Oct. 30, 2024

Isaiah 40: The Gospel

Isaiah 40: The Gospel

We do some work on Isaiah 40 as part of our series on Isaiah 40-55

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We do some work on Isaiah 40 as part of our series on Isaiah 40-55

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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. Well, if you

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have your Bibles, open them to Isaiah chapter forty, because

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once again we turn our attention to Isaiah chapter forty

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through Isaiah chapter fifty five. I cannot promise you that

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this is going to be beneficial. I cannot promise you

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that this is going to be helpful. I cannot promise

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you anything. In fact, base off everything that's happened leading

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up to this moment and our study and look at

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Isaiah chapter forty through fifty five. It's been really negative.

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It's not been very positive. It's not been very comforting.

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If you've been listening, you know why. It's not been

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very comforting. It's not been very helpful, it's not been

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very beneficial. It's been really all these negative terms irritating, frustrating,

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can fusing, confounding, discouraging, depressing. Makes me want to just

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give up, because for some weird reason, pastors to open

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their bibles to Isaiah forty through Isaiah fifty five and

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then they just do whatever they want to do with it.

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They spiritualize it, they allegorize it, they apply it, anyway

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they want. They don't seem that there's any guardrails, there's

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any rules. It's just a free for all. It's spiritual anarchy,

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it's chaos. It's well Christians being narcissistic, meaning we're going

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to make it about us, and then we're hijackers because

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we hijack the text and we take it wherever we

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want it to go. And so what we are attempting

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to do is we have started a series Isaiah forty

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through fifty five where we are attempting to study it,

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interpret it, explain it, and it's original textual and historical context.

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So by the time we are done going through Isaiah

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forty through Isaiah fifty five, you understand the text in

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its original context better than you have ever understood it

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in the past.

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That is the goal.

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Well we accomplish that, I don't know, but we're going

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to take another step in this study and we're going

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to do that in just a minute.

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But for now, let me say welcome everyone.

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It is Wednesday, October thirtieth, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently eleven fifty eight am Central time, and I'm coming

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to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right

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here in Albilene, Texas. Now, the studio has not been

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a place of positive feelings. It's not been very it's

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not been very encouraging. It's been very, very, very negative.

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But I'm I don't even want to say I'm hoping

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it's about to change because I don't know.

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Here's what I know.

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We're going to be listening to another sermon, this one

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on Isaiah chapter forty as well, and we're just going

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to see what's.

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Going to happen.

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I hate that sometimes these reviews turn out negative, but

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that's never my intention. My intention with these reviews are

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this one. I'm going to be listening to these sermons anyway,

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right because I listen to sermons. I love to listen

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to sermons. So if I love to listen to a sermon,

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why listen to a sermon in a room by myself

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when I can listen to a sermon and a room

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by myself, but with people around the world listening as well.

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So we're just listening to a sermon together. That's the goal.

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That's the vibe, right. I don't know what it's going

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to say. You don't know what's going to say, so

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I don't have some agenda. I don't go find some ooh,

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this is a sermon I can criticize. We listen to

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find out well how they interpret scripture, what their perspective is,

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what their hypotheses is, and then we then I, I

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should say, I offer you a different perspective in some cases,

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sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree, and you get the

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benefit of hearing different perspectives.

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Well.

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Are listening to sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five

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has turned very negative because of the way it has

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been handled. It's been spiritualized and allegorized almost to death,

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and so therefore, in some ways it's negative, but in

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other ways there is a positive. You're getting to hear

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two different perspectives on this very important section of scripture,

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and hopefully that will allow you to understand it more.

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The more we listen, hopefully the more you see. Hopefully,

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the more we listen, and the more sermons we listen to,

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the more you begin to understand. Now, you may decide

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that their perspective is correct. All of the allegorizing, spiritualizing,

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and hijacking you may think is correct, and that's your prerogative.

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By all means, you can do that or you may

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decide that I am at least onto something that at

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least some of my critique is worthwhile and beneficial at

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least hopefully I'm hoping that's the case. So that's what

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we're going to do. We're going to go right back

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into this. We're gonna just another sermon. Now in this

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particular case, yesterday, I think I asked the question when

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is comfort not comfort? And I'm the argument comfort is

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not comfort when we go take comfort that was meant

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for someone else and we try to claim it for ourselves.

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When we're like, hey, this comfort is for you.

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Sorry, I'm taking it.

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It's for me. Is it really my comfort? Can I

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really be comforted by a comfort that was not intended

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for me?

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Well, in Isaiah chapter forty, verse.

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One, we read these words comfort ye comfort yee.

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But that comfort yee, comfort yee. I'm not the yee.

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Okay, I'm not the them, I'm not the they comfort them.

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Who is the them? Well, they were referred to as

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my people, but.

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I cannot insert myself into that because this is referencing

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people who were in Babylonian exile. It has a specific people. Well,

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today we're gonna ask when is the Gospel, not the gospel.

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Now do we go to Isaiah forty and make it

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about the gospel. Well, one could argue you can, because

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Isaiah chapter forty, verse three says the voice of him

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the crieth in the wilderness, and like, oh oh, the

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New Testament refers to John the Baptist. Yeah, this is

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this is, this is related to the gospel. But let

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me make this point abundantly clear. When you go to

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the New Testament and you see how New Testament writers

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use Old Testament scriptures, you will see they use them

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in a variety of ways. Sometimes they kind of paraphrase them,

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sometimes they kind of just use the idea, sometimes they

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quote them, and then sometimes they interpret and apply them

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in a way that is completely opposite, in some cases,

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somehow not even related to its original historical context. And

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you say, well, how can they do that, because they're

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doing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now,

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what many people believe as well, if the New Testament

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writer interprets that that way, that I can take that

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interpretation and read it back into the Old Testament, And

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I argue, you've got to be very careful in doing that.

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In fact, I think it's a bad idea. When you

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go back to the Old Testament, you have to understand

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it and read it and interpret it in its original context.

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What the New Testament writer does with it is what

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the New Testament writer does with it under the inspiration

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of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean that we

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go back and reinterpret the Old Testament passage because you

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destroy the meaning. And Isaiah chapter forty this is written

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to people and bab what's written before they're there. But

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ultimately it's meant for the people who are in Babylonian exile.

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So you can't go to verse three and go, oh,

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that's about John to Baptists.

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No, no, no.

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The voice in the wilderness in Isaiah forty verse three

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is not John the Baptist in its original context. I

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will argue that it's the person that is referring to

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in Isaiah chapter forty, verse three. His name doesn't start

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with a jay, it starts with a C, and he's

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a Persian king, say, but the New Testament uses it

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to refer to John Great in that context, under the

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inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they can. But in this

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context to try to jump there makes no sense because

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this is the comfort the people in Babylonian exile. John

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the Baptist is not going to provide them any comfort

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because by the time John the Baptist comes on the scene,

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all of these people have been dead for a long time.

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So it has to have some meaning here first. So

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just keep all of that in mind. But we're going

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to be listening to a sermon entitled Isaiah's Gospel Proclamation,

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So obviously they're gonna take this and try to run

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to the gospel. And I've already offered at least some

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of my concern Now, this may be great, this may

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be wonderful, This may be the best we've ever heard.

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I don't know.

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We're gonna find out together, all right, So we're working

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on Isaiah forty through fifty five. I will be doing teaching.

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I'll be doing verse by verse exegetical teaching of it.

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But with that mixed in with that will be these

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ongoing sermon reviews so that we can hear different perspectives

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and we can be challenged. So I hope you're ready.

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I hope that was a pretty That was about a

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nine minute introduction, trying to cover a lot of things

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really really really really really really really fast and hopefully

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it was beneficial. But here we go. This is what

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we're here for. Another sermon on Isaiah forty. I would say,

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I would say fingers crossed, but that's kind of superstitious.

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I would say be hopeful, but that's probably naive. Let's

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just let it be what it is, and we're gonna

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find out what it is right now.

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Helpful to us. I want us to say that aspect

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of the word our subject in Isaiah forty is Isaiah's

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introduction of the gospel. Isaiah yep announces or proclaims good news.

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That's what gospel means. It means good news.

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Good Now the question is Isaiah proclaiming good news?

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What is that good news? And who is that good

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news for? Is that good news for you? For me?

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Now we can again read Isaiah forty.

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Verse one, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, My people

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is clearly identified here in its context. Go back to

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chapter thirty nine, starting in verse five, you will read

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Isaiah thirty nine to five. Then said Isaiah, Hezekiah, hear

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the words of the Lord of Host. Behold the days

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come that all that is in thine house, and that

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which thy fathers have laid up in store under this

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day shall be carried to Babylon. They're going into Babylonian captivity.

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Then chapter forty, now everything changes. Comfort ye, comfort Ye.

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It's repeated twice to show that it's important. It's it's

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there's an urgency. These people need comfort. Why they're in

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Babylonian captivity.

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So the comfort ye?

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Who is the ye? Who is the my people? The

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people in Babylonian captivity? Right?

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So is it good news?

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Yes? It is good news. Do we go take the

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good news from them? Do we take the comfort from them?

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I don't know what's going to happen. We're a while

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to find out.

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Good tidings. And Isaiah forty is one complete oracle. And

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an oracle is an utterance granted to the prophet by God,

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in which God himself gives the word words to the prophet,

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so that the prophet actually speaks. God is speaking through

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the prophet.

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Now, this is an interesting concept here, and I really

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appreciate this. Right, So we're already at least off to

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a good start here, We're off to a good start.

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He identifies Isaiah forty. Again, we're trying to put this

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all in this proper context, but we're gonna see what's

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going to happen here he identifies Isaiah forty as one

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complete oracle. Now my question is is he saying just

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Isaiah forty is it a complete art oracle? And then

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forty one is a separate complete oracle? Or is he

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saying Isaiah forty to fifty five is one complete oracle? Right?

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So I do like the fact that he defines one oracle?

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Is I do define that these are God's words basically

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spoken through the prophet. So I'm going to do a

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little work here. Is Isaiah forty one complete oracle? Or

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is Isaiah forty through fifty five one complete oracle?

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Let's see what AI tells us.

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All right, let's do this right now. Let's just do

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I'm doing a little bit of work right now, because

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as soon as I hear him say that, that's the

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first question that comes to my mind. All right, Isaiah

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forty through fifty five is generally understood. Now, when you

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hear the words generally understood means of course.

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I know it's a shocking. I know it's shocking.

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Christians don't agree on anything, all right, So I'm not

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shocked that it's only generally understood, meaning there's disagreement. Isaiah

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forty through fifty five is generally understood to be one

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larger oracle or prophetic section, rather than a single chapter

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like Isaid forty standing alone as a complete oracle. So

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when he says Isaiah forty is a complete oracle, I

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think it's more accurate to say Isaiah forty through fifty

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five is one complete oracle, larger oracle, one prophetic section.

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I think that that's better, all right. The larger section,

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Isaiah forty through fifty five is often called the Book

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of Comfort or Second Isaiah, and has a unified theme

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and purpose focused on comfort, redemption, and restoration for Israel

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and exile. Let me state that again, Isaiah forty through

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fifty five is about comfort, redemption, restoration.

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For is ray l Israel in exile.

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Now, some would argue it is made up of multiple

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individual oracles or pro prophecies that work together to deliver

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this message, with Isaiah forty serving as an introduction. So

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some would say it's one oracle, the whole section. Some

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may say it's made up of individual oracles. So we

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have different perspectives, right, I think it may be more

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accurate to say the whole thing serves as an oracle, right, But.

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I could then break this all down. We could break

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it down.

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I think it's better to see it as a group,

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but you may want to see them as individual oracles.

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Now we could do a little bit more work here

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to see how we want to get into that. But

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there you go. There's basically two perspectives, one basically large

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oracle or a large section broken into individual oracles. Now

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does each each chapter an oracle? Maybe they said individual

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oracles that make up one section. Now does that have

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any major emphasis on how we interpret it? Probably not,

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But just so you know, in many cases there's not

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even agreement within Christendom on how to even understand its structure.

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But okay, I've got AI gave me like three pages

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of notes here on it, So I'm not going to

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go through all of it right now, or that would

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take up forty minutes, but just so that you know,

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there's at least two major perspectives right here we go.

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And so Isaiah forty is a complete oracle within itself.

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And so to begin with, I want us to simply

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read it, and for that purpose I will read from

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the English Standard version that we use. So you're going

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to hear the profit more than once as I go

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through it, because what I want to do with you

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is to walk through this oracle, connecting the parts. It's

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a task. Hopefully it will be a good task that

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we will enjoy. Listen to God's word Comfort, Comfort my people, says,

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You're God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to her

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that her time of forced labor is over. Her iniquity

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has been pardoned, and she is received from the Lord's hand,

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that is, from Yahweh's hand, double for all her sins.

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A voice of one crying out, Prepare the way of

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Yahweh in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God.

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In the desert. Every valley will be lifted up. In

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every mountain and hill will be reveled. The uneven ground

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will become smooth, and the rough places a plaine, and

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the glory of Yahweh will appear in All humanity together

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will see it. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

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A voice was saying, cry out, Another said, what should

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I cry out? All humanity is grass, and all its

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goodness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers,

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the flowers fade when the breath of Yahweh blows on them. Indeed,

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the people are grass. The grass withers, the flowers fade,

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but the word of our God remains forever. Zion, Herald

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of good News. Go up on a high mountain, Jerusalem,

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Herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, raise it up.

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Do not be.

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

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See Sovereign Yahweh comes with strength, and his power establishes

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his rule. His wages are with him, and his reward

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accompanies him. He protects his flock like a shepherd. He

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gathers the lambs in his arms. He carries him in

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the fold of his garment. He gently leaves those said

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are nursing. Who has measured the waters of the hollow

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of his hand are marked off the heavens with the

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span of his hand. Who has gathered the dust of

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the earth in a measure, or weighed the mountains on

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the balance of the hills on the scales. Who has

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directed the spirit of Yahweh? Or who gave him counsel,

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Who did he consult? Who gave him understanding, or taught

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him the paths of justice? Who taught him knowledge and

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showed him the way of understanding. Look, the nations are

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like a drop in a bucket. They're considered as a

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peck of dust on the scales. He lifts up the

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islands like fine dust. The leman on cedars who are

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not enough for fuel, or its animals enough or a

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burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him.

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They are considered by him as empty nothingness with whom

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will you compare God? What lightness will you set up?

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For comparison with him? An idol something that has smelt

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or cast, and a metal worker plates with gold and

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makes silver chains for a poor person, contributes wood for

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a pedestal that will not rot. He looks for a

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skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not

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fall over. Do you not know? Have you not heard?

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Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

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Have you not considered the foundations of the earth. God

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is enthroned above the circle of the earth is inhabitants

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are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin

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cloth and spreads him out like a tent to live in.

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He reduces princes to nothing, and makes judges of the

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earth like a waste lamb. They are barely planted, barely sown.

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Their stem hardly takes root in the ground when he

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blows on them, and they wither in the whirlwind carries

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them away like stubble. To whom will you compare me?

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Or who is my equal? Asked the Holy One? Look

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up and see who created these? He brings out the

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stars by number. He calls them all by name, because

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of his great power and strength. Not one of them

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is missing. Jacob, why do you say in Israel? Why

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do you My way is hidden from Yahweh and my

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claim is ignored by my God? Do you not know?

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Have you not heard?

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Yahweh is the everlasting God, the creator of the whole earth.

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He never becomes faint or weary. There is no limit

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to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and

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strengthens the powerless. Yous may become faint and weary, and

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young men stumble and fall, But those who trust in

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Yahweh renew their strength. They were sore on wings like eagles.

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They were run and not become weary. They will walk

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and not fame.

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Now we've seen now a lot of these sermons that

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the approach by most of the pastors is to read

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either the entire chapter or a large section of it.

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All right, we've had this discussion.

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Good bad, I don't know.

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I look for our purposes, it works great, right because

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over and over you're hearing it being read over and

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over and over and over again.

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So that's what you're supposed to be doing.

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Anyway, I gave you already the assignment to be reading

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Isaiah forty through fifty five and make it your new

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best friend. Read it over and over and over. So

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the more you hear it, the more you see, the better,

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the more structure you see, so that it's beneficial for

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that from a preaching perspective. It's hard for me because

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if I'm sitting there, my mind is already I probably

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by the time he gets the verse thirty one, my

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brain probably has already got five hundred and seventy two questions. Right,

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I'm probably go like, what about this? And what about this?

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And what does this mean? What does this mean? And

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what does this mean? So I'm gonna have to then

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turn off my brain, you know, slam on the brakes,

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and then go Okay, now where is he going to go?

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Because I'm going to be I'm almost going to be

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wanting to have my notebook out going over what about

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this and what about this? And what about this? And

380
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.279
what about this? And what about this? But it's me,

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so this becomes personal preference thing. But he read it,

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00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:06.200
read it great better than I would have read it,

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very articulated, very clearly, wrote, read at a very good pace.

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Everything was great about that. That's awesome. We've heard Isaiah

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chapter forty. Now let's see what his approach is, what

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his hypotheses is, what his thesis is, and how he's

387
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going to approach this chapter. Right, So here we go.

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Thus says log the prophet in the name of Yahweh

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announces good news. Well, what is the good news? Here's

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a good news. Comfort my people speak tenderly, speak to

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their heart and tell them that her warfare has been warfare. Well,

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what is happening here is that Israel Judah is seen

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as coming back from the exile. Perhaps you remember when

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we begin the section on Isaiah that we talked about

395
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the fact that Isaiah is divided into two sections. The

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first section of Isaiah chapters one through thirty nine. This

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is pre exile. Isaiah lives before Judah is taken into exile.

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Off he sent to Judah, and he proclaims that God

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is sending judgment to the people, and that judgment will

400
00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:13.160
take the form of Babylon, who will take the people captive,

401
00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:18.559
who will destroy Jerusalem. Judgment is coming.

402
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All right. This makes me at least happy, because this

403
00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:29.000
is the first sermon that we've had that even attempts

404
00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:32.839
to deal with the historical context, the textual context. The

405
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.680
time anything, I mean, this has been I mean almost

406
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:38.920
everything else has been. So just like Isaiah forty, it's

407
00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.960
about you, it's about me, I mean, like almost inevitably.

408
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So at least here he's putting it in its context.

409
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I'm very happy about this. Is this is at least

410
00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:51.880
somewhat encouraging. This is like, all right, great, we're getting somewhere.

411
00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:56.839
He breaks it down, all right. He even acknowledges Isaiah

412
00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.319
lives before the exile, and I'm assuming he's going to

413
00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:03.160
acknowledge that Isaiah is dead when the ex al occurs.

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00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:05.240
So right now he putting it in it in a

415
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.079
chronological order, He's putting it in a textual context, a

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00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.880
historical context. All this is all this is. Oh, I'm

417
00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:14.799
so happy. I was about to just give up and

418
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:17.119
think it never occurs. So all right, here we go,

419
00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:18.400
here we go, let's see what happens.

420
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Isaiah forty begins a second section of Isaiah. It is

421
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written from the perspective as if the exile has ended.

422
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Now there are those who claim that Isaiah wrote one

423
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part and another Isaiah wrote a second part. But that's

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not necessarily to be true at all, because God, who

425
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gives the prophets, the insight and the visions, can certainly

426
00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:52.480
bridge the gap of one hundred years or even a

427
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thousand years. Isaiah speaks for God from God's perspective, and

428
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so in Isaiah forty, through the end of what we

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00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.640
call the prophet Isaiah, he speaks as though to the

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00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.039
people who have been judged, they have been exile, and

431
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:16.000
now they've been brought back, and he's from that respective

432
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that this chapter opens. That's his speak, sweet tender consolation

433
00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:30.720
to my people.

434
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.440
Okay, this is interesting the way he's describing this, that

435
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:42.240
it's being written from the perspective that it's over. Now.

436
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:46.839
That may be true. I'm not completely disagreeing in my mind. Okay. So,

437
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:51.880
so Isaiah's giving these words about one hundred years before

438
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.640
they even go into captivity. Right, So the original audience,

439
00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:58.720
they're not even in captivity yet it's there. They're there.

440
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.880
So these words are obvious need to be remembered, to

441
00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:04.519
be preserved to some level so that when the people

442
00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:06.920
go into captivity they can hear the words. So I

443
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.960
think it's being written from the perspective of when you

444
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:10.839
are in it.

445
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:14.119
Here are the words God is saying to you.

446
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Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people speak comfortably to Jerusalem

447
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and cry under her that our warfare is accomplished. This

448
00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:23.880
is telling the people in it, hey, that it's all.

449
00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:24.640
Coming to an end.

450
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:26.839
I don't know if it's being written from the perspective

451
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.279
that it's already over. I think it's being written from

452
00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:33.200
the perspective you're in it. But here's the thing, it's all.

453
00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:38.720
Coming to an end, right, I don't know.

454
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.200
I mean, maybe you could say it's written from the

455
00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.519
perspective like it's already over, But I think it's being

456
00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:45.960
more written from the perspective you're in it, because they're

457
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.839
going to be in it. Here are the words of comfort.

458
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:51.759
What are the words of comfort? This is all coming

459
00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:55.480
to an end. It is going to come to an end.

460
00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:00.039
It is at an end, it has been done. I

461
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:02.720
don't know, Like you said, well, when, like, when do

462
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:03.640
they hear these words?

463
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:07.039
They obviously would have heard these words, maybe, you know.

464
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:07.599
I don't think.

465
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:11.680
I don't think whoever began to preach or proclaim these

466
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:16.240
words to the people waited until the last day. I

467
00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:18.400
think they were hearing these words constantly, so I guess

468
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.039
in some ways it was telling them. I guess you

469
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:24.359
could look at it from that perspective that the people

470
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:27.279
were being told it's over even though it wasn't over.

471
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:29.480
So maybe then from that case, you could say it

472
00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:32.519
is coming from the perspective that it's over. Hey, from

473
00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:35.240
the perspective it's being given it's over even though it

474
00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:35.960
really wasn't over.

475
00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:37.319
Okay, maybe I can see that.

476
00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.480
Maybe I can see that, But I think it needs

477
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:41.920
to be very much stressed that these would have been

478
00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:43.880
words given to the people while they were in it.

479
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:49.359
So they're in it comfort, but hey, it's going to.

480
00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:49.920
Come to an end.

481
00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.640
I kind of see it like, Hey, this is letting

482
00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:53.440
you know it's going to come to an end. I

483
00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:55.559
understand in some ways though, it's being written as if

484
00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:58.000
it has come to an end. So I think there's

485
00:29:58.039 --> 00:29:58.920
a little bit of.

486
00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:01.160
There's a little of.

487
00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:06.039
Both maybe and that maybe maybe you can decide which

488
00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:07.680
way you would want to look at it.

489
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:18.559
If you've ever experienced deep grief, deep hurt and grief,

490
00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:24.440
then you can understand something of what the prophet is

491
00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:28.799
trying to say. In God's name, God wants to comfort

492
00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.480
the heart of his people after they have been through

493
00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:40.759
tremendous suffering. It's been seventy years. That's three or four

494
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:49.440
generations of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren. When

495
00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:53.839
the people are returning, they had no remembrance of ever

496
00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:58.359
living in Jerusalem, for they never had. They were born

497
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:02.359
in Babylon, and that's the Lord of modern day Iraq.

498
00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:08.119
That's where they had grown up. And now they're coming back.

499
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.279
They're coming back to their homeland, to the land that

500
00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:19.000
God had given their forefathers to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

501
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:23.680
the land where God had made himself known, the temple

502
00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:27.440
had been built, and the true worship of God had

503
00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:34.640
been offered. Console my people speak gingerly to their heart,

504
00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:38.559
and this is what you need to tell them. Tell

505
00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:42.680
them from the lexum of English Bible translation, that her

506
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:49.079
compulsory labor is fulfilled her prison term is over. That's

507
00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:54.480
what it means, because Babylon had been the prison house

508
00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:59.720
for God's people, because they had violated the covenant that

509
00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:04.359
God had established with Israel own Mount Sinai in the

510
00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:10.839
days of Moses. If you can recall what had happened.

511
00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:16.240
God brought Israel out of Egypt. He brought them to

512
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:20.160
Mount Sinai, and there he established covenant with them. They

513
00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:22.960
entered into this covenant with God. You will be my

514
00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:26.200
people and I will be your God. You must obey

515
00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:30.000
these rules, these regulations. You must live in accordance with

516
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:34.000
this law, and if you do, then I will bless you.

517
00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:36.759
And great blessings are listed. You can find them in

518
00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:42.160
Deuteronomy chapter twenty seven. But if you do not keep

519
00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:47.720
my covenant, then judgment curses will fall upon you, and

520
00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:51.359
we find those listed in Deuteronomy twenty eight.

521
00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:55.880
All right, this is good stuff. I'm going to emphasize.

522
00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:00.960
They could not keep it. We cannot keep it. No

523
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.480
one can keep it because it's law. We cannot keep

524
00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:08.160
God's law. Saved or unsaved, you cannot keep the law

525
00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:12.079
of God because law demands perfection. You will never be perfect,

526
00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:15.359
it says, be holy as he is holy. You cannot

527
00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:17.119
do that. You never will be able to do it.

528
00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:19.519
You you are that in your position because of an

529
00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:22.680
imputed righteousness, But in your practice you continue to sin.

530
00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:25.240
You live and sin, your in perpetual sin. And if

531
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:28.640
you think anything other than that, you're delusional. Right, It's law.

532
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.119
So what is the law supposed to do?

533
00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:33.960
Demonstrate your inability, demonstrate your guilt, and then bring you

534
00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:34.720
to the foot of the.

535
00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:38.160
Cross that says he did it for you.

536
00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:40.480
All right. So, but just so that you know, the

537
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.279
entire Old Testament is the story of Israel not being

538
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:45.359
able to do what the law demands them to do,

539
00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:46.400
even though they thought they could.

540
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:48.039
Even though they thought they would, they.

541
00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:51.559
Didn't because no one can, because God's law demands perfection

542
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:53.079
internally and externally.

543
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:03.160
I want you to hear the curses, because this is

544
00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:11.400
what Bibylon was all about. For hundreds of years, Israel,

545
00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:17.679
the people of the Hebrews, had violated the covenant with God.

546
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:24.880
Primarily they did this by idolatry, by the worship of

547
00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:31.920
other gods alongside Jehovah or in place of Jehovah. But

548
00:34:32.039 --> 00:34:36.400
they mixed constantly the true worship of God with idolatry

549
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.840
and with the licentiousness that came with idolatry. Because the

550
00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:46.239
idolatry of the Canaanite people was very much rooted in agriculture,

551
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:51.519
in sensual practices that were to help fertilize the land.

552
00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:58.119
This was an attraction, and this is what they fell into.

553
00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:07.280
Time and time again. God said ultimately enough, and when

554
00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:13.400
he said enough, the curse fell upon the land. Here

555
00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:19.320
is what God has said Deuteronomy chapter twenty eight. And

556
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.599
you shall be plucked off the land that you are

557
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:24.800
entering to take possession of it.

558
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:31.079
Oh, this is so good, This is so good. I

559
00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:34.280
didn't even think about this. So I think before you

560
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:37.400
do Isaiah forty. It's almost imperative that you go back

561
00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:41.360
to Isaiah thirty nine read verses five through eight, because

562
00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:46.599
that sets up the historical and textual context for Isaiah forty. Right,

563
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:51.599
But you cannot read Isaiah thirty nine, five through eight

564
00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:57.320
without understanding Deuteronomy twenty eight and all the curses they

565
00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:01.599
are in now going to experience all the curses in

566
00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:06.519
Deuteronomy twenty eight because of their disobedience. So what you

567
00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:10.280
need to do is list all the ways they disobeyed

568
00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:13.199
and all the curses that are laid out for them,

569
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:17.000
and then you see and you have a better historical

570
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:18.159
context of what.

571
00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:20.039
They are experiencing.

572
00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:22.880
So then that makes the word comfort, That makes those

573
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:27.599
words comfort ye, comfort, ye, even that much more powerful.

574
00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:32.039
So I'm great, I'm gonna I'm gonna definitely utilize this.

575
00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:36.119
I'm gonna change up my entire approach because this is

576
00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:40.159
good stuff. This is awesome, this is this is by hand,

577
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:43.400
hands down, the best we have heard on this. All right.

578
00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:47.360
Everyone else at this point had already so inserted us into.

579
00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:48.400
The text that we don't need.

580
00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.119
In some cases, they never even really dealt with the text.

581
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:56.400
This is a first one where we man, this is

582
00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:57.880
good stuff. This is good.

583
00:36:58.159 --> 00:36:58.960
I'm not saying we're not.

584
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:01.960
I'm not gonna have any dis agreement, but man, alive,

585
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:03.840
this is so whoo.

586
00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:06.679
This gives me some sense of hope.

587
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.360
All right, So let's see where he takes it. This

588
00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:12.199
is good. He's in Deuteronomy twenty eight. You definitely need

589
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.039
to connect Deuteronomy twenty eight to Isaiah thirty.

590
00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:15.960
Nine, five through eight.

591
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:19.480
All of that sets up the historical textual context for

592
00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:20.280
Isaiah forty.

593
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:25.119
You cannot miss that context.

594
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:32.119
This Deuteronomy twenty eight, verse sixty three latter part. And

595
00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:38.400
Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end

596
00:37:38.519 --> 00:37:43.039
of the earth to the other, and there you shall

597
00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:46.719
serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you

598
00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:52.239
nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you

599
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:55.719
shall find no despite, and there shall be no resting

600
00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.920
place for the sole of your foot, where Yahweh will

601
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.880
give you. There a trim heart and failing eyes and

602
00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:07.480
elanguishing soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you.

603
00:38:08.280 --> 00:38:11.480
Night and day you shall be in dread and have

604
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:16.159
no assurance of your life. In the morning, you will say,

605
00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:18.239
if only it were evening, And at the evening you

606
00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:21.119
will say, if only it were morning, because of the

607
00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:25.920
dread that your heart shall feel and the sights that

608
00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:36.840
your eyes shall see. The curse. Now, the curse has

609
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:40.079
fallen upon the people more than once. But this was

610
00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:45.800
the first time, when Babylon came and destroyed the temple

611
00:38:47.239 --> 00:38:51.199
and took away the holy vessels and most of the

612
00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:57.400
people into Babylonian captivity for seventy years in fulfillment of

613
00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:01.280
the prophecy that was given to Jerrem Maya and to

614
00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:07.719
the other prophets. It's following that first judgment, that first

615
00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:13.679
falling of the curse that Isaiah speaks the Gospel, the

616
00:39:13.719 --> 00:39:19.159
good news that we're considering. That is not the end

617
00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:25.440
of the curses that fall upon Israel. For the second

618
00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:29.719
curse came after the appearance of our Lord and Savior,

619
00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:37.639
Jesus Christ. It happened in seventy a d. When Rome

620
00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:48.239
came to Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, scattered the peoples. Now,

621
00:39:48.280 --> 00:39:53.000
even before that, before Babylon even came Israel, the Northern

622
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:57.199
Kingdom had been taken over by Assyria, and the people

623
00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:04.360
had been scattered. The curse falls more than once upon

624
00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:10.039
the Hebrew people. Why because of the violation of the

625
00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:15.039
Mosaic Covenant. Now, the Mosaic Covenant is a covenant that

626
00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:21.760
God entered into with Israel, no other nation. But when

627
00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:25.599
you enter into covenant with God, you must be careful.

628
00:40:26.519 --> 00:40:30.400
You must obey the covenant. You must live in accordance

629
00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:31.760
with the covenant.

630
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:39.559
All great, all great ideas, all points. And Yes, Israel

631
00:40:39.719 --> 00:40:43.159
entered into the Mosaic Covenant. Israel did, and the Mosaic

632
00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:45.480
Covenant clearly.

633
00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:47.719
Had You must do this.

634
00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:51.039
It clearly is a covenant of works. There's no way

635
00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:52.800
to get around that. I mean, it is. And we

636
00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:55.480
talked about this when we when we looked at the dispensations,

637
00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:00.239
we looked at the dispensations and the covenants. So I

638
00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:02.480
think that's I think it's very, very, very important to

639
00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:06.119
realize that. So let's let's let's continue to see where

640
00:41:06.119 --> 00:41:07.119
he goes here.

641
00:41:10.519 --> 00:41:14.280
The Mosaic Covenant, though God is gracious in many ways

642
00:41:14.280 --> 00:41:22.519
with it, was primarily a covenant of works. Well that's

643
00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:28.559
the background. But now the Babylonian activity is announced, is

644
00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:32.559
coming to an end, and so the good news comes.

645
00:41:33.480 --> 00:41:41.840
Comfort my people, says your God. Comfort my people, speak

646
00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:45.719
tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and tell them that

647
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:54.719
their time of suffering has ended. Tell them that her

648
00:41:54.800 --> 00:41:59.480
time of forced labor is over, and her iniquity has

649
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:05.159
been part. She has endured the punishment that was meeted

650
00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:09.320
by My hand, and from her perspective, she's paid double

651
00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:14.519
for her sins. Now, Israel did not actually pay for

652
00:42:14.599 --> 00:42:20.199
their sin. They justly deserve the punishment. And now the

653
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:23.920
punishment is over. Think of a prisoner. He's gone to prison.

654
00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:28.280
He has committed a serious crime. He was committed to

655
00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:32.679
twenty five years. The twenty five years are over. He's

656
00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:39.239
now free. This is the beginning. You're back. I want

657
00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:42.960
to comfort your heart. Now, how does God go about

658
00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:47.480
comforting their heart? Well, here's something that's in the background.

659
00:42:49.320 --> 00:42:52.559
If you've been with a people that have been repeatedly

660
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:56.920
violators of the Covenant and have repeatedly found themselves at

661
00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:01.199
the receiving hand of God's punishment because halls of their sin,

662
00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:05.280
what's going to prevent God from in the future doing

663
00:43:05.320 --> 00:43:12.360
and again? How can I know when it's over? How

664
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:19.480
can I know when real forgiveness and permanent status of

665
00:43:19.559 --> 00:43:21.440
acceptance has come.

666
00:43:23.719 --> 00:43:25.440
Oh, that's a great question.

667
00:43:25.559 --> 00:43:26.840
That's a brilliant question.

668
00:43:28.239 --> 00:43:32.440
And it's historical context. Yeah, even though, hey, here's comfort

669
00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:37.960
because this time is up, but it would be a

670
00:43:38.039 --> 00:43:41.159
temporal comfort, right, it would only be like, but what's

671
00:43:41.199 --> 00:43:42.599
gonna prevent it from happening again?

672
00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:43.719
Because we know what happens.

673
00:43:43.800 --> 00:43:47.079
Right, they're comforted, they come out of Babylonian captivity, But

674
00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:49.599
when you open up your New Testament, they're under the

675
00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:53.199
Hill of Rome. And then when you get to you know,

676
00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:56.159
later on in the Gospels, we have the whole discussion

677
00:43:56.199 --> 00:43:58.880
about what's going to happen in seventy a d. And

678
00:43:58.920 --> 00:44:01.039
then they're wiped off the face of the earth. So

679
00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:05.480
at its very best would be temporal comfort. What will

680
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:10.840
bring lasting comfort? So now you could then bring a

681
00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:13.559
correlation because where he's going to go, he wants to

682
00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.960
get to the true comfort, which is the Gospel. But

683
00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:21.559
we cannot ignore that this temporal comfort happens here. There

684
00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:24.360
is a temporal comfort. Now for Israel, there is a

685
00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:28.239
temporal comfort, but there is a long lasting comfort because well,

686
00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:31.079
God's going to make a new covenant with them. Why

687
00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:34.360
because while they fell under the mosaic covenant. Right, So

688
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:37.480
this is where you can kind of bring some concepts

689
00:44:37.519 --> 00:44:41.360
together and it makes sense, and he's maintaining still the

690
00:44:41.559 --> 00:44:45.519
historical and textual context. Now it could get you could

691
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:48.039
just so quickly jump to the other you forget this.

692
00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:51.280
But at least he has mentioned everything that puts us here.

693
00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:54.280
Let's see how he does this. This is actually, this

694
00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:55.800
is very interesting.

695
00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:06.920
When can I be assured of the gospel? Assurance? I

696
00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:13.679
believe that's what Isaiah is announcing to them. So we

697
00:45:13.719 --> 00:45:15.800
move from verses one and two.

698
00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:19.960
Okay, now this is where I have a little bit

699
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:26.440
of a disagreement. I don't think Isaiah is announcing to

700
00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:32.280
them the gospel assurance, the Gospel comfort. What he's announcing

701
00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:38.840
to them clearly is their immediate comfort, in their immediate situation.

702
00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:43.440
To say otherwise, I think, now see, if we're not careful,

703
00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:45.920
we're going to once again begin a little bit of

704
00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:49.159
taking it out of its context. I know we always

705
00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:52.360
want to run to other things, but for them, they

706
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:55.360
would have any other comfort. And again, let's make it

707
00:45:55.440 --> 00:45:59.400
very clear. These people are in Babylonian captivity, all right,

708
00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:01.679
So let's make the that's very clear, all right. If

709
00:46:01.719 --> 00:46:05.639
you're going to offer them a gospel comfort, they're all

710
00:46:05.679 --> 00:46:10.960
going to be long dead before that gospel comfort comes about,

711
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:17.880
because their comfort that they need is in their immediate context. Right,

712
00:46:17.960 --> 00:46:21.199
So let's make sure we at least establish that fact.

713
00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:31.280
Diverse Three a voice, a one crying out, Prepare the

714
00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:36.360
way of Yahweh in the wilderness, make a straight highway

715
00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:41.199
for our God in the desert. Where do we hear

716
00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:45.840
these words? We hear them in Matthew, we hear them

717
00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:49.239
in Mark, we hear them in Luke. We hear them

718
00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:53.559
in the mouth of John the Baptizer, as he announces

719
00:46:53.639 --> 00:46:57.360
the coming of the Kingdom of God in the days

720
00:46:57.840 --> 00:47:02.800
of our Lord and Savior Jeezesus Christ. This is a

721
00:47:02.840 --> 00:47:07.280
prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. For here is

722
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:11.519
the messenger that precedes the coming of the Messiah.

723
00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:20.519
Oh man man man, see I disagree here. This is

724
00:47:20.599 --> 00:47:24.840
a prophecy of someone who's going to come and bring

725
00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:28.320
them out of their Babylonian exile.

726
00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:31.440
The New Testament takes.

727
00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:36.039
It, utilizes it for its purpose, but it's doing so

728
00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:38.440
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which makes it

729
00:47:38.559 --> 00:47:41.360
acceptable to do. But I don't think you take that.

730
00:47:41.719 --> 00:47:44.320
Read it back into Isaiah and go This is a

731
00:47:44.360 --> 00:47:46.239
prophecy about the coming Messiah.

732
00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.519
This is a prophecy about.

733
00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:52.400
Their immediate deliverer, which is going to bring about the

734
00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:56.760
end of the Babylonian captivity. And his name is not Jesus,

735
00:47:56.800 --> 00:48:00.599
his name is not John the Baptist. His name is Cyrus.

736
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:07.000
He's the one who brings them out. He's the one

737
00:48:07.079 --> 00:48:09.519
who cries out, let them go back. He's the one

738
00:48:09.519 --> 00:48:12.519
who gives the decree. He's the one who lets them return.

739
00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:15.239
He's the one who lets them go rebuild Jerusalem in

740
00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:15.760
the temple.

741
00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:16.920
He's the one.

742
00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:19.760
He's the one who makes the path straight.

743
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:21.880
He's the one who makes it all.

744
00:48:21.960 --> 00:48:24.719
Ready creates in a sense, a highway for them to go.

745
00:48:27.159 --> 00:48:31.199
It's Cyrus. You have to acknowledge that, at least in

746
00:48:31.199 --> 00:48:34.880
its historical context. If he does not acknowledge Cyrus here,

747
00:48:35.320 --> 00:48:39.519
then then he's destroyed the entire All of that time

748
00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:42.840
he spent establishing this historical context is about to be

749
00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:48.000
immediately annihilated unless you say no, no. For these people,

750
00:48:48.360 --> 00:48:52.280
it's not John the Baptist or Jesus. For these people,

751
00:48:52.440 --> 00:48:53.360
it's Cyrus.

752
00:49:00.039 --> 00:49:11.519
It's John in the wilderness preparing the way of who Yahweh.

753
00:49:11.639 --> 00:49:18.840
Don't don't fail to grasp what the prophet is actually

754
00:49:19.559 --> 00:49:24.760
saying here. You need to look at the word itself

755
00:49:25.480 --> 00:49:29.920
in the Hebrew. A voice is calling in the wilderness,

756
00:49:29.960 --> 00:49:40.199
clear the way of y hwh Yahweh, Jehovah, Jehovah. That's

757
00:49:40.239 --> 00:49:45.920
the personal name of Almighty God, given to Moses at

758
00:49:45.960 --> 00:49:50.760
the Burning Bush in Exodus thirty three.

759
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:53.639
You can look this up and correct me. Is it

760
00:49:53.760 --> 00:50:02.760
also not the Covenant name for God? I could be wrong.

761
00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:08.360
I could be wrong. I think it's related to the Covenant.

762
00:50:08.519 --> 00:50:12.280
Maybe the national name for God Israel it's very Israel focused.

763
00:50:12.320 --> 00:50:14.280
I think I think that that's fair to say it's

764
00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:17.559
very Israel focused. Well, God, yes he made the Mosaic Covenant,

765
00:50:17.639 --> 00:50:22.360
but there's the other covenants he made, right, the Abrahamic Covenant.

766
00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:23.719
So there is one hand.

767
00:50:23.760 --> 00:50:26.360
God made the Mosaic Covenant, which is workspace, but then

768
00:50:26.400 --> 00:50:28.639
there's the Covenant of Grace.

769
00:50:28.840 --> 00:50:29.880
All right, I don't want to go for.

770
00:50:29.960 --> 00:50:31.639
I'm not going to go, and I'm not gonna I'm

771
00:50:31.639 --> 00:50:34.719
not gonna distinguish that phrase from how Covenant theology would

772
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:36.719
look at it. But he made the Abrahamic Covenant, which

773
00:50:36.840 --> 00:50:41.000
ultimately promised they're going to get the land. So God

774
00:50:41.239 --> 00:50:45.119
ultimately will be the one that's going to fix everything

775
00:50:45.159 --> 00:50:48.599
for them. But in this particular case, look, they can't

776
00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:51.760
just stay in Babylon because sooner or later they all

777
00:50:51.760 --> 00:50:54.079
have to Well, first he's got to preserve Judah because

778
00:50:54.119 --> 00:50:57.719
obviously that's where the Messiah will ultimately come. But this

779
00:50:57.840 --> 00:51:01.599
immediate context here is that they're God, the national God

780
00:51:01.639 --> 00:51:05.199
of Israel, the Covenant God of Israel is going to

781
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:07.960
remove them from bondage. And how is he going to

782
00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:11.480
do this through? I think you can even go read

783
00:51:11.519 --> 00:51:13.679
this if you need to. I think we can see

784
00:51:13.719 --> 00:51:21.119
Cyrus being literally named things like the anointed God's servant.

785
00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:25.039
Cyrus is going to be the one, the human instrument

786
00:51:25.079 --> 00:51:27.920
whom God is going to utilize to bring them out.

787
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:31.320
That's the context here. So when he says, we pay

788
00:51:31.360 --> 00:51:35.119
attention to what he's really saying. What he's really saying is, hey, guys,

789
00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:37.159
you can find comfort in this.

790
00:51:37.159 --> 00:51:39.880
This your captivity. It's all come to an end.

791
00:51:40.400 --> 00:51:43.599
And there is a voice crying in the wilderness, and well,

792
00:51:44.079 --> 00:51:46.760
it's going to bring about your uh, the end of

793
00:51:46.800 --> 00:51:47.519
your captivity.

794
00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:51.960
I think that we can't ignore that context.

795
00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:57.880
Clear the way for Yahweh, make a highway smooth in

796
00:51:57.960 --> 00:52:03.599
the desert for our God God. Every valley will be lifted, etc.

797
00:52:04.840 --> 00:52:09.039
The ground will be prepared for him, because Yahweh is

798
00:52:09.119 --> 00:52:17.320
coming among his people in order to redeem them. Do

799
00:52:17.360 --> 00:52:21.840
you understand what he's saying. The prophet is telling us.

800
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:25.920
God is telling us through the Prophet that Yahweh himself

801
00:52:26.199 --> 00:52:32.320
will come among the people to redeem them, to forgive

802
00:52:32.360 --> 00:52:37.480
them of their sin by taking care of it for them.

803
00:52:38.440 --> 00:52:41.559
And the rest of Isaiah. The Prophet will unfold this

804
00:52:41.840 --> 00:52:50.800
for us. The gospel is truly preached in the prophet Isaiah.

805
00:52:51.199 --> 00:52:54.480
Isaiah twelve is a proclamation of the gospel. But here

806
00:52:54.719 --> 00:52:58.800
beginning in Isaiah forty in forty two, will take up

807
00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:03.679
the chosen of the Lord, that's the name of the Messiah.

808
00:53:03.840 --> 00:53:07.719
In Isaiah fifty two, he continues in his ministry. In

809
00:53:07.760 --> 00:53:10.719
fifty three he dies, on behalf of these people he's

810
00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:16.519
raised from the dead. The rest of Isaiah unfolds the

811
00:53:16.679 --> 00:53:20.519
meaning of the work of the Messiah on behalf of

812
00:53:20.559 --> 00:53:21.559
the people of God.

813
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:28.039
Yeah, okay, and all right, I'm gonna do a little

814
00:53:28.119 --> 00:53:30.639
I'm gonna do a little bit of work here, okay.

815
00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:34.400
Isiah and Isaiah forty four twenty eight, so it's within

816
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:38.239
the same section, and Isaiah forty five one through four

817
00:53:38.679 --> 00:53:44.400
specifically mentioned Cyrus as god shepherd and anointed one, choosing

818
00:53:44.480 --> 00:53:47.159
to accomplish God's purpose of freeing as people. And this

819
00:53:47.239 --> 00:53:50.719
way Cyrus is an instrument and fulfilling the deliverance that

820
00:53:50.840 --> 00:53:58.760
Isaiah forty announces. All right, So you could argue Isaiah

821
00:53:58.840 --> 00:54:02.079
forty verse three is not about Cyrus himself. You could

822
00:54:02.159 --> 00:54:04.880
argue it's about God coming to deliver his people. But

823
00:54:05.039 --> 00:54:08.960
Cyrus acts as the means in which the prophecy is.

824
00:54:08.920 --> 00:54:12.639
Fulfilled, all right.

825
00:54:13.119 --> 00:54:16.719
So, so we could argue it that way that the

826
00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:19.719
voice of him crying in the wilderness, prepare you the

827
00:54:19.719 --> 00:54:22.159
way of the Lord, make straight the desert a highway

828
00:54:22.199 --> 00:54:24.800
of your God. You could say that's a prophetic voice,

829
00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:27.880
that's God saying this. But Cyrus is going to be

830
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:34.119
the human instrument which brings this about. So, I you

831
00:54:34.239 --> 00:54:36.559
just can't forget Cyrus here, you just can't. I know,

832
00:54:36.599 --> 00:54:37.840
you want to go to We want to go to

833
00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:39.800
the Gospel. We want to go to the Gospel. But

834
00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:43.480
you can't forget Cyrus is literally going to be mentioned

835
00:54:43.960 --> 00:54:47.239
in the very section. Say that's why you can't separate

836
00:54:47.320 --> 00:54:50.679
forty from the rest of the section. Forty is just

837
00:54:50.719 --> 00:54:54.360
the introduction to the entire section. Well, what does it introduced?

838
00:54:54.440 --> 00:54:57.760
What it introduces? Hey, you need to be comforted. Why

839
00:54:57.880 --> 00:55:01.039
because all of your captivity he is finally coming to

840
00:55:01.119 --> 00:55:04.159
an end, and there is a voice in the wilderness

841
00:55:04.199 --> 00:55:07.760
crying for this. Well, it's giving you a sign of

842
00:55:07.880 --> 00:55:08.679
something's going to come.

843
00:55:08.679 --> 00:55:09.599
Well, who's going to come?

844
00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:13.239
Well, when you get to Isaiah forty four and forty five,

845
00:55:13.599 --> 00:55:19.079
it's none other than Cyrus. He's literally mentioned, right here

846
00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:22.920
in the text. It's not that I'm I'm not adding

847
00:55:22.960 --> 00:55:26.400
anything to the text. I'm staying within the confines of

848
00:55:26.599 --> 00:55:27.360
the text.

849
00:55:29.800 --> 00:55:34.880
Yahway's coming among us to redeem us. Yahweh is coming

850
00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:39.079
in his own person, in the incarnate Son, the Lord

851
00:55:39.239 --> 00:55:45.440
Jesus Christ. Yes, there are distinctions between the Father and

852
00:55:45.599 --> 00:55:48.320
Son and the Spirit, and yet they are one God.

853
00:55:48.639 --> 00:55:53.440
So that when Jesus appears, the incarnate one God himself

854
00:55:53.840 --> 00:56:03.119
has appeared. He's appeared in the incarnate Messiah, our savior.

855
00:56:04.159 --> 00:56:09.599
This is whom God sends himself in the person of

856
00:56:09.679 --> 00:56:17.960
his son. Then we move the verse five. A voice

857
00:56:18.639 --> 00:56:22.400
was saying, cry out, trying to get into the to

858
00:56:22.519 --> 00:56:27.679
the moment, Isaiah's hearing these things. I don't know if

859
00:56:27.719 --> 00:56:30.280
he's seeing things, but he's definitely hearing things. A voice

860
00:56:30.320 --> 00:56:34.239
is saying cry out. Another says what should I cry?

861
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:38.280
Perhaps missus Isaiah saying what should I cry? Or maybe

862
00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:40.760
he just hear's another voice, what shall cry out? What

863
00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:46.039
should I cry? Here's the answer. All humanity is grass,

864
00:56:46.079 --> 00:56:48.679
and all this goodness is like the flower of the field.

865
00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:53.639
The grass withers, the flowers fade. When the breath of

866
00:56:53.719 --> 00:56:57.960
Yahweh blows on it. Indeed, the people of grass, the

867
00:56:58.039 --> 00:57:01.719
grass withers, the flowers say, but the word of our

868
00:57:01.760 --> 00:57:08.960
God remains forever. Okay, cry out? What should I cry out? Well?

869
00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:16.239
Cry out that humanity is fragile, that humanity has no

870
00:57:16.639 --> 00:57:25.320
staying power, but God does, and God's word endures forever.

871
00:57:27.840 --> 00:57:30.480
What's the prophet saying? What God is saying is that

872
00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:35.440
you can bank on my word, because I speak it,

873
00:57:35.440 --> 00:57:36.880
it shall come to pass.

874
00:57:39.239 --> 00:57:39.920
Yes, we can.

875
00:57:40.159 --> 00:57:41.639
Who can bank on his word?

876
00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:44.760
Israel can bank on his word that it.

877
00:57:44.599 --> 00:57:46.119
Will come to pass.

878
00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:53.239
What will come to pass them being delivered from Babylonian exile.

879
00:57:53.960 --> 00:57:58.639
And I'm just utterly shocked that he's not mentioning Cyrus here,

880
00:57:58.960 --> 00:58:02.800
even on sources that are somewhat questionable, right, even on

881
00:58:02.880 --> 00:58:08.239
sources that say, even on sources that say things that, well,

882
00:58:08.360 --> 00:58:11.639
this is not directly about Cirrus. Even in sources that

883
00:58:11.719 --> 00:58:14.639
say that they still say things like this. Cyrus plays

884
00:58:14.639 --> 00:58:17.079
an essential role in allowing the Israelites to return to

885
00:58:17.159 --> 00:58:20.119
Jerusalem and effectively prepare the way for their return by

886
00:58:20.119 --> 00:58:23.199
issuing a decree that grants them freedom to rebuild the

887
00:58:23.239 --> 00:58:26.559
temple and settle on their homeland. Asra chapter one Verses

888
00:58:26.599 --> 00:58:30.239
one through four records this. In this sense, he facilitates

889
00:58:30.239 --> 00:58:33.760
the physical aspect of Israel's return. But Isaiah forty verse

890
00:58:33.760 --> 00:58:37.559
three speaks more broadly than simply Cyrus's role. So I

891
00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:40.760
got no problem trying to say that it speaks more broadly.

892
00:58:41.039 --> 00:58:43.679
But even in sources that say, well, Isaiah forty verse

893
00:58:43.679 --> 00:58:47.320
three is not specifically about Sorrus, even they have to admit, well,

894
00:58:47.440 --> 00:58:50.239
and around about way, he's the one who prepares the way,

895
00:58:50.480 --> 00:58:53.880
and aroundabout way, he is the one giving the decree.

896
00:58:54.280 --> 00:58:56.840
So I mean, it's not about Cyrus, But well, I

897
00:58:56.880 --> 00:59:00.039
mean it's about Sorrus. Even sources that are critical of that.

898
00:59:00.400 --> 00:59:02.000
Still has to acknowledge it.

899
00:59:03.480 --> 00:59:07.239
Cyrus as a historical instrument of God's deliverance. Isaiah forty

900
00:59:07.280 --> 00:59:09.519
four to twenty eight and Isaiah forty five to one

901
00:59:09.679 --> 00:59:12.840
named Cyrus's god shepherd, an anointed one chosen to fulfill

902
00:59:12.920 --> 00:59:17.119
God's purpose for releasing the exile. By issuing a decree

903
00:59:17.519 --> 00:59:21.679
that allows the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem, Cyrus

904
00:59:21.719 --> 00:59:26.320
indeeds prepares the way for their physical restoration to the land.

905
00:59:26.519 --> 00:59:28.920
So again, even in a source that's somewhat like, no,

906
00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:30.840
it's not really about Cyrus.

907
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:32.599
It even has to acknowledge it.

908
00:59:32.960 --> 00:59:37.480
This decree can be viewed as Cyrus's cry to release

909
00:59:37.559 --> 00:59:40.960
these exiles, allowing them to return, rebuild, and establish, re

910
00:59:41.159 --> 00:59:44.920
establish their lives in Judah. His actions aligned with broader

911
00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:49.119
promises of Isaiah forty to bring comfort and deliverance to Israel.

912
00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:50.920
So even they have to acknowledge.

913
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:53.079
Yeah, well, he is the one and the one kind

914
00:59:53.079 --> 00:59:55.800
of crying out for this stabb and his decree is,

915
00:59:55.840 --> 01:00:02.599
in a sense, his cry the prophetic call of Isaiah

916
01:00:02.599 --> 01:00:05.400
forty verse three. However, Isaiah forty three does not refer

917
01:00:05.440 --> 01:00:08.880
specifically to Cyrus. Instead, it speaks more generally about the

918
01:00:08.920 --> 01:00:11.800
preparation of a path for God for God's return to

919
01:00:11.840 --> 01:00:14.320
his people. The voice in the wilderness calling to prepare

920
01:00:14.360 --> 01:00:18.000
the way is a metaphor for spiritual and natural national

921
01:00:18.079 --> 01:00:22.239
preparation as God and acts his promised deliverance.

922
01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:24.039
So see they kind of want to move away. It's

923
01:00:24.039 --> 01:00:26.599
not Sorrus. But then look at the very next paragraph.

924
01:00:27.039 --> 01:00:32.039
While Cyrus plays an instrumental role, the passage refers to

925
01:00:32.079 --> 01:00:36.360
God's sovereignty action and restoring Israel, with Cyrus.

926
01:00:35.800 --> 01:00:39.360
Acting as a means through which the restoration occurs.

927
01:00:41.199 --> 01:00:44.599
So I'm just saying, like, even in a source that's like, well,

928
01:00:44.880 --> 01:00:46.000
it's not really Cyrus.

929
01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:48.360
Well, I mean it is Cyrus. I mean it's not.

930
01:00:48.800 --> 01:00:50.360
But I don't know why we're so.

931
01:00:50.360 --> 01:00:55.199
Hesitant to just say, hey, in its historical context, this

932
01:00:55.280 --> 01:01:00.760
is Cyrus. So he's just completely like, he did such

933
01:01:00.800 --> 01:01:03.639
a good job putting it in its historical context. Him

934
01:01:03.679 --> 01:01:07.159
going back to Deuteronomy twenty eight, all, that's brilliant.

935
01:01:07.320 --> 01:01:10.119
Going back to the Mosaic Covenant, that's brilliant.

936
01:01:10.320 --> 01:01:14.119
It's so brilliant. And then all of a sudden, what happens.

937
01:01:14.480 --> 01:01:18.719
Er we flipped the car fifteen times. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

938
01:01:18.840 --> 01:01:21.519
don't jump to John the Baptist. John the Baptist is

939
01:01:21.519 --> 01:01:26.320
not coming for what another five hundred over five hundred years.

940
01:01:26.679 --> 01:01:30.159
It's these people are gonna be long dead. They don't

941
01:01:30.199 --> 01:01:33.199
need John the Baptist and their context. They need someone

942
01:01:33.199 --> 01:01:36.679
else who's going to come along. While he's mentioned literally

943
01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:43.840
in Isaiah forty four, in Isaiah forty five, he may

944
01:01:43.920 --> 01:01:45.239
even be mentioned before that.

945
01:01:46.559 --> 01:01:48.599
He may even be mentioned for before that. In fact,

946
01:01:48.679 --> 01:01:49.199
let me just.

947
01:01:49.159 --> 01:01:52.079
Look here, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna search here.

948
01:01:52.639 --> 01:01:59.559
I'm gonna search, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a search here.

949
01:02:03.719 --> 01:02:06.400
Yeah, this is becoming this is so good, but it's

950
01:02:06.400 --> 01:02:07.559
becoming a little frustrating.

951
01:02:12.719 --> 01:02:20.079
Okay, hang on, I're doing your search forty through fifty five, right,

952
01:02:21.519 --> 01:02:24.280
this is this is becoming a big this is I

953
01:02:24.280 --> 01:02:26.760
think this is going to become the big hermeneutical issue here.

954
01:02:30.079 --> 01:02:32.320
All right, I want you to write down these references,

955
01:02:32.719 --> 01:02:36.920
all right. Cyrus is mentioned in Isaiah I think a

956
01:02:36.960 --> 01:02:41.559
total of four times. Isaiah forty four to twenty eight,

957
01:02:43.440 --> 01:02:49.239
Isaiah forty five to one, Isaiah forty five two through three,

958
01:02:49.280 --> 01:02:56.320
and Isaiah forty five thirteen. Cyrus is mentioned four times.

959
01:02:58.480 --> 01:03:02.280
How do you go to Isaiah forty and forget Cyrus,

960
01:03:03.159 --> 01:03:09.320
especially right here in this section. If you leave Cyrus

961
01:03:09.360 --> 01:03:15.800
out of Isaiah forty, ladies and gentlemen, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

962
01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:19.519
no no, you can't do this. I know we want

963
01:03:19.559 --> 01:03:21.400
to run to John the Baptist. I know we want

964
01:03:21.400 --> 01:03:25.679
to runto the Gospel, But the immediate context here is

965
01:03:25.760 --> 01:03:26.960
about Cyrus.

966
01:03:30.679 --> 01:03:42.960
Because God's word is firm, God's word remains forever. What

967
01:03:43.159 --> 01:03:49.760
is that word? What word is the prophet to proclaim.

968
01:03:50.199 --> 01:03:56.440
Here's the word Zion, Harold good news. Goobin on high mountain, Jerusalem,

969
01:03:56.519 --> 01:03:59.079
Harold good news. Raise your voice loudly raise it. Do

970
01:03:59.079 --> 01:04:02.960
not be afraid. What shall I say? What shall I

971
01:04:03.000 --> 01:04:06.239
cry out? Behold your God?

972
01:04:07.119 --> 01:04:09.320
Here is your God.

973
01:04:10.119 --> 01:04:16.280
That's what he's to proclaim. Say. Sovereign Yahweh comes the

974
01:04:16.440 --> 01:04:22.360
Kinghovah comes with strength and his power establishes his rule.

975
01:04:23.599 --> 01:04:26.679
His wages are with him, his reward accompanies him. He

976
01:04:26.719 --> 01:04:29.599
protects his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs

977
01:04:29.639 --> 01:04:31.599
in his arm. He carries him in the fold of

978
01:04:31.599 --> 01:04:37.039
his garment. He gently leads those at a nursing. Here's

979
01:04:37.079 --> 01:04:45.400
the message. Sovereign God comes to his people to redeem them.

980
01:04:47.159 --> 01:04:53.000
He comes to establish his kingdom among them. This is

981
01:04:53.039 --> 01:04:56.360
the proclamation of the Kingdom of God that John was

982
01:04:56.519 --> 01:04:59.679
talking about in the Wilderness, that Jesus talked about in

983
01:04:59.719 --> 01:05:05.960
his ministry. Jesus is the king of the Kingdom of God.

984
01:05:06.920 --> 01:05:08.760
Oh I see, now we're gonna jump to Jesus.

985
01:05:08.840 --> 01:05:09.599
We're gonna jump.

986
01:05:10.440 --> 01:05:12.320
We're gonna jump to Jesus again.

987
01:05:12.360 --> 01:05:14.800
Oh see, this is where things start.

988
01:05:14.599 --> 01:05:16.000
Falling apart for me.

989
01:05:18.519 --> 01:05:25.480
All right. The ah, I understand, we want to jump here,

990
01:05:25.519 --> 01:05:30.840
but the original. So in Isaiah forty verses three through five,

991
01:05:31.079 --> 01:05:34.039
Cyrus has to be spoken of. And if Cyrus is forgotten,

992
01:05:34.079 --> 01:05:36.400
we're in trouble. So you just need to write Cyrus

993
01:05:36.440 --> 01:05:38.840
somewhere above Isaiah forty three through five.

994
01:05:38.920 --> 01:05:40.519
It's its own special.

995
01:05:40.119 --> 01:05:43.119
Section, all right. Then when it talks about God's word

996
01:05:43.159 --> 01:05:45.119
is going to stand forever, what word is going to

997
01:05:45.119 --> 01:05:45.679
stand forever?

998
01:05:45.719 --> 01:05:48.559
Well, it's the word of their promised deliverance. So when

999
01:05:48.599 --> 01:05:49.400
we read.

1000
01:05:51.719 --> 01:05:54.679
So, when we read the phrase behold your God, it

1001
01:05:54.719 --> 01:05:57.239
is indeed a reference to God's presence and power being

1002
01:05:57.760 --> 01:06:03.840
revealed through Israel's deliverance. It's in this context the call

1003
01:06:03.920 --> 01:06:06.559
to behold your God is an invitation for the people

1004
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:09.960
to recognize in which witness God's intervention in bringing them

1005
01:06:09.960 --> 01:06:13.079
back from Babylonian exile. This statement reflects the idea that

1006
01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:18.079
God's character, faithfulness, and sovereignty will be displayed through their restoration.

1007
01:06:20.480 --> 01:06:21.599
The call to behold your.

1008
01:06:21.519 --> 01:06:25.800
God is an exclamation of God's presence and active involvement

1009
01:06:25.880 --> 01:06:28.159
in the events of history, and encourages the people to

1010
01:06:28.199 --> 01:06:31.400
look beyonder immediate circumstances and recognize that their deliverance from

1011
01:06:31.480 --> 01:06:35.320
exile is a divine act orchestrated by God himself. God

1012
01:06:35.480 --> 01:06:39.360
orchestrates it, He's using cyrus. But this is all about

1013
01:06:39.679 --> 01:06:44.760
Behold God and this immediate historical context. This is not

1014
01:06:45.280 --> 01:06:49.480
jumping immediately to Jesus and all of that. The phrase

1015
01:06:49.480 --> 01:06:53.199
suggests that God's power and faithfulness are visibly displayed and

1016
01:06:53.239 --> 01:06:56.239
the way he rescues and restores his people through their

1017
01:06:56.280 --> 01:07:00.760
liberation from Babylon. By saying Behold your God, the prophet

1018
01:07:00.800 --> 01:07:03.199
is calling attention to the fact that God is fulfilling

1019
01:07:03.199 --> 01:07:06.559
his promise to Israel after a period of judgment in exile.

1020
01:07:06.800 --> 01:07:09.320
This is a declaration of hope and renewal, assuring that

1021
01:07:09.360 --> 01:07:12.280
the God has not forgotten them, but now acting on

1022
01:07:12.440 --> 01:07:15.679
their behalf. The deliverance is not just a political event.

1023
01:07:15.679 --> 01:07:18.480
It is a philological movement where God is faithful to

1024
01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:21.960
his covenant on full display. The people are encouraged to

1025
01:07:21.960 --> 01:07:25.000
receive the deliverance as a sign of God's loyalty to

1026
01:07:25.480 --> 01:07:30.119
his promises. Behold your God, how do you see God?

1027
01:07:30.320 --> 01:07:36.239
He is delivering you, He is restoring you. It's in

1028
01:07:36.280 --> 01:07:41.239
that historical context. All right, I'm going to let him finish,

1029
01:07:41.280 --> 01:07:43.760
and then we'll wrap it up. Look, there's so much

1030
01:07:43.760 --> 01:07:46.760
good here. By no means am I trying to be critical.

1031
01:07:47.920 --> 01:07:50.280
I'm already going to be utilizing some of the things

1032
01:07:50.280 --> 01:07:54.400
he did to I'm changing my complete introduction in how

1033
01:07:54.400 --> 01:07:57.000
I'm going to do things Sunday based off this. I mean,

1034
01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:02.360
this just changed everything completely. I love this, but my

1035
01:08:02.480 --> 01:08:04.599
fear is exactly what I thought was going to happen.

1036
01:08:04.639 --> 01:08:07.880
Next thing, you know, we've forgotten. We've forgotten the historic See,

1037
01:08:07.920 --> 01:08:10.440
we were establishing the historical context, and then we get

1038
01:08:10.440 --> 01:08:12.639
to three and then all of a sudden, boom, forget

1039
01:08:12.679 --> 01:08:14.920
the historical context. Now we're John the Baptists.

1040
01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:18.520
Now behold, your God is jumping to Jesus. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa,

1041
01:08:18.600 --> 01:08:20.279
whoa whoa. Slow down.

1042
01:08:21.199 --> 01:08:25.920
We didn't leave Babylonian exile. We're still right there in

1043
01:08:25.960 --> 01:08:27.520
that context.

1044
01:08:30.399 --> 01:08:34.319
And he came and established that king kingdom. He established

1045
01:08:34.319 --> 01:08:37.920
it in his own person, among his own disciples at

1046
01:08:37.960 --> 01:08:42.920
the beginning. It's here present in its spiritual form, in

1047
01:08:42.960 --> 01:08:45.640
a mystery form, but it shall come in all of

1048
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:52.960
its power and glory at the consummation of the last day.

1049
01:08:53.800 --> 01:08:58.960
God has come among us in the Messiah, and he

1050
01:08:59.079 --> 01:09:02.920
comes to Ruin. But what kind of ruler is there.

1051
01:09:04.279 --> 01:09:10.119
He's a shepherd ruler. He rules like a shepherd who

1052
01:09:10.199 --> 01:09:16.720
takes care of his sheep. He rules with tenderness, He

1053
01:09:16.840 --> 01:09:27.239
rules with love, he rules with care. Now there's a

1054
01:09:27.319 --> 01:09:33.960
transition in the Prothetic Oracle. The transition is almost a

1055
01:09:35.159 --> 01:09:39.079
like it almost all of a sudden, he's talking about

1056
01:09:39.079 --> 01:09:42.760
God and talking about God coming to us like a sheep.

1057
01:09:44.840 --> 01:09:48.039
Okay, he's gonna he's going to change. He's going to

1058
01:09:48.199 --> 01:09:52.520
change focus here, So we'll stop right there. He did

1059
01:09:52.560 --> 01:09:55.840
read verse eleven. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

1060
01:09:56.119 --> 01:09:58.960
and shall gather his lambs with an arm, and carry

1061
01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:01.479
them and his buzz, and shall gently lead those that

1062
01:10:01.600 --> 01:10:07.399
are young. All right, just so that you know, Cyrus

1063
01:10:07.520 --> 01:10:10.479
is called a shepherd, and Isaiah forty four to twenty eight,

1064
01:10:11.079 --> 01:10:13.359
who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he

1065
01:10:13.399 --> 01:10:16.479
shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem she shall

1066
01:10:16.479 --> 01:10:19.399
be built, and of the Temple your foundation shall be laid.

1067
01:10:19.920 --> 01:10:22.479
In this verse, Cyrus is specifically named and given the

1068
01:10:22.520 --> 01:10:25.439
title shepherd, which is unusual for a foreign ruler, but

1069
01:10:25.560 --> 01:10:28.399
underscores his role as God's chosen instrument to fulfill his

1070
01:10:28.439 --> 01:10:32.680
purpose for Israel. Shepherd here symbolizes a leader who will

1071
01:10:32.680 --> 01:10:35.520
guide Israel back to their land and help facilitate the

1072
01:10:35.560 --> 01:10:40.960
rebuilding of Jerusalem into the temple. Isaiah forty eleven and

1073
01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:44.479
Cyrus possible association in this passage. The image of a

1074
01:10:44.520 --> 01:10:46.920
shepherd refers to God's own tender care and guidance for

1075
01:10:46.960 --> 01:10:49.640
his people, much like shepherd's care for his flock. The

1076
01:10:49.680 --> 01:10:52.520
shepherd here is God himself, who promises to comfort and

1077
01:10:52.560 --> 01:10:57.439
restore Israel. The verse emphasizes God's compassion and personal involvement,

1078
01:10:57.479 --> 01:11:01.079
while Cyrus plays a role in Israel's deliverance. Isaiah forty

1079
01:11:01.119 --> 01:11:03.960
eleven is not directly a reference to Cyrus, and said

1080
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:06.960
it's depicting God's character as a shepherd who gently cares

1081
01:11:07.000 --> 01:11:10.640
for his people. Shot Cyrus, though titled shepherd in Isaiah

1082
01:11:10.680 --> 01:11:13.439
forty four, serves more as an instrument of God's will

1083
01:11:13.600 --> 01:11:18.039
than a personal caretaker of the people. So they say

1084
01:11:18.079 --> 01:11:21.079
it is about God, but in a roundabout way. Well,

1085
01:11:21.119 --> 01:11:23.800
Cyrus is a shepherd, and around about way he does

1086
01:11:23.920 --> 01:11:26.279
lead the people. In a round about way, he does

1087
01:11:26.359 --> 01:11:28.880
facilitate their restoration and their rebuilding.

1088
01:11:29.119 --> 01:11:30.600
So it's not about Cyrus.

1089
01:11:30.680 --> 01:11:34.279
But once again, so over and over, even in commentaries

1090
01:11:34.279 --> 01:11:37.079
that don't necessarily want to say this Cyrus, they all

1091
01:11:37.119 --> 01:11:39.239
have to say, over and over and over, well, I

1092
01:11:39.279 --> 01:11:42.159
mean Cyrus, I mean well Cyrus, I mean I mean

1093
01:11:42.239 --> 01:11:44.600
well Cyrus. I mean it's not about Cyrus, but I

1094
01:11:44.600 --> 01:11:52.000
mean Cyrus. You can't just remove Cyrus from this, you can't.

1095
01:11:52.119 --> 01:11:57.199
He's all over it. He's all over it, ladies and gentlemen,

1096
01:11:57.399 --> 01:11:59.159
he is all over it.

1097
01:12:01.600 --> 01:12:04.279
To ignore that is to ignore the.

1098
01:12:04.359 --> 01:12:10.279
Very like the sermon did so good establishing historical context,

1099
01:12:10.399 --> 01:12:13.199
and then we get to verse three through five, and

1100
01:12:13.239 --> 01:12:16.039
then it's like it's it's almost like a drug.

1101
01:12:16.600 --> 01:12:20.159
We're like, oh wait, wait, wait, let's it forget forget

1102
01:12:20.159 --> 01:12:21.880
these people, let's go to the New Testament.

1103
01:12:22.079 --> 01:12:25.560
Now he hasn't completely forgotten these people, but he's quickly

1104
01:12:25.640 --> 01:12:29.439
moving on. He's now to John the Baptist, he's to Jesus, he's.

1105
01:12:30.319 --> 01:12:31.800
On to these other things.

1106
01:12:31.880 --> 01:12:34.520
Well, these other things are of no value to the

1107
01:12:34.520 --> 01:12:41.680
people in Babylonian captivity in their immediate context. You can't

1108
01:12:41.720 --> 01:12:46.359
just forget them. They're the ones suffering, they're the ones

1109
01:12:46.399 --> 01:12:51.039
who need comfort, all.

1110
01:12:51.039 --> 01:12:54.079
Right, that was seventy two minutes of some good stuff.

1111
01:12:54.720 --> 01:12:57.520
Now, one of the things we're gonna do in these

1112
01:12:57.560 --> 01:12:59.520
reviews is a lot of times what we're reviewing you're

1113
01:12:59.560 --> 01:13:04.000
gonna hear later, all put together and kind of done

1114
01:13:04.000 --> 01:13:06.359
in a different way. So he got us.

1115
01:13:06.479 --> 01:13:07.840
He did some really good things.

1116
01:13:07.880 --> 01:13:10.560
I love the Deuteronomy twenty eight and the Mosaic Covenant

1117
01:13:10.600 --> 01:13:15.079
part that was man. That was perfect. So that gave

1118
01:13:15.119 --> 01:13:19.359
me all kinds of new ideas. But you can't get

1119
01:13:19.359 --> 01:13:21.720
to three and forget. I'm just gonna state it again.

1120
01:13:21.920 --> 01:13:28.840
If you don't see Cyrus starting in three, then I

1121
01:13:28.840 --> 01:13:31.239
don't know what you're doing, because Cyrus is going to

1122
01:13:31.279 --> 01:13:35.039
be Cyrus is clearly key here. He's forty four, He's

1123
01:13:35.079 --> 01:13:41.119
mentioned four times. You can't forget Cyrus, whether named or

1124
01:13:41.199 --> 01:13:46.720
not named, because he becomes the key central figure humanly

1125
01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:51.880
speaking of their deliverance, of their restoration, of them being

1126
01:13:51.880 --> 01:13:54.760
brought back into the land of the rebuilding, the temple

1127
01:13:55.039 --> 01:13:59.680
of them rebuilding Jerusalem. It is Cyrus the human facilitator.

1128
01:14:00.239 --> 01:14:02.640
This god is the one God is seen as the

1129
01:14:02.640 --> 01:14:06.039
one directing, guiding, and accomplishing it. But Cyrus is the

1130
01:14:06.159 --> 01:14:09.279
human instrument and to forget Cyrus here, You're just forgetting

1131
01:14:09.279 --> 01:14:17.199
the historical context. All right, we'll stop there. Thanks for listening.

1132
01:14:18.800 --> 01:14:22.920
I need food desperately, right so I'm going to go

1133
01:14:22.960 --> 01:14:28.159
find food, and I hope the feeding of God's word

1134
01:14:28.279 --> 01:14:32.199
has been somewhat beneficial. But please jump into this Isaiah

1135
01:14:32.279 --> 01:14:35.359
forty through fifty five. Read read, Read, Read, read, read.

1136
01:14:35.840 --> 01:14:38.880
Prepare yourself to try to learn more about this than

1137
01:14:38.920 --> 01:14:41.479
you've ever known in the past. All Right, thanks for

1138
01:14:41.560 --> 01:14:46.760
listening everyone, have a great day. God bless