have been train wrecks,

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They have been disasters, mishandling, twisting, removing the original recipients

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and moving them out and moving us in. In fact,

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just the other day I reviewed a sermon on Isaiah

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chapter forty, verse eleven. I know this is a shock

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to everyone. If you want to look at Isaiah chapter

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forty verse eleven, let me read it to you. Isaiah

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forty verse eleven. Now, if you'll just look at the context,

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because nine through eleven is where we're supposed to be today.

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If you look at Isaiah forty nine to eleven, I mean,

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you don't even need to go to Bible college to

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figure this out. This is just basic reading comprehension. Just

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look carefully at verse nine, Oh Zion, that bring us

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good tidings, Get thee up into the highest mountain, Oh Jerusalem,

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that bring us good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength,

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lift it up. Be not afraid say unto the cities

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of Judah. Like what more can the author do to

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let you know who it's about. But we listen to

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a sermon that preached Isaiah chapter forty verse eleven, which

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we read, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd.

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He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry

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them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that

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are with young. And guess what we found out. That's

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about infant baptism, that's about baptizing babies. What in the world,

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how does that even happen, right. I mean that has

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nothing to do with the Church, has nothing to do

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with Christianity, has nothing to do has nothing to do

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with a New Testament church or the Christianity of the

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New Testament. It has nothing to do with baptism, has

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nothing to do with any of that. It's about what

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God is going to do for those in Babylonian captivity.

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But for some weird reason, humans can't seem to figure

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that out, so we have been taking it apart. Then

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we had a major discussion on the importance of asking

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difficult and hard questions. We started having this very important

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conversation about asking hard questions and how Christians and the Church,

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and the most part pushes back. The most part, the

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Church does not like hard questions or difficult questions. They

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get nervous, they get upset, they get frustrated, they get defensive,

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they get bothered. You're not supposed to ask hard questions

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because everything is just supposed to be. Everyone wants they

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want something that is sure. They would rather have something

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that is sure and simple than something that is difficult

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and that may not be so sure, that may leave

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them a little unsure. They don't like that. They don't

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like anything. They just want certainty. They want certainty at

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the expense of truth. Let me state it that way,

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and the church does not like it. But there's times

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you've got to ask difficult questions. And for some weird reason,

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the church seems to think that when you ask tough questions, right,

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oh no, no, no, that's denying the faith, that's doubting the faith.

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And I will argue, no, it's asking hard questions. That's

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a demonstration of true faith. If your faith can't handle

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the tough questions, then your faith is just a facade.

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It's just a little disguise you put on to make

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yourself feel better because you just want a sense of

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sure something that is certain. You want to feel some

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sense of you're sure about this. It gives you some

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sense of security, even though it's all a facade. It's

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a fake, it's it's it's a mirage. But hey, as

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long as it makes you feel good, then that's okay.

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But someone's got to ask hard questions and people don't

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like them. So I talked about the importance of hard questions,

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the type of hard questions we should ask. I gave

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a list of the type of questions categories of questions

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we should ask. And we saw that just the other

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day where we had another school shooting, this time I

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think Tennessee. A female student was shot and killed. All right,

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so we have another shooting. Someone is dead. Now, immediately,

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what did Christians didn't? Christians didn't ask any really difficult

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questions about the shooting. They just immediately say, well, we'll

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pray for the we'll pray for the victims. We'll pray

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for the victims. Now, wait a minute, anybody willing to

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ask hard questions is going to raise hand and wait

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a minute. So we're gonna pray to the very God

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to intervene to do what to bring some kind of

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sense of comfort to what if anybody was wounded and

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not killed, to intervene to heal. But that's the very

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The very God we're praying to is the very God

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who did nothing. He did not intervene to stop it

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from happening. So he didn't. We're gonna pray to the

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God who didn't stop it from happening to now intervene

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after it happened. Like that raises difficult questions, but nobody

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wants to talk about that. The church culture, there's there's

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it's it's almost an unspoken rule. Leave your questions outside

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the door. You come in here. You just say yes,

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you say amen, And the answer to everything is Jesus.

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And when those questions challenge our understanding of God, when

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it challenges under our understanding of suffering, when it challenges

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our understanding of human beings, the Church does not like it.

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You are not welcomed here. Take your questions and walk

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on down the road. They may not say it that way,

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but you're gonna be told really quick. Are you gonna

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feel that? People are gonna push back, They're gonna get defensive.

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But it's asking questions that is ultimately vital for a deep,

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honest engagement with the Bible and faith. It's deep. That's

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how you have to be honest. You've got to be

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honest when you go huh okay, wait a minute. So

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all right, so let me make sure I understand this.

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So there's a God, all powerful, all knowing, he creates satan. Well,

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you know where I'm gonna go with all of this.

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It's the same questions that I've been asking forever. Nobody

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likes those questions. So there's a god. He creates satan,

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but he knows Satan is going to fall. When Satan falls,

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he doesn't destroy Satan. He for some miraculous reason, lets

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him live. No, he len live. He lets him come

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to earth, and lets him come to earth. He lets

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him into the garden. Why he's a lemon into the

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garden because well, he created two people. But he knows

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that those two people he created are going to fall.

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Now once they fall, well he could get rid of them,

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get rid of Satan and it all. But no, no, no, none,

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only lets them live. He lets them leave the garden

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and produce children, knowing that every child born is going

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to be born a sinner. And guess what, they can

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go to hell for the way they were born, even

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though they didn't do anything to be born a sinner

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in the first place. And we don't become sinners by sinning,

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but we send because we are sinners, yet we're held

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accountable for doing that, which way is a part of

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our very nature. These are difficult questions. Nobody likes to

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ask them. The people who ask them are typically people

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outside of Christianity. So if you're within Christianity, you asked

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said questions, guess what happens now you're labeled almost an

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agnostic or an atheist, and that's not the case. It's

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simply that we have to be willing to face the

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very difficulty our faith, our belief in God and the

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scriptures should present to every mind that is willing to

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look to truth versus just no, no, no no, Just

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give me a little devotional say Jesus a bunch of times,

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and then we'll get to the pot luck. Hold hands.

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See Kumbai yah. I never want to be happy. There's

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got to be a place for difficult questions. So when

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we ask questions, it reflects a genuine wrestling with the

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complexities of life and scripture that we have to be

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willing to wrestle with it. We have to be. If

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we don't, someone else will. And so many times this

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is what happens. Someone raised in church, you know, the

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deepest question they ever asked was what time is the

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pizza party? They've never been challenged with a deep question.

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They walk into a situation where someone asks them hard

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questions and they're like, uh, I don't know, Jesus, and

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everyone just kind of looks at them, going, that's the

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best you've got eighteen years and that's the best you've

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got Now that's okay. If the young person is not

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a believer and that don't accept Christianity, okay, that's okay.

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They didn't have to answer the question. But if they

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still hold onto Christianity, why can they not because they've

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been brought up in a church where you we don't

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have any hard questions. Everything is just supposedly simple, and

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we like, in many cases, you know what I kind

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of call, you know, apologetic Sunday School apologetics just where

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oh we get a couple of easy answers and we

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think we've got it all figured out, but in many

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cases it doesn't work. Now, so we've been so we

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talked about we've been talking about artificial intelligence. We've been

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talking about artificial intelligence versus sermons. We've been talking about

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art official intelligence versus worship salvation. We've been talking about

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Isaiah forty through fifty five, and we've been talking about

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the importance of questions. Well, in that discussion about questions,

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I turned the concept not just asking questions in general

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about God and about life and about everything. That the

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next stage and talking about questions, was that a great

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Bible student well ask hard and difficult questions of the

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text itself. If you are going to be a good

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Bible student, you will ask good questions. Here's the thing.

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The quality of your Bible study is dependent upon your

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quality and asking questions and your ability to ask questions.

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If you ask great questions, you will be a great

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Bible student. If you just are no good, you stink

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at asking questions, then you're never going to get anywhere.

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You've got to ask questions that push past the surface,

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meaning you've got to engage with the deeper implications, the tensions,

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and the realities of Scripture. You've got to be able

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to embrace it. Going wait a minute, Wait a minute,

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what is this with This doesn't make any sense. So

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if we're going to be good at asking questions, if

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we're going to be a good Bible student, that we

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need a solid and kind of a We need a

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good framework and where do we put the questions and

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how do we do this? So I'm just going to

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briefly go through this. We've talked about this a number

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of times. If you want to, if you're going to

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be a good Bible student, we really need these things.

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Here's here's the things we absolutely need. We have to

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be well trained, we have to be great at doing

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observational work. Observation is the foundation to being a good

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Bible study. We got to have the questions, but we

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got to know where to put the question. So if

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we're going to put this in some kind of order,

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you start with observation. Now, these questions come with observation,

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but we'll just say observation alone. First, you have to

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be great at observing the text. You've got to be

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able to see what is there. We have to we

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have to understand that observation is the foundational step in

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Bible study. It is crucial because observing or observation allows

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the text to speak on its own term. It prevents

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premature interpretation. And if a student bypasses observation, they typically

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risk imposing their own ideas onto the text rather than

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discovering what it actually says. And that's what we've seen

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over and over in and looking at Isaiah forty through

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fifty five. People don't come to the text and observe

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what's there. They just read us into it. They read you, me, us,

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instead of they and them, it's us. And how did

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we get there? We didn't get there from observing the text.

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We got there by reading into it. See, if we

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emphasize observation, this should encourage students to notice details such

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as the word choice that's being used, the grammar, the

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literary structure, the historical or cultural context. And how do

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we do this observational outlines. And that's what we did

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in our study of Isaiah forty through fifty five. We

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did basically an observational outline of forty all the way

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through Isaiah fifty five. Why because now if once we

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observe what's there, then we can move on to the

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next step. But guess what to do observation It requires discipline,

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it requires patience, and sadly, without proper training, many students

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probably will overlook key details. They will fail to recognize

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the patterns in the text. They will often fail to

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recognize the themes. They will often fail to recognize repeated ideas.

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And guess. The way you get trained in observation is

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you do observation. The more you do it, the better

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you get at it. But the problem is Christians don't

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want to do the work of observation. We just want

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to do the work of This is what it means.

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I'm right, you're wrong, the end. But no, no, no,

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You can't say that until you do observation, show me

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your observational work before you give me your interpretation. And

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nobody wants to do that because it requires hours and

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hours and hours of work. Now we could go back

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to our AI discussion and sadly though AI takes it away,

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you can say sadly or because hey, it's for the good,

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you no longer have to do observational work. You can

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now go to AI and say, give me an observational outline. Boom,

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and it'll give you an observational outline of Isaiah forty

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and about five seconds. But will people even use that tool?

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I doubt it. They don't care to use the tool.

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They just want to be able to tell everyone that

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what they believe about Isaiah forty is right. Hey, Isaiah

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forty eleven is about infant baptism, even though that's the

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most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life. Now,

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not only do we have to do observation of the text,

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we do, and I'm just gonna briefly mention this, we

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have to do observation about what's inside of us. See,

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all students must observe and admit our own preconceptions every

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person approaches the text with preconceptions. We have to acknowledge this.

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Observation may help mitigate this and hopefully stop this. To

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some degree, agree, it's just better to explicitly acknowledge what

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your preconceptions are. What are those preconceived ideas you have?

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You just have to acknowledge that. You have to observe that.

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You've got to observe what's in the text, but you

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got to acknowledge. Hey, I'm coming. And this is why

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I always say, what do we do with our preconceived ideas?

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We take them out back and we put it down

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because we can't bring it to the study. I know

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that people don't like that because they like their preconceived

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ideas because it gives them a sense of certainty that

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they know what the text is. You take away their

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preconceived ideas and they're like, oh no. And even when

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you try to take away their preconceived ideas, they become

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defensive and they immediately start pushing back. But what about

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what about You're like, can you can we study the text? Now?

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What about can we study the text? So we've got

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to do the observational work. Now this brings so we

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have the observation as foundational. But then we've got to

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ask difficult questions. We've got to ask the difficult questions

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about the text. So once you do the observational work

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in fact, and to help you in your observational work,

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it's gonna be how well do you ask questions? I'm

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sometimes baffled, and I do it all the time at

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church and sermons. I'll be like, so, what questions should

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come to mind from this text? And I'll be baffled

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sometimes that nobody And I'm like, nobody has that question,

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Like nobody has nobody has that question. Like I'll be

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just kind of like I'll be baffled, like how do

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you not have that question? It's it's great. It jumps

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off the page and slaps you three times and says

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this is a problem, and like, there's no problem, just Jesus.

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It's like, no, there's a problem here. It doesn't make

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any sense. But see you're not supposed to say it

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doesn't make any sense. Everything just makes sense even if

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it doesn't make sense, because that's what we're trained to

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do in church. So we have to ask questions, and

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we should The text should force us to wrestle with it.

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The text should force us to wrestle with what it

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is saying, and it should hopefully confront us with things

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in it that makes us we have to work on

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trying to figure it out. So we do the observation,

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then we do the questioning, so then we have to

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ask difficult questions, and then we do the interpretation. Now

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I could break all of this down into far greater detail,

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but we've already spent twenty two minutes and I don't

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want to go any further. But just if you want

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the three basic steps, you've got to do observation, You've

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got to do questioning, You've got to do interpretation. Everybody

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wants to get to the application. I almost want to

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remove that as a step, to the point that, just

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because I'm so tired of every sermon running the application

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and ignoring everything else. We've got to do observation, We've

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got to do questions, and then we've got to do interpretation.

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The questions are important. So now let's bring all of

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this together. We're studying Isaiah forty through fifty five. Isaiah

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forty is the chapter they were on. We're in verses

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nine through eleven. So what I want to do is

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give you a comprehensive list of questions that are built

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around Isaiah chapter forty. Based on this principle of questions

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are essential to Bible study. The principles questions are essential

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to Bible study Isaiah forty. Then we need to know

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what these We need to know what kind of questions

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we should ask. So I'm going to do this. I'm

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going to give you the basic category of questions so

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that you can go ahead and write them down and

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when they're And this applies to not only Askaya chapter forty,

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Isaiah forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five,

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forty six, Psalms chapter one, you name the chapter. You

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need to have a list of questions that you ask

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the text before you do anything, well, after you've done

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maybe you do an observational you know, outline first, but

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you've got to ask the text questions, right, So the

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first category would be your general contextual questions, the context

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type questions, all right, and context questions will really fall

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into basically two basic categories historical context and literary context.

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So you're gonna ask some context questions. Now here's what

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I'm so sick of. Everyone says, Amen, to that, everyone's like,

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you're right, we got to ask context questions. You're right,

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we got to ask context questions. Ever one will say amen,

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Everyone will at least give lip services and say and

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their sermons will be like, well, here's the context, here's

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the context, here's the context. It doesn't it's a waste

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of time for you to point out the context if

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the next five minutes you're going to ignore that context

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and insert us into it. In that sermon where they

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used Isaiah forty eleven to insert infant baptism, they do

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a great job in that sermon and giving you the

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historical context, but it's all for show. Just because a

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pastor gives you the historical and literary context, that's irrelevant

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if that doesn't become the controlling principle in the interpretive process.

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But you've got to ask context questions the historical context,

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in the literary context. Let's look at some specific questions

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in these categories for Isaiah forty. Right, let's start with

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just a simple one. Right, here's historical context. Who wrote

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Isaiah forty and to who? Who was it written? All right,

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so we we've talked about this Isaiah, he's written writing

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these words about one hundred years prior to them even

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going into Babylonian captivity. And whom is it written to?

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It is written to those in Babylonian captivity. Now you

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can say this is historical context we got. Basically, if

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you want to say, when it comes to the historical context,

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you want the who, the who, and who who wrote

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the book? To whom was it written? You want to

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know the who and the whom? Right who wrote it?

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And to whom was it written? You want to know

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the when. You want to know the why. You may

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want to know the where. You want to know these questions.

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These are basic questions. Now people are gonna say I

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already know this. Everyone thinks they know it. But then

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when they start arguing about the text, you kind of go, well,

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if you know it, then why is it not having

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end any impact on you arguing with me about the scriptures,

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because it should make you stop and go, wait, who, what, where? When?

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That type of thing. Who wrote Isaiah forty Isaiah? And

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to whom was it written? We know to those in

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Babylonian captivity. Well, if it's written to those in Babylonian captivity,

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I can assure you Isaiah wasn't saying go take your

459
00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:28.559
baby and sprinkle it with some water. I can guarantee

460
00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:33.000
you that has nothing to do with Isaiah forty eleven.

461
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:40.039
So to whom, who wrote it? To whom was it written?

462
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:43.720
What was going on? Those are some basic question. These

463
00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:47.279
are you can call them the historical context questions. Another one,

464
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:54.319
what historical situation? What historical situation were the original recipients facing?

465
00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.839
What historical setting was the original recipient facing? You all

466
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.160
know the answer to this. It's found in Isaiah thirty

467
00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:10.440
nine five through eight, Babylonian captivity. That's what they were facing.

468
00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:13.119
It's not about you having a rough day. It's not

469
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.160
about me having a rough day. It's not about your problems.

470
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.960
It's not about my problems. It's not about my need

471
00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.359
to have some comfort and some assurance, because it has

472
00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:28.039
nothing to do with me. So who wrote it? To

473
00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:33.279
whom was a written? What is the historical situation? Babylonian captivity?

474
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:42.759
Here's a question, what promises or warnings had God already

475
00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:50.599
given Israel before Isaiah Chapter forty happens? What promises or

476
00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:56.680
warnings had God already given Israel before Isaiah forty What

477
00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.799
are the promises and what are the warnings that have

478
00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:06.079
already been given to Isaiah chapter forty. Now I'm kind

479
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:07.839
of waiting like I'm in church waiting for someone to

480
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:12.160
answer this. What are the warnings? What are the promises?

481
00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:14.279
You want to go through them quickly. Let's just go

482
00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:16.720
through them quickly, just to show you. This is the

483
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:19.480
type of questions you have to be asking the text.

484
00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:22.200
And this is even really before you even start reading

485
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:24.720
the text. These are questions you're asking before you even

486
00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:30.839
start reading. See before Isaiah forty and we know, what

487
00:29:31.400 --> 00:29:35.200
do we call Isaiah forty through fifty five? It's the

488
00:29:35.240 --> 00:29:37.720
Book of Comfort, right, We've talked about it a million times.

489
00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:42.279
God had already given Israel a series of promises and

490
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:48.079
warnings and chapters one through thirty nine. Now, these chapters,

491
00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:52.119
we know focus primarily on sin and judgment, a call

492
00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:56.079
to repentance, but there's also promises of a future hope

493
00:29:56.200 --> 00:29:59.480
in chapters one through thirty nine. Here's some of the brain.

494
00:29:59.559 --> 00:30:02.119
Here's a of a breakdown of some of the promises

495
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.920
and warnings. For example, let's go the warnings given to

496
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:10.880
Israel prior to chapter forty. There's warnings of judgment for sin,

497
00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:17.240
warnings of judgment for sin, we have rebellion and idolatry.

498
00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:21.960
Isaiah opens with a harsh indictment of Israel's rebellion, Ah

499
00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:27.079
sinful nation of people laden with iniquity Isaiah chapter one,

500
00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.799
verse four. Their persistent idolatry and abandonment of God would

501
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.079
bring severe judgment. We read that in Isaiah two eight

502
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:37.440
through eleven. Now we could go to each passage here

503
00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:39.839
and look these up. But the first thing is there

504
00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:42.920
is a warning against judgment, and it's their rebellion and

505
00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:46.519
their idolatry. They are condemned for it. That is very

506
00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:50.799
important because that sets up things. If you know these

507
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:55.319
warnings and promises that precede Isaiah chapter forty, you're gonna

508
00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.160
see things in Isaiah forty that clearly reflect back to

509
00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:04.640
these warnings about their and their idolatry. Another warning not

510
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.640
only about the rebellion idolatry. They're warned of the coming

511
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:11.960
judgment from Assyria. God warns that the northern kingdom of

512
00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:14.799
Israel and Judah would face judgment from the Assyrians for

513
00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:18.680
their disobedience. Look at Isaiah chapter eight, verses seven. The

514
00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:22.680
Lord brings against you a mighty flood. The king of Assyria.

515
00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:26.599
That's Isaiah eighty seven. Why is all this important Because

516
00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:31.680
it's Judah, it's Israel, it's Assyria, it's the Babylonians, it's idolatry,

517
00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:40.640
it's rebellion, all put within a historical context. So number

518
00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:43.720
one way of rebellion and idolatry, there's warnings of judgments

519
00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:47.079
of sin. There's a warning of judgment coming. And so

520
00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:49.680
the first thing they're warned about is the rebellion idolatry. Second,

521
00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:54.440
they're warned about the coming judgment from Assyria. Number three,

522
00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:57.480
they're warned about the corruption of leaders and injustice. The

523
00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:00.359
leaders and rulers of Israel were condemned for oppressing the

524
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:05.799
poor and neglecting justice. Woe to those who decree basically

525
00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:10.799
an unrighteous or an ungodly kind of decree to rob

526
00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:16.599
the poor of my people. That's Isaiah ten one through two. Hey,

527
00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:20.920
these decrees that the government leaders are offering, they're not just,

528
00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:26.039
they're not right. A fourth thing they're warned about is

529
00:32:26.039 --> 00:32:31.279
eminent Babylonian exile. Isaiah predicts that Babylon would eventually rise

530
00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:34.759
to power and take Judah into exile. We see this

531
00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:37.440
in Isaiah thirty nine to six. Behold, the days are

532
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.319
coming when all that is in your house should be

533
00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.799
carried to Babylon. That's Isaiah thirty nine six. All of

534
00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:47.200
those warnings are in Isaiah one through thirty nine, and

535
00:32:47.240 --> 00:32:49.680
they set the stage for Isaiah forty, where all of

536
00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:52.440
a sudden we read comfort ye, comfort yee. They have

537
00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:55.640
been warned, they have been warned, they have been warned,

538
00:32:55.720 --> 00:33:00.440
and ultimately they are taken into Babylonian captivity. And then

539
00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:07.319
there's comfort given here. So there's warnings given to Israel.

540
00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:10.680
There's a call to repentance given to Israel. God repeatedly

541
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:13.240
calls Israel to repentance, urging them to turn from sin

542
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:15.920
and return to Him Isaiah one p. Eighteen. Come now

543
00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.559
let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet,

544
00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:21.960
they shall be as white as snow Isaiah one p. Eighteen.

545
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:27.400
So there is a warning of there's warnings given to Israel,

546
00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:31.240
warnings of judgment for sin. We talked about the rebellion

547
00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:35.640
and idolatry. There's a warning about the coming judgment from Assyria.

548
00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:38.680
There's a warning about the corruption of their leaders and injustice.

549
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:41.319
There's a warning about the imminent Babylon to exile. There's

550
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:44.359
a call to repentance. There's a warning against turning to

551
00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:48.200
human powers. Israel and Juda are warned against relying on

552
00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:51.799
alliance with foreign nations like Egypt or Assyria for protection,

553
00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:54.880
a set of trusting God Isaiah thirty one to one.

554
00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:57.240
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,

555
00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:00.720
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel

556
00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:05.720
Isaiah thirty one to one. All of those warnings, all

557
00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:08.599
of that is right there, and Isaiah one through thirty nine,

558
00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:11.599
that all precedes it. You've got you should be asking

559
00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:14.039
that question before you even get to chapter forty. You're like,

560
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:18.199
what is the context here? Well, okay, if Isaiah forty

561
00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:22.760
is comfort, hm, why do they need comfort? Well, because

562
00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:25.519
there's been warnings of judgment and there's been issues, and

563
00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:28.280
if you know that, then the comfort becomes that much

564
00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:32.639
more important. And guess what. The comfort then is directed

565
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:36.159
to a specific people who who gets the comfort the

566
00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:39.119
people who have been warned and told of all these

567
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:42.559
bad things that are happening and what is coming not you,

568
00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:50.760
not me. But also there's promises given to Israel. All right,

569
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:53.400
here's some of the promises given to Israel. The promise

570
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:56.880
of a future king. God promises a future king from

571
00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.280
David's line who will rule with justice and righteousness. See

572
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:03.280
this in Isaiah nine six through seven. To us, a

573
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.719
child is born of the increase of his government and

574
00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:08.719
of peace, there will be no end. Isaiah eleven one

575
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:11.280
through two, A shoot from the stump of Jesse. The

576
00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:13.760
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. There is

577
00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.840
some promise of a future king. Now we could get

578
00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:19.360
into all kinds of discussions here. Future king says there.

579
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.400
Now these are more questions. Say once you ask questions,

580
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.400
and then more questions arise. Wait, does this king have

581
00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:29.079
anything to do with anyone at the time of all

582
00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:31.719
of this mess going on in Isaiah? Does a point

583
00:35:31.719 --> 00:35:34.239
to someone like Cyrus? Does it point to or does

584
00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:36.760
it ultimately point to Christ? If it points to Christ,

585
00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:38.800
how does this offer any comfort for the people in

586
00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:42.719
Babylonian captivity? Lots of questions. The more you ask the

587
00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:45.880
more the more questions you ask, the more questions you

588
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.480
should have. If you questions don't lead to more questions,

589
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.440
then you're not really asking questions. You're just going through

590
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:54.840
some steps in a Bible study and you don't really

591
00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:58.440
care about the text. But there is a promise of

592
00:35:58.480 --> 00:36:05.079
a future king. There's a promise of a remnant. God

593
00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:07.639
promises that a faithful remnant will be preserved even as

594
00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:10.920
the majority of the nation faces judgment Isaiah ten twenty two.

595
00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:14.519
Though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea,

596
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:18.039
only a remnant of them will return. That's Isaiah ten

597
00:36:18.119 --> 00:36:23.760
twenty two. Then there's promises of restoration after exile, hope

598
00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:26.840
beyond judgment. God assures Israel that exile will not be

599
00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:29.079
the end of the story. A time of restoration and

600
00:36:29.079 --> 00:36:32.039
renewal will come. We see this in Isaiah eleven eleven.

601
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:34.559
In that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet

602
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:38.119
a second time to recover the remnant that remains. There's

603
00:36:38.119 --> 00:36:41.280
a promise of comfort and healing. Even in judgment, God

604
00:36:41.320 --> 00:36:43.719
promises to be a source of comfort and healing for

605
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:47.320
his people Isaiah thirty twenty six. The Lord will bind

606
00:36:47.400 --> 00:36:49.840
up the brokenness of his people and heal the wounds

607
00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:53.840
inflicted by his blow. But note all of these promises

608
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:57.880
are directly related to a specific people, which are those

609
00:36:57.960 --> 00:37:02.360
in Babylonian captivity. Pastors, do we run in there, smack

610
00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:05.400
their hand and say I'm sorry. That promises for me

611
00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:18.360
and forget you. How dare we do that? Now? I

612
00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:20.199
could go through and talk a lot more about it,

613
00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:22.559
but I just want you to see we're just asking

614
00:37:22.599 --> 00:37:27.440
a few questions. And look at how much information we've

615
00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:31.760
already found just a short amount of time moving through

616
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:33.599
that quickly. I didn't even go through everything that I

617
00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:37.719
have written down here. So what are the first type

618
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:41.440
of questions we need? Contextual questions? Questions about context, the

619
00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:45.039
historical context. Who wrote Isaiah forty? Into whom was it written?

620
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:48.079
You should know that answer, what historical situation were the

621
00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:52.159
original recipient's facing. You should know that what promises of

622
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:56.039
warnings had God already given Israel before this chapter? You

623
00:37:56.119 --> 00:38:00.000
already know that. And I cannot stress that enough, because

624
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:02.519
if you go through the Old Testament over and over

625
00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.760
and over, you're like, wait, to whom was this written?

626
00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:07.440
Who was this written by? And to whom? Hmmm, this

627
00:38:07.559 --> 00:38:09.360
was written by this individual? And to whom was it

628
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.280
written on? In almost every single case in the Old Testament,

629
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.400
it's written to Israel or to depending on if you're

630
00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.559
in the Divided Kingdom or the Unified Kingdom, it's to

631
00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:21.760
Israel just as a general term, or to a specific

632
00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:25.119
referring to the Northern Kingdom or Judah specifically referring to

633
00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:29.039
the Southern Kingdom. But it's to Israel over and over.

634
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:31.079
I mean, I think it would be very difficult to

635
00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:33.239
say that there's passages they're not written to Israel in

636
00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:35.559
some way, shape or form. Well, guess what those passages

637
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:39.639
then contain that contain promises? Well, what are these promises

638
00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:43.639
related to? These promises are related to covenants made with Israel. Okay,

639
00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:46.639
so we have a specific group of people, Israel, we

640
00:38:46.679 --> 00:38:50.440
have all kinds of promises given to them. But what

641
00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:54.519
are these promises based off the covenant? So does that

642
00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:57.360
now allow me as a preacher to go in still

643
00:38:57.400 --> 00:39:00.440
these promises offer them to you even though they were

644
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:03.280
specifically given to Israel on the basis of covenant given

645
00:39:03.320 --> 00:39:07.320
to Israel. That covenant promises don't belong to us. We

646
00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:09.480
talked about this yesterday in the message I did when

647
00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:11.639
we talked about what do we do with our troubles?

648
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:14.719
And it was from an article in the Sword of

649
00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:17.039
the Lord newspaper? And guess what what do who I

650
00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:19.000
do with my trouble? Well, I guess I grew into

651
00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:21.239
the Book of Psalms and rip verses out of context

652
00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:23.719
and say, oh, this brings me some kind of comfort.

653
00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:29.679
It's not comfort for you, because many of those promises

654
00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:33.119
are given to specific people in specific situations and based

655
00:39:33.159 --> 00:39:38.079
off what covenants made with them. Israel was given specific

656
00:39:38.119 --> 00:39:43.000
covenants where God promised provision, protection. But we want to

657
00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:45.760
take that and say that it belongs to us, which

658
00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:47.800
then you give people a false sense of hope and

659
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:49.760
then when it all falls apart, they don't know what

660
00:39:49.800 --> 00:39:51.559
to do with their life. Well, you know what you

661
00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:54.280
are lied to by Christianity who told you that you

662
00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:56.079
can get these promises in They were never for you

663
00:39:56.159 --> 00:39:58.199
in the first place. And when you go look at

664
00:39:58.239 --> 00:40:02.960
this the historical context, it drives this point home, all

665
00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:05.239
of these promises that we're going to And so guess

666
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:08.639
what these promises that were made prior to Isaiah forty

667
00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:11.719
was two specific people. So when you get to Isaiah

668
00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:14.920
forty through fifty five, if we see specific promises, those

669
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:17.480
promises would be to that very specific group of people,

670
00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:26.960
those in Babylonian captivity. So those are the historical context

671
00:40:27.079 --> 00:40:29.519
questions you can just the I'm just trying to give

672
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:31.639
you an example of the kind of questions you should

673
00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:35.000
be asking the who, the what, the where, the when,

674
00:40:35.159 --> 00:40:38.280
the how to whom it was written to? Though, if

675
00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:42.000
you will just do even just if you're even remotely

676
00:40:42.039 --> 00:40:44.440
concerned about being a good Bible student, if you care

677
00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:47.280
at all. And I don't think most Christians care, because

678
00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:50.360
if they did, a lot of this nonsense would stop.

679
00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:53.320
But the fact that this is so promoted behind the

680
00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:58.559
pulpit clearly the people in the view don't care, because

681
00:40:58.599 --> 00:41:01.880
if they cared, they'd be like, what this is ridiculous.

682
00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:04.800
There's no way I'm going to tolerate this. But they

683
00:41:04.840 --> 00:41:08.639
tolerate it. But if you ask the hard questions, it's

684
00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:12.079
such a everything is turned upside down. But those are

685
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:14.800
the historical context questions. I could give you a lot

686
00:41:14.840 --> 00:41:17.400
more the ones I just suggested for Isaiah fortys, Who

687
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:20.320
wrote and to whom was it written? What historical situation

688
00:41:20.360 --> 00:41:23.760
were the original recipient's facing? And what promises and warnings

689
00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:26.840
had God already given Israel before this chapter? You could

690
00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.840
come up with more historical context questions. Those are just

691
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:33.239
a couple from Isaiah forty. Now what some people want is, well,

692
00:41:33.239 --> 00:41:38.159
you've got to give me the specific questions each chapter different.

693
00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:40.239
I mean some questions are going to be normal, right,

694
00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:43.519
who wrote it, to whom was a written? What was

695
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:48.599
going on? Was what led up to this chapter? I

696
00:41:48.599 --> 00:41:55.079
mean those are basic historical type questions. Next, that's historical

697
00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:01.599
context questions. The next literary context questions literary context. How

698
00:42:01.599 --> 00:42:07.079
does Isaiah forty fit with the broader Book of Isaiah?

699
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:09.880
How does Isaiah forty fit with the broader Book of Isaiah? Well,

700
00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:13.119
Isaiah one through thirty nine are about promises and warnings

701
00:42:13.159 --> 00:42:16.599
of judgment, and that coming judgment forty through fifty five

702
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:24.800
offers the comfort in the midst of said judgment. So

703
00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:27.519
how does Isaiah forty fit within the broader Book of Isaiah?

704
00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:30.639
That's a literary context question. You can ask any chapter,

705
00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.159
how does this chapter fit with the broader book of

706
00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:37.280
the broader book? How does it fit in? What is

707
00:42:37.320 --> 00:42:41.360
the relationship between Isaiah forty through fifty five and the

708
00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:44.679
earlier chapters of Isaiah? What is the relationship? One through

709
00:42:44.679 --> 00:42:47.559
thirty nine is a tone of judgment and warning. Forty

710
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:51.679
through fifty five is about comfort to a specific people.

711
00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:57.360
That's addressed in chapters one through thirty nine. How does

712
00:42:57.559 --> 00:43:01.639
Isaiah forty verses one through two transition from the themes

713
00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:04.800
of judgment in Isaiah one through thirty nine to comfort

714
00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:10.840
and hope. Well, how does it transition? Comfort? Ye? Comfort,

715
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:13.920
ye my people, saith your God, speak ye comfortably to

716
00:43:14.039 --> 00:43:17.480
Jerusalem and cry under her that are warfare is accomplished.

717
00:43:17.559 --> 00:43:27.639
I mean, you see the transition immediately, all right. So

718
00:43:27.679 --> 00:43:32.039
there's the historical context, there's the literary context. The literary

719
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:35.800
context offers us questions about how does Isaiah forty fit

720
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:38.280
in with the broader book? What is the relationship, how

721
00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:41.800
does Isaiah forty one through two transition? We could ask

722
00:43:41.880 --> 00:43:44.679
questions what is the literary genre that is being We

723
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:48.159
could ask other literary questions. So when it comes to

724
00:43:48.199 --> 00:43:52.280
contextual questions historical literary, I guess. We could either put

725
00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:54.719
this under literary I guess, or we could make number

726
00:43:54.960 --> 00:43:57.559
this next one. We can make it its own separate category.

727
00:43:58.119 --> 00:44:00.400
We could probably break this down different ways. But we

728
00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:02.719
want to ask questions about the structure and flow of

729
00:44:02.760 --> 00:44:07.239
the chapter itself. Right, Maybe there's a little separate than

730
00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:11.159
literary context. So you've got to ask historical context questions.

731
00:44:11.280 --> 00:44:14.360
We've got to ask literary context questions, and we have

732
00:44:14.440 --> 00:44:18.079
to ask questions about the structure and flow of the chapter.

733
00:44:18.519 --> 00:44:25.239
For example, how is Isaiah chapter forty structured? Are there

734
00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:31.199
distinct sections within the chapter? Now we've already outlined Isaiah forty.

735
00:44:31.199 --> 00:44:34.480
I could go through the outline again, we've already outlined it.

736
00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:36.840
If you outline it, we think that it breaks down

737
00:44:36.920 --> 00:44:39.599
into very specific sections. I'm not going to go through

738
00:44:39.679 --> 00:44:42.239
all the I mean, I was going to. I have

739
00:44:42.280 --> 00:44:44.880
the entire outline ready to go here. I was going

740
00:44:44.920 --> 00:44:47.639
to go through the entire thing, But I feel like

741
00:44:47.719 --> 00:44:49.199
if I do that, that's going to take up a

742
00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:51.880
lot of time. I mean, I went through the warnings

743
00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.000
as quickly as I could, and the promises as quickly

744
00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.400
as I could. I didn't even finish all of those. Here.

745
00:44:56.440 --> 00:45:01.320
I've got the entire basically breaking down the structure of

746
00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:04.400
Isaiah forty Isaiah forty one through two. A Message of

747
00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:07.719
comfort and Hope Isaiah forty three through five. The Proclamation

748
00:45:07.840 --> 00:45:11.199
of the Coming Glory of God Isaiah forty six to eight,

749
00:45:11.239 --> 00:45:14.760
The Enduring Word of God Isaiah forty nine through eleven,

750
00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:19.079
The proclamation Behold your God Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen.

751
00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:23.599
The Incomparable Greatness of God Isaiah forty eighteen through twenty

752
00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:26.760
The futility of idols Isaiah forty twenty one through twenty six.

753
00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:31.000
God's sovereignty over creation Isaiah forty twenty seven through thirty one.

754
00:45:31.079 --> 00:45:34.840
Trusting in the Everlasting God. I could break it down

755
00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:36.960
into sections, and I could give you themes I could.

756
00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:39.440
I mean, I can break it down one hundred different ways.

757
00:45:40.679 --> 00:45:42.920
We've talked about that. But though that's the kind of

758
00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:45.039
question you would want to ask before you even start

759
00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:47.599
going verse by verse, before you even start trying to

760
00:45:47.679 --> 00:45:49.920
interpret it, you would be like, hmm, what is the

761
00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:53.519
structure here? What is the flow? And if you can't

762
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:55.400
point out the structure in the flow of a chapter,

763
00:45:55.599 --> 00:45:58.239
but yet you're arguing with someone about how to interpret

764
00:45:58.239 --> 00:46:01.800
a verse with insaid chapter, so sorry, you're disqualified. Nobody

765
00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:08.159
should even listen to you. Now see, you're not supposed

766
00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:10.639
to say that, because Christians will get offended in mesh

767
00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:13.239
due you say that, I can tell you what it

768
00:46:13.320 --> 00:46:19.639
means anytime I want, Because that's the Protestant mindset. You

769
00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:22.239
don't have to study, you don't have to do anything.

770
00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:25.000
You just get to tell everyone that you're right and

771
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:28.639
they're wrong, and it doesn't require any you have no

772
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:33.079
requirement on your part other than just to tell someone

773
00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:38.599
they're wrong. It is the Protestant system is. It cannot

774
00:46:38.639 --> 00:46:41.480
be reversed. It is so broken it will never be

775
00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:51.159
fixed again. But I did want to go to if

776
00:46:51.199 --> 00:46:53.320
I go back to my questions here we have the

777
00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:57.960
structure and flow. What themes are repeated throughout Isaiah forty?

778
00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:02.519
Are there specific things repeated through Isaiah forty? So I

779
00:47:02.599 --> 00:47:05.800
did a little work on this one, all right, So

780
00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:08.199
let's look at some of the key themes in Isaiah

781
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:11.440
forty and you can tell me where it, whether you

782
00:47:11.559 --> 00:47:15.440
agree or disagree. I think God's sovereignty is a key

783
00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:20.840
theme in Isaiah chapter forty. Right, look at verses ten

784
00:47:21.400 --> 00:47:30.760
and eleven. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand,

785
00:47:31.239 --> 00:47:34.639
and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward

786
00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:37.199
is with him and his work before him. He shall

787
00:47:37.239 --> 00:47:39.239
feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the

788
00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:41.639
lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and

789
00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:46.440
shall gently lead those that are with young. I mean

790
00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:49.159
this is God's sovereignty. He comes with might, comes with

791
00:47:49.320 --> 00:47:54.039
ruling power, yet he comes tenderly shepherding his people. How

792
00:47:54.039 --> 00:47:57.800
about verses twelve through fourteen. Who hath measured the waters

793
00:47:57.840 --> 00:47:59.880
in the hollow of his hand, and meet it out

794
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:03.199
heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the

795
00:48:03.280 --> 00:48:09.119
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains and scales,

796
00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:12.079
and the hills and balance. Who hath directed the spirit

797
00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:15.119
of the Lord, are being his counselor hath taught him.

798
00:48:16.039 --> 00:48:20.000
God's sovereignty over creation is highlighted even though and it's

799
00:48:20.039 --> 00:48:25.000
asking rhetorical questions about his unmatched wisdom and power. So

800
00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:27.760
god sovereignty shows up in verses ten through eleven of

801
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:30.000
Isaiah forty, shows us up, and shows up in verses

802
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:33.599
twelve through fourteen, verses twenty one through twenty six. God

803
00:48:33.760 --> 00:48:36.679
is exalted as the creator who rules over all the

804
00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:40.360
earth and calls the stars by name. That's twenty one

805
00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.559
through twenty six. We see what is the theme that

806
00:48:43.719 --> 00:48:47.199
is repeated, God's sovereignty ten through eleven, twelve through fourteen,

807
00:48:47.400 --> 00:48:50.880
twenty one through twenty six. Now the question could be, well,

808
00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:55.480
why is this theme repeated? Why is it repeated? Why

809
00:48:55.599 --> 00:48:59.719
is God's sovereignty repeated right out of the gate? And

810
00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:04.400
I forty, why come on? You know the answer right

811
00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:11.440
It's to reassure whom those in Babylonian captivity that despite

812
00:49:11.480 --> 00:49:16.119
their exile and the seemingly dominance of Babylon, God is

813
00:49:16.280 --> 00:49:20.760
in control of history. God is in control of creation.

814
00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:25.159
God is in control. Hey, God is in control, irregardless

815
00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:28.599
of what you see, irregardless of what you feel, irregardless

816
00:49:28.639 --> 00:49:31.440
of what you experience. God is in control, even if

817
00:49:31.519 --> 00:49:33.559
it doesn't feel like it, even if it doesn't look

818
00:49:33.719 --> 00:49:35.840
like it, even if it doesn't appear to be that way,

819
00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:38.880
even if every circumstance screams God died and move and

820
00:49:39.079 --> 00:49:42.480
is no longer there. The God is in control. Who

821
00:49:42.599 --> 00:49:44.880
needs to hear that? Well, they need to hear it

822
00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:48.639
in their situation because it doesn't look like God is anywhere.

823
00:49:50.239 --> 00:49:53.039
So that's why the theme is repeated. And where is

824
00:49:53.079 --> 00:49:56.280
it repeated in Isaiah forty? Why there, because that's immediately

825
00:49:56.360 --> 00:50:03.280
the beginning of the comfort. Maybe it's to help re

826
00:50:03.440 --> 00:50:07.159
establish trust in God's ability to deliver his people. Hey,

827
00:50:07.480 --> 00:50:10.800
they may need to be reassured that, Hey, you need

828
00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:14.039
to trust God can deliver and God will keep his

829
00:50:14.119 --> 00:50:18.920
covenant promises even though it's been almost seventy years. Maybe

830
00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:21.559
there's another reason. If you look at verses eighteen through twenty.

831
00:50:23.639 --> 00:50:27.320
Verses eighteen through twenty to whom then will you to whom?

832
00:50:27.559 --> 00:50:31.320
Then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will you

833
00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:35.719
compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and

834
00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:41.719
the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth silver chains. Right.

835
00:50:42.039 --> 00:50:46.719
So another reason why his sovereignty is repeated numerous time

836
00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:49.840
is to contrast God's power with the futility of idols

837
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:55.440
and human rulers. This theme is being repeated because it's

838
00:50:55.480 --> 00:50:58.159
got to demonstrate to them God is not only greater

839
00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:01.519
than the rulers of Babylon, is also greater than the

840
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:04.800
idols of Babylon. So then this would raise another question,

841
00:51:05.400 --> 00:51:09.840
what was the religious culture and the idolatry of Babylon.

842
00:51:09.920 --> 00:51:11.400
Now I don't have time to go through all of it,

843
00:51:11.599 --> 00:51:13.679
but we could spend and we could spend three hours

844
00:51:14.079 --> 00:51:17.760
just discussing that. And by discussing that, then these texts

845
00:51:17.840 --> 00:51:21.039
makes more sense. But we want to go to Isaiah

846
00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:23.920
forty and make it about us, and well, it's about that.

847
00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:27.079
We got to understand it's about them. So the structure

848
00:51:27.119 --> 00:51:31.480
and flow. Seeing this repeated theme, then you know you're

849
00:51:31.639 --> 00:51:34.119
the question is not What does the repeated theme mean

850
00:51:34.199 --> 00:51:36.519
to me? What does a repeated theme mean to the

851
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:42.320
people to whom it was written? Another repeated theme, God's

852
00:51:42.440 --> 00:51:45.639
tender care for his people Verses one through two. God

853
00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:48.440
speaks words of comfort to his people, assuring them that

854
00:51:48.519 --> 00:51:52.360
their sins are part and their exile will end. Verse eleven.

855
00:51:52.440 --> 00:51:55.039
God has depicted as a shepherd who gathers, carries, and

856
00:51:55.079 --> 00:51:58.119
gently leads his flock. Verses twenty nine through thirty one.

857
00:51:58.360 --> 00:52:01.199
God gives strength to the weary and renews the strength

858
00:52:01.239 --> 00:52:04.480
of those who trust in him. God's tender care is

859
00:52:04.519 --> 00:52:07.760
repeated again in verses one through two, Verse eleven, Verses

860
00:52:07.800 --> 00:52:10.800
twenty nine through thirty one. Why is the theme repeated

861
00:52:11.159 --> 00:52:15.800
to counterbalance the emphasis on God's transcendent power by showing

862
00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:19.679
his eminence and his personal care. So it's giving you

863
00:52:19.760 --> 00:52:21.960
a balance. Hey, On one hand, God a sovereign, he's

864
00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:26.800
all powerful, yet he's also tender and he cares. He's

865
00:52:26.920 --> 00:52:29.480
like a shepherd. So that the people and their situation

866
00:52:29.920 --> 00:52:39.519
can understand both concepts of God. All right, now, I

867
00:52:39.559 --> 00:52:43.199
could go through a lot more here I've got if

868
00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:46.079
we wanted to go to the flow and the structure

869
00:52:46.119 --> 00:52:49.039
and the themes of it I've got. These are some

870
00:52:49.159 --> 00:52:52.800
of the themes that are repeated numerous times in Isaiah forty.

871
00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:57.800
God's sovereignty, God's tender care, the incomparable greatness of God,

872
00:52:58.199 --> 00:53:00.360
how great he is. We see this in verse twelve

873
00:53:00.400 --> 00:53:04.440
through seventeen. God's infinite power is contrasted with the insignificance

874
00:53:04.480 --> 00:53:07.800
of nations and human wisdom. Eighteen through twenty. God's greatness

875
00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:10.840
is contrasted with the futility of idols Verses twenty one

876
00:53:10.920 --> 00:53:14.760
through twenty six. God uniqueness as creator is the stainder

877
00:53:14.840 --> 00:53:18.760
of the universe is emphasized. Why is this seem emphasized?

878
00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:21.039
We could go through the reasons why, you could probably

879
00:53:21.079 --> 00:53:24.000
figure it out. We have the reliability and permanence of

880
00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:26.920
God's word. We had disappears in verses six to eight.

881
00:53:27.840 --> 00:53:31.599
Humanity is like grass that withers. God's word stands forever.

882
00:53:34.079 --> 00:53:35.840
Could I mean, I could go through all all of this,

883
00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:40.320
but you get the idea. It is repeated. God's word

884
00:53:40.400 --> 00:53:44.480
is permanent. God's word is reliable. God's word will last.

885
00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:49.280
We have the futility of idols and verses eighteen through twenty,

886
00:53:50.239 --> 00:53:53.800
we have human weakness and dependence upon God in verses

887
00:53:53.840 --> 00:53:56.599
six through seven, Verses twenty nine through thirty one. We

888
00:53:56.719 --> 00:54:00.280
have the call to behold your God. We have the

889
00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:02.800
power of renewal and strength in verses twenty nine through

890
00:54:02.880 --> 00:54:07.639
thirty one. Now, ultimately, why are all these things being repeated?

891
00:54:08.039 --> 00:54:12.800
To bring comfort, to refocus the people, to focus on

892
00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:19.679
God not their circumstances, to challenge the idolatry, and to

893
00:54:19.760 --> 00:54:25.719
bring about trust in God. See, if you ask the

894
00:54:25.840 --> 00:54:29.400
questions and then you do the work, you see the structure,

895
00:54:29.639 --> 00:54:36.880
you see the flow of the text. So let's go

896
00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:42.760
back to these questions we need. The first category is

897
00:54:42.880 --> 00:54:47.679
general contextual questions. This is historical context questions, literary context questions.

898
00:54:47.960 --> 00:54:51.599
And then we'll talk about structure and flow. Structure and

899
00:54:51.679 --> 00:54:55.559
flow and which I gave you? How is Isaiah forty structured?

900
00:54:55.599 --> 00:54:59.599
What themes are repeated throughout Isaiah forty? And why? What

901
00:54:59.719 --> 00:55:01.840
are the themes of the chapter? What are the themes

902
00:55:01.840 --> 00:55:05.639
that are repeated? Why are they repeated? Why? Why? In

903
00:55:05.800 --> 00:55:09.440
many cases, the why lead you away from you. Sometimes

904
00:55:09.480 --> 00:55:12.119
when you ask the why, then you are removed from

905
00:55:12.159 --> 00:55:14.960
the text and the why you realize it's not about you.

906
00:55:15.239 --> 00:55:18.440
It's not about your problems, your difficulties, your frustrations. It's

907
00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:23.760
about theirs. It's about them. I say it all the time.

908
00:55:23.800 --> 00:55:26.960
I get so sick and tired of Christians whining about pronouns.

909
00:55:27.519 --> 00:55:30.440
I'm gonna use only the right pronouns because I care

910
00:55:30.519 --> 00:55:32.840
about reality. Well, if you want to worry about pronouns,

911
00:55:32.880 --> 00:55:34.800
how about you worry about the pronouns and the Bible.

912
00:55:35.639 --> 00:55:40.559
Stop using the me I. You. We know it's about them.

913
00:55:40.840 --> 00:55:49.760
It's about they. Rarely it's about you or me or

914
00:55:49.880 --> 00:55:52.400
I or us or we or anything like that. It's

915
00:55:52.440 --> 00:55:55.880
about them, over and over and over and over again.

916
00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:01.280
But we can't tolerate that. I don't like that them

917
00:56:01.360 --> 00:56:03.719
they pronoun It's got to be me. It's got to

918
00:56:03.719 --> 00:56:08.679
be I. It's got to be all about me. Now, well,

919
00:56:08.760 --> 00:56:10.639
you can go do that, and you can claim promises

920
00:56:10.760 --> 00:56:12.880
not given to you, and then you can convince yourself

921
00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:15.880
that somehow those promises are happening. But when reality hits

922
00:56:15.880 --> 00:56:18.679
you in the phase fifteen times, you may go, what's

923
00:56:18.760 --> 00:56:22.079
wrong here? God? But thought you were gonna do this

924
00:56:22.239 --> 00:56:25.480
or you were gonna do that, and a you know,

925
00:56:25.800 --> 00:56:29.239
illustrated way, you almost can just you know, it's almost

926
00:56:29.280 --> 00:56:31.599
as if God would be like, I didn't say any

927
00:56:31.679 --> 00:56:33.760
of that to you, None of that, not one thing.

928
00:56:34.199 --> 00:56:42.800
What are you talking about? The Structure and flow brings

929
00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:45.639
us back? So what are the kinds of questions? General?

930
00:56:45.760 --> 00:56:50.079
Contextual questions? Will break them into three basic categories, historical, literary,

931
00:56:50.239 --> 00:56:51.920
and we'll just say structure and flow. I kind of

932
00:56:51.920 --> 00:56:53.760
want to put that with a literary, but we'll structure

933
00:56:53.760 --> 00:56:56.960
and flow. Now you can ask specific questions like that.

934
00:56:58.800 --> 00:57:01.559
So let's go some to some verse specific questions. I

935
00:57:01.639 --> 00:57:03.559
know we're almost at an hour. Let's go to some

936
00:57:03.719 --> 00:57:05.760
verse specific questions. I don't have time to give you

937
00:57:05.840 --> 00:57:07.719
the answers to all of these, but just try to

938
00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:10.880
give you some ideas. Right Isaiah forty one through two,

939
00:57:11.719 --> 00:57:14.039
we know that's a message of comfort, right, comfort ye,

940
00:57:14.119 --> 00:57:17.719
comfort ye? What is the significance of the command comfort

941
00:57:17.800 --> 00:57:23.360
comfort my people? Why does God describe Israel's warfare as

942
00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:29.039
ended and her iniquity as pardoned? How does this verse

943
00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:34.719
reflect God's covenant faithfulness to Israel? So you those are

944
00:57:34.800 --> 00:57:38.079
some questions you should have about Isaiah forty one through two.

945
00:57:39.320 --> 00:57:41.920
And I tried to answer all of those questions already.

946
00:57:41.960 --> 00:57:43.360
I'm not going to have time to go through it.

947
00:57:43.960 --> 00:57:49.039
Comfort ye, comfort ye. What is the significance of that? Well,

948
00:57:49.159 --> 00:57:51.599
the significance is well found in chapter Thirtyeh, okay, we

949
00:57:51.639 --> 00:57:54.760
can go on, okay, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, crying

950
00:57:54.800 --> 00:57:57.519
to her her warfare is accomplished. What does that mean?

951
00:58:00.880 --> 00:58:03.440
She's received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins?

952
00:58:03.480 --> 00:58:05.360
What does that mean? I mean anybody who should have

953
00:58:05.519 --> 00:58:10.840
these questions? But how does all of that reflect God's

954
00:58:10.920 --> 00:58:13.719
covenant promises to Israel? Now, see over and over and

955
00:58:13.840 --> 00:58:16.360
over when whenever I read, when people read Psalms or

956
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:18.800
read whatever, I'm always like, well, stop, stop, stop, you

957
00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:21.880
just made that about all of us. Who is that too?

958
00:58:22.119 --> 00:58:26.960
Clearly Israel? But how does those promises reflect God's promises made?

959
00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:29.400
And it's covenant? If they're almost identical, that you can

960
00:58:29.480 --> 00:58:32.880
say then this is covenantal promises given to a specific people, Israel.

961
00:58:33.000 --> 00:58:35.159
That's why you got to keep Israel in the church distinct,

962
00:58:35.320 --> 00:58:38.119
because if you don't, everything falls apart. In your hermeneutic

963
00:58:45.519 --> 00:58:49.039
versus how about Isaiah forty three through five, the Voice

964
00:58:49.159 --> 00:58:54.159
in the wilderness? Well, who is the voice? And what

965
00:58:54.360 --> 00:58:58.039
is the immediate context? Now, if we jump and go

966
00:58:58.159 --> 00:58:59.599
all the way. We talked about when you can jump

967
00:58:59.639 --> 00:59:01.320
and go to the New Testament. But wait a minute,

968
00:59:01.719 --> 00:59:03.360
John the Baptist's not going to do much for these

969
00:59:03.360 --> 00:59:05.760
people in Babylonian captivity. So then we brought up the

970
00:59:05.800 --> 00:59:08.159
idea of possibly Cyrus, and we talked about all of that.

971
00:59:09.800 --> 00:59:13.320
What is the significance of preparing a highway, especially in

972
00:59:13.400 --> 00:59:20.400
that particular geographical setting, And we talked about that Isaiah

973
00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:24.800
forty six to eight. And these are just questions that

974
00:59:24.920 --> 00:59:27.360
you have to learn to ask the text Isaiah forty

975
00:59:27.360 --> 00:59:29.360
six to eight. The word of the Lord stands forever.

976
00:59:29.760 --> 00:59:33.000
What is the meaning of the comparison between humanity and grass?

977
00:59:35.159 --> 00:59:37.599
How does the permanence of God's word contrast with the

978
00:59:37.639 --> 00:59:42.480
frailty of human life? How does this section provide comfort

979
00:59:42.519 --> 00:59:46.440
to Israel during their exile? These are the kinds of

980
00:59:46.519 --> 00:59:52.800
questions you should be asking of the text Isaiah forty

981
00:59:52.960 --> 00:59:55.920
nine to eleven. That's where we're supposed to be right.

982
00:59:59.480 --> 01:00:03.400
What is the significance of the command to lift up

983
01:00:03.440 --> 01:00:07.159
your voice with strength? What do you think that means?

984
01:00:10.599 --> 01:00:16.360
How does the phrase behold your God capture the message

985
01:00:16.360 --> 01:00:19.159
of the chapter. Is that really the message of your

986
01:00:19.239 --> 01:00:26.519
chapter Behold your God? How does Verses ten through eleven

987
01:00:27.480 --> 01:00:36.039
balance God's might with his tenderness? And verse eleven? What

988
01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:39.039
does the shepherd in imagery and verse eleven teach about

989
01:00:39.079 --> 01:00:47.039
God's care for his people, specifically Judah Israel? Now I

990
01:00:47.079 --> 01:00:49.559
could also ask those questions, Behold your God? Is this

991
01:00:49.719 --> 01:00:53.599
beholding my God seeing him move in a supernatural way?

992
01:00:53.679 --> 01:00:55.960
Or beholding God moving in an ordinary way, which we

993
01:00:56.480 --> 01:00:59.480
did a lot of work on ordinary versus supernatural means

994
01:01:04.039 --> 01:01:08.039
Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen The incomparable God. What is

995
01:01:08.079 --> 01:01:11.039
the purpose of the rhetorical questions in verses twelve through fourteen?

996
01:01:11.519 --> 01:01:16.400
What are these rhetorical questions in twelve through fourteen? How

997
01:01:16.440 --> 01:01:22.719
do these verses emphasize God's sovereignty over creation? What does

998
01:01:22.760 --> 01:01:27.719
the insignificance of the nations and what does the insignificant

999
01:01:28.639 --> 01:01:31.920
insignificance of nations and verse seventeen teach about God's power

1000
01:01:32.079 --> 01:01:40.119
and authority? What does this insignificance show Verses eighteen through

1001
01:01:40.239 --> 01:01:45.800
twenty The folly of idols? How does verse eighteen contrast

1002
01:01:45.840 --> 01:01:51.559
God with idols? What does the description of idol making

1003
01:01:52.159 --> 01:01:58.920
Verses nineteen twenty reveal about the futility of idolatry. How

1004
01:01:59.000 --> 01:02:01.920
does this passage challenge the temptation to trust in man

1005
01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:08.039
made solutions rather than God. Now again, I could also

1006
01:02:08.280 --> 01:02:09.679
I could add my I mean, I've got so many

1007
01:02:09.800 --> 01:02:11.480
questions I could add here It was the key of

1008
01:02:11.519 --> 01:02:13.760
trying to figure out which questions to ask, which questions

1009
01:02:13.800 --> 01:02:16.800
not to ask. But just for you know, instructive purposes,

1010
01:02:16.920 --> 01:02:19.360
just giving you some basic examples. But I mean, when

1011
01:02:19.400 --> 01:02:22.000
it comes to the idols, well, then what was the

1012
01:02:22.480 --> 01:02:26.199
when it comes to this, what was the idolatry of Babylon?

1013
01:02:26.599 --> 01:02:30.039
Considering this is written to people in Babylonian captivity, obviously

1014
01:02:30.199 --> 01:02:33.360
God is concerned that idolatry may greatly impact them. They've

1015
01:02:33.400 --> 01:02:36.760
been there for seventy years. Now. Once you read about

1016
01:02:36.760 --> 01:02:40.480
all of the idolatry and Babylon, you can be like, WHOA, Okay, no,

1017
01:02:40.679 --> 01:02:49.400
wonder there's there's discussion about this. Isaiah forty twenty one

1018
01:02:49.440 --> 01:02:52.599
through twenty six The Greatness of God? Why does Isaiah

1019
01:02:52.679 --> 01:02:55.760
ask have you not known? Have you not heard? In

1020
01:02:55.880 --> 01:02:59.400
verse twenty one, what does the imagery of God sitting

1021
01:02:59.440 --> 01:03:02.039
above the circle of the earth convey about his transcendence?

1022
01:03:03.800 --> 01:03:07.079
How does verse twenty six emphasize God's power as creator?

1023
01:03:07.559 --> 01:03:09.519
Those are questions about the greatness of God in verses

1024
01:03:09.559 --> 01:03:12.480
twenty one through twenty six. Verses twenty seven through thirty one.

1025
01:03:13.280 --> 01:03:15.920
What does verse twenty seven reveal about Israel's doubts and

1026
01:03:16.039 --> 01:03:19.920
complaints during exile? Verses twenty eight through twenty one are

1027
01:03:20.039 --> 01:03:23.440
twenty nine. How does Isaiah respond to these doubts in

1028
01:03:23.679 --> 01:03:27.800
verses twenty eight through twenty nine. What does it mean

1029
01:03:27.880 --> 01:03:30.159
to wait on the Lord? And how does this produce strength?

1030
01:03:30.440 --> 01:03:33.760
Verse thirty one. What is the significance of the imagery

1031
01:03:33.800 --> 01:03:38.119
of mounting up with wings like eagles? How does this

1032
01:03:38.239 --> 01:03:51.000
section encourage perseverance in difficult times for Israel? Those are

1033
01:03:51.079 --> 01:03:53.719
just some of the questions you should be asking about

1034
01:03:53.840 --> 01:04:04.119
the text itself. Now, I've got one, two, three, four, five.

1035
01:04:04.519 --> 01:04:08.000
I've got five philological questions that could be asked about

1036
01:04:08.000 --> 01:04:10.480
the text. I'm not going to go through those. I've

1037
01:04:10.519 --> 01:04:13.920
got five application questions we could ask about the text.

1038
01:04:14.000 --> 01:04:17.480
I'm not going to go through those. I've got three

1039
01:04:17.679 --> 01:04:20.679
comparative questions that could be asked about the text. I'm

1040
01:04:20.719 --> 01:04:23.800
not going to go through that. In other words, i've

1041
01:04:23.800 --> 01:04:26.519
got question after question after question after question after question

1042
01:04:26.599 --> 01:04:29.639
after question. That's why I'm constantly in preaching going so

1043
01:04:30.039 --> 01:04:33.000
what question comes to mind here? What question should that

1044
01:04:33.039 --> 01:04:36.480
bring to mind? Here? I ask you, guys that question

1045
01:04:36.880 --> 01:04:40.079
those questions are I ask you to identify the questions

1046
01:04:41.000 --> 01:04:43.960
because your ability to identify the questions is what you

1047
01:04:44.159 --> 01:04:48.079
need to learn, because that's your ability to study the

1048
01:04:48.159 --> 01:04:53.280
text for yourself. If you don't know how to ask

1049
01:04:53.320 --> 01:04:55.480
the questions of the text, then you have to rely

1050
01:04:55.639 --> 01:04:58.360
on someone else to ask the questions of the text. Well,

1051
01:04:58.400 --> 01:05:05.440
then that's not you doing study. There's plenty. There's plenty

1052
01:05:05.480 --> 01:05:08.599
of questions. I mean, Isaiah forty is a good chapter

1053
01:05:08.679 --> 01:05:10.079
to practice all of this on. This is one of

1054
01:05:10.119 --> 01:05:12.400
the reasons I did it for Isaiah forty because everything

1055
01:05:12.480 --> 01:05:16.280
is pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Everything makes once you put

1056
01:05:16.360 --> 01:05:19.360
Isaiah forty in its historical context. There really there's not

1057
01:05:19.519 --> 01:05:23.480
any significant problems other than wait a minute, how did

1058
01:05:23.559 --> 01:05:26.440
John the Baptist get brought up in here? Wait a minute,

1059
01:05:26.440 --> 01:05:30.519
why do we forget Cyrus and Isaiah forty? Okay, where

1060
01:05:30.599 --> 01:05:32.800
do we put Cyrus? Where do we not put Cyrus?

1061
01:05:35.039 --> 01:05:37.119
The text does everything in its power to make sure

1062
01:05:37.159 --> 01:05:39.639
you know who it's referring to. We went through. Remember

1063
01:05:39.719 --> 01:05:41.800
early on, I had you count how many you know,

1064
01:05:41.920 --> 01:05:47.039
look right there in verse two, speaky comfortably to Jerusalem, right,

1065
01:05:47.719 --> 01:05:50.119
I had these different I made you go through and

1066
01:05:50.199 --> 01:05:53.920
point out the cities of Judah. And verse nine, I

1067
01:05:54.840 --> 01:05:56.880
made you go through and count and figure out how

1068
01:05:56.920 --> 01:05:59.239
many times the text itself reminds you who is being

1069
01:05:59.440 --> 01:06:02.760
spoken to you, Because not only should we be asking

1070
01:06:02.840 --> 01:06:05.360
that question, will you look for the answers as well.

1071
01:06:08.039 --> 01:06:10.360
The point in all of this, now that we've gone

1072
01:06:10.559 --> 01:06:19.480
sixty six minutes, is this, you must learn the art

1073
01:06:19.599 --> 01:06:23.559
of observation. And one of the things to help you

1074
01:06:23.639 --> 01:06:26.719
in your observation is then the art of asking questions.

1075
01:06:27.360 --> 01:06:31.159
So you must observe that's your foundation. Then you must

1076
01:06:31.280 --> 01:06:34.000
learn to ask the text questions. And you've got to

1077
01:06:34.079 --> 01:06:37.360
ask questions. And sometimes when you ask the text questions

1078
01:06:37.440 --> 01:06:41.400
it irritates everyone. They get irritated. Who cares? Christians get

1079
01:06:41.440 --> 01:06:43.880
irritated if you do anything other than basically give them

1080
01:06:43.920 --> 01:06:47.639
three points, get out by noon and say Jesus loves you. Yes,

1081
01:06:47.760 --> 01:06:49.599
I know, for the Bible tells me so. And that's

1082
01:06:49.639 --> 01:06:51.920
basically the depth of your sermon. They say they want more,

1083
01:06:52.079 --> 01:06:54.400
But the minutes you get into more, they get offended

1084
01:06:54.400 --> 01:06:56.719
and they get mad because you start asking hard questions.

1085
01:06:56.920 --> 01:06:58.639
But we have to ask hard questions, So we have

1086
01:06:58.760 --> 01:07:01.679
to observe, we have to to ask hard questions. Then

1087
01:07:01.760 --> 01:07:06.119
we interpret The interpretation must flow from the observation and

1088
01:07:06.280 --> 01:07:09.679
from the answers of those questions that hopefully we answered

1089
01:07:09.880 --> 01:07:15.880
in a very honest text based way, leaving aside our

1090
01:07:15.960 --> 01:07:20.639
preconceived ideas, our preconceptions, believing all of that aside, and

1091
01:07:20.800 --> 01:07:23.800
just approaching the text. Now, once we've observed, once we've

1092
01:07:23.880 --> 01:07:27.239
asked questions, and once we've interpreted, then we can discuss

1093
01:07:27.800 --> 01:07:33.760
somehow a possible application. But the application must be consistent

1094
01:07:34.239 --> 01:07:37.519
with the observation, with the answers to those questions, and

1095
01:07:37.599 --> 01:07:42.840
with the interpretation. You don't get infant baptism in Isaiah

1096
01:07:42.920 --> 01:07:50.679
forty that's insane. That's ridiculous, And that came from a

1097
01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:53.920
church that would emphasize we teach the Bible verse by verse.

1098
01:07:54.000 --> 01:07:57.000
We believe in expositional preaching, and we also believe babies

1099
01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:00.400
are to be baptized according to Isaiah forty eleven, or

1100
01:08:00.440 --> 01:08:05.159
at least use it and a baptismal service to somehow

1101
01:08:05.440 --> 01:08:12.599
justify baptizing babies. It's ridiculous, has nothing to do with it.

1102
01:08:14.960 --> 01:08:17.359
So either you treat the text as Plato to make

1103
01:08:17.439 --> 01:08:20.279
it what you want, or you learn these basic skills.

1104
01:08:20.479 --> 01:08:22.920
What I want us to do is learn these skills

1105
01:08:23.079 --> 01:08:26.000
and asking the text questions, which we have been doing

1106
01:08:26.119 --> 01:08:29.199
all the way through Isaiah forty. I think we've already

1107
01:08:29.239 --> 01:08:32.159
been doing this. I just wanted to really emphasize this.

1108
01:08:34.760 --> 01:08:37.760
So my challenge would be is you can go ahead

1109
01:08:37.760 --> 01:08:43.079
and start Isaiah forty one, or you can just start

1110
01:08:43.079 --> 01:08:46.840
in Isaiah forty. Start in Isaiah forty verse twelve, twelve

1111
01:08:47.079 --> 01:08:48.880
through thirty one. I kind of already gave it away,

1112
01:08:48.920 --> 01:08:52.039
but actually start in Isaiah forty twelve, go all the

1113
01:08:52.079 --> 01:08:55.680
way through forty one, and start just formulating questions about

1114
01:08:55.680 --> 01:09:02.920
the text. Keep silence verse chapter forty one, Verse one,

1115
01:09:03.039 --> 01:09:06.239
keep silence before me, oh islands, and let the people

1116
01:09:06.359 --> 01:09:10.680
renew their strength, Let them come near, then let them speak,

1117
01:09:10.800 --> 01:09:15.880
Let us come near together to judgment. Now wait a minute, wait, okay,

1118
01:09:16.039 --> 01:09:18.119
why is there a call to keep silent? Is there

1119
01:09:18.199 --> 01:09:23.600
something is what's calling this to keep silent? And O islands?

1120
01:09:25.479 --> 01:09:27.600
What in the world. Where did the islands come from?

1121
01:09:27.800 --> 01:09:31.279
What's happening here? Why is there islands? Is there an

1122
01:09:31.319 --> 01:09:35.279
issue here? What is that word translated? Islands? And every

1123
01:09:36.079 --> 01:09:39.520
I mean, I already got questions right, start asking questions.

1124
01:09:40.800 --> 01:09:47.239
Just formulate your questions. If you formulate your questions, then

1125
01:09:47.279 --> 01:09:52.880
you're preparing yourself to actually study the text. Now, you

1126
01:09:52.960 --> 01:09:56.079
could do an observational outline of Isaiah forty where you

1127
01:09:56.119 --> 01:09:58.399
don't try to answer anything, you don't try to interpret anything,

1128
01:09:58.560 --> 01:10:02.159
and then once you have your option outline, then you

1129
01:10:02.239 --> 01:10:06.079
can formulate your questions. Between your observation and your questions,

1130
01:10:06.680 --> 01:10:08.920
then you can either go back start working on answering

1131
01:10:09.000 --> 01:10:13.520
your questions that will possibly then start leading to your interpretation.

1132
01:10:15.039 --> 01:10:18.119
But see, the interpretation is being based off answering actual

1133
01:10:18.279 --> 01:10:23.399
questions about the actual text. And no point do you

1134
01:10:23.760 --> 01:10:31.279
add in your preconceived ideas, your presuppositions, your preconceptions. However,

1135
01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:40.840
what phrase you would like to use? There we go.

1136
01:10:40.920 --> 01:10:44.680
I wanted I had to make a decision. I wanted

1137
01:10:44.720 --> 01:10:46.640
to walk through all these questions in a much slower

1138
01:10:46.720 --> 01:10:48.560
way and then try to answer each one. But then

1139
01:10:48.600 --> 01:10:52.600
I realized that that would take us six months. So

1140
01:10:53.880 --> 01:10:56.000
this is to throw it all out there. I know

1141
01:10:56.119 --> 01:10:58.239
that was a lot, but we went through the chapter.

1142
01:10:58.600 --> 01:11:00.359
If you really looked at what we did, we kind

1143
01:11:00.399 --> 01:11:02.479
of went we we went through one through thirty nine

1144
01:11:02.520 --> 01:11:05.039
to look at all the promises and warnings right, and

1145
01:11:05.079 --> 01:11:07.880
then we went kind of through Isaiah forty. We looked

1146
01:11:07.880 --> 01:11:10.319
at the themes that were repeated, so we kind of

1147
01:11:10.359 --> 01:11:12.880
worked through the whole chapter multiple times. In all of this,

1148
01:11:13.000 --> 01:11:15.199
I don't know if anyone caught on, but if you

1149
01:11:15.279 --> 01:11:18.239
paid attention, we went through it all. So this is

1150
01:11:18.319 --> 01:11:23.079
only getting us ready to go. So hopefully now we

1151
01:11:23.199 --> 01:11:25.239
have nine through eleven to work through, but we now

1152
01:11:25.319 --> 01:11:27.840
have the chapter kind of put back together for us again.

1153
01:11:28.159 --> 01:11:31.720
We'll do a quick reminder of the chapter again next

1154
01:11:31.800 --> 01:11:34.279
Sunday and then we'll work through nine through eleven. Most

1155
01:11:34.399 --> 01:11:37.680
likely this week we'll do another sermon review on Isaiah forty.

1156
01:11:37.880 --> 01:11:39.279
Don't you know, I don't have many more I can

1157
01:11:39.359 --> 01:11:43.920
do before I lose my mind, But yeah, there you

1158
01:11:44.000 --> 01:11:53.439
have it. The importance of questions, questions, questions, questions. Now,

1159
01:11:53.720 --> 01:11:57.920
questions can be irritating. I understand, just as a parent

1160
01:11:57.960 --> 01:11:59.800
can get irritated when he kid's like, why what have

1161
01:11:59.880 --> 01:12:03.760
I this, Why? Why? Why? Stop asking me why? Well,

1162
01:12:03.920 --> 01:12:06.560
sometimes when it comes to Bible study, people can get

1163
01:12:06.600 --> 01:12:09.840
really irritated about the why questions and why and what

1164
01:12:09.920 --> 01:12:11.399
about this? And what about this? And what about this?

1165
01:12:12.079 --> 01:12:16.680
The key is always the time in the place, right, Like,

1166
01:12:17.199 --> 01:12:19.239
if you're in the middle of a sermon, you don't

1167
01:12:19.279 --> 01:12:21.079
necessarily need someone in the middle of you know, you're

1168
01:12:21.199 --> 01:12:23.439
you're you're trying to you're in verse four, trying to

1169
01:12:23.520 --> 01:12:25.239
try and preach verse four to get the verse five,

1170
01:12:25.279 --> 01:12:26.800
and you all of a sudden it's like, well, why

1171
01:12:26.920 --> 01:12:28.720
what about this? And what about this? Well? Can I

1172
01:12:29.039 --> 01:12:32.680
kind of finish the sermon? Right of can of finish? Okay?

1173
01:12:33.039 --> 01:12:37.239
But then there's there's a time in the place. So

1174
01:12:37.359 --> 01:12:39.479
I understand they can be irritating, but they have to

1175
01:12:39.520 --> 01:12:45.399
be asked. Now. Sometimes you'll definitely learn this as a

1176
01:12:45.479 --> 01:12:48.880
preacher when a person asks a question. I hate this,

1177
01:12:49.119 --> 01:12:50.920
but as a preacher you almost have to be like,

1178
01:12:52.279 --> 01:12:54.720
be very careful how I answer this, because you almost

1179
01:12:54.880 --> 01:12:58.479
inevitably think you I know it's it's it's sad to

1180
01:12:58.520 --> 01:13:00.520
be so jaded. You can feel like, oh, I'm being

1181
01:13:00.600 --> 01:13:03.479
set up here. If I answer it this way, they're

1182
01:13:03.479 --> 01:13:06.000
gonna be like, well what about this, and you're like, oh,

1183
01:13:06.199 --> 01:13:08.920
so they're leading me. So then you kind of have

1184
01:13:09.000 --> 01:13:10.880
to play the game like, oh, you're you know the

1185
01:13:10.960 --> 01:13:13.640
Pharisees and the Sadducees. Do you really want to learn

1186
01:13:13.720 --> 01:13:15.560
the text or you're just trying to set up because

1187
01:13:15.560 --> 01:13:18.079
you have a preconceived idea and you're trying that. You're

1188
01:13:18.119 --> 01:13:20.479
not supposed to use questions that way. We're supposed to

1189
01:13:20.520 --> 01:13:22.720
be asking questions to try to figure out the text,

1190
01:13:23.119 --> 01:13:27.199
not win a debate. But some people love to play

1191
01:13:27.239 --> 01:13:30.319
the game with They're never asked the text questions until

1192
01:13:31.159 --> 01:13:32.760
they don't like what you have to say, then they're

1193
01:13:32.800 --> 01:13:34.880
really ready to ask questions. You got to look at

1194
01:13:34.880 --> 01:13:38.319
your motivations for asking questions as well or asking questions.

1195
01:13:38.760 --> 01:13:41.640
When the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus questions, they never

1196
01:13:41.720 --> 01:13:44.279
cared to find truth. They just tried to trap him.

1197
01:13:44.479 --> 01:13:46.079
And if you just want to ask questions to win

1198
01:13:46.119 --> 01:13:51.359
a debate, then you can play that game. I always

1199
01:13:51.359 --> 01:13:53.159
hate I always hate that. Sometimes I get asked a

1200
01:13:53.239 --> 01:13:56.760
question like oh boy, what's the set up here? Like

1201
01:13:56.840 --> 01:13:58.920
I have to start thinking, Okay, I got to be

1202
01:13:59.000 --> 01:14:01.600
thinking like you know, play chess. So if I answer

1203
01:14:01.640 --> 01:14:03.239
it this way, then they're going to come this way.

1204
01:14:03.520 --> 01:14:05.319
Then if I go then they're going to come this way.

1205
01:14:05.479 --> 01:14:08.159
And you don't like That's how you hate that? Like?

1206
01:14:08.199 --> 01:14:12.039
Can we just do you really want to know? Or

1207
01:14:12.119 --> 01:14:14.279
we are? Am I being set up here? How you

1208
01:14:14.359 --> 01:14:18.279
hate that? That's the wrong way to use the question concept.

1209
01:14:20.640 --> 01:14:22.840
But we want to ask the question to learn the text,

1210
01:14:23.880 --> 01:14:26.760
so we need the observation. We need the questions with

1211
01:14:26.920 --> 01:14:30.279
the interpretation. Forget application at this point. Just remove application

1212
01:14:30.359 --> 01:14:34.399
from Bible study. And the only reason I say that

1213
01:14:34.520 --> 01:14:36.880
is I'm so sick and tired of the way everyone

1214
01:14:37.039 --> 01:14:41.720
just goes to application and ignores everything else. All right,

1215
01:14:43.279 --> 01:14:45.199
there we go, not it quite exactly the way I

1216
01:14:45.239 --> 01:14:48.640
wanted it to go, but had to figure out a

1217
01:14:48.680 --> 01:14:51.560
way to pull this off. So we pulled it off.

1218
01:14:51.920 --> 01:14:57.760
Thanks for listening everyone, Have a great day. God bless