Isaiah 40: Observational Outline Pt 2

0:01 All right. I hate, hate, hate when we're doing like an outline and we have to separate it by an entire week, because I know it's going to be very difficult for everyone to remember everything. But Isaiah chapter forty is where we are. We are doing an observational outline of Isaiah chapter forty. And we've done observational outlines before. Sometimes I will. Speak of the importance of them, but in this particular case, I am just going to take a minute here and I'll probably do an entire podcast about this, of the importance of an observational outline, especially when it comes to Isaiah forty through fifty five. And the reason why is because of the reason we're doing this anyway, the reason we're doing this entire study of Isaiah forty through fifty five is because of sermon after sermon after sermon in Isaiah forty forty one, forty two, forty three that would take the text and almost immediately insert us into the text and basically push out the original recipients. And that drives me crazy, because what happens is when you insert ourself into certain No Testament text, almost almost without fail, we will say, hey, all of these promises are for whom they are for us. Now, anything that bad happens is for them, is for them, And so it just drives me crazy the handling of the text. So we are doing an observational outline, because observational outlines I believe

1:32 are at least I'm not saying they are a guarantee. But if everyone would do an observational outline of every single chapter before they argue about the verses or the meaning of the verses or offer an interpretation, I think it would alleviate a lot of the problems. The issue is you can't. I mean, let's just be honest. You're not going to get the people in the pew to do observational outline work because it's a lot of work. It's you're not going to get pastors really to do observational outlines. And even if they do the observational outline, they're just going to show up and behind the pulpit and just kind of just state it and just move on, right.

2:14 They're not going to have everyone work on it together. So I have stated countless times that I don't believe anyone should be interpreting the passage or arguing for an interpretation until they've done observational outline or done other work. Right. So this morning, when. I was just I was asking Ai about a section in our observational outline because there was some discussion last week about well, should we group all of those verses together or should we separate them? And so I asked Ai Isaiah forty, I think it's twelve through twenty six? Should this be grouped together? Should this be separated? So Ai offered a long list of justifications for reasons to group them together, and so I'm like, okay, that's helpful.

2:59 So then I thought, well, wait a minute, let. Me ask Ai, And so I asked Ai something along these lines. This is how I phrased the question. If someone hasn't done an observational outline of a chapter, shouldn't they refrain from offering interpretations of the verses found within that chapter? And shouldn't they refrain from arguing about the meaning of the verse. So I was curious how Ai would respond. So Ai responded, it is highly advisable that someone first conducts an observational outline of a chapter before attempting to offer interpretations or arguments about the meaning of individual versus.

3:49 So even Ai was like. You should do observational outline before you do that. However, no one does that. I remember, I've talked about it so many times. If people want to argue, they rarely up and show me their observational outline of the chapter. But they'll be arguing about the meaning of something within. A chapter, and you just can't do that. You just can't. And I think that's why I mean, to me, considering sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon that I've listened to this year is just there are examples of just going to chapters and making them mean pretty much whatever they want, and it's it's it's so frustrating. And so with Isaiah forty, the reason it's so important is because how the chapter begins.

4:33 How does the chapter begin? Every once you know it by. Now comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. And so everyone runs to that chapter. So that we can get what so we can get the comfort, But is the comfort they're meant for us not even any nowhere closed? I mean, this is one chapter where I mean it's sometimes we can make an argument, right, some of you may go, well, maybe there's not even an argument here, right, there's not even an argument because the chapter thirty nine sets up the context. Who's the comfort for the people in Babylonian captivity? It's not for us. I mean, this is something that you cannot even argue about.

5:13 But church after church after church after church after church runs to this section. So that's why we're doing the observational outline now for everyone here. You're used to doing these kinds of things. For people who listen online, it's you would be shocked. Well, I don't know, maybe you guys wouldn't be shocked, but you would be shocked. How many people who listen to us online are like, I've never been in a church that's done anything like this. I never even heard of this, Like what is this? Because it's a foreign idea, which. Is kind of frightening, isn't it. People go to church, but they've never been worked, they've never been challenged to work on an observational outline of the text that the church has offered a million interpretations like oh, it's so something is so broken in the entire the entire what church has become is so foreign to I think anything that it was ever intended to be right, Yeah, it's church is about something other than actually studying the town.

6:17 I just wish everyone would just admit that. Everyone says they want a church that studies, but they don't really want a church that studies, because if you really study, you find yourself struggling with lots of philological and doctrinal issues that doesn't nicely fit into someone's preconceived ideas, and well it causes problems. So that I just wanted to get just remind us why we're doing this, all right, it's important what we're doing. This is hard work, it's tedious. I know it doesn't feel like a sermon. I know it may not feel like church, but it's really the I think it's the very What we're doing is what church should be literally about. I think we're getting really to the very core what it should be about. We as Christian gathered together because we believe God has given his revelation and this book. So if this is God's revelation, then we gather together. What's the most important thing to figure out what this means? Right?

7:15 And sermons are the opposite of trying to figure out what it means. It gives you the it gives you this false illusion that you're studying the Bible when you're not really studying the Bible. Someone's just put together a sermon. He's just they're put together points, and sometimes it's like it actually keeps you from seeing the text. That's why I keep arguing against the whole sermon structure has to be burned to the ground, because so sermons really give you the idea that you're studying, but it's just someone taking points and in many cases almost imposing them upon the text. But because then they read them out of the text even though they've already put them there, everyone feels like that they we had a good study and this section of scripture, and you're like, what are you talking about?

8:04 You didn't study the actual texts. So that's what we're trying to do, right, Hopefully it makes sense. So we're doing an observational outline of Isaiah forty and we are focusing strictly this is what when we do an observational outline. Here are the things we focus on. We focus on the structure and flow of the text without interpretive analysis. So when we do an observational outline, what are we not doing? We're not interpreting because you cannot interpret what you haven't observed, and the quality of your interpretation is dependent upon the quality.

8:46 Of your observation. Bad observation equals what. Bad interpretation is very simple, it's very logical. But you cannot get Christians to do I would argue, if you leave here today and you go ask all the Christian friends you know, when was the last time they did an observational outline. They will all say never. However, ask them of what they believe about the Second Coming, Baptism, salvation, lordship, salvation, easy believism, calvinism. They will all tell you exactly what the Bible supposedly teaches. Yet they've never done an observational outline. Now, I will be blunt. That to me disqualifies them and they should not ever speak again. That's my that's my conclusion, because because they should be disqualified from doing so, and at least even AI acknowledges, well, they just say it's highly recommended, right, it's highly advisable. Yeah, that's the exact word, highly advisable. That they don't do this because AI understands what AI at least acknowledges that we we may not acknowledge it, but AI will acknowledge that humans bring something to the text that a I doesn't bring to the text, And that's all of our biases, preconceived ideas, past teaching, where AI can just say, look at the text, don't do any interpretation. That's that's the that's the strength of AI.

10:16 We almost impossible for us to look at a text and not do what well bring our biases, but we almost immediately interpret. We almost interpret immediately. Right, even in a Sunday school class if a pass if a teacher reads a scripture and starts asking people, everyone immediately does what what does it mean? And it's like wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, we can't be saying what it means. We've got to figure out what's actually there. So that's why we're doing an observational outline, all right. So the goal is to finish it, all right, that's the goal. I thought we were gonna have two hours today, but it didn't quite work out that way. So I got to finish it now.

10:57 But I'm gonna have to do a little bit of review. Because let's be fair, it's been a week, right. I meant it's one thing to remember certain points, that's another thing to remember an observational outline. All right, so are you ready? Here we go. Observational outline of Isaiah forty number one. God's call to comfort his people Isaiah forty verses one through two. All right, So first, or we can say a. Roman numeral one if you want to do it that way, God's call to comfort his people Isaiah forty one through two. We broke this down into two parts. First, we have the command to comfort, which is Isaiah chapter forty, verse one.

11:38 This is a repeated. Imperative comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Then we have the declaration of the comfort Isaiah forty verse two, which is addressed to Jerusalem. And what does it state? Her warfare has ended, her iniquity is pardoned, as she has received double. For all her sins. Right, so, Roman numeral one, God's called a comfort as people. That's broken down into two parts, command to comfort and declaration of the comfort. Everybody got that sounds pretty good, simple, straightforward? Does that feel that? Does that feel that we've observed everything in that text?

12:18 I think we've observed everything there? Right? Okay, what have we not done? We didn't offer any interpretation, right, we did not offer any interpretation all right, Roman numeral two a voice, and we can call it a voice. We can call it a voice of preparation. I kept kind of adding more to it, but a voice of preparation or a voice. And please note we're referring to it as a voice, even though the text says, why are. We saying a voice and not the voice? Because this concept seems to be used multiple times here and we don't. We're just gonna call it a voice till we do interpretation. Then we will identify the voice.

13:04 Because the minute we say the voice, then we immediately are forced to do what. Just try trying to identify it. So since right now we're just doing an observation, we're just gonna call it a voice because later on, when it talks about a voice, what are we going to have to figure out? Is it the same voice? When it says the voice, does that mean is it the same voice throughout? Or are they different voices? Right? But that's all what interpretation. So we referred to this section as a voice of preparation, and we said it goes from Isaiah chapter forty, verses three through five, is where we put it. All. Right now, I know we could argue because verse six as the voice again, but we still we believe that that's a different section. Right, So we had Roman numeral two a voice of preparation Versus three through five, and we broke it into two.

13:57 Three parts, three parts. The call to prepare the way in verse three, everybody see that, the voice of him, that Christ in the wilderness. Next phrase, prepare you the way. Yeah, you see that, prepare you the way. So we broke the voice of preparation. We broke it down into three parts. And the first part was the call to prepare the way from verse three, because it literally says, prepare the way. Everybody see that, all right. Verse four is the second part. We call this the transformation of the land or the change of the land. We stated it in different ways because what happens in verse four every valleys shall be exalted, every mountain and hills should be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.

14:46 So we have a transformation of the land or the change of the land. Everybody see that. And then what did we say about verse five and the glory of the Lord should be revealed, because it says, and the glory the Lord shall be revealed. Reservational outlines are the easiest. Why we're just. Taking what's on the page and putting it on paper. All right, So what's the first section? God's call to comfort as people Verses one through two. That and we broke it into two sections, the command of comfort, the declaration to comfort. The second or rem Numeral two, a voice of preparation. We broke it into three parts, the call to prepare, the transformation of the land, and the revelation of God's glory.

15:28 Everybody got all of that? So far, so good? Reman Numeral three six through eight. What did we call it? The frailty of human humanity and the enduring of the Word of God or the endurance of God's word, however you would like to put that. Right? So you can call it the fraility of the frailty of man if you want to put that, the frailty of humanity, if you want to state it a and that way, And the enduring word of God or the endurance of God's Word, however you would like to phrase it. This goes from Isaiah forty six to eight. And then what do we have? We broke this down into how many parts? Two parts? All right.

16:17 The first part was proclamation of human frailty. We see that in verse six through seven. What do we hear? All flesh is. Grass, and all the goodliness thereof is of the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. What's the emphasis here on the frailty of man? Everybody see that. There's the proclamation of that frail. Why don't we call it a proclamation? Because look at verse six the voice said cry, and he said, what shall I cry? And what is the proclamation? All flesh is as grass? Everybody see that?

17:07 All right? So there is the proclamation of human frailty. The second part of this section we called the permanence of God's Word. And what do we find in verse eight? The grass witheeth, the flower fadeth, But the word of our God shall stand forever. Now I was gonna almost ask an interpretive question, but I will not. Right there, Okay, So this section is called the frailty of humanity and the Enduring Word of God Verses six through eight. We break it into two parts. The proclamation of human frailty goes from verse six to seven. And the permanence of God's word is verse eight. Everybody got that. That brings us to Roman numeral four. And we and this goes from verses nine through eleven. What do we call this section?

17:54 All right? The proclamation of good news? Behold your God? Is really the good news? That's proclaim right, the proclamation of good news. It starts in verse nine. And what do we see, Oh Zion, that bringest good tidings. Get thee up into the highest mountain, O Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid, and say, unto the cities of Judah. Behold your God. That is the proclamation of good news. What is the good news? Behold your God? Everybody got that. So that's what this section is. Nine to eleven. Proclamation of good news. We broke this down into how many parts?

18:38 Three parts? Three parts. The first part is verse nine. The call to Zion to proclaim good news says, go to the high mountain, O Zion, lift up your voice, so Jerusalem, fear not, say to the cities of Judah. So it's a call to proclaim this good news. Right, hey, go and proclaim it. Everybody see that, all right? So there's the proclamation or there's the call to Zion to proclaim the good news. Number two, verse ten, God's strength and reward. How does it work? Look at verse ten. Behold the Lord. God will come with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. So we call this God's strength and reward because that's literally what the verse says.

19:29 Is it not? All right? God's strength and reward. Then the third part is verse eleven. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Everybody see that this is God's tender care as a shepherd. I mean, you see, all the subpoints are just basically just paraphrasing or summarizing what the verses say. Is everybody catching on, right? The Roman numeral just captures the entire section, and then the sub points are just basically summarizations of the verses.

20:11 Everybody see kind of what we're doing, all right? So this section is called proclamation of good news. Behold your God goes verse nine to eleven. We broke it into three parts. The first part is called to Zion to proclaim the good news verse nine, God's strength and reward verse ten, and then God's tender care as a shepherd verse eleven. All right, that's where we stopped, is it not. I think we mentioned the next part, but we didn't do much with it, right. So next is Roman numeral five twelve to twenty six. Right, the Greatness of God is Creator and sovereign. The Greatness of God as Creator and sovereign.

20:56 Now, this is. The section I asked AI about, and it gave me a long justification for grouping this together. Gave me linguistic literary reasons. I could go through all the reasons, but right now, we want to finish the outline. All right, So if we finish the outline, if we want to go back and look at why this is grouped together, because there was some and I understand when we're reading it, it's very difficult to say, well, should we or shouldn't we? AI thinks it should be grouped together. So I'm not saying that makes AI right. I'm just saying AI offered I think it was ten reasons why it should be grouped together. It offered a lengthy explanation. So. There's at least justification for it being together. Right, Does that make sense? Now when it comes to an observational outline, let's just make sure.

21:40 Let's just get this out of the way. Even if we disagree on where to break the sections into, that's not that serious. The main thing is that what we are doing wherever we break it into groups, is that it's just what observational. As long as it's observation, we're not hurting anything. If you're breaking it into different groups because of your desire to interpret it, now that's the problem because now you're putting the interpretation in the midst of the observation. The interpretation can't even visit you when you're doing observation, right, And if the interpretation walks into the room, you got to say get out, you gotta go. And it's hard because if you've been reading the text, you almost inevitably have certain thoughts about it, but you.

22:32 Can't let that influence. Interpretation is not allowed into the room while observation is going on. It's got to go somewhere else. It's got to take a vacation, all right. So even if we disagree on where to break this down. As long as we all maintain observation, we're okay. The minute interpretation creeps in, then it becomes a problem. Does that make sense? Right? So we're gonna go with this break down, and if we need justification we'll talk about it after here we go. We called this section the greatness of God. As Creator and sovereign or sovereign and Creator, whichever order you would like to put that in. The main thing is this section verses twelve through twenty six is gonna talk about God's greatness and it's gonna specifically focus on his greatness as being creator and being sovereign.

23:27 Everybody got that, all right? So this we're gonna break this part in and now we're gonna break this down into five parts. Now, why are we gonna break it into five subpoints? Because a long section? Is it? Not? All right? So we're gonna we have twelve through twenty six. We're gonna break this up. So look at verse twelve. What should we do with verse twelve? Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meet it out heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the earth and a measure and weighed the mountains and scales the hills in a balance. So this is going to focus on God's power in what creation? He measured the waters, he marked the heavens, and he weighed the mountains.

24:14 So this shows God's greatness as creator? Or are we God's power in creation? Let's put it that way, God's power in creation? I think that's how I said it first. Is everybody comfortable with that? Now? I know it's asking rhetorical questions, But the rhetorical questions are demanding what Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? The only one who can we can say that has done that is own God right and meet it out heaven with a span. God and all of those things. Is not only showing God is the only one. What is it demonstrating his power because nobody. Else has the same power? Does that? Does that make some sense? All right? So? All right?

24:58 So the greatness of God as creator and sovereign goes from verse twelve to twenty six. The first part of this is God's power in creation. Then that covers verse twelve. What about verse thirteen and fourteen? What about verse thirteen and fourteen. I'm going to try to have you guys do more of the looking here now so we can move quickly. I want to start reading all of this, but if I start reading all of. This, we'll never finish. Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counselor hath taught him with whom took hey counsel, and who instructed him and taught him? You get the basic idea. This is God's incomparable wisdom. Now, remember this is the greatness of God, his creator and sovereign. But this shows his incomparable wisdom. What is this wisdom attached to? Well, you could say it's attached to his creation, because that's just what came before. Right, Hey, God, does anyone have God's power?

26:00 No? Well, did anyone have to counsel him? And how to do this? No? I mean, and that immediately what the verse says in verse thirteen and fourteen, Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being the counselor hath taught him with whom took counsel and who instructed him, and who taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding. Basically, God has the power and God has the wisdom. God has the power, and God has the wisdom. Right. So number one, God's power in creation. Number two, God's incomparable wisdom. You could call it God's great wisdom. Could, however you would like to define it Verses thirteen through fourteen.

26:43 Everybody feel good about that? How about verses fifteen through seventeen. What do we have in verse fifteen through seventeen? Okay, good? We can put it this way. The insignificance of nations Verses fifteen through seventeen is basically, the nations are what like a drop in a bucket or dust on a scale. Is that kind of a paraphrase of what's going on there is? That's pretty accurate. Basically, before God, what are the nations?

27:29 Nothing? Or they see that? So this shows the insignificance of nations. So we have God's power in creation, his incomparable wisdom, his great wisdom. And then number three we have the insignificance of the nations. Goes from verses fifteen through seventeen. That could be doing a little bit of interpretation here, but I'm trying not to. I'm trying to just get us through the observation. I'm trying right now, what do you have in verses eighteen through twenty? This is the fourth section in this This is.

28:10 The fourth sub point. I guess we could call this breaking this section down verses eighteen through twenty. What do we have in eighteen through twenty? What do we have in eighteen through twenty? Okay, all right, that's fine, Yeah. What do we have in eighteen through twenty? I think we could I'm going to call this section the foolishness of idolatry? Do I feel that that's fair? To whom will you like in God? Or what likeness will you compare it to God? The workman melteth the graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casts this silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a tree that will not rot.

29:15 He seeketh unto him a cunning workman, to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. I'm calling this the foolishness because this section, this section begins with God's power in creation. Here, Now we have what people creating their God. That's foolish when you compare can you compare an idol that you make with the God who makes. So it's the foolishness, right, does that make sense? So the foolishness of idolatry Verses eighteen through twenty. All right, so let's go through this again. This section is Roman numeral five. It's the greatness of God as Creator and sovereign.

29:56 It goes from verses twelve through twenty six. We're breaking this down into five parts. Part one. Here is God's power in creation verse twelve. Number two, God's incomparable wisdom Verses thirteen through fourteen, Number three, the insignificance of nations verses fifteen through seventeen. Number four, we have the folly of idolatry Verses eighteen through twenty, and then that brings us to number five, verses twenty one through twenty six. What do we have here?

30:42 Okay, I think there's a lot going on here. We definitely have some power. We definitely have him creator being mentioned here? Do we have him? Does say anything about him sustaining possible? Possibly in this section as well, maybe Verse twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, Verse twenty five, to whom will you like in me? Or shall I be equal to if the Lord lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things that bringeth out their hosts by numbers. He calleth them all by names, by greatness.

31:31 Of his power. For if for he is strong in power, not one faileth what what doesn't fail? Well in that verse, the all his creation, because he's the one who does what sustains it. All right, I'm just trying to justify what I'm getting ready to say here, right, So Verses twenty one through twenty six, we're gonna call this God as Creator and Sustainer. God is creator and sustainer, and he goes twenty one through twenty six, because it says things like he stretched out the heavens as a curtain. He spreadeth them out as a tent. So it's more about creation.

32:14 So God as Creator and Sustainer Verses twenty one through twenty six, and for twenty one through twenty six. I'm not going to break it into subpoints because I think we've already kind of covered this in the previous sub points. So we're just gonna group these together, but we're not going to break them down into sub points. We could, but we're not. Is that sound okay? All right, all. Right, that's a long section, right, So reman numeral five goes as twelve through twenty six. We call it the greatness of God as Creator and sovereign. The first subpoint God's power in creation verse twelve, number two, God's incomparable wisdom verses thirteen through fourteen, versus number three, the insignificance of the nations fifteen through seventeen, the folly of idolatry Verses eighteen through twenty. Then God is Creator and sustainer Verses twenty one through twenty six.

33:10 This leads us where. Twenty seven to thirty one, which would be Roman numeral six Roman numeral six God, Well, look at twenty seven through thirty one, look at twenty seven through thirty one, and you tell me what you see. Almost starting about ready to give it away. Why sayest thou, oh Jacob, and speaks O Israel. My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God.

33:53 Hast thou not known? Hast thou not. Heard that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, feigneth not. Neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding, he giveth power to the faint. All right, So this is what I'm going to call this section, God's Strength for the Weary. God's Strength for the weary goes from twenty seven to thirty one. God's Strength for the weary. Everybody see that. Now we're about done with the observation outline. We're going to break this down. But let me just ask a question. Even in this church, we've sung verse thirty one, right, we talk about this section over and over and over and over in sermons, And how is these sermons almost always preach when it comes to these famous verses, especially verse thirty one. How are the I mean, you can just go listen to a million sermons today on Isaiah forty thirty one, how are they going to be preached that if we wait upon the Lord, God is gonna somehow renew our strength.

35:00 Ladies and gentlemen. That has nothing to do with you in this section. Who is the weary? Who are the ones fainting? If you just go back to verse twenty seven, why sayest thou, oh Jacob, and speakest oh Israel. My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment has passed over from God. And then what does he start in verse twenty eight. Hast thou not known? Who is he referring to Jacob and Israel? And what is he telling them? What do they need to wait on? This is not some generic weight. This is just not some Hey, you're going to a difficult time, Bobby, Just wait on the Lord and he will renew your strength. No, they are waiting for a very specific thing. What are they waiting for deliverance, which is what.

35:55 Promised. They're waiting on a specific promise. If they will trust God, then he will renew their strength. And what way? This is not generic? He's going to renew their strength because He's going to mount them up in a sense, on the wings of eagles and do what remove them from Babylonian captivity and bring them back to their land. It's poetic, but it's poetic speaking of a very specific thing. This group of people need to wait on God to ultimately deliver them from a specific situation, which is Babylonian captivity. He's going to lift them up, blivering them back into their land.

36:44 We can't jump into this and. Just but preacher after preacher just takes this and makes this about us, even though just how many verses before specifically names the people. Thirty one is. The one everyone preaches, right, But if you just go right back to twenty seven. It literally names who it's talking about, does it not? And then verse twenty eight hast thou who is the thou Jacob and Israel? Right? So then he then verse twenty nine thirty through thirty one is directed towards whom Israel. It's not complicated.

37:27 Because what you go to church after church after church after church, who will preach that? And then we'll make it about whom us? That is complete? That is just trash. And the reason that's trash is because it sets people up. Well, oh, I've been waiting on God. So God's gonna do what He's. Gonna somehow raise me up and he's gonna do this for me, and he's gonna just stop talking. That's why sometimes I have like I couldn't go I don't. I hate to say it. At this point in my christ In life, I don't think I could go to church. I really don't think I could go to church anymore. I've almost because everything they say I would just be like what is happening here?

38:10 Like what is happening here, and it's kind. Of a bad place to be where the more you study the Bible and the more you care about the meaning of the text, the more unwelcome you really are in church. Church is not the place for people who care. About the Bible. I know if I say that, people are gonna argue with me, but it's just true. If you really care about the text, you're gonna find yourself in trouble. Now. I should have caught on to that, because I found myself in trouble from the very beginning, but I did not really. I just thought, I thought, Oh, they're all. I need to do is create a church for people who really care about the text, and it's gonna be wildly successful because there's people out there starving.

38:59 They're so hungry. Oh I want a church that will study the Bible, study theology. Oh, and they're gonna just pour in, was my thought. Well, I heard a lot of people walk through that door who said they wanted that, and they wanted that until what until they got it, and then they didn't want it. But they would still tell you today that they want it, but they don't want it because I can get the sermons from their church as they go to and say, that's not what we do here. I know that I can rip the sermons apart in fifteen different ways, not because I'm smarter, not because of being more godly. It has nothing to do with it. It just means do you care about the actual words on the page? And if you do that, stop preaching that nonsense that that's for us. I'm not Israel. This entire section, if you look at this outline, you can clearly apply it to the people it's written to. And who are the people tridden to. We've talked about it. It's chapter thirty nine. If you need a reminder. Starting in verse five, then said Isaiah Hazekayah, hear the word of the Lord of Host. Behold the days come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store under the station, be carried to Babylon.

40:23 This is those who are in Babylonian captivity. God sends them a message of comfort. Why do we think we can go take a letter of comfort given to us specific people. Knock them out, take the comfort and apply it to us. You can do that in preaching. But guess what is going to happen to the people in their life. They're not going to experience the comfort because the comfort was never. For them. They can convince themselves they are, but they're lying to themselves that Isaiah forty oh, I'm even afraid to try. If I challenged everyone just to take the sermon's two point oh app today and start looking for sermons on Isaiah verse thirty one, I'm telling you, if I went home right now started reviewing sermons on Isaiah forty thirty one, by the end of tonight, I'm going to have I'm going to just go to the liquor store and I'm going to be so drunk by Monday that I'm not going to even remember my name because I'm not going to be able to take it. And people say, well, that's just an exaggeration. Oh what it should bother everyone, because sermon after sermon after sermon is going to be making promises to you from that.

41:36 But that's to me, that spiritual malpractice. That's like a doctor coming to you going, hey, take this and you're all your problems are gonna go away, and you take it and take it and. It does absolutely nothing for you, or it makes you. It could make you scre because you're gonna get depressed and it's not working well when. Well, we sing the song because of scripture. Whether we apply it to us, well, hopefully we probably have in the past. We probably have in the past because that's the way I was taught to preach. Yeah, I know, yeah, I've heard it's not my people. There is defined by the context. So yeah, I probably have because I was taught to preach that, right, would mean I would be taught. Oh look, Isaiah Ford, but they that wait upon the Lord? All right, So I can talk a sermon about waiting. All right, what are the things required to wait? And then I could give you like three or four points on how to wait, and then you would leave here going, Oh that was a good That was a good sermon, Pastor. You gave me four practical things about waiting, and I do need to wait on the Lord because right now I'm going through this or this or this.

42:51 Thank you, pastor for the comfort. Oh so you should have just pulled out a gun and shot me. Well, I mean that would have been a little extreme, but you know, you get the point, right, because that but I would have been That's how I would have been taught, and you can go to any church. That's how it would have been preached. And then it would have been like, wait, so when you talk about what who do we wait upon? Why do we wait upon God? Because he can? And then I could go back into Isaiah and show his power and his strength as creator and say that's why I would, and it would feel like that I'm being what that I'm true to the text, and you'd be like, oh, this is such a good sermon.

43:31 Basically, yeah, yeah, which is sad, is it not? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, true. I mean it's not like that they're not doing it because they think it's wrong. They're doing it because they think it's right. But it's just the way we were taught to handle the text. Because the the the the presupposition that controls everything is that basically, this is for whom for us? Every word, every word is for us. So then every word. Is applicable to us, because then they'll go to all scriptures given by inspiration for God, and it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for corrections. The Man of God maybe thoroughly furnished in every good word. So they'll take that and say see every word is for me. Well, being profitable doesn't mean necessarily it's applicable. I mean that's a different thing.

44:27 Right. Being able to instruct or correct does not necessarily mean okay, right, yeah, and the lesson we learn from that is right, very true. God kept his word to these people in Babylon in captivity. So whatever word is to me, God will keep right. So there is an application there, but it's got to be a correct application. Can't say that God's going to come up and give me some strength or renew or do these things for me, because it's because these things are not generic. Though even though it's spoken in a poetic way, it's very tangible. He's going to mount them up literally, right, He's gonna carry them literally, Like you.

45:11 Know what I'm saying. It's all literal, very literal, even though it's poetical. But so when we come in and take the poetic language and then say it's about us, then it becomes very generic. Right, So what does that mean, Pastor God's gonna renew my strength? Well, you'll just feel strong. It's a feeling I'm gonna get you. See, that's that doesn't mean anything. We know, it's gonna get right. But I'm saying for these people, it's very specific. Right, they are going to get literal strength to be literally brought out of their captivity. It's very material, very physical, very specific. They Right now, the application is what God has spoken to us. We should be able to wait and then that can give me strength in which sense. Well, I know that there will come a time Christ will return right now. Yeah, but see now we're applying it in a correct way. Now, we're applying it in a correct way. But pastors just come and just speak as almost this is for us, but it's not for me.

46:23 Now there may be lessons I can derive. From it and how, and that's why there's a fine line there, and it can confuse the people and how to do this. It is confusing. But we got to just know that that's specifically for them. So does that make sense? All right? So let's go back through this section, all right, God's Strength for the Weary versus twenty seven to thirty one. We haven't broken it down at the parts yet, have we. Let's break it down into four parts. Sound good, but we just had to have that conversation because man, the amount of sermons you hear in this section are in sane? Okay? All right? So what do we have in verse twenty seven?

47:11 Okay, we could I have questioning Israel's doubts, questioning it because they're being questioned, are they not? Why is say this now, oh Jacob and speakes though Israel, my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment has passed over from God. So this is questioning Israel's doubts. Basically, why do you say, oh Jacob, that God has forgotten you? Basically they're being asked, why do you why are you at questioning. That God has forgotten you? Now, of course, in a practical way, I can understand very much why they're saying it. But okay, but we don't want to get into interpretation here. So questioning Israel's doubts verse twenty seven, What do we have in verse twenty eight? So number one, questioning Israel's doubts.

48:05 Number two, God's everlasting power and understanding. Do you think that's fair? Okay? Yeah, yeah, hast thou not known? Hey, I'm questioning your doubts. Okay, But now I'm gonna give you the well this information of God's everlasting power and understanding, right, number three. What do you hav in verse twenty nine to thirty Verse twenty nine through thirty, was just gonna say God gives strength to the week, because it says verse twenty nine, he giveth verse twenty nine, he giveth power. He gives power to the faint and to them they have no might.

48:58 He increaseth strength. You see that? So God gives strength to the week Verses twenty nine through thirty. And what do we have in verse thirty one, Well, we'll say promise for those who wait? Or yeah, promise or are we going to say promises if you want to make it plural? But promise for those who wait verse thirty one. All right, let's go back through the whole outline. Everybody ready, going all the way back to the top. The first Roman numeral one is God's call to comfort his people, and it goes from verse one through two. Everybody got that, And this is God's call to comfort his people. We broke this down into two sections, the command to comfort verse one and declaration of comfort verse two.

50:00 Everybody feel comfortable with that? I think so? Roman numeral two a voice of preparation Verses three through five. The call to prepare the way the transformation of the land and verse four. So the call to prepare is verse three, the transformation of the land is verse four, and the revelation of God's glory is verse five. Roman numeral three. The frailty of humanity and the enduring Word of God goes from verses six through eight. We broke this down into how many parts two, the proclamation of human frailty Verses six through seven, and the permanence of God's word in verse eight. This brought us to Roman numeral number four.

50:46 The proclamation of good news Behold your God Verses nine through eleven. We broke this down into how many parts three call to Zion to proclaim the good news and verse nine. God's strength and reward in verse ten, and God's tender care as a shepherd and verse eleven. This brings us to Roman numeral. Five, which is the big section twelve through twenty six. We broke this down into how many parts five. The first part was God's power in creation verse twelve. The second part was God's incomparable wisdom Verses thirteen through fourteen. Next, the insignificance of nations Verses fifteen through seventeen. The folly of idolatry Verses eighteen through twenty one, and God as Creator and Sustainer Verses twenty one through twenty six. This brings us to twenty seven through thirty one, which is Roman numeral number six, God's Strength for the Weary Verses twenty seven through twenty one. That's the title of this section, God's Strength for the Weary. We broke this down into how many.

51:59 Parts four parts. Number one questioning Israel's doubts Verse twenty seven, Number two, God's everlasting power and understanding Verse twenty eight. God gives strength to the week Verses twenty nine through thirty and number four promise for those who wait verse thirty one. All right, now we're gonna do a summary of the outline. We're gonna do a summary of the outline, which is going to group this in an easier format. All right, kind of a summary of the outline. You ready, Summary of the outline Number one Isaiah forty one through eleven.

52:42 This introduces the themes of comfort, preparation, and proclamation, emphasizing God's coming to redeem and restore his people. So we're gonna just summarize this now, We're just summarizing it so, Isaiah forty one through eleven introduces themes. What are the themes comfort, preparation, and proclamation? And this is emphasizing God's coming to redeem and restore his people. Number two Isaiah forty twelve through twenty six. This extols God's greatness as creator, contrasting his power and wisdom with the frailty of humanity and the futility of idolatry.

53:32 Isaiah forty twelve through twenty six basically speaks of God's greatness. It lifts it up. It exalts God's greatness as creator, contrasting his power and wisdom with the frailty of humanity. And the futility of idolatry. I'll do number one again because I know there's a lot here to write down. Isaiah forty one through eleven introduces the themes of what comfort, preparation, and proclamation? And what does this emphasize the God's coming to redeem, God's coming. To restore his people. I think that's pretty simple. Number two Isaiah forty twelve through twenty six exalts, extols, exalts, lifts up however you would like to word it. God's greatness as creator, and it contrasts his power and wisdom with what the frailty of humanity and the futility of idolatry. Right, and they need to repeat any of that. If you do, just say speak now or forever hold your peace, all right?

54:51 Number three Isaiah forty twenty seven through thirty one. This concludes with a reminder of God's everlasting strength. I think everybody sees that, and a promise to renew those who trust in him. Are those who I think we should rewrite that. Let's do this one. It concludes with a reminder of God's everlasting strength and his promise to those. Who wait on him. Let's put it that way. Let's put it that way. I'm gonna type that. I'm going to retype that, all right.

55:36 It concludes with a reminder of God's everlasting strength and his promised to renew those who wait on him. I think that's a good way to state it. Now. This structure that we've kind of come up with highlights the chapter's progression from comfort, right, you see that and hope to a grand vision of God's sovereignty and sustaining power. It basically says comfort, comfort, and then you may ask, well, how are these people going to be comforted? Well, how are they going to be comforted with this message and this revelation of God's sovereignty, his power, his wisdom, him being greater than the nations, him being greater than the idols.

56:24 So there's a progression here, right, Hey, go tell the people to be comforted. And the people may say, why am I going to find comfort? Well, because look at my situation, and they would have every right, and we see a little bit of them. They're kind of their questions and doubting, right, And so the point is, as you go through the chapter, here's what you should look to. Look to God's greatness. He is sovereign, he is creator, he's more wise, he has power, and he's going to ultimately do what trust in his power, and he's ultimately deliver you. And in their case, they can hold on to that because specifically he is now. Whenever we want parallels to us, let's just remind us. Our parallel is this, and I say it all the time in a practical way. We are in Babylonian captivity because we live in a world of flesh, a world of sin, a world of pain, a creation that groans under God's judgment. Right, we still have a sinful nature. Our bodies are broken and they have disease, and we see pain suffering. Do we not see pain suffering and death and all of that in our world?

57:41 Yes? Now, at the same time, just as difficult as it would have been for them, it will be for us. So let's just be honest here, right, Okay, let's just be honest. When you go to a people like this in suffering and you point to God's power, in God's strength as a source of that comfort, in some ways, that can be maddening, can it not? Of what comfort is there. To hear that God is all powerful if you're suffering, Because unless God's going to use that power to intervene immediately, it's not going to do anything. But does there is there any promise of immediate relief? No? The chapter ends with what wait.

58:23 That's that's a hard message to hear. Oh, God's all powerful, but I have to wait? Well, how about he take that all power? And how about how about maybe how about a divine hurry up? Because we've been suffering for a long time. But they're there for a specific reason. Well, in the same in our way, it can be just as difficult for us. God's all powerful. Well great, guess what that means. Does not mean It does not mean that power is going to ever be used in a way to help you with your current situation. It does mean, just as.

59:03 They were delivered, we will and all we can do is wait, and then there will come a time that we then will be. Mounted up with in a sense and carried away and delivered from our bondage. So really, the whole Babylonian captivity is very much like our reality. Now we want God to intervene. Now, we want God to fix our problems. Now God has the power to do so, he chooses not to do so. I don't understand that that bothers me to no end, but it's the reality we must embrace. Yes, this message came to them before they even went into captivity.

59:56 Yes, yeah, right exactly. The word of comfort did not take away the very thing they were gonna need comfort from, right yeah. But so and just for us, we've known, we've had the word of God even before we were born, and we know that well, we're gonna be born into a world of pain, suffering, and death. Now the church wants to try to almost rewrite it that hey, we're in this bad situation, but God is there to intervene on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He's gonna fix this. He's gonna do this, he's gonna do this, he's gonna do this, he's gonna do this. And a lot of people hear. Those messages in church, and then as life gets worse and worse and worse, sometimes they look around and go, this is a lie.

1:00:41 I mean, I can give the example. I worked with someone who was a part of the praise band at New Hope Church there at Ebley, right, and I give her a hard time all the time because they're charismatics, and I always tell her to heal the people on the phone instead of me having a book and appointment. Right, I gave her a hard time. Well, someone who was a part of that church. I don't know if he was in leadership, he was kind of a part of the church. His father got really really really really sick, and the pastor and everyone in the church told him that his father was going to be killed. His father died, and well, he ended up leaving the church. Well, I know many stick around, but I'm just saying for so many it brings them to a breaking point, right because the Church loves to create this idea of basically God is, you know, sitting right there. You know, he rides shotgun with us, and every little problem and every little difficult God's gonna take care of. God's gonna take care of. And that's not the reality we live.

1:01:41 The reality. We live our reality. I am not saying deny God. See a lot of people misinterpret my approach to this and they get mad at me. I'm not saying deny God. I'm saying that if we're going to believe in God, we have to acknowledge that we have a God who is not intervening in all the ways that Christians claims that he's intervening. We do believe. He will intervene, just like he was not intervening for them. Was he raising the people from the grave who died in Babylonian captivity? No, was he alleviating their suffering.

1:02:22 No? Did not same thing as seventy a. D when Jerusalem was surrounded and depending if we go with Josepha's account, a million people died and they resorted to cannibalism. They were eating each other during that siege. Did God step in and help them? No, they were slaughtered. I mean, I can go story after story after story. When David all week on the podcast, we've been talking about First Samuel twenty six and First Samuel twenty seven because again preachers taking for Samuel twenty six and so misrepresenting that tech. But in First Samuel twenty six, David has the opportunity to kill Saul, right, and he doesn't do so everyone thinks his motives are all pure. I think his motives weren't so pure. But okay, he doesn't kill Saul. But in the next very next chapter, good old David, right, he does, and everyone's like and God intervenes in twenty six, which just makes it even more confusing.

1:03:20 He puts three thousand people to sleep so David can walk in say I'm not gonna kill Saul. Then in the very next chapter he does, what, oh man, Saul's gonna kill me. So what does David run to? He joins the Philistines, and what does he do when he's with the Philistines. He goes and slaughters people for the Philistines. The text says he kills every. Man, woman, child, and animal. And stole their property. Did God intervene to help them? No? So, even in the Bible where God is intervening, sometimes when you read the Bible, isn't it confusing? Wait a minute.

1:04:00 God intervened right there and part of the Red Sea, but he doesn't intervene here. He doesn't intervene here. He doesn't intervene here. Jesus, while on earth is raising people from the dead, but he leaves John the Baptist to rot and die in prison. Is that not confusing? In the Book of Acts, people are. Being healed, Stephen gets stoned to death, and they're just like, oh, too bad, I mean to do you? Does that not ever bother you? So even in the Bible where God is intervening and doing miracles all over the place, there's still these parent You're like, well, wait a minute, what you just did that miracle? Why wouldn't you do a miracle here? I mean, sometimes it's confounding, is it not. I mean, anyone who reads the Bible, she'd be like.

1:04:52 Well, wait a minute. Like again, and first Samuel twenty six, God puts three thousand people to sleep, but in twenty seven he can't make David go night night, to stop, you know, people being slaughtered. I mean, oh, he could put three thousand people to sleep, but he couldn't keep Bathsheba for sleeping a little bit longer, so she's not on the roof when David walks out. He couldn't have had David go to sleep. I mean, he gotta fix that problem. Oh did he even bother to step in to save Bathsheba's husband? No, let him die. Sometimes it's even maddening just reading the Bible. Well, when you leave the Bible, we can we can clearly agree God is not operating today. And I know some people are gonna say God is the same yesterday, today, forever.

1:05:34 He is the same in his attributes and his nature. We know he's not necessarily acting in the exact same way because when was the last time he saw him. Part the Red Sea? Right? Okay, right, So we know clearly things operate in a slightly different way. We know that He used to speak in all kinds. Of different ways. Today he speaks to us through the Bible, So we know that there's a change. That doesn't mean God is changed. I know that people have a hard time with that concept, right, but clearly something has changed. So in our day, God is not even intervening like he did there. But even when he intervened there, it was already maddening at times. Right, it was already sometimes confusing. Well for us, the church still wants to somehow believe that every little difficulty, every little problem, God's gonna step in, God's gonna make it better, and God's gonna fix it.

1:06:24 That's just not the way it works. The best way to understand our life is we're in Babylonian captivity and we're gonna suffer. Now. Some people will suffer more, some people will suffer less. But the one thing we all know in life what's going to happen. There's gonna be pain, suffering, trial and tribulation. Even Jesus said in this life now he was speaking specifically to the disciples, and they were about to have tribulation because they're all gonna be martyred except for John. Right, so they definitely were gonna Did God intervene to save any of them? No? Did he raise him from the dead? No? Oh, Sometimes it's maddening, like a why not?

1:07:05 Okay, right, and I raise Lazarus, But John, the badness are You're out? Alike? Sometimes it's so random it makes no sense. But for us, I think the Babylonian captivity gives us a good sense, right, it gives us a good. Sense of that's kind of how life is. We're in a situation. God is not intervening in all this miraculous way like everyone claims. But we can still do what we can, still find comfort as they found comfort. And what fact, God is creator, He's all powerful, he's all wise. He's greater than any god that we could make.

1:07:47 And what we are to do is to trust in him because the day will come that he will, in a sense renew our strength, mount us up on the wings of eagles, and do what deliver us from our captivity, which is in heaven. So in that sense, there's some applicable things. But justice, they were given all these great messages. Did that fix their problem? Just say, as Sarah said, they got this message about one hundred years before it even started. Did this message fix God's power and sovereignty? Did it stop the Babylonian captivity from happening? No?

1:08:28 Did it alleviate the suffering in the Babylonian captivity? No? But yet what's the message? God is all powerful? Because these things. What is true of God is true of God no matter what we go through. But that can be frustrating. It can be frustrating for someone to say, hey, trust in God, He's all powerful. I do trust in God that he's all powerful, but don't tell me that that means he's going to use that power to help me in my situation, because it may not be coming. Just like it didn't come for them for seventy years. Meaning there were people who went into case activity who died there. There were people born there who died there. So God's power, God's wisdom was of no value to them practically speaking, just as sometimes God's power, strength and wisdom is no value to me practically, but it is still what I am to hold on to because of what it says about ultimately, where there will be no more pain, no more suffering, and no more death.

1:09:33 That is hard to that's a hard road to navigate. There are days that I can just preach, hey, guys, we have an all powerful God who created the heavens and the earth. He is all wise, He is present with us all times. We should find great comfort in that. Sometimes that sounds almost good to say, and then sometimes I want to say, look, I. Don't know about you. That doesn't do anything for me because right now I have this problem and God's not intervening in this. There's times it. Bothers me more than it helps me. And that's just and we should be honest with that. It's okay to be honest. Was not Israel having some doubts? Did we not see that? There's some things there where they're being asked some questions. Why are they being asked these questions?

1:10:21 They have some doubts? At one point? Did they not say they basically why say us thou oh Jacob and speaks oh Israel, My way is hid from the Lord. They're basically like God doesn't even know where we are. God has forgotten us. There was times they were asking these questions where is God? Did that mean that they question God as far as his existence or questioned his ability. They didn't question his ability, they question if God maybe have forgotten where they. Are, because if you know, God is all powerful, sometimes his actions or inaction is maddening. It should be mad when you read the Bible, right, it's like, hey, it's great that God stepped in and had a discussion with Cain.

1:11:09 Weren't that great that he talked to Cain? He said, hey, just do right. Isn't that great? Would have been better that he would. Have talked to Cain when Cain was raising the knife and getting ready to kill his brother. And said stop. Wouldn't that had been a little bit more beneficial, Hey, if you can step in and talk to Cain about his sin issue. It would have been great that right before Eve got ready to take a bite, you said, put the fruit down. You can't have it. That would have been great because that would have avoided Oh, it wouldn't have been great that when David said, hey, go get her, God would have said, no, David, you can't have whend. That had been great because that. Would have saved I don't know a life of a baby and of a husband.

1:11:49 But God didn't bother to step in. But when Sarah was taken, God stepped in. That's so confusing sometimes, so it should confuse us when we read, and it can be very confusing in life. We have to embrace it, just as Israel's probably confused. I mean, they're very. Much closely connected to God's power being shown in pretty drastic ways. Right, Hey, God, you stepped in here. You can't step in here. I mean, come on, you destroyed this, you did this, you did this. We just need a little bit of help here. You made food fall from the heavens. But God's not gonna step in seventy years nothing, and the one hundred years before there's so many things he could have done and which just begins to demonstrate what.

1:12:43 That. We have to be very careful about how that we don't make promises that we can't make because the reality is, in this life we're just like Israel in a sense in Babylonian captivity. We are in captivity now. And can we learn from some of this? As Bobby said, there's some principles we can learn, but those principles have to be directed to the ultimately. We can't say that God's going to step in in our situation. He will step in ultimately to fix all the situation. Does that make sense? I think that's that's fair to say. All right now, well we'll stop right there there we go any questions on the observational island. I wanted to get some practical things thrown in there, but I think that's good, right anything, practice, anything, Just the main thing we've now covered, we've looked at the whole chapter. I think now if you look at the chapter, you can see how all of it fits perfectly with whom the people in Babylonian captivity. Right, every word you can see now how it fits them.

1:13:48 Now, the one section. Will we have difficulty will specifically be verse three, four and five. And the reason that's going to cause us problems is verse three is quoted. Where and the New Testament. And then we're going to be like, wait a minute, what's going on here? Because it's our we'll be tempted to do what only understand this in light of the New Testament and say, well, this is a reference to John the Baptist. He's the voice in the wilderness. But slow down. The New Testament writers use that of John, but that's clearly not the. Meaning here, right. The voice in the wilderness is what.

1:14:29 That someone is going to prepare the way for Israel to come out of Babylonian captivity. This has everything to do with that situation. I remember we talked about in our study of Romans. I know nobody will remember this. We spent like twelve weeks looking at how New Testament writers use Old Testament scripture, and sometimes their use of Old Testament scripture makes absolutely no sense to us. Just note, in this context this would happen, John the Baptist is of no value to them. This is about someone preparing the way for boom for them to be delivered. And we know, humanly speaking, I'm not saying that that's who this is referencing to, but humanly speaking, we do know who ultimately got him out of captivity, who Cyrus. And we know Cyrus is literally named in this section of scripture Isaiah forty through fifty five. You can't ignore Cyrus in this, Okay, so Cyrus has to at.

1:15:23 Least be considered. Now, John the Baptist, we can see how the New Testament uses it, But for the immediate purpose, we got to see how verse three applies to what the historical situation? Does that make sense? All right, we'll stop there. We had to finish all of that. We had to so we went well one hour and fifteen minutes, but no first hour. So yeah, that's good. All right, let's pray