Oct. 30, 2024

Isaiah 40: The Gospel

Isaiah 40: The Gospel

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

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconRadioPublic podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconBreaker podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player icon

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

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:05.879
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:12.359
the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Well, if you

3
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.000
have your Bibles, open them to Isaiah chapter forty, because

4
00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:20.519
once again we turn our attention to Isaiah chapter forty

5
00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:25.320
through Isaiah chapter fifty five. I cannot promise you that

6
00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:28.440
this is going to be beneficial. I cannot promise you

7
00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:30.800
that this is going to be helpful. I cannot promise

8
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:35.640
you anything. In fact, base off everything that's happened leading

9
00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:39.079
up to this moment and our study and look at

10
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.479
Isaiah chapter forty through fifty five. It's been really negative.

11
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:47.159
It's not been very positive. It's not been very comforting.

12
00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:50.920
If you've been listening, you know why. It's not been

13
00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.719
very comforting. It's not been very helpful, it's not been

14
00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:59.399
very beneficial. It's been really all these negative terms irritating, frustrating,

15
00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:06.680
can fusing, confounding, discouraging, depressing. Makes me want to just

16
00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.200
give up, because for some weird reason, pastors to open

17
00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:15.200
their bibles to Isaiah forty through Isaiah fifty five and

18
00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:18.560
then they just do whatever they want to do with it.

19
00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:22.159
They spiritualize it, they allegorize it, they apply it, anyway

20
00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.959
they want. They don't seem that there's any guardrails, there's

21
00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.640
any rules. It's just a free for all. It's spiritual anarchy,

22
00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:34.000
it's chaos. It's well Christians being narcissistic, meaning we're going

23
00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:36.879
to make it about us, and then we're hijackers because

24
00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.439
we hijack the text and we take it wherever we

25
00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:42.319
want it to go. And so what we are attempting

26
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.400
to do is we have started a series Isaiah forty

27
00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.840
through fifty five where we are attempting to study it,

28
00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:57.480
interpret it, explain it, and it's original textual and historical context.

29
00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.400
So by the time we are done going through Isaiah

30
00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.400
forty through Isaiah fifty five, you understand the text in

31
00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:09.120
its original context better than you have ever understood it

32
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:10.560
in the past.

33
00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:11.840
That is the goal.

34
00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:15.319
Well we accomplish that, I don't know, but we're going

35
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.360
to take another step in this study and we're going

36
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:19.879
to do that in just a minute.

37
00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:22.599
But for now, let me say welcome everyone.

38
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.439
It is Wednesday, October thirtieth, twenty twenty four. It is

39
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.000
currently eleven fifty eight am Central time, and I'm coming

40
00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:36.800
to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right

41
00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:42.680
here in Albilene, Texas. Now, the studio has not been

42
00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:47.680
a place of positive feelings. It's not been very it's

43
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.400
not been very encouraging. It's been very, very, very negative.

44
00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:53.960
But I'm I don't even want to say I'm hoping

45
00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:55.879
it's about to change because I don't know.

46
00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:56.879
Here's what I know.

47
00:02:57.159 --> 00:02:59.879
We're going to be listening to another sermon, this one

48
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.479
on Isaiah chapter forty as well, and we're just going

49
00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:03.280
to see what's.

50
00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:03.759
Going to happen.

51
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:07.800
I hate that sometimes these reviews turn out negative, but

52
00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.199
that's never my intention. My intention with these reviews are

53
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.280
this one. I'm going to be listening to these sermons anyway,

54
00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:17.560
right because I listen to sermons. I love to listen

55
00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.199
to sermons. So if I love to listen to a sermon,

56
00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.840
why listen to a sermon in a room by myself

57
00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.280
when I can listen to a sermon and a room

58
00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:29.000
by myself, but with people around the world listening as well.

59
00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:32.319
So we're just listening to a sermon together. That's the goal.

60
00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.039
That's the vibe, right. I don't know what it's going

61
00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:36.680
to say. You don't know what's going to say, so

62
00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:39.639
I don't have some agenda. I don't go find some ooh,

63
00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.639
this is a sermon I can criticize. We listen to

64
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.719
find out well how they interpret scripture, what their perspective is,

65
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:50.199
what their hypotheses is, and then we then I, I

66
00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.719
should say, I offer you a different perspective in some cases,

67
00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.280
sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree, and you get the

68
00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.400
benefit of hearing different perspectives.

69
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:00.560
Well.

70
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.800
Are listening to sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five

71
00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.159
has turned very negative because of the way it has

72
00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.000
been handled. It's been spiritualized and allegorized almost to death,

73
00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:15.280
and so therefore, in some ways it's negative, but in

74
00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:18.519
other ways there is a positive. You're getting to hear

75
00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:22.079
two different perspectives on this very important section of scripture,

76
00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.160
and hopefully that will allow you to understand it more.

77
00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.439
The more we listen, hopefully the more you see. Hopefully,

78
00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:30.800
the more we listen, and the more sermons we listen to,

79
00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.720
the more you begin to understand. Now, you may decide

80
00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.199
that their perspective is correct. All of the allegorizing, spiritualizing,

81
00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:42.720
and hijacking you may think is correct, and that's your prerogative.

82
00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.920
By all means, you can do that or you may

83
00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.879
decide that I am at least onto something that at

84
00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:54.399
least some of my critique is worthwhile and beneficial at

85
00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.480
least hopefully I'm hoping that's the case. So that's what

86
00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.120
we're going to do. We're going to go right back

87
00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.959
into this. We're gonna just another sermon. Now in this

88
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.959
particular case, yesterday, I think I asked the question when

89
00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.199
is comfort not comfort? And I'm the argument comfort is

90
00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.920
not comfort when we go take comfort that was meant

91
00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.519
for someone else and we try to claim it for ourselves.

92
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.000
When we're like, hey, this comfort is for you.

93
00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:19.600
Sorry, I'm taking it.

94
00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.800
It's for me. Is it really my comfort? Can I

95
00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:24.480
really be comforted by a comfort that was not intended

96
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:24.720
for me?

97
00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:27.120
Well, in Isaiah chapter forty, verse.

98
00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:30.360
One, we read these words comfort ye comfort yee.

99
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.920
But that comfort yee, comfort yee. I'm not the yee.

100
00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:39.680
Okay, I'm not the them, I'm not the they comfort them.

101
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.000
Who is the them? Well, they were referred to as

102
00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:43.040
my people, but.

103
00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.920
I cannot insert myself into that because this is referencing

104
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:52.560
people who were in Babylonian exile. It has a specific people. Well,

105
00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.519
today we're gonna ask when is the Gospel, not the gospel.

106
00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.800
Now do we go to Isaiah forty and make it

107
00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.959
about the gospel. Well, one could argue you can, because

108
00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.319
Isaiah chapter forty, verse three says the voice of him

109
00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.120
the crieth in the wilderness, and like, oh oh, the

110
00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.720
New Testament refers to John the Baptist. Yeah, this is

111
00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.279
this is, this is related to the gospel. But let

112
00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:18.279
me make this point abundantly clear. When you go to

113
00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.879
the New Testament and you see how New Testament writers

114
00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.800
use Old Testament scriptures, you will see they use them

115
00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:28.319
in a variety of ways. Sometimes they kind of paraphrase them,

116
00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.639
sometimes they kind of just use the idea, sometimes they

117
00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:35.240
quote them, and then sometimes they interpret and apply them

118
00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:38.920
in a way that is completely opposite, in some cases,

119
00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:43.759
somehow not even related to its original historical context. And

120
00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.120
you say, well, how can they do that, because they're

121
00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.040
doing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now,

122
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.680
what many people believe as well, if the New Testament

123
00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:54.399
writer interprets that that way, that I can take that

124
00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.639
interpretation and read it back into the Old Testament, And

125
00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.399
I argue, you've got to be very careful in doing that.

126
00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.879
In fact, I think it's a bad idea. When you

127
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.319
go back to the Old Testament, you have to understand

128
00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.920
it and read it and interpret it in its original context.

129
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.959
What the New Testament writer does with it is what

130
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.360
the New Testament writer does with it under the inspiration

131
00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.720
of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean that we

132
00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.959
go back and reinterpret the Old Testament passage because you

133
00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:25.439
destroy the meaning. And Isaiah chapter forty this is written

134
00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.720
to people and bab what's written before they're there. But

135
00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:32.120
ultimately it's meant for the people who are in Babylonian exile.

136
00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:34.319
So you can't go to verse three and go, oh,

137
00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:35.560
that's about John to Baptists.

138
00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:36.040
No, no, no.

139
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.399
The voice in the wilderness in Isaiah forty verse three

140
00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.920
is not John the Baptist in its original context. I

141
00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:45.040
will argue that it's the person that is referring to

142
00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.839
in Isaiah chapter forty, verse three. His name doesn't start

143
00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.040
with a jay, it starts with a C, and he's

144
00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.720
a Persian king, say, but the New Testament uses it

145
00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.439
to refer to John Great in that context, under the

146
00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.439
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they can. But in this

147
00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:06.040
context to try to jump there makes no sense because

148
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:09.480
this is the comfort the people in Babylonian exile. John

149
00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.040
the Baptist is not going to provide them any comfort

150
00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.279
because by the time John the Baptist comes on the scene,

151
00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.439
all of these people have been dead for a long time.

152
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:25.639
So it has to have some meaning here first. So

153
00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.240
just keep all of that in mind. But we're going

154
00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:32.639
to be listening to a sermon entitled Isaiah's Gospel Proclamation,

155
00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:35.240
So obviously they're gonna take this and try to run

156
00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.120
to the gospel. And I've already offered at least some

157
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:40.919
of my concern Now, this may be great, this may

158
00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.799
be wonderful, This may be the best we've ever heard.

159
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:44.440
I don't know.

160
00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.639
We're gonna find out together, all right, So we're working

161
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.080
on Isaiah forty through fifty five. I will be doing teaching.

162
00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.840
I'll be doing verse by verse exegetical teaching of it.

163
00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:00.720
But with that mixed in with that will be these

164
00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:04.120
ongoing sermon reviews so that we can hear different perspectives

165
00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.200
and we can be challenged. So I hope you're ready.

166
00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:09.279
I hope that was a pretty That was about a

167
00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.000
nine minute introduction, trying to cover a lot of things

168
00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:15.480
really really really really really really really fast and hopefully

169
00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.840
it was beneficial. But here we go. This is what

170
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:26.480
we're here for. Another sermon on Isaiah forty. I would say,

171
00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.120
I would say fingers crossed, but that's kind of superstitious.

172
00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:32.960
I would say be hopeful, but that's probably naive. Let's

173
00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.159
just let it be what it is, and we're gonna

174
00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.960
find out what it is right now.

175
00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:45.320
Helpful to us. I want us to say that aspect

176
00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:53.960
of the word our subject in Isaiah forty is Isaiah's

177
00:09:54.120 --> 00:10:04.600
introduction of the gospel. Isaiah yep announces or proclaims good news.

178
00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.200
That's what gospel means. It means good news.

179
00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:15.159
Good Now the question is Isaiah proclaiming good news?

180
00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:18.919
What is that good news? And who is that good

181
00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:23.200
news for? Is that good news for you? For me?

182
00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:25.879
Now we can again read Isaiah forty.

183
00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:29.559
Verse one, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, My people

184
00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:34.720
is clearly identified here in its context. Go back to

185
00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:40.000
chapter thirty nine, starting in verse five, you will read

186
00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:44.360
Isaiah thirty nine to five. Then said Isaiah, Hezekiah, hear

187
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:46.639
the words of the Lord of Host. Behold the days

188
00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:50.759
come that all that is in thine house, and that

189
00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:53.840
which thy fathers have laid up in store under this

190
00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:03.159
day shall be carried to Babylon. They're going into Babylonian captivity.

191
00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:08.240
Then chapter forty, now everything changes. Comfort ye, comfort Ye.

192
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.960
It's repeated twice to show that it's important. It's it's

193
00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.919
there's an urgency. These people need comfort. Why they're in

194
00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:17.240
Babylonian captivity.

195
00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:18.679
So the comfort ye?

196
00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.159
Who is the ye? Who is the my people? The

197
00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.039
people in Babylonian captivity? Right?

198
00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:25.600
So is it good news?

199
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:32.200
Yes? It is good news. Do we go take the

200
00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:36.240
good news from them? Do we take the comfort from them?

201
00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.679
I don't know what's going to happen. We're a while

202
00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:40.279
to find out.

203
00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:50.320
Good tidings. And Isaiah forty is one complete oracle. And

204
00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:55.759
an oracle is an utterance granted to the prophet by God,

205
00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.320
in which God himself gives the word words to the prophet,

206
00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:06.559
so that the prophet actually speaks. God is speaking through

207
00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.600
the prophet.

208
00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.039
Now, this is an interesting concept here, and I really

209
00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.639
appreciate this. Right, So we're already at least off to

210
00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:17.679
a good start here, We're off to a good start.

211
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.799
He identifies Isaiah forty. Again, we're trying to put this

212
00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:23.840
all in this proper context, but we're gonna see what's

213
00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.200
going to happen here he identifies Isaiah forty as one

214
00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.480
complete oracle. Now my question is is he saying just

215
00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.960
Isaiah forty is it a complete art oracle? And then

216
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:37.759
forty one is a separate complete oracle? Or is he

217
00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:42.440
saying Isaiah forty to fifty five is one complete oracle? Right?

218
00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.960
So I do like the fact that he defines one oracle?

219
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.519
Is I do define that these are God's words basically

220
00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.960
spoken through the prophet. So I'm going to do a

221
00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:08.039
little work here. Is Isaiah forty one complete oracle? Or

222
00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:19.919
is Isaiah forty through fifty five one complete oracle?

223
00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.559
Let's see what AI tells us.

224
00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:26.679
All right, let's do this right now. Let's just do

225
00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.000
I'm doing a little bit of work right now, because

226
00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.600
as soon as I hear him say that, that's the

227
00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:34.399
first question that comes to my mind. All right, Isaiah

228
00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:39.240
forty through fifty five is generally understood. Now, when you

229
00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.960
hear the words generally understood means of course.

230
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:43.960
I know it's a shocking. I know it's shocking.

231
00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.039
Christians don't agree on anything, all right, So I'm not

232
00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:52.159
shocked that it's only generally understood, meaning there's disagreement. Isaiah

233
00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.559
forty through fifty five is generally understood to be one

234
00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:59.480
larger oracle or prophetic section, rather than a single chapter

235
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.840
like Isaid forty standing alone as a complete oracle. So

236
00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.840
when he says Isaiah forty is a complete oracle, I

237
00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:08.919
think it's more accurate to say Isaiah forty through fifty

238
00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:14.080
five is one complete oracle, larger oracle, one prophetic section.

239
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:18.200
I think that that's better, all right. The larger section,

240
00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.720
Isaiah forty through fifty five is often called the Book

241
00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:24.200
of Comfort or Second Isaiah, and has a unified theme

242
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:29.320
and purpose focused on comfort, redemption, and restoration for Israel

243
00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:33.679
and exile. Let me state that again, Isaiah forty through

244
00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:43.360
fifty five is about comfort, redemption, restoration.

245
00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:50.159
For is ray l Israel in exile.

246
00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.720
Now, some would argue it is made up of multiple

247
00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.720
individual oracles or pro prophecies that work together to deliver

248
00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.600
this message, with Isaiah forty serving as an introduction. So

249
00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.080
some would say it's one oracle, the whole section. Some

250
00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.000
may say it's made up of individual oracles. So we

251
00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.279
have different perspectives, right, I think it may be more

252
00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.679
accurate to say the whole thing serves as an oracle, right, But.

253
00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:25.000
I could then break this all down. We could break

254
00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:25.399
it down.

255
00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:27.240
I think it's better to see it as a group,

256
00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.559
but you may want to see them as individual oracles.

257
00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:33.159
Now we could do a little bit more work here

258
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:35.799
to see how we want to get into that. But

259
00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:40.399
there you go. There's basically two perspectives, one basically large

260
00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:45.639
oracle or a large section broken into individual oracles. Now

261
00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:55.159
does each each chapter an oracle? Maybe they said individual

262
00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.960
oracles that make up one section. Now does that have

263
00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.519
any major emphasis on how we interpret it? Probably not,

264
00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.120
But just so you know, in many cases there's not

265
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:09.000
even agreement within Christendom on how to even understand its structure.

266
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:13.399
But okay, I've got AI gave me like three pages

267
00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.879
of notes here on it, So I'm not going to

268
00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:17.879
go through all of it right now, or that would

269
00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:20.159
take up forty minutes, but just so that you know,

270
00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.559
there's at least two major perspectives right here we go.

271
00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:32.360
And so Isaiah forty is a complete oracle within itself.

272
00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.159
And so to begin with, I want us to simply

273
00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:39.480
read it, and for that purpose I will read from

274
00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:48.120
the English Standard version that we use. So you're going

275
00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.519
to hear the profit more than once as I go

276
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:53.840
through it, because what I want to do with you

277
00:16:54.600 --> 00:17:03.039
is to walk through this oracle, connecting the parts. It's

278
00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:07.359
a task. Hopefully it will be a good task that

279
00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:16.119
we will enjoy. Listen to God's word Comfort, Comfort my people, says,

280
00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:20.960
You're God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to her

281
00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:25.119
that her time of forced labor is over. Her iniquity

282
00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:28.920
has been pardoned, and she is received from the Lord's hand,

283
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.880
that is, from Yahweh's hand, double for all her sins.

284
00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.279
A voice of one crying out, Prepare the way of

285
00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:41.720
Yahweh in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God.

286
00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.240
In the desert. Every valley will be lifted up. In

287
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.880
every mountain and hill will be reveled. The uneven ground

288
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.039
will become smooth, and the rough places a plaine, and

289
00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:55.960
the glory of Yahweh will appear in All humanity together

290
00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.759
will see it. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

291
00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:04.599
A voice was saying, cry out, Another said, what should

292
00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:08.720
I cry out? All humanity is grass, and all its

293
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.119
goodness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers,

294
00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:17.400
the flowers fade when the breath of Yahweh blows on them. Indeed,

295
00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:21.119
the people are grass. The grass withers, the flowers fade,

296
00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:25.559
but the word of our God remains forever. Zion, Herald

297
00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:28.240
of good News. Go up on a high mountain, Jerusalem,

298
00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.839
Herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, raise it up.

299
00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:32.400
Do not be.

300
00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:36.160
Afraid, say to the cities of Judah, here is your God.

301
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.920
See Sovereign Yahweh comes with strength, and his power establishes

302
00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.880
his rule. His wages are with him, and his reward

303
00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.440
accompanies him. He protects his flock like a shepherd. He

304
00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.920
gathers the lambs in his arms. He carries him in

305
00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:55.119
the fold of his garment. He gently leaves those said

306
00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.799
are nursing. Who has measured the waters of the hollow

307
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.599
of his hand are marked off the heavens with the

308
00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.640
span of his hand. Who has gathered the dust of

309
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:07.960
the earth in a measure, or weighed the mountains on

310
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.920
the balance of the hills on the scales. Who has

311
00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:14.759
directed the spirit of Yahweh? Or who gave him counsel,

312
00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.319
Who did he consult? Who gave him understanding, or taught

313
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:20.880
him the paths of justice? Who taught him knowledge and

314
00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:24.640
showed him the way of understanding. Look, the nations are

315
00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:27.160
like a drop in a bucket. They're considered as a

316
00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.799
peck of dust on the scales. He lifts up the

317
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:33.759
islands like fine dust. The leman on cedars who are

318
00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:36.359
not enough for fuel, or its animals enough or a

319
00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:39.640
burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him.

320
00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:44.839
They are considered by him as empty nothingness with whom

321
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.559
will you compare God? What lightness will you set up?

322
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.640
For comparison with him? An idol something that has smelt

323
00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.400
or cast, and a metal worker plates with gold and

324
00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.119
makes silver chains for a poor person, contributes wood for

325
00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:01.920
a pedestal that will not rot. He looks for a

326
00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.599
skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not

327
00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:09.079
fall over. Do you not know? Have you not heard?

328
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.720
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

329
00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:15.720
Have you not considered the foundations of the earth. God

330
00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.599
is enthroned above the circle of the earth is inhabitants

331
00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:22.240
are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin

332
00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:24.839
cloth and spreads him out like a tent to live in.

333
00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.440
He reduces princes to nothing, and makes judges of the

334
00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:32.359
earth like a waste lamb. They are barely planted, barely sown.

335
00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:35.279
Their stem hardly takes root in the ground when he

336
00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:38.279
blows on them, and they wither in the whirlwind carries

337
00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.839
them away like stubble. To whom will you compare me?

338
00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:45.519
Or who is my equal? Asked the Holy One? Look

339
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:49.039
up and see who created these? He brings out the

340
00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:52.119
stars by number. He calls them all by name, because

341
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.599
of his great power and strength. Not one of them

342
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:59.519
is missing. Jacob, why do you say in Israel? Why

343
00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:02.960
do you My way is hidden from Yahweh and my

344
00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.319
claim is ignored by my God? Do you not know?

345
00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:08.000
Have you not heard?

346
00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:13.799
Yahweh is the everlasting God, the creator of the whole earth.

347
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:18.359
He never becomes faint or weary. There is no limit

348
00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:22.039
to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and

349
00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:26.440
strengthens the powerless. Yous may become faint and weary, and

350
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.160
young men stumble and fall, But those who trust in

351
00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.559
Yahweh renew their strength. They were sore on wings like eagles.

352
00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.079
They were run and not become weary. They will walk

353
00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:42.400
and not fame.

354
00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.960
Now we've seen now a lot of these sermons that

355
00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.519
the approach by most of the pastors is to read

356
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.920
either the entire chapter or a large section of it.

357
00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.960
All right, we've had this discussion.

358
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.160
Good bad, I don't know.

359
00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:07.519
I look for our purposes, it works great, right because

360
00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.359
over and over you're hearing it being read over and

361
00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:12.039
over and over and over again.

362
00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.039
So that's what you're supposed to be doing.

363
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.200
Anyway, I gave you already the assignment to be reading

364
00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.400
Isaiah forty through fifty five and make it your new

365
00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.519
best friend. Read it over and over and over. So

366
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.839
the more you hear it, the more you see, the better,

367
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:27.000
the more structure you see, so that it's beneficial for

368
00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:30.240
that from a preaching perspective. It's hard for me because

369
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.079
if I'm sitting there, my mind is already I probably

370
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.359
by the time he gets the verse thirty one, my

371
00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:39.799
brain probably has already got five hundred and seventy two questions. Right,

372
00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:41.400
I'm probably go like, what about this? And what about this?

373
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:42.920
And what does this mean? What does this mean? And

374
00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:44.920
what does this mean? So I'm gonna have to then

375
00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:49.559
turn off my brain, you know, slam on the brakes,

376
00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:52.400
and then go Okay, now where is he going to go?

377
00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.000
Because I'm going to be I'm almost going to be

378
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.039
wanting to have my notebook out going over what about

379
00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.200
this and what about this? And what about this? And

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

381
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.519
so this becomes personal preference thing. But he read it,

382
00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:06.200
read it great better than I would have read it,

383
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.799
very articulated, very clearly, wrote, read at a very good pace.

384
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.240
Everything was great about that. That's awesome. We've heard Isaiah

385
00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:18.839
chapter forty. Now let's see what his approach is, what

386
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.599
his hypotheses is, what his thesis is, and how he's

387
00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:26.960
going to approach this chapter. Right, So here we go.

388
00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:50.799
Thus says log the prophet in the name of Yahweh

389
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:59.480
announces good news. Well, what is the good news? Here's

390
00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:08.160
a good news. Comfort my people speak tenderly, speak to

391
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:22.079
their heart and tell them that her warfare has been warfare. Well,

392
00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:30.839
what is happening here is that Israel Judah is seen

393
00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:36.079
as coming back from the exile. Perhaps you remember when

394
00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:40.079
we begin the section on Isaiah that we talked about

395
00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:43.960
the fact that Isaiah is divided into two sections. The

396
00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:49.079
first section of Isaiah chapters one through thirty nine. This

397
00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:57.640
is pre exile. Isaiah lives before Judah is taken into exile.

398
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:04.480
Off he sent to Judah, and he proclaims that God

399
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:08.200
is sending judgment to the people, and that judgment will

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

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

402
00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.519
All right. This makes me at least happy, because this

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

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

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

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

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

408
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:44.920
So at least here he's putting it in its context.

409
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.519
I'm very happy about this. Is this is at least

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

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

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

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

414
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:05.240
So right now he putting it in it in a

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

416
00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.880
historical context. All this is all this is. Oh, I'm

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

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

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

420
00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:27.440
Isaiah forty begins a second section of Isaiah. It is

421
00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:32.160
written from the perspective as if the exile has ended.

422
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:37.359
Now there are those who claim that Isaiah wrote one

423
00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:40.880
part and another Isaiah wrote a second part. But that's

424
00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:45.400
not necessarily to be true at all, because God, who

425
00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:50.279
gives the prophets, the insight and the visions, can certainly

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

427
00:26:52.559 --> 00:27:00.880
thousand years. Isaiah speaks for God from God's perspective, and

428
00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:03.640
so in Isaiah forty, through the end of what we

429
00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.640
call the prophet Isaiah, he speaks as though to the

430
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.039
people who have been judged, they have been exile, and

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

432
00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:29.160
that this chapter opens. That's his speak, sweet tender consolation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

446
00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:17.759
Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people speak comfortably to Jerusalem

447
00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:20.559
and cry under her that our warfare is accomplished. This

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

980
01:04:47.159 --> 01:04:53.000
He comes to establish his kingdom among them. This is

981
01:04:53.039 --> 01:04:56.360
the proclamation of the Kingdom of God that John was

982
01:04:56.519 --> 01:04:59.679
talking about in the Wilderness, that Jesus talked about in

983
01:04:59.719 --> 01:05:05.960
his ministry. Jesus is the king of the Kingdom of God.

984
01:05:06.920 --> 01:05:08.760
Oh I see, now we're gonna jump to Jesus.

985
01:05:08.840 --> 01:05:09.599
We're gonna jump.

986
01:05:10.440 --> 01:05:12.320
We're gonna jump to Jesus again.

987
01:05:12.360 --> 01:05:14.800
Oh see, this is where things start.

988
01:05:14.599 --> 01:05:16.000
Falling apart for me.

989
01:05:18.519 --> 01:05:25.480
All right. The ah, I understand, we want to jump here,

990
01:05:25.519 --> 01:05:30.840
but the original. So in Isaiah forty verses three through five,

991
01:05:31.079 --> 01:05:34.039
Cyrus has to be spoken of. And if Cyrus is forgotten,

992
01:05:34.079 --> 01:05:36.400
we're in trouble. So you just need to write Cyrus

993
01:05:36.440 --> 01:05:38.840
somewhere above Isaiah forty three through five.

994
01:05:38.920 --> 01:05:40.519
It's its own special.

995
01:05:40.119 --> 01:05:43.119
Section, all right. Then when it talks about God's word

996
01:05:43.159 --> 01:05:45.119
is going to stand forever, what word is going to

997
01:05:45.119 --> 01:05:45.679
stand forever?

998
01:05:45.719 --> 01:05:48.559
Well, it's the word of their promised deliverance. So when

999
01:05:48.599 --> 01:05:49.400
we read.

1000
01:05:51.719 --> 01:05:54.679
So, when we read the phrase behold your God, it

1001
01:05:54.719 --> 01:05:57.239
is indeed a reference to God's presence and power being

1002
01:05:57.760 --> 01:06:03.840
revealed through Israel's deliverance. It's in this context the call

1003
01:06:03.920 --> 01:06:06.559
to behold your God is an invitation for the people

1004
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:09.960
to recognize in which witness God's intervention in bringing them

1005
01:06:09.960 --> 01:06:13.079
back from Babylonian exile. This statement reflects the idea that

1006
01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:18.079
God's character, faithfulness, and sovereignty will be displayed through their restoration.

1007
01:06:20.480 --> 01:06:21.599
The call to behold your.

1008
01:06:21.519 --> 01:06:25.800
God is an exclamation of God's presence and active involvement

1009
01:06:25.880 --> 01:06:28.159
in the events of history, and encourages the people to

1010
01:06:28.199 --> 01:06:31.400
look beyonder immediate circumstances and recognize that their deliverance from

1011
01:06:31.480 --> 01:06:35.320
exile is a divine act orchestrated by God himself. God

1012
01:06:35.480 --> 01:06:39.360
orchestrates it, He's using cyrus. But this is all about

1013
01:06:39.679 --> 01:06:44.760
Behold God and this immediate historical context. This is not

1014
01:06:45.280 --> 01:06:49.480
jumping immediately to Jesus and all of that. The phrase

1015
01:06:49.480 --> 01:06:53.199
suggests that God's power and faithfulness are visibly displayed and

1016
01:06:53.239 --> 01:06:56.239
the way he rescues and restores his people through their

1017
01:06:56.280 --> 01:07:00.760
liberation from Babylon. By saying Behold your God, the prophet

1018
01:07:00.800 --> 01:07:03.199
is calling attention to the fact that God is fulfilling

1019
01:07:03.199 --> 01:07:06.559
his promise to Israel after a period of judgment in exile.

1020
01:07:06.800 --> 01:07:09.320
This is a declaration of hope and renewal, assuring that

1021
01:07:09.360 --> 01:07:12.280
the God has not forgotten them, but now acting on

1022
01:07:12.440 --> 01:07:15.679
their behalf. The deliverance is not just a political event.

1023
01:07:15.679 --> 01:07:18.480
It is a philological movement where God is faithful to

1024
01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:21.960
his covenant on full display. The people are encouraged to

1025
01:07:21.960 --> 01:07:25.000
receive the deliverance as a sign of God's loyalty to

1026
01:07:25.480 --> 01:07:30.119
his promises. Behold your God, how do you see God?

1027
01:07:30.320 --> 01:07:36.239
He is delivering you, He is restoring you. It's in

1028
01:07:36.280 --> 01:07:41.239
that historical context. All right, I'm going to let him finish,

1029
01:07:41.280 --> 01:07:43.760
and then we'll wrap it up. Look, there's so much

1030
01:07:43.760 --> 01:07:46.760
good here. By no means am I trying to be critical.

1031
01:07:47.920 --> 01:07:50.280
I'm already going to be utilizing some of the things

1032
01:07:50.280 --> 01:07:54.400
he did to I'm changing my complete introduction in how

1033
01:07:54.400 --> 01:07:57.000
I'm going to do things Sunday based off this. I mean,

1034
01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:02.360
this just changed everything completely. I love this, but my

1035
01:08:02.480 --> 01:08:04.599
fear is exactly what I thought was going to happen.

1036
01:08:04.639 --> 01:08:07.880
Next thing, you know, we've forgotten. We've forgotten the historic See,

1037
01:08:07.920 --> 01:08:10.440
we were establishing the historical context, and then we get

1038
01:08:10.440 --> 01:08:12.639
to three and then all of a sudden, boom, forget

1039
01:08:12.679 --> 01:08:14.920
the historical context. Now we're John the Baptists.

1040
01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:18.520
Now behold, your God is jumping to Jesus. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa,

1041
01:08:18.600 --> 01:08:20.279
whoa whoa. Slow down.

1042
01:08:21.199 --> 01:08:25.920
We didn't leave Babylonian exile. We're still right there in

1043
01:08:25.960 --> 01:08:27.520
that context.

1044
01:08:30.399 --> 01:08:34.319
And he came and established that king kingdom. He established

1045
01:08:34.319 --> 01:08:37.920
it in his own person, among his own disciples at

1046
01:08:37.960 --> 01:08:42.920
the beginning. It's here present in its spiritual form, in

1047
01:08:42.960 --> 01:08:45.640
a mystery form, but it shall come in all of

1048
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:52.960
its power and glory at the consummation of the last day.

1049
01:08:53.800 --> 01:08:58.960
God has come among us in the Messiah, and he

1050
01:08:59.079 --> 01:09:02.920
comes to Ruin. But what kind of ruler is there.

1051
01:09:04.279 --> 01:09:10.119
He's a shepherd ruler. He rules like a shepherd who

1052
01:09:10.199 --> 01:09:16.720
takes care of his sheep. He rules with tenderness, He

1053
01:09:16.840 --> 01:09:27.239
rules with love, he rules with care. Now there's a

1054
01:09:27.319 --> 01:09:33.960
transition in the Prothetic Oracle. The transition is almost a

1055
01:09:35.159 --> 01:09:39.079
like it almost all of a sudden, he's talking about

1056
01:09:39.079 --> 01:09:42.760
God and talking about God coming to us like a sheep.

1057
01:09:44.840 --> 01:09:48.039
Okay, he's gonna he's going to change. He's going to

1058
01:09:48.199 --> 01:09:52.520
change focus here, So we'll stop right there. He did

1059
01:09:52.560 --> 01:09:55.840
read verse eleven. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

1060
01:09:56.119 --> 01:09:58.960
and shall gather his lambs with an arm, and carry

1061
01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:01.479
them and his buzz, and shall gently lead those that

1062
01:10:01.600 --> 01:10:07.399
are young. All right, just so that you know, Cyrus

1063
01:10:07.520 --> 01:10:10.479
is called a shepherd, and Isaiah forty four to twenty eight,

1064
01:10:11.079 --> 01:10:13.359
who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he

1065
01:10:13.399 --> 01:10:16.479
shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem she shall

1066
01:10:16.479 --> 01:10:19.399
be built, and of the Temple your foundation shall be laid.

1067
01:10:19.920 --> 01:10:22.479
In this verse, Cyrus is specifically named and given the

1068
01:10:22.520 --> 01:10:25.439
title shepherd, which is unusual for a foreign ruler, but

1069
01:10:25.560 --> 01:10:28.399
underscores his role as God's chosen instrument to fulfill his

1070
01:10:28.439 --> 01:10:32.680
purpose for Israel. Shepherd here symbolizes a leader who will

1071
01:10:32.680 --> 01:10:35.520
guide Israel back to their land and help facilitate the

1072
01:10:35.560 --> 01:10:40.960
rebuilding of Jerusalem into the temple. Isaiah forty eleven and

1073
01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:44.479
Cyrus possible association in this passage. The image of a

1074
01:10:44.520 --> 01:10:46.920
shepherd refers to God's own tender care and guidance for

1075
01:10:46.960 --> 01:10:49.640
his people, much like shepherd's care for his flock. The

1076
01:10:49.680 --> 01:10:52.520
shepherd here is God himself, who promises to comfort and

1077
01:10:52.560 --> 01:10:57.439
restore Israel. The verse emphasizes God's compassion and personal involvement,

1078
01:10:57.479 --> 01:11:01.079
while Cyrus plays a role in Israel's deliverance. Isaiah forty

1079
01:11:01.119 --> 01:11:03.960
eleven is not directly a reference to Cyrus, and said

1080
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:06.960
it's depicting God's character as a shepherd who gently cares

1081
01:11:07.000 --> 01:11:10.640
for his people. Shot Cyrus, though titled shepherd in Isaiah

1082
01:11:10.680 --> 01:11:13.439
forty four, serves more as an instrument of God's will

1083
01:11:13.600 --> 01:11:18.039
than a personal caretaker of the people. So they say

1084
01:11:18.079 --> 01:11:21.079
it is about God, but in a roundabout way. Well,

1085
01:11:21.119 --> 01:11:23.800
Cyrus is a shepherd, and around about way he does

1086
01:11:23.920 --> 01:11:26.279
lead the people. In a round about way, he does

1087
01:11:26.359 --> 01:11:28.880
facilitate their restoration and their rebuilding.

1088
01:11:29.119 --> 01:11:30.600
So it's not about Cyrus.

1089
01:11:30.680 --> 01:11:34.279
But once again, so over and over, even in commentaries

1090
01:11:34.279 --> 01:11:37.079
that don't necessarily want to say this Cyrus, they all

1091
01:11:37.119 --> 01:11:39.239
have to say, over and over and over, well, I

1092
01:11:39.279 --> 01:11:42.159
mean Cyrus, I mean well Cyrus, I mean I mean

1093
01:11:42.239 --> 01:11:44.600
well Cyrus. I mean it's not about Cyrus, but I

1094
01:11:44.600 --> 01:11:52.000
mean Cyrus. You can't just remove Cyrus from this, you can't.

1095
01:11:52.119 --> 01:11:57.199
He's all over it. He's all over it, ladies and gentlemen,

1096
01:11:57.399 --> 01:11:59.159
he is all over it.

1097
01:12:01.600 --> 01:12:04.279
To ignore that is to ignore the.

1098
01:12:04.359 --> 01:12:10.279
Very like the sermon did so good establishing historical context,

1099
01:12:10.399 --> 01:12:13.199
and then we get to verse three through five, and

1100
01:12:13.239 --> 01:12:16.039
then it's like it's it's almost like a drug.

1101
01:12:16.600 --> 01:12:20.159
We're like, oh wait, wait, wait, let's it forget forget

1102
01:12:20.159 --> 01:12:21.880
these people, let's go to the New Testament.

1103
01:12:22.079 --> 01:12:25.560
Now he hasn't completely forgotten these people, but he's quickly

1104
01:12:25.640 --> 01:12:29.439
moving on. He's now to John the Baptist, he's to Jesus, he's.

1105
01:12:30.319 --> 01:12:31.800
On to these other things.

1106
01:12:31.880 --> 01:12:34.520
Well, these other things are of no value to the

1107
01:12:34.520 --> 01:12:41.680
people in Babylonian captivity in their immediate context. You can't

1108
01:12:41.720 --> 01:12:46.359
just forget them. They're the ones suffering, they're the ones

1109
01:12:46.399 --> 01:12:51.039
who need comfort, all.

1110
01:12:51.039 --> 01:12:54.079
Right, that was seventy two minutes of some good stuff.

1111
01:12:54.720 --> 01:12:57.520
Now, one of the things we're gonna do in these

1112
01:12:57.560 --> 01:12:59.520
reviews is a lot of times what we're reviewing you're

1113
01:12:59.560 --> 01:13:04.000
gonna hear later, all put together and kind of done

1114
01:13:04.000 --> 01:13:06.359
in a different way. So he got us.

1115
01:13:06.479 --> 01:13:07.840
He did some really good things.

1116
01:13:07.880 --> 01:13:10.560
I love the Deuteronomy twenty eight and the Mosaic Covenant

1117
01:13:10.600 --> 01:13:15.079
part that was man. That was perfect. So that gave

1118
01:13:15.119 --> 01:13:19.359
me all kinds of new ideas. But you can't get

1119
01:13:19.359 --> 01:13:21.720
to three and forget. I'm just gonna state it again.

1120
01:13:21.920 --> 01:13:28.840
If you don't see Cyrus starting in three, then I

1121
01:13:28.840 --> 01:13:31.239
don't know what you're doing, because Cyrus is going to

1122
01:13:31.279 --> 01:13:35.039
be Cyrus is clearly key here. He's forty four, He's

1123
01:13:35.079 --> 01:13:41.119
mentioned four times. You can't forget Cyrus, whether named or

1124
01:13:41.199 --> 01:13:46.720
not named, because he becomes the key central figure humanly

1125
01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:51.880
speaking of their deliverance, of their restoration, of them being

1126
01:13:51.880 --> 01:13:54.760
brought back into the land of the rebuilding, the temple

1127
01:13:55.039 --> 01:13:59.680
of them rebuilding Jerusalem. It is Cyrus the human facilitator.

1128
01:14:00.239 --> 01:14:02.640
This god is the one God is seen as the

1129
01:14:02.640 --> 01:14:06.039
one directing, guiding, and accomplishing it. But Cyrus is the

1130
01:14:06.159 --> 01:14:09.279
human instrument and to forget Cyrus here, You're just forgetting

1131
01:14:09.279 --> 01:14:17.199
the historical context. All right, we'll stop there. Thanks for listening.

1132
01:14:18.800 --> 01:14:22.920
I need food desperately, right so I'm going to go

1133
01:14:22.960 --> 01:14:28.159
find food, and I hope the feeding of God's word

1134
01:14:28.279 --> 01:14:32.199
has been somewhat beneficial. But please jump into this Isaiah

1135
01:14:32.279 --> 01:14:35.359
forty through fifty five. Read read, Read, Read, read, read.

1136
01:14:35.840 --> 01:14:38.880
Prepare yourself to try to learn more about this than

1137
01:14:38.920 --> 01:14:41.479
you've ever known in the past. All Right, thanks for

1138
01:14:41.560 --> 01:14:46.760
listening everyone, have a great day. God bless