March 9, 2025

Isaiah 41:1-7

Isaiah 41:1-7

We continue our study of Isaiah 40-55 by looking at Isaiah 41:1-7

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We continue our study of Isaiah 40-55 by looking at Isaiah 41:1-7

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All right, Isaiah chapter forty one, Isaiah chapter forty one.

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Hopefully we will make pretty good progress. If you consider

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all the work we did on Isaiah forty one, with

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the observational the observational outline, we've kind of already covered

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the chapter. I think we pretty much can make it

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through it relatively quickly. So we're going to probably go

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through sections relatively like you know, maybe one hour, one

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entire section. Maybe maybe in an hour we go through

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more than a section, or maybe we'll stumble upon something

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and then we'll end up taking much longer than I anticipate.

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But we know the chapter pretty well. But one of

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the I mean, obviously, the reason we're in Isaiah forty one,

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the reason we were in Isaiah forty the reason we'll

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be in Isaiah forty three all the way up to

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Isaiah fifty five. The reason we are there is because

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of my increasing frustration with how sermon after sermon after

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sermon after sermon handles Isaiah forty through fifty five. In fact,

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it's extremely I mean, it's disheartening. On the way here,

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I was listening to another sermon, this time on Isaiah

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forty one. Now that sermon I can't really complain about

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because for some weird reason, a sermon on Isaiah forty

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one never left the Book of Exodus. But okay, so

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I don't know why the text was Isaiah forty one.

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I don't know what that was all about. But okay,

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so that I can't complain about that one because they

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didn't actually handle the text. Maybe maybe the last five

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or ten minutes they got to the text or referenced it,

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but I don't know why it was a sermon on

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Isaiah forty one. But over and over and over we

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have noticed that when it comes to Isaiah forty forty one,

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forty two, anywhere in that section Isaiah forty to Isaiah

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fifty five, and all over the Old Testament, they handled

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the text by making it about us, ignoring the original recipients,

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and I don't know, turning it into sermons more than

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a study of the text. And it is frustrating. Now,

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the good news is this week I didn't listen to

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any sermons on Isaiah forty one other than on the

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way here. Like I said, I can't really complain about

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that one. But this week there was another problem that

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I've spent all week dealing with that once again, I

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don't understand Christianity, but it very much connects with this.

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On March the first, it was the three hundred and

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thirty three year anniversary at the beginning of the Salem

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Witch Trials. That's when the first three women were interrogated

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or examined in Salem Village. And so I started just

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doing more work, more study on the Salem Witch Trials.

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Have done number of podcasts this week on all the

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things I know about the Salem Witch Trials. But what

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I found fascinating was if you look on the sermons

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sermonadio app and do a search for Cotton Mather, m

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at Er Cotton Mather, you will immediately see that there's

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all these sermons defending Cotton Mather, treating him as if

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he's like the hero of the faith. Now, I heard

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about Cotton Mather a million times in my Christian life.

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Mather one of the Puritans. He's great Redcotton Mather, Re'dcotton

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Math or we'd gotten Mather. Well, when you start studying

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the Salem Witch Trials, I'm like, I don't know if

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I really want to study Cotton Mather. I think this

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guy is a full blown villain. In the story. I

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don't believe he's a hero in any way, shape or form.

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And if you don't know anything about Cotton Mather, about

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four years prior, about four years prior to Salem, there

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is an incident in Boston that led to the execution

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hanging of a woman by the name of Anne Glover.

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And it basically if you look at the case in

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Boston about four years before Salem starts it, it's kind

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of creepy on how like it sounds like the beginning

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of the Salem witch trials. It sounds like it sounds

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like the very I mean, it sounds like identical. It's

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like someone was following the script. It's insane how close

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the cases are related. Well, one of the connecting features

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is the man involved in the case in Boston is

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Cotton Mather, and then he writes a book. Well, that

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book ends up in the library of the pastor who

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it's his daughter and his niece who makes the first accusations,

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and lo and behold, it sounds identical to what happened

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in Boston. So there already is a connection between Cotton Mather.

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But whatever one forgets is they use this thing in

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Salem called spectral evidence, where a person could be one

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hundred miles away, but you could say their spirit was

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tormenting me, and well that would make you guilty. And

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Cotton Mather supported this spectral evidence nonsense, which nobody should

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have ever accepted, but they did. Well, there was a

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former minister of Salem and his last name was Burroughs,

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and he's living in Maine. Now. He left Salem because

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he had all kinds of conflict with the congregation, had

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all kinds of difficulty. He goes to Maine. Well, when

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all of this craziness starts, guess what, they decide to

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accuse him of being a witch. So they go to

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man arrest him, bringing back to Salem. They're going to

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execute him. He's on the gallows. That put the rope

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around his neck. They're gonna kill him. Well, he recites

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the Lord's Prayer perfectly, which is what in Salem they

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said a witch could not do. Well, this should cause

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everyone to go this man's a minister. He just recited

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the Lord's prayer. Should we be killing this guy? Should

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we be killing this guy? So they're gonna stop the execution.

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But guess who is there? Cotton Mather sitting on his horse,

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and Cotton Mather convinces everyone, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, guys,

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we don't stop. This is Satan appearing as an angel

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of light and they killing so and somehow God, I mean,

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I don't know, and now I know there's there will

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be people who will dispute that he wasn't even there.

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But in seventeen hundred, not that long after the Salem

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witch trials, a man writes an entire book outline in

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Cotton Mather being at that execution and doing what I

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just reported. And guess what, Cotton Mather never contradicted that

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claim in any way. All he did was one of

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the book burned, and they did book burnings in Boston.

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But so Cotton Mather had every opportunity to refute the

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claim that he was there. He never refuted it. But

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in spite of all of that, you go in sermonaudio

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Christian after Christian minister defending Cotton Mather. I will never

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understand it as long as I live. And that just

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demonstrates over and over and over when it comes to

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preaching the text, when it comes to teaching church history,

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when it comes to teaching theology, it demonstrates over and

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over that there is something else that motivates there's something

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else that guides other than what The text is not

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the thing that guides us. We say that it is,

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but it's not the thing that guides us. It's not

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the thing that leads us. The text does not lead us.

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Because anyone who studies Isaiah forty through fifty five, if

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the text is leading you, what should Isaiah forty through

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fifty five be about? About Israel or Judah in Babylonian captivity? Right,

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that's what it should be about. It should not be

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about us. But is that what happens in sermons? No,

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over and over and over. It's not. When we study

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church history what should motivate us. When we study church history,

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not to defend us, not to prove us. It's to

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learn what happened in the past, the reality of what

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happened in the past. It's not about finding the people

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who are on our team, are making it sound like

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someone was on our team, or defending them because we

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think they were on our team. That's not what we do.

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We go study church history, and when we study church history,

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we're studying the lives of what kind of people sinners, right.

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But in our Christian mind, we can't approach it that

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way because we have all of these different motivations when

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it comes to the history. When it comes to the text,

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what should be the I'll state it this way. When

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it comes to the text, when it comes to church history,

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what should be the driving motivation in our study? There's

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one word starts with a T. Truth, just a pursuit

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of truth. I want to understand the text. I don't

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want to understand the text in order to preach a sermon.

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I want to understand the text for what reason? To

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understand the truth? Right? It doesn't matter what you're reading,

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it doesn't matter what you're studying. You should be doing

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so in order to find truth, not to support a

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particular philological team. I don't care about the theological team.

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And so if it's just so frustrating that the study

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of Salem Christians can't get that right, It's like, I

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don't understand how you can get Salem wrong. I don't understand,

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like you can literally go there, okay, hey, like you

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can literally go there the facts. I mean, there's so

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much content available about Salem that for people to be

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ignorant of it is maddening. So listening to these Christians

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defend it makes me lose my mind. But I'm like, well,

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why should I be surprised. We can't get what happened

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three hundred and thirty three years ago right. We can't

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get what was right and the life of Christ can't.

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We can't get anything right because Christians are motivated by

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something other than truth. That's what I's that's the that's

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I'm gonna just be dogmatic. Christians are not motivated by

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the pursuit of truth. We're motivated by the pursuit of

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our own theological team, our own bias, our own prejudice,

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our own selfishness. We are motivated by having a sermon

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that will make everyone happy so that we can have

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the churches that make enough money so that we can

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support things. Everything is motivated by something other than the

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pursuit of truth. We claim we want truth. Nobody wants truth.

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Nobody wants truth because if people wanted truth, they would

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handle theology differently, they would handle history differently. Church history

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is rarely handled correctly, rarely right. We study church history

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and next thing, you know, we turn this church father

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into somebody on our team. And if we went back

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at that time, the church father would be like, you're

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not on my team. Okay, we get out of here.

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When we study church history about baptism, wouldn't it a

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weird crazy study baptizing people in the nude and they

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got to do this and they got to do that,

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And you're like, what in the world is this? Well,

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we don't go back, but what will most people do? Well,

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if you're a Presbyterian or a Lutheran, you go back

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to try to find anything in history that supports what

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infant baptism. If you're someone who doesn't believe in infant baptism,

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you only study church history to demonstrate what believers baptism

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or adult baptism. That's not how you do it. You

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go back and you're like, whatever I find is whatever

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I find, whether it agrees with me or whether it

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what disagrees with me, it doesn't matter. We don't but

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we have motives. We have motives in what we do.

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So hopefully we can continue to try to be motivated

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to study Isaiah forty one on the basis of why

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why do we want to pursue truth no matter what

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it looks like? Okay, so let's go Isaiah chapter forty one,

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verses one through seven. Isaiah forty one one through seven.

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Let's see what we can do, all right. There was

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a part of me, because we kind of already covered

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this so good in the observational outline. I was like, well, says,

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I've been thinking about Salem all week. Let's just talk

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about Salem. But we're not going to do that because

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we need to at least finish Isaiah forty one. So

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here we go, Isaiah forty one one through seven. Let's

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just read the seven verses and then we'll see what

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you remember from the observational outline, all right. From the

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King James, Isaiah forty one, Verse one, keep silence before me,

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oh islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let

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them come near, then let them speak. Let us come

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near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man

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from the east, called him to his foot, gave the

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nations before him, and made him rule over kings. He

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gave them as the dust to his sword, and as

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driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and passed safely,

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even by the way that he had not gone with

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his feet. Who hath wrought and done it? Calling the

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generations from the beginning, I the lord the first, and

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with the last, I am he verse five. Now I

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just realized something there. We could expand it on, but

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we won't be able to do so right now. But

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okay verse five. The isles saw it and fear. The

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ends of the earth were afraid, and drew near and came.

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They helped everyone his neighbor, and everyone said to his brother,

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be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,

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and he that smoothed with the hammer, him that smote

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the end will say it is ready for the soldering.

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And he fastened it with nails, that it should not

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be moved. All right, Isaiah forty one one through seven. Now,

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if you remember our study of the observational outline, what

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did we reference this section about being about? Did we

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give it a title? What do we remember about Isaiah

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forty one one through seven? Right, God sovereignty over nations.

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So if you want to kind of summarize this, Isaiah

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forty one one through seven is about God's sovereignty over

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nations and the futility of idols. God's sovereignty over nations

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and the futility of idols if you remember correctly, Isaiah

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forty one, Verse one kind of begins with what what

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is happening? In Isaiah forty one verse one? If you remember,

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you can look at it also it's open book. Yeah,

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it's kind of like a summons to court, right It

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Basically the chapter opens with a divine courtroom scene and

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where God calls who does he call? He calls the

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nations to present their case in a sense, right, This

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passage seems to serve as a theological bridge between the

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broad proclamation of God's supremacy and forty and now it

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becomes more specific assurances to Israel and the rest of

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Isaiah forty one. Remember we talked about that transition. It

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focuses on God's sovereignty over world events, and particularly the

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rise of a specific ruler is kind of beginning to

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be identified Isaiah forty one and Isaiah forty one. This

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ruler is not identified by name. How is he kind

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of described in Isaiah forty one one through seven? Where

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does he first show up in Isaiah forty one one

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through seven? This first, okay, the righteous man from the east.

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Everybody see that his casine as a conquering key. Who

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is that most likely. I think I think it would

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be hard pressed to say with anyone other than Cyrus. Right,

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it has to be Cyrus. Now we're going to talk

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about all well, we may get to all the things

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everyone else does with that, but we we will go

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with that. Okay. So and at the end of that

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section of Isaiah forty one, it exposes the nation's fullish

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reliance on idols, does it not? I think it does? Okay?

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All right, So we've read Isaiah forty one one through seven.

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Now we're going to try to focus on kind of

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that's kind of an overview. Now we're gonna try to

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look at the context and structure and will break this

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down into a couple of parts. All right, we'll get

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We're gonna look at the immediate context. The immediate context, right,

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Isaiah forty declares God's supreme power over creation and nations.

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We don't need to go back and demonstrate that. I

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think we've talked about that now about fifty thousand times, right,

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I think everyone feels comfortable with that fact. Isaiah forty

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one one through seven, God demonstrates his power over what

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what do you see God demonstrating his power over and

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Isaiah forty one one through seven. Okay, but yeah, he

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basically his power over history by raising up a ruler

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to execute his plan. Because what does he say in

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verse two? It's kind of almost asked as a rhetorical question.

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Who raised up the righteous man from the east? Called

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him to foot right? And it says all these things

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he will do? Right? Who hath done? Calling the generation

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from the beginning, and then he identifies who's done it?

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What's the the end of verse four, I've done it.

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God is the one who's done He's the one in

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charge of this situation. Right. So forty one demonstrates his

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power over basically rulers or over history by raising up rulers.

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Isaiah forty one, eight through twenty. What happens in Isaiah

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forty one, eight through twenty It moves from God's power

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over nations and does it now begin to speak specifically

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about his relationship with Israel? Where do you see that

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in verses eight through twenty. Okay, hey literally names Israel

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right now. The reason I point that out? Why do

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I point that out? Because sermon after sermon after sermon

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for some weird reason, ignores Israel. Right. What happens in

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twenty one through twenty nine challenge of the idols. There

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we go, so Isaiah forty declares God's supreme power over

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creation and nations. But when you get to forty one,

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he demonstrates his power over history or over rulers. Forty

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one eight through twenty and moves from God's power over

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the nations to his special relationship with Israel and forty

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one twenty one through twenty nine, God challenges the idols.

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There's the immediate context that has before the section and

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what comes after. So we've done. Everyone knows the context now,

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hopefully perfectly. All Right, if we look at a structural

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breakdown of verses one through seven, what do we have

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in verse one? We'll call it God's summons everybody, okay?

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With that summons to the nations? What do we have

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in two through four? Okay, we can call this rhetorical questions.

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But it speaks of the rise of a conquering king.

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I think that's the way Sarah described it. A conquering

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king from the east, and he's controlled by God. I

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think that's fair to say. Right. Two, So first one

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on the summons two through four is kind of I

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guess the evidence that is almost asking a rhetorical question, Hey,

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who did this? And it's me, right, I'm the one

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who to God is the one who done it. Verse

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five to seven the response to the nations. Right, the

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response of the nations very good. So verse one is

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the summons. Two through four is basically God, I get

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how did you say it? I say, I think presenting

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the evidence basically cool questions and proof. And then five

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through seven is their response their response. All right. So

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there is the immediate context, and there's the structural breakdown.

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I mean, this section doesn't require a lot of work.

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It doesn't work require a lot of work. So now

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let's kind of break it down. Let's look at the

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first one, the Isaiah forty one. Verse one. We'll call

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it the Divine courtroom summons or the summons. All right,

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I'll read it from a different translation. Now listen to

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me in silence. So right there, I mean, if we

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want to start breaking this down, keep silent, or listen

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to me in silence. Hey, you're being called, but what

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are you not being called to do? Yeah? Or the

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nations are being called. Hey you're come, but just be quiet,

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right because I don't really care what you have to say.

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You're going to listen to what I have to say,

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right so, listen to me in silence. Clearly identifies who

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he's calling. OH Coastlands, according to some translations, or OH Islands.

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Let the people renew their strength, let them approach, let

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them then then let them speak, which is interesting. Let

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us together draw near for judgment. They're being drawn near

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for what to judgment. There's going to be a judgment here.

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Something's going to be challenged here right now. So in

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this section, this divine court room, we have the call

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to the nations, which we've already discussed. Listen to me

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in silence. It's a legal summons. God calls the nations

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to a courtroom setting for judgment. OH Coastlands or OH

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Islands typically represents distant lands, emphasizing the global scope of

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God's authority. How does it demonstrate his authority? He can

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call everyone to court, not just Israel. He can call

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any nation to court because he is God. He's the

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supreme ruler, he's the supreme judge. Does that make sense?

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Let the people renew their strength? It kind of echoes

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Isaiah forty thirty one, doesn't it? If you look at

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Isaiah forty thirty one, and now here it's is it

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kind of similar, but it's kind of done in an

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ironic way. Right, there we go. That's what I was

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getting ready to say, and Isaiah forty thirty one, that's

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for Israel, now here is for the nation. Here's for

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the nations. Okay, but how how do you think is

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being you? It's being you somewhat ironically. But how is

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it being used in forty one verse one that we're

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still in verse one kind of like gather your strength,

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prepare yourself. Yeah, like hey, now get there, Hey wait

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on the Lord, and God's going to renew your strength. Here, Hey,

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renew your own strength, strengthen up. It's kind of pull

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yourself together because as a time of judgment, right that

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it's being used in kind of a it's a separate audience.

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It's kind of being used in the ironic way. So

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there's the call to the nations in verse one. All right,

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then we have kind of the we have Then we

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have a judgment and kind of a challenge. Let them

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approach or let us draw near for judgment. Everybody see

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that phrase. The nations must defend their belief in idols

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before God. Right, so, hey, strengthen yourself, prepare yourself, come

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near for judgment. And the judgment is they're going to

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have to defend themselves, right, They're gonna have to provide

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some answer. It seems that, really, what is the issue

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you think this judgment's going to deal with? According to

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artificial intelligence, the issue at hand is basically who controls history?

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Me are idols? Who controls history? I don't know if

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we want to say who controls history? Now, there may

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be a reason AI went with that direction. I'm just

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gonna say, who's in control me? Really, you could kind

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of do it three ways. I think you could do

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it three ways. Who's in control? The True God? Huh

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way some human ruler or human king or you're idols.

390
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Do you think that's fair to go that direction? I

391
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think it's fair right who's in charge? Because on one hand,

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the people could look and they could think who is

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in charge Babylon or this king that's conquering everyone coming

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from the east right, or they could perceive their idols

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to be in charge. So your choices are the true God,

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human rulers are idols. Let's everyone come, everyone, come, come

397
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to the courtroom. Get ready, Strengthen yourself, prepare yourself for

398
00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:40.440
a time of judgment. Here who this is your option

399
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today in court, ladies and gentlemen, we have to determine

400
00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:57.000
who is in charge of everything? Jahweh human rulers are idols. Yeah, yeah,

401
00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:01.160
one hundred years before it even happened. That question of

402
00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:07.319
who's in charge goes through really the entire Bible, right,

403
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.680
goes through the entire Bible. Right, because if you think

404
00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:14.480
about it, why is the question of who's control? It

405
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:18.680
always haunts human beings that has throughout history? Right, because

406
00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.200
we look at life and who do we want to

407
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be in charge of it? Us? Right? We want to

408
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.359
be in charge? But what have humans known from the

409
00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:33.000
very beginning? There's some things we're not in charge of. Right,

410
00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:37.240
You can go back to the earliest stages of men. Right,

411
00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:40.000
it doesn't matter who we are. You begin to realize, Wait,

412
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:44.279
there's storms, there's plagues, there's this, there's that, and what

413
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.839
happens whenever we human beings are faced with things that

414
00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:54.119
are out of their control, Well, they assign something, They

415
00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.799
try to assign some cause for what is occurring. Right,

416
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:03.039
So in some cases, hey, we can't control it, but

417
00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:06.000
we want to still try to control it by understanding

418
00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:09.559
it right, because if we can assign who's responsible for it,

419
00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:11.359
if it still is a way for us to maintain

420
00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:15.640
some kind of control, correct, so bad things happen that

421
00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:21.519
would assign it to what some kind of God, right,

422
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.839
and then that God needed to be appeased, and it

423
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would be appeased by what what we can do, which,

424
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:31.119
in a roundabout way psychologically, what are we attempting to

425
00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:36.119
do trying to demonstrate that we're in control? Right? If

426
00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.079
I take my baby and throw it in the river,

427
00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:42.200
and then God will make my crupts grow and reality?

428
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Am I saying God is in control? Kind of saying

429
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.480
I'm in control right because I can do something. I

430
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:52.599
can do something to appease that God. Humans are always

431
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:54.519
looking for a way not only to understand what we

432
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.200
can't control, but to create some system of control that

433
00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:02.079
typically we are a part of. We want that control,

434
00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:05.720
we want control, right, and for many Christians, if we

435
00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:09.359
can't understand it, the same thing happens. I mean, if

436
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.559
you go back I'll use the Salem witch trials. If

437
00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:14.720
you go back to the Salem witch trials, there were

438
00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:20.400
a lot of things that were occurring before Salem happened, right,

439
00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:24.319
before Salem happened in that area, there was a war

440
00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:27.759
with the native tribes there. A whole lot of people

441
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:31.079
got slaughtered and wiped out. I can't I have the numbers.

442
00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:32.200
I don't have them right here in front of me.

443
00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.160
I have to look them up. But a large number.

444
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:37.720
There was also dang I don't know if it was polio,

445
00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:41.319
I can't remember which disease went through the area, wiped

446
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.440
out all kinds of people. Right, So there was war,

447
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.240
there was disease. Well guess what. And the Puritan mind

448
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:56.880
what was going on? Satan? Right, because for them, New

449
00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:00.279
England was God's chosen land. There were God's chows and

450
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:04.480
people in New England was under demonic attack. Bad things

451
00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:07.680
saw that Satan was working. Oh no, he's out to

452
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.480
get us, okay, which then leads to the paranoia on

453
00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.559
the panic. But it was still about trying to understand.

454
00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.160
We don't like not being in control. We want control

455
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.519
in some way, shape or form. We may and some

456
00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:23.400
people will say the reason humans created a god is

457
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:27.079
to try to offer some sense of understanding and control

458
00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:29.799
to that which we cannot understand or that which we

459
00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:32.799
can control. And there is a little truth to that

460
00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:35.680
because We definitely do that, and we see that throughout

461
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.880
human history. Right. That's why almost every culture, when we

462
00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:41.880
dig in the ground and discover a new culture, what

463
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:46.799
do we almost always discover with that culture some form

464
00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:52.160
of religious understanding, some deity, some idol, and for the

465
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:59.119
Babylonians that had idols, that was supposedly controlled what everything? Everything?

466
00:28:59.279 --> 00:28:59.640
All right?

467
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:04.680
So now here is God calling them in to court

468
00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:09.440
and he basically wants to say who is in control me?

469
00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:16.000
But you have three options. The true God, human kings

470
00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:20.960
are what are idols? And that's what is getting ready

471
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:24.680
to be. That's the court case. Does everyone understand the

472
00:29:24.680 --> 00:29:31.200
court case? All right? Okay? So unlike human courts, God

473
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:37.039
is both the judge and the prosecutor, exposing the nation's

474
00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:40.400
reliance on false gods, or you could possibly say he's

475
00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:42.559
going to try to expose them maybe their reliance on

476
00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:46.839
human authority. So what do we have here this first section?

477
00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:50.039
This is the divine courtroom or the summons. We have

478
00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:52.519
the call to the nations, and we have the judgment

479
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:56.759
and the challenge. Everybody feel comfortable with that section? That

480
00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:01.319
basically is all verse one? He got that, so let's

481
00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:05.279
read it again. Keep silence before me. Oh, Ireland, So

482
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:07.920
you're being called to court. But what does he want

483
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:09.759
you to do? You need to be quiet at this point,

484
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:13.160
right or not us? But them? Right? Let the people

485
00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:18.079
renew their strength. It's kind of ironic, right strength. Come on,

486
00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:22.839
get yourself together, let them come near, let them speak,

487
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:27.920
let us come near together to judgment. So keep silent,

488
00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:30.759
but there's going to be a time for them to speak. Basically,

489
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.880
I think I think it's being I know it seems contradictory.

490
00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:36.359
What do you think it means by keep silent but

491
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.960
then let them speak? What do you think is happening?

492
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.599
It does seem kind of contradictory. I don't think. Maybe

493
00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:49.200
it's a contradictory as that appears. Okay, right, who he's

494
00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:51.960
gonna say when you can speak? And when is he

495
00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:56.240
wants them to speak? When he starts asking these requestions

496
00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:00.839
he started the first question shows up where verse two? Right,

497
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:04.680
So show up not speaking, and when I ask you

498
00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:09.599
to speak, speak? All right. He's demonstrating his own his

499
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:12.839
power over the situation, his authority over the situation. All right,

500
00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:15.559
there's the call to the nations, there's the judgment and challenge.

501
00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:17.680
Now what do we have in verses two through three,

502
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:21.759
Can we have the questions? Or we can call this

503
00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:24.920
the rise of the conqueror the rise of the king. Right,

504
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:26.720
and then I'm going to read it from a different

505
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:30.559
translation again, Who stirred up one from the east whom

506
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:34.480
Victory meets At every step he gives up nations before him,

507
00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:37.440
so that he tramples the kings underfoot. He makes them

508
00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:40.799
like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.

509
00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.640
He pursued them and passes on safely by paths his

510
00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:49.319
feet have not trod. Right, So let's break this section

511
00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.359
down verses two through three. We'll call this the rise

512
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:54.920
of the conqueror we can call it questions and proves,

513
00:31:54.920 --> 00:31:57.440
however you want to define it, as long as we

514
00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:00.279
get the basic idea, I'm not so dogmatic on you

515
00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:02.119
want to label it in your notes. I'm giving you

516
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:04.000
the freedom to kind of shape it the way you want,

517
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.759
as long as we capture what's here. Right. So I'm

518
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:11.039
gonna say we're gonna break this section down into two

519
00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:16.240
major parts here, right, Okay, are you ready? Here we go?

520
00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:24.359
Maybe if I don't lose my notes here first, what's

521
00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.160
probably the if we kind of ask a question of ourselves.

522
00:32:28.279 --> 00:32:30.599
Probably what's the first question we need to ask Verses

523
00:32:30.599 --> 00:32:35.480
two through three. If we're asking ourselves a question, probably

524
00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:37.480
who is the one from the east, right, that's probably

525
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:42.880
the obvious question. Right. Anybody has study Bibles. If you

526
00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:45.759
have a study Bible, just tell me if they say anything.

527
00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:51.400
Here my study Bible that I'm using, and I have

528
00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:58.200
the foundation study Bible, I can tell you how it

529
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:01.640
answers the question. If you have a study Bible on you,

530
00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:04.839
you can tell me how it answers the question. All right,

531
00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:10.440
says Cyrus. Mine says Cyrus. Okay, I think most study

532
00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:13.000
bibles are going to say Cyrus. Mine says. This is

533
00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.119
what mine says. This refers to Cyrus, King of Persia

534
00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:21.039
five point fifty nine, five point thirty BC. Right, so

535
00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:25.880
it identifies Cyrus. Now, what is fascinating is almost everything

536
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:28.480
you can see says Cyrus. But for some weird reason,

537
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:31.480
preachers will go all kinds of wacky directions. Here in fact,

538
00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:34.759
AI at the end of this breaks down like fifteen

539
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:38.079
hermeneutical errors pastors make. And I'm like, my goodness, how

540
00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:39.720
can you make a mistake here? I don't know, But

541
00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:44.480
most scholars agree. Now, even Ai says most. Why do

542
00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:46.359
we always have to say most when we deal with

543
00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:52.279
the Bible or theology? Because there's never going to be

544
00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:56.039
unanimous agreement on anything? All right, Okay, there's never going

545
00:33:56.119 --> 00:33:58.920
to be a unanimous agreement, all right. Most scholars agree

546
00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:02.440
that this refers to Cyrus, the great king of Persia,

547
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:06.960
whom God would use to defeat Babylon and free Israel. Now,

548
00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:09.760
I'm gonna give you three references. I'm gonna give you

549
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:12.320
the reference from the study Bible, and i'm gonna give

550
00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.920
you two crush references given to me by Ai. You ready,

551
00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:19.239
all right? So go to Isaiah forty four to twenty

552
00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:29.920
eight Isaiah forty four twenty eight? What do you find

553
00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:35.719
in Isaiah forty four twenty eight? Okay, thatsaiath of Cyrus.

554
00:34:35.719 --> 00:34:39.119
He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure,

555
00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:43.000
even saying to Jerusalem, thou shall be built into the temple,

556
00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:46.719
that foundation shall be laid. What is significant in Isaiah

557
00:34:46.760 --> 00:34:49.000
forty four? What is Isaiah forty four twenty eight tell

558
00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:55.840
us about Cyrus? Well, let's break it down. Number one,

559
00:34:56.079 --> 00:35:03.599
he is named everybody got that. Number two, he is

560
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:08.199
my shepherd. He is God's shepherd. Do not forget this.

561
00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:12.079
He is identified by name. He is god Shepherd. What's

562
00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:18.880
the third thing? He shall perform all of God's pleasure.

563
00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:27.119
Everybody see that, and specifically rebuilding Jerusalem? All right? How

564
00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:38.760
about forty five one to his anointed Cyrus is referred

565
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:43.599
to God's anointed when we speak of the anointed one.

566
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.840
What is that typically reference when we say the anointed

567
00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:54.760
one Christ? Christ is the anointed one, the anointed one,

568
00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:00.760
almost like a Messiah? Correct, yes, okay, very very similar.

569
00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:02.599
All right? What else do we see him? Forty five

570
00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:06.400
to one whose right hand I have holden? He is he?

571
00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:09.440
God is holding his hand to do what to subdue nations?

572
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:11.880
Before him? I will loose the loins of kings to

573
00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:14.760
open before him the two left gates, and the gates

574
00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:18.880
shall not be shut. He's basically going to have He's

575
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.159
going to work in such a way that the kings

576
00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:27.440
are going to do what open the gates. But just

577
00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:34.639
note how Cyrus is described the Study Bible. If I

578
00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:39.639
go back to forty one the Study Bible here, oh,

579
00:36:39.719 --> 00:36:44.199
it gives me forty six eleven. Look at forty six eleven. Ay,

580
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:46.719
I did not give me forty six eleven. What happens

581
00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:49.679
in forty six eleven? I don't think I've looked at

582
00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:53.920
this one.

583
00:36:54.119 --> 00:37:05.920
What does it say?

584
00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:10.199
Who is that Cyrus? Is this ravenous bird from the east?

585
00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:14.039
All right, so he's identified multiple times? All right, I

586
00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:16.960
cannot stress this out. Look, we're going to get into

587
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.679
some very questionable Okay when we start talking about Cyrus.

588
00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:26.119
This is where things get really and this is what

589
00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:30.320
makes Christians nervous. But I started My entire introduction was

590
00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:33.119
that when people study the Bible, they are not motivated

591
00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:37.639
by the pursuit of what truth. That's my entire introduction. Now,

592
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:41.679
when we see, so Cyrus is referenced here in Isaiah

593
00:37:41.719 --> 00:37:44.360
forty one, he's at least alluded to. Can we in fact,

594
00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:47.199
we've already established I believe he's been talked about way

595
00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:50.320
before this passage in forty one, right, I think he's

596
00:37:50.360 --> 00:37:54.639
all over this section. Now, if Cyrus is all over

597
00:37:54.760 --> 00:37:59.000
this section, all over, then you know where this is

598
00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:03.079
going to lead to a possible historical and philological debate.

599
00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:08.599
What's the most famous chapter in Isaiah forty through fifty five?

600
00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:13.159
What's the most famous chapter in Isaiah forty through fifty five.

601
00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:18.679
Come on the most famous chapter fifty three. Why is

602
00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:25.920
fifty three the most famous chapter the Man of Sorrow?

603
00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:30.320
It describes this person right now, you could see why

604
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:35.639
some Jewish scholars will try to identify that as everyone

605
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:43.360
other than whom. Yeah, Jewish scholars are, they're gonna try

606
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:46.880
to identify this with any with anyone else other than Christ,

607
00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:50.000
right because unless they're a Messianic Jew, they're gonna reject

608
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:53.199
Christ being the fulfillment of Isaiah forty three. All right, Well,

609
00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:56.280
in a section where who is clearly the main person

610
00:38:56.360 --> 00:39:01.039
mentioned over and over and over Cyrus, you can see

611
00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:03.559
where that can possibly lead to. Right now, we have

612
00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:05.480
to at least be ready and willing to deal with

613
00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:08.159
that when we get there. Okay, but we cannot deny

614
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:13.000
what Cirrus is all over. This Cirrus is all over that.

615
00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:15.920
If we deny that, then we are not pursuing truth,

616
00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:19.119
no matter how uncomfortable that may be, all right, So

617
00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:25.360
we have to just be prepared for that. Okay, Oh yeah, Well,

618
00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:27.599
we definitely have New Testament references that are going to

619
00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:29.840
turn it to ust. But at the same time we

620
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:32.519
also in the New test Remember the New Testament uses

621
00:39:32.599 --> 00:39:37.800
passages in very unique ways, right, and the New Testament

622
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:41.800
it uses Isaiah forty versus three through five voice in

623
00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:45.000
the wilderness doing all and remember were like, wait a minute,

624
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:48.039
and maybe in the historical context, that's definitely not pointing

625
00:39:48.039 --> 00:39:53.199
to John the Baptist, right, So maybe it has two concepts. Right,

626
00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:55.159
we'll get into that. I just want to make sure

627
00:39:55.199 --> 00:39:57.920
we just don't we don't go as we move through

628
00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:01.079
Isaiah forty. Don't forget Sirrul. Remember I said that from

629
00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:04.760
the very beginning of this study, write down his name. Well,

630
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:07.880
now we have him right here. So who is the

631
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:13.320
one from the east. It is Cyrus, right now, I

632
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:17.519
asked Ai. Though not everyone believes it's Cyrus. And AI

633
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:22.320
was like, well, right, because some see this as a

634
00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:28.920
typological reference to Christ. All right, I don't know how

635
00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:30.519
you can go there. Let me make it very clear,

636
00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:34.760
there is no typology here. This is not about Christ here,

637
00:40:35.159 --> 00:40:52.159
this is about Cyrus. This is about Cyrus probably probably right, right,

638
00:40:52.440 --> 00:40:54.719
But I mean in the context, I mean Abraham's long gone.

639
00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:59.920
Yeah yeah, yeah, but so but some people love to

640
00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:02.679
go to these passages and then say, ooh, this is

641
00:41:02.679 --> 00:41:05.000
the righteous Man, okay, and then they're going to try

642
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:07.719
to draw this typology of Christ and this represents this,

643
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:11.280
and people love that kind of preaching because oh, I've

644
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.519
never seen this. Well, the reason you've never seen it

645
00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:18.000
is right because it's not there. Okay, it's not there.

646
00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:28.280
So everything points to Cyrus. Go ahead now that I mean,

647
00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:37.320
I have a good well, it does, Isaiah, it does, Okay,

648
00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:41.679
all right, So I will say I don't have a

649
00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:46.440
definitive term or reason why. I think maybe it's referring

650
00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:50.239
to him as righteous because and this is just speculation.

651
00:41:50.360 --> 00:41:51.719
You just put me on the spot. So I'm just

652
00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:54.199
trying to answer on the spot. Because he's going to

653
00:41:54.280 --> 00:41:59.679
do exactly what God tells him to do. Therefore, his

654
00:41:59.719 --> 00:42:02.639
acts will be righteous because God is the one directing them.

655
00:42:02.760 --> 00:42:05.760
Because it's it's emphasized over and over and over. He's

656
00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:08.679
going to do what my will, He's going to do

657
00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:12.000
my pleasure, He's going to do whatever I tell him

658
00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:15.000
to do. So therefore, when you see him doing these things,

659
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:18.320
it's me. So in a sense, I think that's the

660
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:20.960
best answer I can give you. I don't think has

661
00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:25.039
a soulteriological understanding of righteous. I think it's more of

662
00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:28.360
a general what he's doing is what I'm telling him

663
00:42:28.360 --> 00:42:31.679
to do. So it's being given by me.

664
00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:41.760
Okay, it's true calling righteous?

665
00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:48.159
Oh okay, righteous? Right, I said God is calling him,

666
00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:52.519
his calling of him is righteous. Okay, that's interesting. That's interesting.

667
00:42:52.920 --> 00:42:56.719
So good catch there, Stephen. Good So who is the

668
00:42:56.719 --> 00:42:58.480
one from these? The main thing we need to understand

669
00:42:58.519 --> 00:43:02.199
is that it is whom cyrus? All right? So we

670
00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:04.559
got that, So we're kind of breaking. We're trying to

671
00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:07.679
do basically and exegetical analysis all of this. So we

672
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:11.079
have the Divine Courtroom summons in forty one that's broken

673
00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:15.280
down into the call of the Nations and judgment and challenge.

674
00:43:15.639 --> 00:43:18.079
Then we have the Rise of the Conqueror two through three.

675
00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:20.800
We have this broken down basically into two parts. Who

676
00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:23.599
is the one from the East. We've identified that, and

677
00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:26.800
then we have the language of conquest? Do we not

678
00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:29.280
have the language of conquests? And verses two through three?

679
00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:32.719
We have the one from the East identified, or at

680
00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:36.000
least we identified him. And what do we have Victory

681
00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:42.039
meets at every step. This leader will be unstoppable, divinely

682
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:48.239
empowered tramples kings, makes them like dust. The nations are

683
00:43:48.280 --> 00:43:53.679
powerless before him, like driven stubble a metaphor for weakness

684
00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:58.920
and destruction. This is not about This is a key insight.

685
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:02.400
This is not about how powerful a ruler Cyrus is.

686
00:44:02.800 --> 00:44:06.519
It is about God's control over world events. Cyrus is

687
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:12.519
merely a tool in God's hands. But what is this

688
00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:16.559
being used for in the courtroom? Hey, don't look to

689
00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:21.360
human authority. I'm in charge of that authority. So remember

690
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:26.039
the options. Who's in control God? Human rulers are idols.

691
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:31.679
This is the human ruler section, and so people in fact,

692
00:44:31.719 --> 00:44:33.800
it's almost spoken of like they're gonna know who this

693
00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:36.000
person is coming from the east, right, it's spoken of.

694
00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:38.880
In fact, it doesn't it use like a very definitive

695
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:42.440
who raised up the righteous man from the east. It's

696
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:45.639
spoken of, not a one but the one, right, like

697
00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:49.000
there's a specific one he's referencing, and it's spoken of

698
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:51.920
as at least the people at this time are gonna

699
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:55.960
know who it is. Right now, this works even though

700
00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:59.280
this is for the other nations. This really works even

701
00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:05.119
for How does this bring comfort to those in Babylonian captivity? Well,

702
00:45:05.159 --> 00:45:10.559
once again, they've already been brought into captivity by Babylon, right,

703
00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:15.320
so they've seen human rulers, destroy their temple, bring them

704
00:45:15.320 --> 00:45:19.400
into captivity. Now again that don't have a minute by

705
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:21.840
minute update, but at this point they're gonna know of

706
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:24.440
another ruler coming and conquering. They probably have heard the

707
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.280
conquest of Cyrus and him coming, so those in captivity

708
00:45:29.280 --> 00:45:34.480
would be possibly what frightened or scared that, Oh boy,

709
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:37.519
here we go again. We're gonna now be caught. We're

710
00:45:38.119 --> 00:45:41.239
just think if you are the slaves of a nation

711
00:45:41.400 --> 00:45:44.679
that's conquered you, and that nation gets conquered, the nation

712
00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:50.360
that may conquer you may view you as completely what disposable,

713
00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:52.880
like we were already conquering the nation. We don't need

714
00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:56.199
their slaves, right, We've we've been conquering nations for no matter.

715
00:45:56.199 --> 00:45:59.519
How do we need more slaves? Like we could be

716
00:45:59.559 --> 00:46:03.119
completely wiped out. So they can be fearful. What in

717
00:46:03.119 --> 00:46:05.039
this case, what are they going to take from it?

718
00:46:05.719 --> 00:46:08.840
Who's in charge of it? God? Well, if God's in charge,

719
00:46:11.159 --> 00:46:13.320
that could be good, right, because if he's coming to

720
00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:17.440
conquer and he's on God is using him and we're

721
00:46:17.519 --> 00:46:21.119
God's covenant people, this could be good. Right. So it's

722
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:24.920
supposed to bring comfort there for the people of all

723
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:28.199
the nations. What does he want them to understand? You're

724
00:46:28.239 --> 00:46:30.639
seeing a conquering king. What you need to see is

725
00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:33.920
not the conquering king. You need to see the conquering God.

726
00:46:34.880 --> 00:46:39.000
Your gods are useless because I am the true God.

727
00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:41.719
So that's that's how the court case is being played out.

728
00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:46.280
It's being played out like literally systematically. Right, he is

729
00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:52.440
demonstrating that. So look at verse four, right, So what

730
00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:56.039
have we demonstrated here? We've seen the courtroom summons. We

731
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:59.079
broke that down into the call of nations, judgment and challenge.

732
00:46:59.199 --> 00:47:01.599
We looked at the right of a conqueror. We've broken

733
00:47:01.639 --> 00:47:03.719
that down into two parts. Who is the one from

734
00:47:03.760 --> 00:47:06.599
the east the language of conquest? Now in verse four

735
00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:11.039
we're going to see the sovereign Lord basically over history,

736
00:47:11.159 --> 00:47:14.719
over everything here, all right, So I'm gonna read it

737
00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:18.599
from the ESV. Who has performed and done done this?

738
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:22.679
Calling the generations from the beginning, I the Lord, the first,

739
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:26.119
and with the last, I am key. And what is

740
00:47:26.119 --> 00:47:30.360
the basic question here that's being asked? Who controls history?

741
00:47:31.159 --> 00:47:34.119
It's really just kind of doubling down, right, because it

742
00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:37.800
says who has performed and done this? What this is

743
00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:42.960
being referred to there the conquering king, and then it says,

744
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:48.880
calling the generations from the beginning. Everybody see that? So

745
00:47:49.320 --> 00:47:52.000
who has performed and done this? The nations must recognize

746
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:54.719
that it is God who's raising up this ruler and

747
00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:57.880
calling the nations from the beginning. History is not random.

748
00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:02.880
God orchestrates the rise and fall of nations. How does

749
00:48:02.920 --> 00:48:09.400
the NIV translate calling the generations? And verse four calling

750
00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:13.840
forth the generations? So basically it's saying, who's in charge

751
00:48:13.880 --> 00:48:18.840
of everything that has happened since the beginning? God? God

752
00:48:18.920 --> 00:48:23.360
is in charge of everything. God is in charge of everything?

753
00:48:24.360 --> 00:48:30.800
Does that make sense? Yes? So who controls history? God?

754
00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:37.119
Now that that is the that you see where that

755
00:48:37.239 --> 00:48:41.400
has caused so many problems in history? Right, It's caused

756
00:48:41.480 --> 00:48:44.360
problems in history because if God is in charge of

757
00:48:44.400 --> 00:48:47.719
all history, that raises millions of questions, does it not?

758
00:48:48.159 --> 00:48:50.840
That's very like and in some ways that's supposed to

759
00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:55.480
bring comfort. It also can be maddening. So let's just

760
00:48:55.519 --> 00:48:59.440
think about this. We as and I should have probably

761
00:48:59.480 --> 00:49:01.719
worked on this a little further, but I was trying

762
00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:04.239
to finish this section. But we'll do our best. Just

763
00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:08.280
think about this. The truth is God is in charge

764
00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:13.679
of all of history. That's that's the philological truth. God

765
00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:19.320
is in charge of all of history. What problems does

766
00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:24.960
that truth lead people to? God is in charge of

767
00:49:25.119 --> 00:49:33.079
all history? What problems does that leave us? Okay, well yeah,

768
00:49:33.119 --> 00:49:35.159
and the immediate thing is, wait a minute, if God's

769
00:49:35.159 --> 00:49:37.239
in charge of all history, I can think of some

770
00:49:37.400 --> 00:49:40.320
serious historical things that if he's in charge of that's

771
00:49:40.320 --> 00:49:42.599
some pretty messed up stuff, right, I mean we can

772
00:49:42.639 --> 00:49:45.039
go on and on and on from the Holocaust to

773
00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:48.440
this to this to this to this to the and

774
00:49:48.480 --> 00:49:51.199
it leaves us with we don't have any good way

775
00:49:51.199 --> 00:49:53.480
of answering it, right, other than just saying, well, God

776
00:49:53.519 --> 00:49:55.760
can do what he wants. That sounds really good sitting

777
00:49:55.800 --> 00:49:58.800
in church until it's you know, your child being murdered

778
00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:00.800
and then all of a sudden God can do what

779
00:50:00.840 --> 00:50:04.400
he wants. Doesn't really ring? So so this many children

780
00:50:04.440 --> 00:50:08.880
have been sexually molested inside churches since say the nineteen sixties.

781
00:50:08.920 --> 00:50:11.679
Those numbers are staggering. Well, if God is in charge,

782
00:50:11.679 --> 00:50:18.159
he couldn't protect children inside churches. That's disturbing stuff. Right,

783
00:50:18.679 --> 00:50:21.880
Let's not be Let's not pretend that that doesn't that

784
00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:26.239
causes problems. What is another theological thing that it causes?

785
00:50:27.480 --> 00:50:31.360
Because Christians have to handle this, right, Christians have Christians

786
00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:34.920
are not good at being confronted with that. If the

787
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:38.159
room was full, and I'm like, God is in charge

788
00:50:38.159 --> 00:50:40.280
of history, but this and what about this? And what

789
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:43.639
about this? Christians get very defensive when I say those things. Right.

790
00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:47.239
We've even seen it happen in this room where people

791
00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:49.960
get very defensive when I say that, they get mad, right,

792
00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:52.360
And I can already see him back there looking at

793
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:54.280
a scripture and getting all ticked off at me, And

794
00:50:54.280 --> 00:50:57.119
it's like, calm down, it's just a fact. If God

795
00:50:57.159 --> 00:50:59.840
is in charge of history, we should all struggle with this.

796
00:51:00.320 --> 00:51:03.599
But it leads to this kind of thinking. Right, well,

797
00:51:03.639 --> 00:51:09.199
wait a minute. That must mean if bad things happen,

798
00:51:10.920 --> 00:51:15.719
then why do they happen? What does a common go

799
00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:21.760
to amongst Christians? Now they got to they're already of

800
00:51:21.760 --> 00:51:26.400
acknowledging God a sovereign right, So now if bad things happen,

801
00:51:26.760 --> 00:51:32.559
why are they happening? Ah, there we go. We must

802
00:51:32.599 --> 00:51:38.360
be doing something bad. We must be doing something bad,

803
00:51:38.599 --> 00:51:43.039
which is the entire reason the Book of Job exists

804
00:51:43.639 --> 00:51:46.880
because bad things happen. Was it because Job had done

805
00:51:46.920 --> 00:51:51.440
anything bad. Absolutely not right. I mean the book of

806
00:51:51.559 --> 00:51:54.599
Job opens with going above and beyond, trying to make

807
00:51:54.719 --> 00:51:59.239
Job sound basically to be what basically sinless, almost is

808
00:51:59.239 --> 00:52:01.280
what it sounds like. Has it not look at the

809
00:52:01.280 --> 00:52:05.760
beginning of so immediately then that's to try to protect that,

810
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:11.440
because that's what everyone goes to. Right if a hurricane happens, Well,

811
00:52:11.679 --> 00:52:14.280
there's gay people there. That's the reason why they had

812
00:52:14.280 --> 00:52:17.400
a pride march. That's the reason it happened. Well why

813
00:52:17.480 --> 00:52:20.480
did that that happened? On the Christian Post, there was

814
00:52:20.519 --> 00:52:23.519
a shooting at a Christian school. The comments under the

815
00:52:23.599 --> 00:52:26.360
Christian Post were, well, that school must be doing something wrong.

816
00:52:26.920 --> 00:52:29.639
There must be something ungodly going on. And that's what

817
00:52:29.760 --> 00:52:33.719
in the world. Christians cannot cut. They can't wrap in

818
00:52:33.800 --> 00:52:38.239
their brain that God would let bad things happen and

819
00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:42.800
it's not some kind of divine punishment. Right, go back

820
00:52:42.840 --> 00:52:46.559
to Salem, all of those things that happened, the massacre

821
00:52:46.639 --> 00:52:49.559
that was happening because of the war with the Native tribes,

822
00:52:50.360 --> 00:52:53.639
and the New England area and the Massachusetts area, and

823
00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:56.400
the I think it's it was a polio. I can't

824
00:52:56.440 --> 00:53:01.280
remember which disease but whichever disease that like something bad

825
00:53:01.320 --> 00:53:08.239
as hell? What bad is happening? Which is God is

826
00:53:08.360 --> 00:53:14.440
mad at us? Okay? So because you always have to

827
00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:17.159
identify a cause, And that's another attempt of us trying

828
00:53:17.159 --> 00:53:20.960
to be what in control? See, even though when we

829
00:53:21.159 --> 00:53:24.400
say God is in charge, we still operate within that

830
00:53:24.559 --> 00:53:27.000
system and ways in which we want to control. What

831
00:53:27.079 --> 00:53:30.440
do we want to control? We got to control the

832
00:53:30.440 --> 00:53:33.679
the reason why these things are happening. We need an answer?

833
00:53:33.840 --> 00:53:40.079
Does God give an answer? Well? Well, and and Israel's case,

834
00:53:40.119 --> 00:53:42.679
there is an answer. They know the reason things have

835
00:53:42.719 --> 00:53:45.760
happened to them because they've done something wrong. It's specific

836
00:53:45.840 --> 00:53:48.119
in their case. But then when we go to the

837
00:53:48.159 --> 00:53:53.880
Book of Job, is there ever an answer? No, That's

838
00:53:53.960 --> 00:53:56.440
why we have That's why the Book of Job is

839
00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:01.559
so foundational philologically, because it demonstrates bad things can happen

840
00:54:01.760 --> 00:54:10.199
and nobody did anything wrong. All right, So saying God

841
00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:15.559
is in control is great? Do not negate all the

842
00:54:15.599 --> 00:54:20.960
problems that flows from it? All right? Does that make sense?

843
00:54:21.280 --> 00:54:23.840
So verse four, we're showing the sovereignty of God over

844
00:54:23.880 --> 00:54:27.360
basically everything. The central question is who controls history? It

845
00:54:27.440 --> 00:54:30.920
is God? And then what happens in the next part

846
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:33.159
we have in verse four. We're breaking verse four down

847
00:54:33.159 --> 00:54:36.719
into two parts. So who controls history? God and the

848
00:54:36.719 --> 00:54:40.039
divine self declaration. He kind of declares, what how does

849
00:54:40.079 --> 00:54:46.239
he describe himself? In verse four? I the Lord have Lord, right,

850
00:54:46.960 --> 00:54:50.280
all caps? I think in your bibles? Right, all right,

851
00:54:51.239 --> 00:54:55.119
the first and with the last, I am. This echoes

852
00:54:55.199 --> 00:54:58.239
a number of passages like I am the Alpha and

853
00:54:58.280 --> 00:55:02.559
the omega, the the idea of Lord, the self existing one,

854
00:55:02.840 --> 00:55:05.639
Jahweh Jehovah, depending on how you know, get into that

855
00:55:05.679 --> 00:55:09.679
whole debate. Right, he is the eternal and sovereign over

856
00:55:09.760 --> 00:55:13.119
time itself. I am the first and the last. I'm

857
00:55:13.159 --> 00:55:16.719
the beginning. In the end, I am self. I'm eternal,

858
00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:22.119
I'm the self existent existing one. Right. History is not

859
00:55:22.199 --> 00:55:26.280
determined by human power idols. God alone rules the course

860
00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:30.360
of history. God is in charge. That's the point here.

861
00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:36.519
God is in charge. He brings everything. All right, So

862
00:55:37.159 --> 00:55:40.199
we have Oh, we're out all We're going to be

863
00:55:40.199 --> 00:55:42.280
out of town. We've got to finish this up, all right.

864
00:55:42.840 --> 00:55:46.119
We have the summons. We broke that down to the

865
00:55:46.119 --> 00:55:48.800
call of nations, judgment and challenge. We have the Rise

866
00:55:48.840 --> 00:55:50.639
of the conqueror. Who is the one from the east.

867
00:55:50.679 --> 00:55:53.480
We identify him Cyrus, the language of conquest. We got that.

868
00:55:53.880 --> 00:55:56.519
We have Isaiah forty one to four, the sovereign lord

869
00:55:56.519 --> 00:56:00.840
over history, who controls history God. We have the divine declaration,

870
00:56:01.320 --> 00:56:03.360
I am the beginning, the end, the first to last,

871
00:56:03.719 --> 00:56:05.840
I'm the eternal win. Then we have five to seven,

872
00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:09.440
and five to seven basically is the nation's response to

873
00:56:09.960 --> 00:56:12.440
all of this, And how do the nations respond to

874
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:19.599
all of this fear and idolatry. That's really their two

875
00:56:19.639 --> 00:56:23.440
part things. Right, the coastlands have seen and are afraid

876
00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:26.000
the ends of the earth tremble. They have drawn near

877
00:56:26.159 --> 00:56:29.480
and come all right, The nations fear for the rise

878
00:56:29.519 --> 00:56:33.079
of the leader afraid tremble. The rise of Cyrus is

879
00:56:33.119 --> 00:56:35.880
unsettling to the nations. But instead of turning to God,

880
00:56:35.920 --> 00:56:41.800
they turn to white idols. Do what fashioning? Yeah, and

881
00:56:41.800 --> 00:56:43.519
they start building more. That's a good Oh that I

882
00:56:43.559 --> 00:56:46.000
like that. That's true. Good point. That's a very good point.

883
00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:50.119
That don't just turn to idols, they build more idols. Yeah,

884
00:56:50.199 --> 00:56:53.719
they already have idols, but now a new threat causes

885
00:56:53.760 --> 00:56:57.599
them to build new idols. I like that. That's a

886
00:56:57.639 --> 00:57:02.039
good distinction, right, so we they make new idols, and

887
00:57:02.079 --> 00:57:05.519
they make new idols because well, if this one's coming

888
00:57:05.519 --> 00:57:09.320
from the east, and our old idols we had new problems.

889
00:57:09.360 --> 00:57:12.519
We are our old idols didn't stop this problem, so

890
00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:14.679
we need new idols. Yeah, I think that's very important

891
00:57:14.719 --> 00:57:17.480
to determine, all right, And then we have that fray

892
00:57:17.679 --> 00:57:20.360
that section. Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother,

893
00:57:20.599 --> 00:57:23.639
be strong. The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who

894
00:57:23.719 --> 00:57:27.400
smooths with a hammer with him who strikes the anvil.

895
00:57:28.239 --> 00:57:30.320
And then it is good, and they strengthen it with

896
00:57:30.400 --> 00:57:32.400
new so that it cannot be moved. And so what

897
00:57:32.519 --> 00:57:36.280
is it try to demonstrate here the futility of ied idolatry.

898
00:57:36.280 --> 00:57:40.119
The nations frantically strengthen their idols, thinking they can provide security.

899
00:57:40.559 --> 00:57:42.639
They must nail the idol down so it doesn't moot

900
00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:46.599
fall over. God raises up and controls nations. Idols can't

901
00:57:46.639 --> 00:57:49.920
even stand on their own. That's the point here, all right.

902
00:57:50.440 --> 00:57:53.800
God is raising up and controlling everything, and their idols

903
00:57:53.880 --> 00:57:58.400
can't stand up on their own. Right. The nation's response

904
00:57:58.440 --> 00:58:02.039
to fear is self reliants, but Israel is called to

905
00:58:02.039 --> 00:58:06.320
do what that's the contrast Isaiah forty, verse thirty one.

906
00:58:06.559 --> 00:58:10.639
What is Israel called to do? They that weighed upon,

907
00:58:12.360 --> 00:58:16.039
renew their strength, mount up with the wings of eagles,

908
00:58:16.159 --> 00:58:20.000
right walking up, grow weary, all of that type of thing. Right.

909
00:58:20.559 --> 00:58:27.119
The contrast here is Israel trust in me. The nations

910
00:58:27.440 --> 00:58:32.079
when they're confronted with this king from the east, they

911
00:58:32.119 --> 00:58:37.199
turn to fear and idolatry. But ultimately they're turning to

912
00:58:37.280 --> 00:58:40.159
fear and idolatry. Is that is really a turn to

913
00:58:40.320 --> 00:58:44.719
self reliance? And that's what we're always confronted with. Right

914
00:58:45.280 --> 00:58:47.360
do we trust in God? Or do we trust in self?

915
00:58:48.079 --> 00:58:52.199
And what do we all tend to do? We all

916
00:58:52.199 --> 00:58:54.559
trust in self. Even sometimes when we say we're trusting

917
00:58:54.599 --> 00:58:57.039
in God, we still want to control it. We still

918
00:58:57.039 --> 00:59:03.039
want to understand it. Right. So Isaiah forty one one

919
00:59:03.159 --> 00:59:08.440
through seven establishes God's sovereignty over history, demonstrating that nations

920
00:59:08.519 --> 00:59:11.119
rise and fall at his command. The nation's fear and

921
00:59:11.159 --> 00:59:13.119
turn to idols, but Israel is called to trust in

922
00:59:13.159 --> 00:59:15.800
the eternal, unshakable God. We had to go through that

923
00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:18.280
way too fast, but that's okay. Just to kind of

924
00:59:18.280 --> 00:59:20.920
break it down the way we broke it down. We said,

925
00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:23.920
Isaiah forty one to one is the divine courtroom summons.

926
00:59:24.159 --> 00:59:26.119
We broke that down into two parts, the call to

927
00:59:26.199 --> 00:59:29.159
the nation's judgment and challenge. Then we had verses two

928
00:59:29.159 --> 00:59:31.360
through three the rise of a conqueror. We broke it

929
00:59:31.360 --> 00:59:34.159
down into two parts, the one who comes from the east,

930
00:59:34.239 --> 00:59:37.360
the language of conquest. Then we had verse four, the

931
00:59:37.400 --> 00:59:41.159
sovereign Lord over history. We talked about who controls history,

932
00:59:41.440 --> 00:59:44.639
the divine self declaration. Then we had five through seven

933
00:59:44.679 --> 00:59:48.400
the nation's response, which was fear and idolatry. Right, I

934
00:59:48.440 --> 00:59:50.559
have philological themes here, but we don't have time to

935
00:59:50.559 --> 00:59:54.039
get into it. We kind of looked at the conclusion

936
00:59:54.400 --> 00:59:58.440
and then I have one, two, I have about ten,

937
01:00:00.360 --> 01:00:04.840
may even go up to fifteen common exegetical and hermeneutical

938
01:00:04.960 --> 01:00:08.039
errors pastors make on the section that we just read.

939
01:00:08.360 --> 01:00:10.360
I'm not going to go through all fifteen of those.

940
01:00:10.719 --> 01:00:13.559
But once again, that's ridiculous that there could be that

941
01:00:13.639 --> 01:00:16.760
many mistakes made in Isaiah forty one to one through seven,

942
01:00:16.880 --> 01:00:19.159
because that may be the simplest passage you've ever studied

943
01:00:19.159 --> 01:00:25.079
in your life, is it not. It's pretty straightforward, there's

944
01:00:25.119 --> 01:00:27.679
nothing complicated now the only thing you may have struggled

945
01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:29.679
with is identifying who the one is from the east.

946
01:00:29.840 --> 01:00:31.679
But with all the resources we have, we can do

947
01:00:31.719 --> 01:00:33.840
that in five seconds. Maybe there was a time in

948
01:00:33.920 --> 01:00:36.760
history people would have struggled with that. We can identify

949
01:00:36.800 --> 01:00:41.679
that just like that. Everything else there there's no problem.

950
01:00:42.159 --> 01:00:46.960
Why there is there fifteen common hermeneutical errors made because

951
01:00:47.000 --> 01:00:49.960
people are not studying the text to pursue truth. They're

952
01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:54.440
studying the text to produce sermons. And the people in

953
01:00:54.480 --> 01:00:57.639
the pew don't want the truth of the text. They

954
01:00:57.639 --> 01:00:59.840
want to basically learn something that will make them feel

955
01:00:59.880 --> 01:01:03.159
good good for the rest of the week. And so

956
01:01:03.239 --> 01:01:06.000
the pastors have to write these ridiculous sermons that have

957
01:01:06.039 --> 01:01:08.000
nothing to do with the truth of the text. And

958
01:01:08.039 --> 01:01:10.480
they have to write those ridiculous sermons to keep the

959
01:01:10.519 --> 01:01:13.039
people in the pew happy so that they'll keep giving

960
01:01:13.119 --> 01:01:15.719
money so that the building can operate. And that's how

961
01:01:16.199 --> 01:01:18.599
that's the cycle that it always falls in. But we

962
01:01:18.679 --> 01:01:21.960
finish that section, and then in the next hour we'll

963
01:01:21.960 --> 01:01:25.000
try to finish the next. All right, let's pray, Lord God,

964
01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:28.760
we come before you, Lord, forgive us for our mishandling

965
01:01:28.800 --> 01:01:34.039
of the text. May we always pursue the study of history,

966
01:01:34.400 --> 01:01:38.000
and the study of scripture, and the study of theology

967
01:01:39.239 --> 01:01:42.400
because we desire truth, not because we desire to be

968
01:01:42.480 --> 01:01:44.559
in control. We asked this in Jesus name, and God's

969
01:01:44.559 --> 01:01:46.440
people said