Feb. 16, 2025

Isaiah 40:12-17: Worship

Isaiah 40:12-17: Worship

We continue our study of Isaiah 40

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We continue our study of Isaiah 40

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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

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It is Sunday, February sixteenth, twenty twenty five. It is

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currently ten forty four am Central Time, and I am

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coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

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right here in Abilene, Texas. Now that means, obviously I'm

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not coming to you live from Victory Baptist Church located

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in the middle of nowhere, Texas. No, I'm coming to

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you here because we're not having in person services this morning.

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So hopefully if you look at everything, I've already given

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an hour of teaching last night late last night that

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was already uploaded. This morning, I gave about forty minutes

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of teaching just about what five minutes ago, So that's

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already an hour and forty minutes of teaching being made available.

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Now I'm about to do another so that's going to

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be about two hours and forty minutes of content. And

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if I do another hour, yeah, so I'm putting together

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as much content as I can. Hopefully the discussions have

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been beneficial. Hopefully the discussion about Matthew six and worry

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and anxiety last night was important. I wasn't completely happy

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with the way it came across, but I think it

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was an important discussion. The discussion about Isaiah forty through

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fifty five and what it says about modern preaching, I

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think was important. I separated that out from this because

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I was going to have this kind as an introduction.

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I was going to do it kind of as an

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intro and just go through those points very quickly. But

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then I kind of realized, well, let's just make this

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its own standalone thing, because I think it's because when well,

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when you're doing it this way, when you're just broadcasting

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from here, I can break this down anyway I want.

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I can do twenty minutes, thirty minutes break it. I

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can break it down anyway I want. So all of

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that is available, all of that is ready to go.

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But now we've got a well, let's see if we

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can advance. We've been working on Isaiah. We've been working

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in this study on basically Isaiah forty through fifty five

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since October of twenty twenty four. We're now in February

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of twenty twenty five. We're still in Isaiah chapter forty.

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We're still in chapter forty. Now a lot of all

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of that time and hours were spent out. In fact,

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we've done about thirty five almost forty hours of teaching

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on Isaiah forty through fifty five, almost forty hours total

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of content. Maybe even more than that, I'd have to like,

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I think it's getting close to forty hours, and we

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have reviewed sermons, we've been talking about so many issues

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pertaining to all of this. I think we've really laid

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down a good understanding of it. So let's just make

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it very simple. Isaiah forty through fifty five are words

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of comfort given to Judah who's in Babylonian exileum Babylonian captivity.

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They are being told that their time of captivity or

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time of exile is coming to an end, and they're

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going to be delivered. They're going to be delivered ultimately

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humanly speaking, through Cyrus. He's going to come in and

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then he will take over and he will let Judah

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return to rebuild the temple. So all of these words

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and Isaiah forty through fifty five must be interpreted. They

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must be interpreted in light of who they were originally

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given to. Not to you, not to me, not to us,

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not to the church. They were originally given to Israel,

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Judah and Babylonian captivity. They must be interpreted that way,

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They must be applied that way. Any application we draw

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from it must remain true to that context. If you

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do not do that, then there's no point. You're just

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going to church wasting your time. And as we just

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spoke about just in the previous broadcast what five minutes ago,

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modern preaching, it's a systemic problem. After reviewing over one

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hundred sermons, Artificial Intelligence came to the same conclusion that

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there is a systemic problem in Christianity when it comes

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to the preaching of Isaiah forty through fifty five. Artificial

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Intelligence described it as shocking, as systemic, as wrong. That no,

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none of these sermons are doing justice to the text.

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That's Ai who doesn't have any you know, motive other

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than trying to say based on the text, these sermons

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are not handling it correctly. And what's maddening is how

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many times in Isaiah forty through fifty five the text

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itself tries to show you who it's about, but it

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doesn't seem to matter because a sermon after sermon after sermon.

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We've seen this problem so today we are in Isaiah

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forty and we are going to look at verses twelve

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through seventeen. That's the goal, at least in this broadcast,

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Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen. Let's read starting back in

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Isaiah chapter forty, we'll just kind of briefly go through

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this quickly. Versus one through eleven, which we've now covered

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verse by verse exegetically. We've talked about them a million

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different ways. We've reviewed I don't even know how many

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sermons already on Isaiah forty one through eleven. But let's

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go through these quickly, right, Isaiah chapter forty, Verse one,

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comfort ye, comfort ye. These are words of comfort. Someone's

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being told to bring comfort, bring comfort to whom comfort ye,

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comfort ye, my people, saith your God, who is the

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my people, the my people. Go back to Isaiah thirty nine,

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verses five through eight. It's those going into Babylonian captivity,

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which was Judah. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Words

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of comfort are to be brought to those in captivity.

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It's not about you, it's not about me. It's not

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about you ripping this out of context and whatever problem

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you're going through. Oh, the words of Isaiah brought me

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such great comfort. It brought me such great peace. Slap

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you across the face fifteen times. It's not for you,

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it's for them, all right. I don't know how many

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times I have to say that. All right, So comfort ye,

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comfort e my people, saith your God, Speak ye comfortably,

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And just in case you missed it and you still

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don't get it, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry

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unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity

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is pardoned for she hath to receive the Lord's hand

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double for all her sins, the her, the she that

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is all referencing Jerusalem, all right, Jerusalem, the capital of

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the southern Kingdom of Judah. I mean, I don't know

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how you cannot get to get around this, Okay, but

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let's continue verse three. The voice of Him that cries

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in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord

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makes straight the desert a highway for our God. Yes,

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I know the New Testament uses this and refers and

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basically is saying John the Baptist is doing something similar,

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But in this context it's not about John the Baptist.

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We get into all the possible discussions and who it's referencing.

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And we talked about Cyrus, the Decree of Cyrus and

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as a chapter one, and we talked about all of that.

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Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain shall be made low,

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and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough

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place is plain. What is that a reference to. That's

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a reference directly to all obstacles everything in the way

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of Judah, going back to Israel, going back to Jerusalem.

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All of those obstacles are going to be made, are

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going to be removed, and everything is going to mad

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right so that they can return again. We talked about

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the Decree of Cyrus as Rich chapter one and how

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this all played out. The glory of the Lord shall

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be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For

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the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Verse six.

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The voice said cry, And he said, what shall I cry?

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All flesh is grass. All the goodliness thereof is as

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the flower of the field. The grass wither it, the

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flower fadeth, the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it.

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The people is grass. The grass wither at the flower fadeth.

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But the word of our God shall stand forever. This

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is demonstrating, Hey, no matter what you're facing, no matter

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the obstacles you the Babylonians, it doesn't matter who. Everything

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else is like well grass, it's like the flower. It's

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all gonna fade. The one thing that will stand is

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the Word of God. And it stands and it remains true,

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irregardless of circumstances, and irregardless of any obstacles you may

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be facing. Again dealing with their captivity Verses nine through eleven.

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Again just so that there's no confusion in who's being

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spoken of Isaiah forty verse nine, O Zion, that bring

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us good tidings. Get thee up into the high mountains,

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Oh Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings. Lift up thy

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voice with strength, lift it up. Be not afraid, say

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unto the cities of Judah. Behold your God, Behold your God.

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God is the one moving. But God is gonna be moving.

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God is gonna be delivering them. God is gonna be

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fulfilling his covenant promises to them. But he's going to

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be doing it in this particular case with ordinary means,

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not extraordinary, but ordinary. He's going to bring in Cyrus.

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Cyrus is going to do though. But they need to

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see the work of God in the ordinary, and we

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talked a lot about that verse ten. Behold, the Lord

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God will come with a strong hand. His arms shall

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rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, his work,

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his work before him. He shall feed his flock like

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a shepherd. He shall gather his lambs with his arm,

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carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those

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that are with young. This is all in reference to

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what God is going to do for Judah to bring

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them out, to provide, bring them into Jerusalem. But it's

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going to be done through ordinary means, and we talked

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a lot about that. Now that brings us to then

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Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen, and here we're going to

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really look at the incomparable greatness of God that Israel

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need to to see, everyone needs to see. Judah needs

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to see specifically that their God is great, their God

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is greater, because they are going to be greatly influenced

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and greatly tempted. And we spent all of our time

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last week talking about this. The idolatry and religious practices

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of Babylon that would have been greatly influential upon those

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in captivity. The Babylonian idols, their gods would have been

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all around them. The religious practices they would have greatly

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influenced those in Judah, greatly impacted them, or even tempted

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them to possibly mix some of the Babylonian ideas with

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the ideas of the true God of Israel and some

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kind of syncretism. And we talked about all of that

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and all of the influence. So now it's going to

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be like, hey, what you need to understand is your

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God is incomparable. Nothing can compare to your God because

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it's trying to help those in captivity. So we're going

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to break this section down and we're going to see

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what we can try to figure out. What we need

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to understand is Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen is part

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of a larger passage where God reassures his people of

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his greatness, reassures his people of his sovereignty, and reassures

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his people over his power over all creation. Now, why

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do they need to be reassured of his greatness? Because

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they need to see that their God is greater than

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the gods of Babylon Because in this context, well, the

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Babylonians defeated them. The Babylonians tore down their temple. So

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maybe the gods of Babylon is greater than the God

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of Israel because from a human perspective, from a site perspective,

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their gods beat our gods. And that's very much the

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way it would have worked in that ancient culture. If

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you beat them, then your gods beat their gods. Well,

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for those in Judah, their temple is in ruins, and

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they can look around and the Babylonian temple for their

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major god is his tower is like all of the

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different things they have there are there. So they need

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to be reassured that their God is great. They need

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to understand that their God is sovereign. At this point,

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it looks like the Babylonian gods are sovereign, not the

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God of Israel, because well, Israel's well, the northern kingdom

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is gone into Assyria, the southern kingdom is now in

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Babylonian captivity. They need to understand this, and they need

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to understand that the Israel's God has the power over

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all creation. They've got to see his power and his greatness.

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This section emphasizes God's transcendence. It will emphasize his wisdom,

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emphasize his supremacy over the nations, challenging any notion that

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he can be measured, instructed, or rivaled. This is like, okay, guys, look,

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I know you see what's around you. I know you

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see everything around you. Screams Babylon is greater than us.

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Their armies are better than us. They're more powerful than us.

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Their gods are greater than our gods. Their temple is

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better than our temple. Everything about that. And so this

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is like, okay, guys, we've got to do this before

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you come out of Babylonian captivity. You need to kind

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of go to theology one oh one, and we've got

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to be reminded of the God of Israel now, but

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you've got to be understanding that they're going to have

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to understand this by faith, not by sight. If they look,

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they're going to be like, well, our God, where is

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our God? He we've been in captivity all of this time.

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Where is our God? So they're going to have to

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understand this by faith, not by sight. Now, if we

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read the text Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen, I'll read

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it in two translations. I'll start with the ESV Isaiah

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forty twelve through seventeen. Who has measured the waters and

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the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens

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with a span, and closed the dust of the earth

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in a measure, and weighe the mountains and the scales,

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and the hills and a ballots. Who has measured the

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spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his

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counsel did, the whom did he consult, and who made

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him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and

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taught him knowledge, and and showed him the way of understanding. Behold,

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the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and

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are accounted as the dust of the scales. Behold, he

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takes up the coastlands like the fine dust. Lebanon would

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not suffice for fuel, are nor are its beast enough

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for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing

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before him, or as nothing before him. They are accounted

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by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Right now,

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I'm going to read it from the King James, who

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hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

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and meeted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the

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dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the

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mountains and scales, and the heels in a balance, who

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has directed the spirit of the Lord of being being

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his counselor hath taught him with whom took he counsel,

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and who instructed him and taught him in the path

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of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him

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the way of understanding. Behold, the nations are a drop

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of a bucket, and are counted as a small as

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the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up

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the aisles as a very little thing. Lebanon is not

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sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a

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burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and

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they are counted to him less than nothing and than

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at tea. All right, So we have to see now,

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if you hear those words and you understand the context,

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I think they began to make sense. So let's look

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at the immediate context. Let's look at the immediate context.

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I think this is important, all right. The immediate context

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this passage Isaiah forty twelve through seventeen, which we've kind

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of already discussed. We've kind of already broken it down,

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but I just want to make sure we double down

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on this so that we understand it. This passage follows

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the opening section of Isaiah forty one through eleven, where

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God declares comfort and restoration for Judah, restoration for Israel.

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This section is part of a broader argument which goes

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from twelve to thirty one, which demonstrates God's incomparable power

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and contrast to the weakness of idols and human rulers.

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All right, so the point the first part was, hey,

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be comforted. Basically, it's all coming to an end. You're

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gonna be set free. God's gonna deliver you, God's gonna

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care for you, God's gonna feed you. It's kind of

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like comfort, comfort, comfort. Then all of a sudden, in twelve,

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almost basically to the end of chapter forty, it shifts

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and it's like, hey, guys, guys, you need to understand

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the God of Israel. You need to understand him, you

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need to perceive him. You need to see him by faith.

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And you've got to see the God of Israel even

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though everything around you is going to call into question

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the God of Israel and his greatness, his wisdom, his knowledge,

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and his power. Right, So I think that makes sense.

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That's kind of the immediate context. Now, what about a

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structural breakdown of the section. Well, verse twelve, right, I

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think this is pretty simple. Let's read verse twelve. Who

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hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?

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Meeted out heaven with the span and comprehended the dust

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of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains

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and scales and the hills in a balance. This is

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demonstrating God's sovereignty, the God of Israel, his sovereignty over

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all of creation. It's using rhetorical questions. I think we

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can all see that to emphasize God's control over the

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physical universe. It's asking a rhetorical question, who has measured

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the waters in the hollow of his hand? One? Okay,

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only one who can do that, The God of Israel,

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who's made it out of heaven with the span and

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comprehended the dust of the earth and a measure and

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weighed the mountains and scales and the hills and the balance.

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The God of Israel, the God of Judah. He's the

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one who does this, not the gods of Babylon. Verses

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thirteen through fourteen. Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord,

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or being his counselor hath taught him with whom took

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key counsel, and who instructed him and taught him in

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the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge and shewed

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to him the way of understanding. So first thing they

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need to understand is God's sovereignty over creation. The second

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thing they want them that this text is trying to

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help them understand is God's infinite wisdom. It challenges the

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idea that God needs instruction from anyone. So which God

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is superior over all of creation? The God of Judah,

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which God has infinite wisdom and needs no one to

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instruct him, or no, the God of Judah. Now again,

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from a human perspective, if you're in Babylonian captivity, the

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God of Judas seems inferior, seems weak compared to the

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gods of Babylon. But they need to see, so they're

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going to have to see what they can't see see.

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Their vision would be like, well, the God's Babylon obviously

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are greater. No no, no, no no, the God of

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Judah is greater overall of creation. And from a human perspective,

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you'd be like, hey, God, could you give me a call,

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because I don't think you know what you're doing. What

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does the text say, who hath verse thirteen through fourteen,

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Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being

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his counselor hath taught him with whom took key counsel,

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and who instructed him and taught him in the path

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of judgment and taught him knowledge and showed him the

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way of understanding. It's all rhetorical questions. No one. God

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doesn't need a counselor God doesn't need this instruction. Again,

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from a human perspective, you would be like, I've got

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a problem. They're gonna have to understand this and receive

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this and accept this in spite of what they see

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and what they feel. All right, now, now you can

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see the context here. How about verse fifteen, verse fifteen

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Isaiah forty, verse fifteen, behold the nations or as a

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drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small

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dust of the balance. Behold he taketh up the aisles

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as a very little thing. Now again, they're gonna have

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to see our God is greater than all the nations.

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Now from a human perspective, they would be like, well,

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Babylon is greater than our God, because our God got

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beat up. Our God got defeated, our God got destroyed.

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But they're gonna have to see by faith. No no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

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no no, It's not that way. So if we have

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a structural breakdown here, verse twelve is about God's sovereignty

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over all of creation. Verses thirteen through fourteen is about

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God's infinite wisdom, and verse fifteen is the insignificance of

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nations compared to the God of Judah, the God of Israel.

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How about verse sixteen and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,

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nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. Verse

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sixteen is the inadequacy of human worship to match God's greatness.

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This is trying to show. Look, Lebanon is not sufficient

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to burn, nor the beast there of sufficient for a

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burnt offering. If you took everything in Lebanon, you took

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all the animals in Lebanon, It's not sufficient to offer

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an offering to the God of Judah. He is far

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greater our worship is in we could say this is inadequate,

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no matter what we offer, no matter who all that

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we give to God, it's inadequate compared to his How

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would we say this his income. Let's go with the

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idea of we'll call it God being incomparable. I think

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that God is so incomparable that our worship cannot compare.

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Our worship is not worthy of this God. It's really

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trying to emphasize. I know you're in captivity. I know

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you may be suffering, and I know you probably have

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a lot of philological and religious thoughts about God. And

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you may have concluded that your God is weaker, your

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God has been defeated. You may conclude that your God

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doesn't have a clue what to do. But you need

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to understand that Israel Judah, that your God is sovereign

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overall of creation, He has infinite wisdom, doesn't need your counsel,

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doesn't need your instruction that the nation's Babylon, any other nation, Persia,

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doesn't matter, whom is insignificant compared to God. And you

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need to understand that your ability to worship is inadequate

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compared to the greatness, the incomparability of the God of Judah.

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And then number five, look at verse seventeen. All nations

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before him are as nothing, and they are counted to

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him less than nothing, and vanity. This is to show

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them that the nothingness of nations before God. All these

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nations are nothing before your God. Now, it's going to

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be hard for them to see that. This goes against

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everything they see. Right. Wait, the nations are nothing before

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our God. Babylon defeated our God, destroyed our God. No, no,

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our God is nothing before the Babylonian gods. But they're

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going to have to see by faith. Now, I want

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you to understand this. There is nothing they are encountering.

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There is nothing that they are witnessing. There is nothing

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that they see that would tell them Our God is

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sovereign over all of creation. They would not see that.

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They would not see Our God has infinite wisdom. They

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would be questioning the wisdom of God. The nations are

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insignificant compared to our God. They would not see that.

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They may not realize that no matter how they worship God,

404
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it's it's inadequate because God is greater, and they with

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their eyes, they would they would see nothing that would

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show them that the nations are nothingness before their God.

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They would none of every one of those statements. Every

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one of those facts flies in face to what they

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see and what they are experiencing. Life calls it look this.

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So now, if we want to make this applicable, we're

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the same. We're not in literal Babylonian captivity, but we

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are in captivity to a fallen world. We are in

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this world, whether we like it or not, and we

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suffer all the consequences of a fallen world, corruptible bodies

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that get sick, there's pain they're suffering. There's crime, there's disease,

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there's death, and everything around you Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

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Saturday should make you go. I don't know if God

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is really sovereign of all of creation. I really question

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God's infinite wisdom, because if God is so wise, I

420
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could give you about seventy five things probably in about

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five minutes that I think you should probably change, or

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we consider doing the insignificance of the nations. While all

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we do is worry, and all we seem to be

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preoccupied is with our nation and their nation and this nation,

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and do this, and our politicians need to do this,

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and we need to do this. We seem to see

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the nations as greater than God. The inadequacy of human worship.

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I think sometimes we think our worship is adequate. But

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it never is because I think we have a tendency

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to exalt ourself and our worth and our value. And

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then I think again, sometimes we don't see the nothingness

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of the nations before God. So if you want an application,

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we're in the same boat Christianity. That the life of

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a Christian is living a life of faith where you

435
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believe in that which reality around you completely contradicts and

436
00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:06.759
calls into question. Now, we like to create a Christianity

437
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where supposedly things work that that disproves this reality that

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we see. But no, what disproves this reality is what

439
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:19.920
we believe by faith, because reality itself calls into question

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everything we believe. All right, So now let's break that.

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So that's kind of like a structural breakdown. So if

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you want to go verses twelve through seventeen, you could

443
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write it this way. This is what you see, all right.

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You see God's sovereignty over creation, God's infinite wisdom, the

445
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insignificance of nations compared to God, the inadequacy of human worship,

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and the nothingness of nations before God. It's very simple breakdown. Now,

447
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if we want to kind of dig in more from

448
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an exegetical standpoint. All right, we can then look at

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we want if we want to try to break this

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down even that's just like your basic structure. I mean,

451
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we could really stop right there, and that would be

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more so. We've already done more than most sermons will

453
00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:03.359
even do. But now let's break it down and kind

454
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of do like an exegetical analysis. Let's really break this down.

455
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Let's look at verse twelve. I'm gonna read it again

456
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from the King James, who hath measured the waters in

457
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the hollow of his hand and meet it out heaven

458
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and the span with the span, and comprehended the dust

459
00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:19.799
of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains

460
00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:24.240
and scales and the hills in a balance. Right, so

461
00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:28.720
we get this imagery of measurements. The hollow of his

462
00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.920
hand refers to God's ability to hold all the oceans

463
00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.359
if they're just a drop. That's the idea there, God

464
00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:39.319
can take all the oceans and right there in his hand,

465
00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:44.640
showing God's greatness. Subferty, it's using a poetic language, but

466
00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:48.079
you're getting the idea God could take all the waters

467
00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:50.720
of the earth and basically holding in his hands or

468
00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:53.960
all the waters of the ocean the span of his hand.

469
00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:57.519
Typically this is understood the distance between the thumb and

470
00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:03.839
the pinky. It symbolizes his ability to measure the universe effortlessly. Right.

471
00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:07.759
So if you look at this, who has measured the

472
00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.680
waters in the hollow of his hand and meeted out

473
00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:14.039
heaven with the span on one and so think of

474
00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:16.960
it one hand, all the oceans on the other hand,

475
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:20.799
the heavens. Right, so he can he can measure the

476
00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:23.319
universe in his hand. He can measure out the universe

477
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:25.400
in one hand, and all the oceans in the other

478
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:30.839
the heavens and the oceans and in his hand. Again,

479
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.960
it's using a poetic to illustrate his greatness over both.

480
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.960
God has weighed the mountains as in as if on

481
00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:43.079
a scale, emphasizing his control over the physical world, whether

482
00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:48.559
it's water, whether it's land, or whether it's heavens. He

483
00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:55.279
is sovereign over all water, land, or the heavens now.

484
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:59.680
The philological implication seems pretty clear. Creation is finite and

485
00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:06.039
me God is infinite and immeasurable. The language is emphasizing

486
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:10.039
God's complete sovereignty over nation, over nature, I should say,

487
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:13.880
a contrast to pagan gods who are often linked to

488
00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:17.920
a specific aspect of nature but never ruled over all

489
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.799
of it. And Babylon, you may have a god connected

490
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.000
to this part of nature, or are God connected to

491
00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:26.759
this part of nature, but they don't rule over all

492
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:31.039
of nature. The God of Judah over rules over everything,

493
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:37.000
the heavens, the oceans, and the land, all of it.

494
00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:43.200
Now again, their circumstance would say, your God doesn't rule

495
00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:48.640
over anything. Your God couldn't even protect his own temple

496
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:53.680
in Jerusalem. Your God couldn't protect you because you're in captivity.

497
00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:57.000
Your God is weak, Your God's been defeated. Your God

498
00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.920
is sovereign over nothing. So they have to go to

499
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.559
theology class to be told, no, no, no, no no.

500
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:07.200
The God of Judah is superior, is over all of this,

501
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:12.680
the heavens, the oceans, the mountains, and you would and

502
00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:16.480
of course any reasonable logical person would be like, that

503
00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:20.400
makes no sense. Now again, the Christian life, if we

504
00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:24.240
want to apply to us, is by faith believing that

505
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:29.200
which everything around you says is not true or accurate.

506
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.079
Now we always want to believe no, no, no, no, no, God,

507
00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:35.440
see this happens, and this happens, and this happens. We

508
00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:39.160
love to It doesn't work that way. Judah couldn't have

509
00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:42.079
Judah if they were into a theological debate. Judah couldn't

510
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:44.559
have done anything. Juda could be like, well, this is

511
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.400
what God says, and that would be like yeah, and

512
00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:50.079
all the evidence proves otherwise. That's the whole concept of

513
00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:56.559
by faith. How about thirteen through fourteen. Who hath just

514
00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.359
directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor

515
00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:02.319
hath taught him with whom took key counsel, and who

516
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:04.839
instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment

517
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:07.039
and taught him knowledge and showed to him the way

518
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:10.319
of understanding. Now we've already broken these passages down from

519
00:31:10.359 --> 00:31:12.839
like just a structural breakdown. Now we're kind of really

520
00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:16.519
digging into each one. Well, if verse twelve is about

521
00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:19.240
God's sovereignty over creation, and we now kind of looked

522
00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:22.000
at it in greater detail, now verses thirteen through fourteen

523
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:25.799
is about God's infinite wisdom. Now again the rhetorical questions.

524
00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:30.799
These questions emphasized God's self sufficiency and wisdom. The implied

525
00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:34.279
answer is no one. The implied answer is no one.

526
00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.759
So let's look at it. Who has directed the spirit

527
00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:40.000
of the Lord. No one who has been his counselor

528
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.720
no one who has taught him, no one with whom

529
00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:47.640
took he counsel, no one who instructed him, no one

530
00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:50.440
who taught him, no one who taught him in the

531
00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.680
path of judgment, no one who taught him knowledge, no

532
00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:56.559
one who showed him the way of understanding. No one.

533
00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:04.960
It's rhetorical questions, right. It is emphasizing God's self sufficiency

534
00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:09.400
and wisdom. God needs no teacher, God needs no counselor

535
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:14.039
God needs no guide. So what is the theological concepts here? Well,

536
00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:17.960
obviously his omniscience. God possesses all knowledge and does not

537
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:22.000
learn or acquire wisdom from any source. Justice. God alone

538
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:25.319
defines what is just and righteous humans do not instruct

539
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:29.640
him on it. This is in contrast with human leaders, kings,

540
00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:33.160
and rulers, who require advisers, but God has none because

541
00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:35.519
he is all wise. I think this. I think it's

542
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:39.640
a demonstration over things, over a couple of things. The

543
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:43.000
God of Judah, the God of Israel, is all knowing,

544
00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:46.240
know one can instruct it, so that therefore the God

545
00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:50.240
of Israel is greater than the kings of Babylon, Persia

546
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:53.279
or any other nation, and God is greater than all

547
00:32:53.400 --> 00:33:00.200
the pagan gods of Babylon. Now again humanly speaking, well,

548
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:02.319
the gods of Babylon must be wiser than the God

549
00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:04.559
of Israel, since the God of Babylon figured out a

550
00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:06.759
way to I don't know, destroy your temple and take

551
00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:09.279
you all into captivity. So again you have to believe

552
00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:15.720
this by faith. Now verse fifteen, behold the nations or

553
00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:17.599
as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as

554
00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.039
the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up

555
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:23.480
the aisles as a very little thing. Now this is

556
00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:26.440
the insignificant of nations. So all we're doing. I gave

557
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.240
you the structure. Now we're just digging into that structure

558
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:32.319
a little greater detail. We're kind of doing more of

559
00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:35.559
an exegetical breakdown. I give you the structural breakdown. Now

560
00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:39.279
we're doing an exegetical breakdown. Right, drop from a bucket.

561
00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:43.559
Nations which seem powerful and significant, are insignificant when compared

562
00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:48.240
to God's majesty. Dust on the scales. Dust is basically weightless.

563
00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:51.319
It does not change the measurement of the scale. This

564
00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:55.720
conveys the utter nothingness of earthly powers compared to God's sovereignty. Right,

565
00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:58.359
if you have a scale and just a piece of

566
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:01.799
a piece of dust fall on it, it doesn't impact it. Now,

567
00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:05.519
of course, if you had a massive dust storm and

568
00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:08.000
the dust piles up, it's just saying a piece of

569
00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:11.519
dust is nothing. It doesn't do anything. Well, look at

570
00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:15.000
that text. Be old the nations or as a drop

571
00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:17.920
of a bucket, and are counted as small dust of

572
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:20.519
the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a

573
00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:24.360
very little thing. In other words, all these nations are insignificant.

574
00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:29.719
They're nothing compared to God. All right, So he demonstrates

575
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:33.199
the insignificance of the nation. So I again, I've given

576
00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:35.639
you the structure. Let me go through it again. Verse

577
00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:39.400
twelve is God's sovereignty over creation. I gave you the structure.

578
00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.880
I explained it. Now we're breaking it down into greater detail.

579
00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:47.079
God's infinite wisdom Verses thirteen through fourteen. Fifteen the insignificance

580
00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:52.480
of nations. Now verse sixteen the inadequacy of worship. Lebanon

581
00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:55.920
would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beast enough

582
00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:02.440
for a burnt offering. Lebanon had vast resources. Lebanon was

583
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:07.119
famous for its massive cedar forests and abundant wildlife. Yet

584
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.880
even if all of its trees were burned and all

585
00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:13.480
of its animals sacrificed, it would still be an adequate

586
00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:18.280
to offer proper worship to God. So what is the implication?

587
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:24.840
No human effort, no matter how grand, is a match

588
00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:32.159
for God's worthiness. Worship must be rooted in recognizing God's greatness,

589
00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:37.000
not human effort. When we worship God, the focus is

590
00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:39.119
not on us. It's not on what we're bringing. It's

591
00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:41.679
not on us being good boys and girls and look

592
00:35:41.719 --> 00:35:44.960
at us worship God. It's not about us drawing attention

593
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:48.159
to ourselves. Oh look at me, I'm doing this, I'm

594
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.679
doing It's not about us. What it is is when

595
00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:53.679
we come to worship God. It's like God, it's us

596
00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.800
recognizing in the moment of worship. True worship happens at

597
00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:02.000
the moment you recognize you are unworthy and God is incomprehensible,

598
00:36:02.199 --> 00:36:06.400
He is incomparable, and He is greater than you, more sovereign, overever,

599
00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:09.679
when the minutes you feel your smallness and you acknowledge

600
00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:14.280
God's greatness. Worship happens the minute you understand your nothingness,

601
00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:20.639
your worthlessness, your depravity, your sin, what you deserve, and

602
00:36:20.760 --> 00:36:28.480
God's incomparable, incomprehensible greatness. That's when worship occurs. Doesn't matter

603
00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:30.360
how many songs you sing, doesn't matter, if you raise

604
00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:32.480
your hands, fall on the floor, if you're quiet, if

605
00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:37.079
you're still, worship only happens. Worship can happen, and you

606
00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:39.480
don't need any songs. You don't need anything. You just

607
00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:43.119
need at the moment to come into your realization God's

608
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:47.559
greatness and your utter nothingness. That's when worship occurs. At

609
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:52.239
that moment, the moment your brain realizes God is this

610
00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:55.760
and I am nothing. Worship is where you become crushed,

611
00:36:55.920 --> 00:36:59.880
You become humbled, you become all of your self sufficiency,

612
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.480
all of your works, all of how good you think

613
00:37:02.519 --> 00:37:06.440
you are, all of that self righteousness just is gone

614
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:10.400
and you're like God, woe is me? God is greater

615
00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:14.679
than me. That's when worship occurs. Doesn't happen, and whether

616
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:17.480
you sing three songs, five songs, ten songs, it doesn't matter.

617
00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:19.559
If the sermon is an hour long, ten minutes long.

618
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:23.480
None of that worship occurs at the moment an individual

619
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:33.119
is confronted with that reality. And Judah needed to be reminded.

620
00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:42.719
Your worship is in it's insufficient, it's nothing. Worship is

621
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.960
rooted in recognizing God's greatness, not your effort. It's not

622
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:52.760
about what you do, right, it's not what worship is.

623
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:57.159
When we cease to basically exist. If we talk about

624
00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.800
worship and oh, when we make it at us, what

625
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:03.599
we felt, what we got from it, Oh, it was wonderful.

626
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:06.599
We make it all about when we walk out of

627
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:09.800
worship and we're still talking about us, then it wasn't worship.

628
00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:13.280
When you worshiped, you don't talk about you because you

629
00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:25.079
realize you're nothing. So again we're just breaking down twelve

630
00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:29.000
through seventeen. Again, what is the breakdown? God's sovereignty over creation,

631
00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:33.760
God's infinite wisdom, the insignificant of nations, and the inadequacy

632
00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:38.320
of worship. And now verse seventeen, the nothingness of nations.

633
00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:40.480
All right, I'm going to read all the nations or

634
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:43.280
as nothing before him. They are accounted by Him as

635
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.880
less than nothing in emptiness. Now the language escalates less

636
00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:51.400
than nothing, and emptiness amplifies the insignificance of human power.

637
00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:55.320
They are less than How can you be less than nothing? See,

638
00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:59.519
it's escalating the language. So what is the key theological idea?

639
00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:04.320
While nations may seem powerful, they're utterly powerless before God's rule.

640
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.199
This was very relevant to Israel, who feared Babylon but

641
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:11.840
needed to be reminded that God is greater than any empire,

642
00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:17.119
any of them. They constantly forget this over and over

643
00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:19.480
and over, just like we constantly forget it because we

644
00:39:19.559 --> 00:39:26.119
constantly live a life around circumstances and situations that are

645
00:39:26.199 --> 00:39:29.920
completely contradictory to what we believe about God. Because what

646
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:31.679
we believe God is greater than all of this, but

647
00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:36.960
our reality seems to show that the situation, circumstances, and

648
00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:43.000
reality is greater than God. So what are the key

649
00:39:43.079 --> 00:39:45.760
theological themes? I think I've now kind of driven this.

650
00:39:46.360 --> 00:39:50.440
I think have really doubled down on this. God's sovereignty

651
00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:53.599
over creation. He is above all things and controls all things.

652
00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:57.000
God's infinite wisdom. No one instructs God. He is self sufficient.

653
00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:01.880
The insignificance of nations, political military powers are meaningless compared

654
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:04.639
to God, and the inadequacy of human worship. No amount

655
00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:08.960
of human effort can match God's greatness. Those are the

656
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:13.679
key theological themes I've now repeated them like fifteen times.

657
00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:23.760
So application specially for them, they need to trust in

658
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:27.519
God's sovereignty instead of fearing human rulers or circumstances. They

659
00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:30.400
had to rest in God's absolute control. What should we do?

660
00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:32.920
We have to We have to trust in God's sovereignty.

661
00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:36.199
And that's something we do by faith, because by sight

662
00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:39.320
it's very difficult. We have to recognize our limits. We

663
00:40:39.320 --> 00:40:43.039
cannot instruct God, question his wisdom, or fully comprehend his ways.

664
00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:45.719
We have to recognize. They had to recognize it. We

665
00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:49.440
have to recognize it. God doesn't need us, and we're

666
00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:53.719
never going to truly understand and we can't instruct God.

667
00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:58.039
And then I think this should break us so that

668
00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:01.480
we are left with worshiping in humility. True worship is

669
00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:06.559
when we acknowledge God's majesty and rather than our performance.

670
00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:11.920
That again, worship happens at the minute we understand our nothingness,

671
00:41:11.960 --> 00:41:17.159
we kind of disappear, we disintegrate, we fall apart. It

672
00:41:17.199 --> 00:41:19.559
becomes nothing, and all of it becomes us about God.

673
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:21.920
We know that we have no righteousness to bring that

674
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:24.400
would be adequate to God. We have nothing. We have

675
00:41:24.519 --> 00:41:26.599
literally nothing. The only thing we can bring to God

676
00:41:26.679 --> 00:41:32.639
is our sin and our unworthiness. They needed to realize

677
00:41:32.679 --> 00:41:39.719
that Israel needed to realize that, See, you can get

678
00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:42.360
this idea. Well, God, we worship you, we bring you worship,

679
00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:44.480
we lift up our hands, we come to church, we

680
00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:46.280
do this, we do this, we do this, we do

681
00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:49.079
this as if somehow now God owes us because we're

682
00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:53.599
bringing our greatest worship. If you take everything in Lebanon,

683
00:41:53.800 --> 00:41:57.519
all the trees and all the animals, it's not worthy. Well,

684
00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:59.440
if you take everything you can ever bring to God

685
00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:03.079
in your entire life, it's of nothing, it's of don't

686
00:42:03.079 --> 00:42:16.719
think we're doing God a favor. Our worship is unworthy.

687
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:20.119
Now I've got some I got some questions here I

688
00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:21.880
could ask, but I don't think I'm going to do

689
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:25.320
that because I think we've kind of really dug in here. Basically,

690
00:42:25.400 --> 00:42:30.559
Isaiah forty twelve to seventeen. It magnifies God's greatness, It

691
00:42:30.599 --> 00:42:34.559
magnifies his sovereignty, it magnifies his wisdom, and it calls

692
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:39.639
us to trust and to worship humbly. It calls us

693
00:42:39.639 --> 00:42:44.159
to humbly acknowledge his supremacy over all things. The passage

694
00:42:44.199 --> 00:42:48.119
serves as a powerful reminder that nothing no nation, no ruler,

695
00:42:48.360 --> 00:42:53.280
no human effort can compare to God. Now again, what

696
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:58.119
was the structural breakdown here? What was the breakdown here?

697
00:42:58.199 --> 00:43:00.320
Let me go all the way back up in minds

698
00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:06.480
so right Verse twelve, God's sovereignty over creation, Verses thirteen

699
00:43:06.519 --> 00:43:10.679
through fourteen, God's infinite wisdom, God's fifteen or verse fifteen,

700
00:43:10.840 --> 00:43:16.079
the insignificance of nations compared to God, Verse sixteen, the

701
00:43:16.119 --> 00:43:19.800
inadequacy of human worship to match God's greatness, and verse

702
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:23.159
seventeen the nothingness of the nations before God. That is

703
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:27.719
the structure. We went over that structure twice at least repeated,

704
00:43:27.960 --> 00:43:31.760
and then we expanded so that you truly understood it.

705
00:43:43.239 --> 00:43:48.599
Hopefully you understand why we'd spent two hours last week

706
00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:52.519
looking at the Babylonian gods and the Babylonian religious system,

707
00:43:53.559 --> 00:44:02.800
because this is directly linked to that those in Judah

708
00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:07.880
were facing what appeared to be the greatness and the

709
00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:13.079
power of a nation Babylon, the greatness and the power

710
00:44:13.239 --> 00:44:17.280
of kings and earthly rulers, and the greatness and the

711
00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:22.440
power of their religious system, the power of a nation,

712
00:44:22.920 --> 00:44:26.079
the power of individuals or rulers, and the power of

713
00:44:26.119 --> 00:44:29.760
a religion. They were confronted with those three things, and

714
00:44:29.800 --> 00:44:32.159
what they needed to do was go to theology class

715
00:44:32.280 --> 00:44:35.719
and be taught no, no, no, no, do not look

716
00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:38.360
to the nations, do not look to the rulers, and

717
00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:40.960
do not look to their gods, because the God of

718
00:44:41.079 --> 00:44:46.639
Judah is greater than all of that. But you're gonna

719
00:44:46.679 --> 00:44:49.199
have to believe it by faith because right now, at

720
00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:52.719
this very moment, all you see is Babylonian captivity. That's

721
00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:54.559
all you see. You don't know when you're gonna get out.

722
00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:58.440
I'm telling you that it's coming to an end. But again,

723
00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:00.719
when this words were given to them, they weren't even

724
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:09.199
in Babylonian captivity yet, and then they're there for seventy years.

725
00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:19.679
So we have to learn to see the reality of

726
00:45:19.760 --> 00:45:25.639
God by faith in spite of what we see around us, nations, people, rulers,

727
00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:29.840
false religions, but at all, when we see the greatness

728
00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:33.000
of God, then it should immediately bring us to and

729
00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:36.719
again that moment of worship. Worship is not something you

730
00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:39.360
do in church, it's not something you do. Worship is

731
00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:41.880
just at that whatever the moment is, wherever it occurs,

732
00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:45.480
where you become at a very moment you become aware

733
00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:56.119
of God's complete greatness and your absolute nothingness. You can

734
00:45:56.159 --> 00:45:58.239
go to church and walk away never worshiped. You can

735
00:45:58.280 --> 00:46:01.360
have could have had to worship hour. You can dedicate

736
00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:03.239
two hours to nothing but worship in your church, and

737
00:46:03.239 --> 00:46:05.000
everybody we go walk away going. It was such a

738
00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:07.719
great worship service. And I felt this, and I felt

739
00:46:07.760 --> 00:46:09.719
that the only thing you should have felt is that

740
00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:13.199
you're totally nothing and God is everything. Until you're brought

741
00:46:13.239 --> 00:46:15.800
to that point, worship did not occur. I cannot stress

742
00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:25.320
that enough. All right, that's Isaiah forty, twelve to seventeen.

743
00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:30.119
So late last night we did an hour of teaching.

744
00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:33.639
Just right prior to this, did about forty minutes of teaching.

745
00:46:33.960 --> 00:46:37.239
Now we've done about forty six minutes of teaching. So

746
00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:41.000
it's multiple things. Hopefully you found some benefit in all

747
00:46:41.039 --> 00:46:43.320
of this. The next thing we need to try to

748
00:46:43.360 --> 00:46:49.719
attempt to do is at some point we need to

749
00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:54.719
work on Isaiah forty. Now this brings us to eighteen

750
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:59.079
to twenty four, and I think we'll go eighteen to

751
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:01.119
twenty four and then we need to do we'll finish

752
00:47:01.199 --> 00:47:06.280
up with twenty five through thirty one. So don't know

753
00:47:06.320 --> 00:47:08.599
if we'll do any of that today, but for now

754
00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:13.480
you've got plenty to consider and think about. All right,

755
00:47:13.480 --> 00:47:18.559
thank you for listening, God bless