Oct. 27, 2024

Isaiah 40: Cyrus or John the Baptist?

Isaiah 40: Cyrus or John the Baptist?

As we prepare for a study of Isaiah 40-55, I review a sermon on Isaiah 40

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As we prepare for a study of Isaiah 40-55, I review a sermon on Isaiah 40

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good evening everyone.

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I know I'm interrupting. I know I'm interrupting the World Series.

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I'm interrupting college football. There's like a million things going on.

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I know I'm interrupting all of that. Most of you

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just look down on your device. You saw the notification.

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You're like, he's out of his mind. I'm watching the

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World Series. I'm watching the NBA, I'm watching the NHL,

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I'm watching college football. He's out of his mind. I'm

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not going to listen to another episode of the Theology

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Central podcast. Perfectly understood. It makes perfect sense. So you

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enjoy your sports whenever you get to this. Just no,

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you know you ignored me. But hey, that's okay. That's

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so I'm still here the broadcasting now. To be honest,

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I think I would rather be Well, the Yankees are

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currently losing, so I don't know if I want to

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be currently watching the World Series or not. But yeah,

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there's probably other things I would like to do. But

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I here, I am, and well we have to talk.

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So are you ready? Good evening everyone. It is Saturday.

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Saturday is Key Saturday, October the twenty six, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently eight thirty one pm Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now why is

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Saturday key? Well, because Saturday I do a lot of

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sermon prep and I've been doing a lot of work

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for tomorrow. We're going to we got Romans chapter four,

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and we're going to begin, I think, a very long

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journey through Isaiah chapter forty through Isaiah chapter fifty five.

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And the reason we're going to be doing all of

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this work is because it all started with a little game. Right,

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how long does it take a pastor to insert you

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and me? How long does it take a pastor to

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insert us into Isaiah chapter forty five? Three, Let's play

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a little game and find out. And it took less

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than forty seconds. And then we reviewed another sermon and

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it took well less than zero seconds because the tunitle

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of the sermon inserted us into Isaiah forty three. So

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I have been bothered by all the ways pastors handle

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Isaiah forty three. Then we went back to what sixteen

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seventy eight saw how John Bunyan handled Isaiah forty three

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in The Pilgrim's Progress, and well that started it. Like

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at that point, I was gone, right, I mean, I

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just started spiraling and spiraling. I'm like, Okay, we've got

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to figure this section out. So I could sit here

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and just complain. I could play sermon after sermon after

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sermon after sermon and say this is crazy, this is crazy,

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this is crazy. Or I could try to do something

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more positive. And that's what we're going to do. Since

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Isaiah forty three falls into this section that goes from

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Isaiah forty to Isaiah fifty five, sometimes called the Book

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of Comfort, the Comfort section, well, then we're going to

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look at the entire section. Now we're going to take

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a little bit of criticism that we have offered, and

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instead of just focusing on being critical, we're going to

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try to build something much more positive, which is hopefully

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by the time it's over, you're going to understand Isaiah

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forty to Isaiah fifty five better than you ever have

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in your entire life. That's the goal. And we're going

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to be doing a lot of things. So I've already

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told you start work, start reading Isaiah forty to fifty

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five Isaiah chapter forty to Isaiah fifty five. Make it

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your Make it it's your new friend. Make it your

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new friend, make it your your your new companion. Become

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very close with it. Read it and read it, and

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read it and read it and reread it, and begin

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listening to as many sermons as you can on Isaiah

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forty to fifty five. Between reading it, listening to sermons,

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and then joining us in our study, I can promise

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you you're going to know more about it than people

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who go to seminary or Bible college. You're going to

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know more about it. So I'm going to do my

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very best because I'm just bothered. Look, I just I

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just don't understand pastors who are and Okay, maybe maybe

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this is self serving, maybe this is selfish, maybe this

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is motivated by jealousy. I'll be willing to admit me

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I'm a sinner, like I've told you all the time.

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I'm just a center with a microphone. But I'm just

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gonna be honest with you. It bothers me greatly when

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I see these sermons, say on the sermon's two point

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oh app or some other platform, they'll have thousands upon

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thousands upon thousands of you know, downloads or hundreds or

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whatever the number is, and I'll be like, look at

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how many people listen to that. I'll see all the

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comments amazing, great, wonderful. And then you listen to it

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and you're like, what in the name of bubblegum did

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they do to the text of scripture? What they There's

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nothing great about that? Why do they? And then you'll

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notice that they'll be, you know, a pastor of some

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large church. You have two, three, four, five hundred people.

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They've got resources, they've got money, they've got this, they've

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got that, And I'm like, why is that? What is popular?

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And I know that that's a little self serving. I'm

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just gonna be honest with you, but it can become discouraging.

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I'm like, look, so I guess to be in order

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to be a popular preacher, what I do is I

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just make stuff up about the text and then people

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love it. So I just got to figure out what

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the people want make it up because no one really

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cares if what's being said about the text is accurate.

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I know that sounds very critical, very cynical, but that's

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the feeling I get sometimes I look at these sermons.

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I'm like, wait, that's got that many downloads. Everybody thinks

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it's a wonderful. It's an absolute travesty to the text.

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So I mean, when you go to Isaiah forty three

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and insert us into the text, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen,

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that's a problem because we don't belong in Isaiah forty three,

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in fact, the entire section. So we earlier today we

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reviewed and started reviewing another sound Our sermon. And the

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reason we did so as well, because it's a sermon

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where the text is Isaiah chapter forty. In fact, the

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beginning of the sermon, they read the entire chapter. But

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the entire chapter or the entire sermon is about the

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election of twenty sixteen, And I'm like, wait, so Isaiah

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forty in fact, he read all of Isaiah forty and

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then immediately started talking about the elections presidential elections in

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the United States of America. Now, to be fair, he

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did get to Isaiah forty and he did start working

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on it, but it started getting very confusing, and he

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made some very good points. He made some very good points.

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I don't want to be all critical, but then it

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kind of just started bothering me. All right, So Isaiah

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chapter forty, let me just just remind you of a

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couple of things, because I think it's very important, all right,

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the section, and because we kind of stumbled upon this

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reality in the last broadcast, right And I'm going to

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make a big deal about this tomorrow if I get

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to it in the first hour. But I think this

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is very important because it's like I was, it was,

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how can I state it was? It was confusing because

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depending on which source I was reading, it didn't do

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a very good job of offering clarification. So let me

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offer the clarification. Right when you look at Isaiah forty

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to chapter Isaiah chapter forty to Isaiah chapter fifty five,

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we see that as a section. It's an entire section,

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all right, And this section offers comfort, hope, and assurance

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to the people of Israel during the Babylonian exile. All right,

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So you could say, Isaiah forty to fifty five, it's

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to offer comfort, it's to offer I mean, how do

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I have this written down? Comfort, hope, and assurance to

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the people of Israel during the Babylonian exile? So you

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could and then if you read that, you could think, okay,

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so then God gives these words to Isaiah, and Isaiah's

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to deliver this to the people when they're in exile. Right,

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That's how you could possibly just read. And a lot

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of the commentaries kind of stated that way here here,

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and even in the sermon we heard, it was God

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gave these words to Isaiah, and Isaiah was to bring

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them to the people. Now. To be fair, he did

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draw a distinction that this was prior to the exile,

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but he didn't really explain. And some of the commentaries

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are like, this is this is the message of God

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to Isaiah to the people in exile. Well, that's that's

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all a little misleading and a little confusing. And here's

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the reason why, all right, this is very important. It

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is important to recognize that this message Isaiah forty to

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fifty five, very important, all right, was given to Isaiah

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and written down long before the exile actually occurred. These

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words were given into Isaiah way before the exile occurs.

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Isaiah does not deliver this message to the people in exile.

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In fact, this happens depending if we look at this correctly,

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it looks like over one hundred years, meaning the people

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at the time who hear this message, are dead before

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the exile begins. Isaiah is dead before the exile begins.

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So everyone, So these are words too, These are prophetic

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words of comfort, of hope, of assurance, but they're not

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necessarily for the people at the time. All right, if

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we try to break this down, understand Isaiah's ministry. Isaiah

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was a prophet in Judah during the latter half of

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the eighth century around seven forty to seven hundred BC.

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During Isaiah's time, the dominant threat to Israel and Judah

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came from the Assyrian Empire, which conquered the Northern Kingdom

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of Israel and seven twenty two BC. So the Northern

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Kingdom would have been conquered during Isaiah's ministry, right, Judah

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under the reign of King Hezekiah. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah,

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that would be correct. I want to make sure I

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was getting that right, sir. Okay. Judah under the reign

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of King Hezekiah survived the Assyrian threat, but Judas's future

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was still uncertain. Isaiah lived during the reign of several

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kings of Judah, and his prophecies addressed the current threats

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of Assyria and Judas's own unfaithfulness. However, Isaiah also looked

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ahead to a future events, including the rise of Babylon

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as the next great empire prophecy of the Babylonian exile.

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This would be future, though a babylon had not yet

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risen to power during Isaiah's lifetime. Isaiah first saw the

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Babylonian captivity that would occur in the future as a

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result of Judas ongoing rebellion against God. Isaiah thirty nine

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six through seven. Isaiah specifically prophesied that the Babylonians would

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come and take away everything from Jerusalem, including members of

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the royal family. This foreshadowed the Babylonian conquests of Jerusalem

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and five eighty six BC and the exile that followed.

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The Babylonian exile was God's judgment on Judah for its

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continued idolatry and disobedience to the Covenant. This judgment came

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over one hundred years after Isaiah's death. All Right, So

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these are words of comfort, but they're not They are

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words of comfort that for a situation that's over one

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hundred years away. Right, that's very very important. Okay, So

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the way the sermon we heard today was kind of

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like well, Isaiah was to take these words to the

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people and offer them comfort. They're still in their sin,

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they're still in their rebellion, and their rebellion is going

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to lead them to seventy years of exile and Babylon.

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So it was very like he did not clean it

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up at all. In fact, if you're just sitting in

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the pew, you may have been all discombobulated and confused.

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And in fact, if you go back and listen to

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my review, I even got a little confused. And not

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only because of the sermon. I was looking at more.

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I was looking at my study Bible, was looking at commentaries,

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and the way even they described it was, Hey, these

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are the words to those in exile. But they did

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not stop to go. However, when these words were given,

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it was still one hundred years before they went into exile. Right,

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So Isaiah forty through fifty five, which was a message

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of comfort and restoration, was written before the exile. Isaiah

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forty through fifty five was likely written during Isaiah's lifetime

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around the eighth century BC, well before the Babylonian exile occurred.

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These chapters contained prophecies meant to comfort Israel in the

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future when they would be in Babylonian exile. In this section,

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God speaks words of comfort to the exiled Israelites. Now

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he does, but he does so one hundred years before

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it happens. You have to understand that. Now again, here's

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what happens. If your entire sermon is about you, me,

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the election you, then you don't make time for this

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kind of information because you're so wanting to shove us

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into it, all right, so that the timing of this

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is important. So here we go Isaiah, Chapter forty, Verse one,

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Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Now

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the way these people are going to be comforted is

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this prophetic comfort. Now, this is the message that's going

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to bring comfort to the people when they are in exile.

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Now are what are these words of comfort? Verse two,

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speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Now when it says, be

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a comfort my people, this is not you, this is

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not me. This is not about the election of twenty sixteen,

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the election of twenty twenty, the election of twenty twenty four,

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or any other election. These are words to the people

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and Babylonian exile. Those are the people who need comforted.

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These words of comfort are for them. Speak ye comfortably

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to Jerusalem. I mean, you're getting the idea. My people

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is Israel, Jerusalem, You're getting the idea. Cry under her

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that her war fair is accomplished, her warfare is accomplished,

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her suffering, her exile, her captivity. It's all come to

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an end, right, that her iniquity is pardoned, that all

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of the suffering has come to an end. And remember,

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many times future events are spoken in past tense. Now

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that the message today that we were reviewing did acknowledge that,

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and that was very good and worth the entire sermon.

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But hey, your sins have been pardoned, for she hath

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received of the Lord, for she that is Israel Judah.

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They have received of the Lord a hand double of

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all her sins. Now there's much disagreement on the double part.

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Did they receive double? But the main thing is they

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have suffered, They have suffered, they have suffered. They have

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paid for their sins by their suffering, by the destruction

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of the temple, captivity, death, slave, all the things that

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have happened to them, it has all been accomplished God,

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that God has put them in the captivity, and now

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it has come to end. End. Now in the sermon

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that we were listening to today. The pastor then made

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a kind of a startling comment, are you ready? How

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did this happen? And so how did this happen? Which

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would be how did this happen? How did what happen?

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How did the Babylonian exile come to an end? And

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how were all of these wonderful things? Your warfare is ended,

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you've been forgiven and you have received of the Lord's

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hand double for all your sins. How does this all

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come to an end? How is this all fulfilled? How

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does this all happen? And then he made the startling

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comment because God comes to the earth, wait what And

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the pastor jumps from the five hundred BC timeframe to well,

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the time of christ incarnation, and you're like, wait, wait, wait, wait,

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So Christ's incarnation is like five hundred years away. Christ's

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coming to earth did not bring about the Babylonian exile

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coming to an end. In fact, it's completely separate. So

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what he does He starts spiritualizing this, your warfare, your

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your sins are a part. This is all spiritual and

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this is all fulfilled in Christ. He starts spiritualizing it,

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and you're like, wait a minute. If we put this

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in any kind of historical context, you can't point to

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Christ as the one that fulfills the fixes the Babylonian captivity.

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That's not.

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That's not the way it happened. So I was baffled

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by that. Now, the reason he did that is because

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of verses three through five. Because if you look at

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Isaiah forty three through five, you read the voice of

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him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye. The way

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of the Lord makes straight, and the desert a highway

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for our God. Now you know that these verses are

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referenced in the New Testament, and they are applied to

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John the Baptist. So that's why he said, hey, how

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is this fulfilled? There? But wait a minute. Sometimes in

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the Old Testament a prophecy may have an immediate context,

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and then it is used in a future context when

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the Gospel writers use this, when this is cided of

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John the Baptist, now wait a minute, that obviously is

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now utilizing it in a completely separate textual and historical context.

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But your job as a good Bible student is like,

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wait a minute, what does this have to do for Look,

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Verses three through five has to have something to do

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with the people who are in Babylonian captivity, because these

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are words of comfort to them, not words of comfort

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for people living five hundred years later. This is primarily

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for the people living in Babylonian exile. What are the

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words of comfort there? What is this have anything to

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do with Well, we're gonna talk about that. But what

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we're gonna do is gonna go back to the sermon

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and just pick it back up. Now he's kind of

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right in the middle explaining Isaiah forty two. He's doing

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a little bit of spiritualizing, right, He's already entered. He's

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already inserted Christ and the Isaiah forty two. He's already

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basically he's taken the phrase my people, and it's gone

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way beyond Israel. He's already doing a lot of things

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with the text. Now, just remember the volume is a

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little lower on this. I was going to go ahead

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and fix it, but I had it queued up and

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ready to go, and if I went and fixed it,

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then I would have to download it, then upload it,

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then artificially increase the volume, then download it, then upload

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it again, and then I would have lost the place

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I had saved, and I had to go back and

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listen and try to find a place to start it.

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So I hope it's okay. I didn't hear any emails

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complaining too much about the volume in the first one.

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But so here we go. We're going to go back

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a little bit, and what we're gonna do is we're

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waiting for him to say. He's going to say something

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along these lines, how does this occur? How does this happen?

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And just remember he's taking a historical situation, the Babylonian

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captivity of Judah. He's going to ask, how is this,

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how does this come to an end? How is this accomplished?

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How what is the solution to it? And then he's

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going to just jump five hundred years into the future

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and say, because of Christ, that just logically completely falls apart.

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So let's just see how this plays out, because I'm

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just baffled by this. And then I'm going to offer

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you what I think. I think there's a solution. I

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think I think there's a All right, let's just see

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what happens.

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And he says, now Jerusalem, Israel has received abundant judgment

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from the Lord's hand for all of her sins. She

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has suffered enough for her sin, though she's not suffered

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as much as she deserved. And so even though this

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severe judgment would come through the Babylonians and others, for

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hundreds of years before Christ, they were becoming a time

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in which God says, that's enough. Now people deserve to

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be punished far more, but there will be a satisfaction

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in their place. Now, how is this going to happen?

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How is this comfort, this cessation of warfare and misery,

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this forgiveness of iniquity, this ending of judgment?

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How is it going to come? Verses three through five tell.

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Us, Now he says, how is it going to end?

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How is it gonna How is this going to be accomplished? Now,

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when you say how this is going to come to end,

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how it's going to be accomplished, you have to be

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speaking of the Babylonian exile, which came to an end

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seventy years after began, way before Christ comes comes to earth. Look,

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before Christ comes to earth, not only have they come

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out of Babblon exile. Not only have they rebuilt the Temple,

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they've now gone back under some form of captivity, because

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they're under the heel of Rome. So all of that

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has occurred, a lot of other things have occurred before

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Christ comes onto the scene. So he's like, it's basically like,

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hey guys, you're in a really bad state, but just wait,

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Christ is gonna come and fix Well no, no, no,

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not not the historical setting. Christ is not coming to fix.

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That was the whole problem in the first place. Right

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when they when Christ showed up and they thought he

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was the Missagah, they thought he's gonna fix our problem.

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He's gonna get rid, He's gonna get rid of all

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of our enemies, right that that's what they were expecting

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to happen at that point in time, right, Okay, so

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so this is just weird, right, but just watch what

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he does here, and then we're gonna We're gonna I'm

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just I just oh. Sometimes I get so baffled by

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the handling of God's I really do. I just don't

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understand sometimes, But maybe I miss something. So we're going

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to listen to a little bit and then let him

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put it together. And then I'm going to offer a well,

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probably obviously, as I always do, I completely well, I

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hate to say it, I was gonna say, I'm going

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to offer a completely unique perspective. But there's nothing unique

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about what I'm about to offer. What I'm about to

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offer is simply an explanation that's based off the historical

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and textual context that's there. Really isn't anything unique about it.

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But for some weird reason, now that is radical. And

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what are you talking about? Yeah, because I don't play church,

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because I'm so sick and tired of how churches handled

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the word of God. But all right, here we go.

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A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord

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in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert, a high

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way of our God. For our God. Let every valley

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be lifted up and every mountain, and he'll be made low.

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Let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged

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terrain abroad valley. Then the glory of the Lord will

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

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the mouth of the Lord has spoken, how's all this coming?

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Are going to happen?

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God's going to come to Earth. That's how it's going

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to happen. Prepare a way for God, the creator of

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the universe, is going to come to Jerusalem. And that's

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how He's going to comfort and forgive of of herse hands.

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Into warfare and in his anger, God's coming to Jerusalem.

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Now the minute you take this and you jump to

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that you left. Then how did they come out of

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Babylonian captivity? Are you saying that these words of comfort,

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because this is what you're saying, hey, these words of

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comfort are for the people in Babylonian exile. And then

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the words are, hey, guys, sorry, I'm not coming to

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comfort you. I'm going to come and comfort people five

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hundred years after you. You're out of luck, just forget you,

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you just drop dead. Like that makes no sense. Then

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these would not be words of comfort to those in

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Babylonian exile. These would be words of comfort to those

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under the boot of Rome. Or you say, these have

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nothing to do with any of that, and then just

417
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turn it all spiritual and just spiritualize it all, which

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is why everyone tends to do like who cares about

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what was actually going Let's just turn it into whatever

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we want. That makes no that makes no sense, all right,

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But let him let him explain it, and then we're

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gonna do a little bit of work here. We're gonna

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do a little bit of work here right now. Whenever

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we start working on just make sure. You know, I'll

425
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have to go through some of this relatively quick. I'll

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go through this some of this relatively quick, so you

427
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but you will hear. You are gonna hear some levels

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of some amount of rep petition as we work through

429
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Isaiah forty through fifty five, especially when we insert sermon reviews.

430
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Now we're kind of kicking off this entire study with

431
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a sermon review. So the sermon review. Sometimes it's gonna

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give you a preview of what I'm gonna cover. Sometimes

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it's gonna be repeating what has already been covered. But

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repetition is the key to learning. So you're gonna hear it.

435
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Sometimes medi just straight teaching it. Sometimes you're gonna hear

436
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:28.720
me repeating it when I'm doing a review. But it's

437
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gonna help. So right now, you should already understand. You

438
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already already probably now know more about Isaiah forty through

439
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fifty five. They're probably more Christian than most Christians who

440
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go to your church. You understand now the timing. You're

441
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already understanding how people spiritualize it. You're hopefully already getting

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a good amount of understanding. But let's let's take this part. Man,

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Yeah verses three through five. Okay, this is just this

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is just crazy, the way He is putting this together.

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And nothing can stopping.

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Everybody in and outside Jerusalem will throw up hindrances, There'll

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be all kinds of obstacles.

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But God will clear the way.

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He'll make smooth in the desert a highway for himself.

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Every valley will be lifted up, every mountain will be

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made low, the rough ground.

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Made a plain, the rugged terrain of broad valley.

453
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Nothing is going to keep God from revealing his glory

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in Jerusalem, and all flesh will see it. Now you

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remember reading any of these words of the New Testaments.

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You remember how the Gospel according to Mark begins, for instance,

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and various.

458
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Other the Gospels.

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It's talking about John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ,

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God incarnate God in human flesh. He tells John the Baptist,

461
00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.000
I want you, through the preaching of repentance, and through

462
00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:54.839
the baptism of repentance, to prepare the way for God to.

463
00:26:54.839 --> 00:26:59.200
Come to Palestine. And of course he did.

464
00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:03.240
And God was the Lord Jesus Christ was God in

465
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:08.680
human flesh. And notice the words in the last part

466
00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.119
of verse five, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken,

467
00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:16.880
this is certain to happen. It's guaranteed to happen. The

468
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.680
God himself has spoken this to Isaiah. This is not

469
00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:24.279
simply Isaiah's opinion. This is not simply Isaiah's words. This

470
00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:28.799
is the inherent word of Almighty God speaking through Isaiah

471
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:32.160
the message in verse one, he commanded him to preach

472
00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:39.440
about the Lord Jesus Christ. So how does apostasy come

473
00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:43.039
to an end? How does the judgment of God come

474
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:47.799
to an end? How did turning their backs on God

475
00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.799
and God's judgment come to an end in ancient Israel?

476
00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:55.000
Through God coming to earth in the Lord Jesus Christ

477
00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:59.839
and doing everything that was necessary to save his people.

478
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:00.000
From their wath.

479
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.799
There is absolutely no doubt that it would happen.

480
00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:10.079
There's absolutely no doubt from our perspective that it did happen.

481
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.200
Now in verses six through.

482
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:18.519
Eight, ladies and gentlemen, that is the most confusing, confounding.

483
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:22.319
So so, when Jesus came, all of apostasy and all

484
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.000
of that, all the sin stopped from Israel? No it didn't.

485
00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:30.160
So like, now you're what is happening here?

486
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:30.559
All right?

487
00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.720
So, ladies and gentlemen, let me fix this for you. Okay,

488
00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:38.319
comfort ye, comfort ye? My people? Who are the people?

489
00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:41.599
These are the people in Babylonian captivity. Right, you can

490
00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.319
go back to Isaiah thirty nine. You can start putting

491
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.960
this together. And what's going to happen, all right, because

492
00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:51.000
the Babylonians are gonna come, They're gonna take them, and

493
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.079
they're gonna be in captivity for seventy years. They're gonna

494
00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:56.319
need comforted during that time. Right, We're already we can.

495
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:58.400
We can go back and put all of this together.

496
00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:01.079
So what is the what is these says? Your warfare

497
00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:05.519
is accomplished. So the time of suffering, the time of pain,

498
00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:09.200
and the time of exile, it has been accomplished. It's

499
00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:12.319
spoken of as a past tense, right because it has

500
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.759
been because it's all going to come to an end.

501
00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:17.920
Your iniquity is pardon. Hey, you've been suffering for these

502
00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:21.000
seventy years because of your iniquity, but it has been pardoned.

503
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.799
You have received of the Lord's hand double for all

504
00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:27.599
her sins. You have suffered abundantly for everything that you

505
00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:29.799
have done, and you have paid and a sense for

506
00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:33.880
your sins. Almost everyone understands it that way. So all

507
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.039
of a sudden. In verse three, we see the voice

508
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.359
of him that cries in the wilderness. Prepare you the

509
00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:40.960
way of Lord makes straight in the desert a highway

510
00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:44.200
for our God. Every valley should be exalted, every mountain

511
00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:46.400
and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall

512
00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:49.319
be made straight, and in the rough place plain, and

513
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.279
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all

514
00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:53.240
flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the

515
00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:57.000
Lord has spoken it. Something is going to happen. Something's

516
00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:00.119
going to come, that God is going to come and

517
00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:03.599
well do something that's going to bring them great amount

518
00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:07.519
of comfort. So let's now put this in its historical context.

519
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:09.440
I know you're like, but there's a cross reference in

520
00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:14.000
the New Testament. Yes, how the New Testament utilizes it

521
00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:18.200
is very worthy of study and is of great importance.

522
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:21.680
But how this is being utilized within its historical context

523
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:25.160
should be the goal if you're actually a Bible student

524
00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:27.240
of the text. Now, if you just want to make

525
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.279
a sermon, forget the original recipients and just make it

526
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:33.119
about whatever you want. But if you care about the text,

527
00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:37.000
you got to care about the original recipients, all right,

528
00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:42.160
So here we go. Isaiah forty opens a new section

529
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.640
of the Book of Isaiah, which is This section is

530
00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:49.559
forty chapter forty to fifty five. This is often called

531
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:54.720
the Book of Comfort or Consolation, written in the context

532
00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:58.319
of Israel's exile and Babylon, though the exile had not

533
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:02.440
yet happened during isaiah lifetime. Isaiah forty three through five

534
00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:04.240
is a part of a large message of hope and

535
00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:06.960
restoration given to Israel, a people who would soon face

536
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:13.000
exile and would need assurance of God's future deliverance and restoration. Historically,

537
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:17.759
these verses, if I can speak correctly, point forward to

538
00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:20.359
a time when Israel would be in captivity in Babylon,

539
00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:24.200
which would occur in five eighty six BC, and God's

540
00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:28.799
promise of their eventual return to Jerusalem. Isaiah's writing in

541
00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:32.240
the eighth century BC, long before the Babylonian captivity, but

542
00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:35.640
his message is prophetic, addressing a future generation of Israelites

543
00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:38.799
who would experience the consequences of their rebellion and who

544
00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:43.400
would long for deliverance. So there's the context. You don't

545
00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:46.200
jump to John the Baptist, you don't jump to Jesus,

546
00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:49.480
you don't jump to any of that. This is the context.

547
00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:55.160
So the textual context and meaning. A voice cries in

548
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:58.359
the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, makes straight

549
00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:01.119
in the desert, a highway for our God. The voice

550
00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:04.599
here is likely that of a prophetic figure or God's messenger,

551
00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:08.279
announcing the coming of God's deliverance. The wilderness and desert

552
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:12.200
symbolize the spiritual barrenness of Israel's exile and the literal

553
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:16.119
geographic distance between Babylon, where the Israelites would be exiled,

554
00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.400
and Jerusalem, their home. The preparation of a highway presents

555
00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:21.839
the removal of obstacles to make way for God's coming

556
00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:24.559
to redeem and restore his people. The highway as a

557
00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:27.279
metaphor for God leading his people out of exile back

558
00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:30.200
to the land, similar to the exodus from Egypt. Every

559
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:33.000
valley should be lifted up, every mountain and heel made low.

560
00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:36.519
The uneven ground should become level, and the rough places plain.

561
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:39.680
This describes the dramatic transformation that will occur as God

562
00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:42.400
prepares to deliver his people. The leveling of valleys and

563
00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:45.880
mountains indicates that of barriers, physical and spiritual, that will

564
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:49.599
be removed and preparation for God restoring Israel. The metaphor

565
00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:53.759
suggests that nothing will hinder God from rescuing his people

566
00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:56.920
from Babylon and bringing them back to Jerusalem. It symbolizes

567
00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:59.920
the ease with which God will act, making their return

568
00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:05.920
swift and sure, I mean that's what it's about. Hey, Hey, God,

569
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.680
make the way playing. God is coming. He's gonna get

570
00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:10.759
rid of all of this, and you are gonna be

571
00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:16.200
brought back. This doesn't happen when Jesus shows up, because

572
00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.880
they've already been out of battling captivity, They've already built,

573
00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:21.160
rebuilt the Ta. This has got to be referring to

574
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.119
something else. So I've got I got pages of notes

575
00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:28.400
here dealing with more on this. Okay, but I'm gonna

576
00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:31.279
skip down because I was like, I think I know

577
00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:33.000
who this is. I think I think I know who

578
00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:38.599
this is referring to in its historical context. So I

579
00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:44.039
did a little research, and I asked a very important question.

580
00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:48.880
Could Isaiah forty three through five, in its historical context

581
00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:57.799
be pointing to Cyrus? See why r U s Here's

582
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:04.759
what I found. Forty three through five and its historical

583
00:34:04.839 --> 00:34:08.960
context can be understood as pointing to Cyrus, the Persian

584
00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:13.360
king who would later act as God's chosen instrument to

585
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:18.760
deliver Israel from Babylonian captivity. While the passage primarily focuses

586
00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:21.760
on God's divine action to bring his people back from exile,

587
00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:26.039
Cyrus is the historical figure who plays a significant role

588
00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:32.559
in the fulfillment of this promise. Cyrus the Great, the

589
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:36.360
founder of the Persian Empire, conquered Babylon in five thirty

590
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:40.800
nine BC and issued a decree allowing the Jewish exiles

591
00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:45.320
to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem,

592
00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:48.159
and this is recorded in Ezra chapter one, Versus one

593
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.679
through four. Here's the one who comes. He's the one

594
00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:54.239
who prepares the way. He's the one who makes the

595
00:34:54.280 --> 00:35:01.199
path straight. And Isaiah forty four, twenty e eight and

596
00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:06.079
Isaiah forty five to one. Cyrus is explicitly mentioned as

597
00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:10.400
God's Anointed, a rare title for a non Israelite ruler

598
00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:13.880
chosen to fulfill God's purpose in restoring Israel. He is

599
00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:18.400
described as God's shepherd and anointed who will rebuild Jerusalem

600
00:35:18.599 --> 00:35:24.199
and set the exiles free. Prepare ye the way of

601
00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:26.760
the Lord. In Isaiah forty three and the context of

602
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:29.559
Israel's return from exile, the phrase prepare the way of

603
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.280
the Lord can be seen symbolically referring to the path

604
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:37.400
of deliverance that God would create using Cyrus as his instrument.

605
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:40.880
Cyrus's decree to allow the exiles to return from home

606
00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.360
would be the practical means by which the way for

607
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:46.920
God's people to return to Jerusalem was prepared. Makes straight

608
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:49.719
in the desert a highway for our God Isaiah forty three.

609
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:52.360
The image of a highway being prepared and the wilderness

610
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:55.880
points to the removal of obstacles for Israel's return. In

611
00:35:55.880 --> 00:35:58.920
a sense, Cyrus is the human agent who paves the

612
00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:02.519
way for his for this highway by conquering Babylon and

613
00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:05.760
issuing a decree for the Jews to return. God uses

614
00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:08.320
Cyrus to clear the path and make the way for

615
00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:11.360
his people to return from Babylon, effective making a highway

616
00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:15.000
for them through the wilderness back to Jerusalem. Every valley

617
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:17.079
should be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will

618
00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:20.079
be made low. The imagery emphasizes that God will flatten

619
00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:22.400
the obstacles that stand in the way for Israel's return.

620
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:27.360
Cyrus's conquest of Babylon represents one such obstacle being removed.

621
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:29.840
His rise to power, and his actions would make the

622
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:34.840
return of the exiles possible, fulfilling God's promise, the glory

623
00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:36.880
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all the flesh

624
00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:39.280
shall see it. In Isaiah's time, the glory of the

625
00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:42.599
Lord was often associated with God's intervention and history to

626
00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:45.719
save his people. The return of the exiles under Cyrus's

627
00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:48.599
decree would be seen as a manifestation of God's glory

628
00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:52.079
and faithfulness to his promise. Even though Sorrus himself may

629
00:36:52.119 --> 00:36:54.639
not have been aware of God's greater purpose, his action

630
00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:58.280
revealed God's glory as the one who controls nations and

631
00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:03.800
kings to fulfill his redemptive plans. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaiah

632
00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:08.760
forty three through five, in its historical context, is about Cyrus,

633
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:13.239
the Persian king who prepared the way for and was

634
00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:17.400
the human instrument to bring his people out of Babylonian

635
00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:22.239
captivity and to comeback and rebuild Jerusalem rebuild the Temple,

636
00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:27.920
which was accomplished in history way before John the Baptist,

637
00:37:28.199 --> 00:37:31.480
way before Christ comes to Earth, way before the incarnation,

638
00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:34.920
way before Jesus comes into the Temple, way before any

639
00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:43.079
of that occurs. Now, the New Testament writers takes this

640
00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:50.599
and then applies it to something different. And we talked

641
00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:53.800
about this in our early study of the Book of Romans,

642
00:37:54.280 --> 00:37:56.239
and we did an entire like, I don't know seven

643
00:37:56.320 --> 00:38:01.039
eight ten parts and how New Testament writers use Old

644
00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:04.639
Testament passages. They use them in a variety of ways.

645
00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:07.800
Sometimes it seems like sometimes they seem to use it

646
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:10.519
in a way that has no it doesn't. They're using

647
00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:12.440
it in a way that seems to be completely different

648
00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:15.360
than the original context. But they can do so because

649
00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:18.199
they're doing so under the inspiration of God. That doesn't

650
00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:21.800
mean I can go do that, but they can. If

651
00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:24.440
the New Testament writer, under the inspiration of God wants

652
00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:26.639
to take these passages and then apply it to a

653
00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:29.599
different situation, in a different context, they have the right

654
00:38:29.639 --> 00:38:32.360
to do so. That doesn't mean we can. All right,

655
00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:35.199
they're doing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

656
00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:39.320
But in the historical context, what hey, people be comforted?

657
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:40.239
Be comforted?

658
00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:41.159
Why?

659
00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:43.639
Because Hey, this is all coming to an end. Your

660
00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:46.320
captivity is coming to an end, your suffering, your sins

661
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:49.159
have been forgiven. You have you have suffered enough, you

662
00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:51.719
have you have in a sense received from God a

663
00:38:51.880 --> 00:38:56.559
double for all your sins, you have suffered. But there's

664
00:38:56.599 --> 00:39:03.320
going to come a voice in the wilderness. And this voice,

665
00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:10.000
and this ultimately points to someone well outside of Israel. Right,

666
00:39:11.159 --> 00:39:13.960
it's going to be a Persian king, and he's going

667
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.159
to come and he's going to make the path straight.

668
00:39:16.239 --> 00:39:20.559
How he's going to destroy the Babylonians. He's going to

669
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:24.800
offer a decree the way he's going to be made,

670
00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:26.159
and then you're going to be able to come back.

671
00:39:26.159 --> 00:39:29.000
And God's glory will be revealed because God's glory will

672
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:33.320
be revealed because God is in charge of the entire

673
00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:37.360
situation and can even use a Persian king to accomplish

674
00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:46.000
his purpose in his will. That's the comfort pointing to

675
00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:49.039
John the Baptist. Now, how does the John the Baptist

676
00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:52.960
part fit into the overall Well, that's a different story.

677
00:39:53.760 --> 00:40:01.400
I wanted you to simply see the actual historical context.

678
00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:11.039
We just started a sermon that obliterated the historical context,

679
00:40:12.519 --> 00:40:17.679
ignored it, annihilated it, erased it, ripped it out. Did

680
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:33.199
not even care the people living in Babylonian exile. If

681
00:40:33.199 --> 00:40:37.800
there's comfort for them, the comfort would have to happen

682
00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:44.679
for them. Right, It's of no comfort to say, hey, guys,

683
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:48.400
you're all going to die. Nothing's coming to help you.

684
00:40:48.400 --> 00:40:51.000
You're going to suffer. But five hundred years from now,

685
00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:53.400
something good's going to happen. Well, we're all going to

686
00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:56.519
be dead. But obviously something happened because they went from

687
00:40:56.519 --> 00:41:00.880
Babylonian captivity to coming out of babylon captivity to rebuilding Jerusalem,

688
00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:04.800
rebuilding the Temple. So something did happen. But don't say, well,

689
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:07.559
you know how it happened. You know what made it happen,

690
00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:11.039
God come to earth. Did it happened before God showed

691
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:17.119
up in the incarnation? That makes the nose, It destroys

692
00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:27.840
the text. All right, now you see why we're going

693
00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:30.800
to be studying this, why we're going to spend the time,

694
00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:42.800
why we're going to do this work, because time and

695
00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:45.679
time again, the Word of God is just Plato in

696
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:48.239
the hands of people and just do whatever they want

697
00:41:48.239 --> 00:41:52.599
with it. Now, if you wanted to make your sermon

698
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.000
about if you're going to quote this, a lot of

699
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:58.719
people will quote this fast approaching Advent season, Christmas season,

700
00:41:59.039 --> 00:42:01.800
people will start, you know, wanting to quote this. You

701
00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:05.000
watch if your church quotes it and ask them how

702
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:06.800
come when we quote this we don't deal with the

703
00:42:06.840 --> 00:42:09.320
fact that this would possibly be referring to Cyrus in

704
00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:12.480
its historical context. Why do we just rip it out

705
00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:16.079
of its context? Why do we do that? Who do

706
00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:24.960
we think we are? We're narcissistic textual hijackers. We want

707
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.840
it to be about us. We take the text, we

708
00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:38.159
hijack it, and then we fly it to wherever we want.

709
00:42:39.679 --> 00:42:43.119
Isaiah forty to fifty five, Isaiah chapter forty to Isaiah

710
00:42:43.199 --> 00:42:46.880
chapter fifty five. In this section, as we've seen in

711
00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:50.280
Isaiah forty three, what we're seeing in Isaiah forty so far,

712
00:42:50.760 --> 00:42:53.119
every sermon that we've even attempted to listen to in

713
00:42:53.159 --> 00:43:00.280
this section follows no rules except take the text to

714
00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:06.079
make it about everything other than the original context. Now,

715
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:08.599
maybe the sermon we're listened to he will circle back

716
00:43:08.599 --> 00:43:11.719
and get more to back to the original context. But

717
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:14.679
you can see what he did right there. He set

718
00:43:14.760 --> 00:43:18.119
up Hey, how does how is this accomplished? When Jesus

719
00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:21.679
he just immediately he skipped a five hundred year time

720
00:43:21.719 --> 00:43:32.199
span without even offering an explanation. I don't know what

721
00:43:32.239 --> 00:43:36.639
else to say. I want to do more, but we'll

722
00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:40.280
be talking about it over the next little while so, hey,

723
00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:43.440
please join us. Get your Bible ready. Isaiah forty to

724
00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:46.159
fifty five. Isaiah chapter forty to Isaiah, chapter fifty five.

725
00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:48.199
Read it, read it, read it, read it, read it,

726
00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:50.320
read it, read it, read it, read it. Start listening

727
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:53.760
to sermon after sermon after sermon, And all I can

728
00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:56.840
promise is, I don't know how quickly we can make

729
00:43:56.880 --> 00:43:59.320
it through it, but I'm hoping whenever we're done, and

730
00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:01.440
I I don't want to be, you know, stuck in

731
00:44:01.719 --> 00:44:04.199
it forever. So I want to make it, move it,

732
00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:06.920
you know, move through it at some form of a

733
00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:09.599
I think, at a decent rate of speed. What we're

734
00:44:09.639 --> 00:44:12.519
gonna hopefully do, though, is you're going to understand it

735
00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:21.119
better than you ever have. So there you go. Thanks

736
00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:25.039
for listening. Everyone, have a good Saturday night. Remember when

737
00:44:25.039 --> 00:44:29.719
you go to church tomorrow, don't be a narcissistic textual hijacker,

738
00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:37.199
and don't allow plato sermons to take the text just

739
00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:39.199
turn it into whatever they want to turn it into.

740
00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:41.360
I'm not saying you make a scene. I'm not saying

741
00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:43.800
you be rude. I'm just saying you'd be aware of

742
00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:47.039
what's happening and then in your own mind you handle

743
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:49.559
the text correctly. It's not necessarily your job to go

744
00:44:49.800 --> 00:44:53.000
create a scene and try to fix everyone, but it

745
00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:56.320
is your responsibility to ensure that you understand the word

746
00:44:56.360 --> 00:45:00.440
of God correctly. All right, thanks for listening Godlass