Feb. 23, 2025

Isaiah 40:18-24

Isaiah 40:18-24

We continue our study of Isaiah 40

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 icon Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon PocketCasts podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Overcast podcast player icon Audible podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon iHeartRadio podcast player icon Castbox podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon TuneIn podcast player icon Deezer podcast player icon Pandora podcast player icon RadioPublic podcast player icon Podcast Addict podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon YouTube podcast player icon Fountain podcast player icon PlayerFM podcast player icon Goodpods podcast player icon Podverse podcast player icon Podyssey podcast player icon Breaker podcast player icon Podurama podcast player icon Audacy podcast player icon JioSaavn podcast player icon

We continue our study of Isaiah 40

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:07.360
All right, Isaiah chapter forty. The gold today is to

2
00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:09.279
finish the whole chapter. Now, I don't know if we're

3
00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:11.359
going to be able to do that. I've got some

4
00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.199
mechanisms in place to try to keep me so that

5
00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.559
we can get close, but we're going to attempt to

6
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:21.039
try now. On the way here, once again, I made

7
00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:25.120
another mistake listening to another sermon on Isaiah forty. I

8
00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.199
don't even know. I don't even know where the number

9
00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:29.079
is now, probably up to about almost one hundred and

10
00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.439
fifty sermons now that I've listened to between Isaiah forty

11
00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:37.000
and Isaiah fifty five, and it just each one becomes

12
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.119
more frustrating than the previous one. So this one really

13
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:43.960
bothered me because the sermon begins and he starts off

14
00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:47.799
a very you know, very pious sounding, you know, sounding

15
00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.079
of all spiritual, sounding like a pastor, and he and

16
00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.799
the way he starts the message is, you know, I

17
00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.479
didn't know where the Lord would lead me this week,

18
00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:02.359
but the Holy Spirit wanted me to talk about waiting today. Right,

19
00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.879
We're going to talk about waiting. You know which passage

20
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.159
you go to the end of Isaiah forty about waiting

21
00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:11.760
on the Lord of course with the instantaneously he takes

22
00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.239
this waiting in Isaiah forty makes it all about us,

23
00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.200
makes it all about us, makes it all about us.

24
00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:19.920
But what bothered me was, within about a five minutes,

25
00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:23.400
maybe ten minute, maybe less than ten minutes, he goes

26
00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:28.799
with God leading him the Holy Spirit wanting him to

27
00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.200
talk about waiting, like it just the thought just came

28
00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:36.920
to him. Within five to ten minutes, he acknowledges to

29
00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.959
the entire congregation that for the last three months he'd

30
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.000
been reading a book on waiting. That would seem to

31
00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:47.000
indicate that's probably where the thought came from, right, Not God,

32
00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.879
not the Holy Spirit. But of course if you tell

33
00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:50.840
everyone God in the Holy Spirit is the one who

34
00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.120
wants you to talk about waiting, well, then guess what.

35
00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:58.040
You can't complain about the sermon because yes, from the Lord.

36
00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.879
But I mean, it was so ridiculous to hear all

37
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.280
this pious talk about God in the Holy Spirit and

38
00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:05.599
then tell everyone like he didn't even catch on, And well,

39
00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.719
if you've been reading a book for three months about waiting,

40
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.560
what's probably on your mind? Like, I, oh, it was

41
00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.280
so irritating, so and then I don't even know I'm gonna.

42
00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:17.759
I think I'm gonna have Ai count how many times

43
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:23.280
he uses pronouns like us we we I versus mentioning Israel.

44
00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:25.520
He doesn't mention Israel, but of course he mentions Israel

45
00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.000
simply to get to whom to us and make it

46
00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.159
all about us. So I don't I look, I don't

47
00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:34.879
even know at this point anymore. You know, Sunday I

48
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.120
went through that thing that Ai. AI basically has reached

49
00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:40.800
the point that AI is just frustrated with it. Artificial

50
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.919
intelligence is like, I can't tell you what to do. Obviously,

51
00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.000
Christians don't know how to handle Isaiah forty through fifty five.

52
00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.560
They just seem incapable because for every sermon I've listened to,

53
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:56.520
I've had AI review and AI just is like, AI

54
00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:58.879
is like, it's not that hard, it's not that hard,

55
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.400
but for some reason, it's hard. So what we're going

56
00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:02.639
to do is we're going to try to make it

57
00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:05.439
through this and maybe at some point, well, well we

58
00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:08.199
will review, but I think in this point, let's let's

59
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:12.240
do this and our study of Isaiah forty. Remember we

60
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.800
really started this entire discussion in October of twenty twenty four.

61
00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:18.520
Here we are getting close to the end of February

62
00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.840
twenty twenty five, we're still in Isaiah forty. I have

63
00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:25.319
listened and reviewed sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon.

64
00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.599
We know what the problem is. Every pastor opens up

65
00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:33.599
Isaiah forty and makes it about whom us, all right?

66
00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:37.000
And what does it do with the original recipients? Move

67
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.000
them out, disregard them, or at the very least they

68
00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.000
do what give them a little bit of mention, just

69
00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.080
a brief mention, and then make it about us. I've

70
00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.159
grown so sick of it and so tired of it

71
00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.360
that I don't even have word. Well, I'll probably have words.

72
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.280
Words I can't say because of how irritated I've become

73
00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:58.960
by it. But we've been working through it. So no

74
00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.360
matter what we've learned in Isaiah forty, what is the

75
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.759
one thing we can take away Isaiah forty are words

76
00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:13.639
of comfort to whom to those and Babylonian captivity, which

77
00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:19.680
would specifically be whom Judah be the Southern kingdom, all right?

78
00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.519
Those are the words of comfort. These words of comfort

79
00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.040
are primarily based on what is the foundation for these

80
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.680
words of comfort? What is the foundation of this The

81
00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:38.040
words the captivity and God's covenant with whom Israel with Judah, Right, Okay,

82
00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.199
because God says they're going to go in captivity, but

83
00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.720
it's already guaranteed that they're gonna do what they're gonna

84
00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:46.199
come out, right, So the promises are based on that.

85
00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.600
I cannot stress this enough, and I'm going to We're

86
00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.120
going to really double down on this maybe throughout twenty

87
00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:54.040
twenty five. I'm gonna because I know this goes against

88
00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:56.920
every church. I know this goes against every Christian you know,

89
00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.399
but I am going to like really become more dogmatic

90
00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.480
about this. Let me state this again. When you start,

91
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.360
when you get to Genesis twelve, right, that's where we

92
00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:10.040
typically see the beginning of the Abrahamic Covenant, Right, can

93
00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:13.560
we agree with that? Okay, once we get to Genesis twelve,

94
00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.560
everything in your Bible from Genesis twelve to the end

95
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.360
of the Old Testament, I'm going to be so dogmatic

96
00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.639
on this. Everything in there we read promises about this

97
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.480
and promises about that, and someone praying about this or

98
00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:34.360
praying for this, or this happened. Everything has to be

99
00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:40.120
understood in light of what the Abrahamic Covenant and the

100
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.839
covenants made the Dividic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant. They have

101
00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:48.000
to be connected to the covenants. The people are saying things,

102
00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:52.720
praying things, expecting things, and almost in every single case,

103
00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:56.199
they are doing so for what reason? Because God has

104
00:05:56.279 --> 00:06:00.839
made specific promises within those covenants to whom, to the

105
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:06.800
people we're reading about, correct, what do we do as Christians?

106
00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:11.439
We run to those all over the Old Testament and

107
00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.319
we make those promises about us, what us? And the

108
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.199
sermon that I was just when I walked in, the

109
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.000
sermon that was on that I was listening to. The

110
00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:24.079
whole thing is so this year or last year, did

111
00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:26.560
you have things that you were waiting on? Did you

112
00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:30.439
have things that hasn't come to pass yet? Are you

113
00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:34.079
still waiting? Well, basically, then what is he offering for hope?

114
00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:37.319
Go to Isaiah forty says wait upon the Lord, there's

115
00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.759
your hope. But in Isaiah forty the waiting is based

116
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.199
off what the promise God had given to whom to

117
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.759
Judah to get them out of captivity. When you go

118
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.160
to the psalms and there's all this or this or that,

119
00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:53.319
it's in reference to Israel and those promises to them,

120
00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:58.879
it's like you're entering an entire segment of your Bible

121
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.040
or the prom and everything are related to those covenants.

122
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:11.079
Who are those covenants made with? Not us? All? Right? Now?

123
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.079
I know that ruins everything you've ever been taught. But

124
00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:19.040
someone needs to ruin it. Because when you take promises

125
00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.959
that are not given to people and somehow give them

126
00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:25.600
to people, do they get the things that are promised? No?

127
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.160
Because there was no promise to those to those people.

128
00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.720
Israels can still claim some of those promises. We cannot.

129
00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.279
Now if the promise is repeated in the New Testament

130
00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:41.120
and specifically given to us, then we have to ask,

131
00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.759
how then, now does it apply to us? In many cases,

132
00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.079
the Old Testament promises were very much based on They

133
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:54.240
were very much connected to what actual material, physical deliverance,

134
00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:00.639
material provision. We can't take those promises for us, and

135
00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:04.240
in many cases, yeah, it hasn't even happened yet. If

136
00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:06.759
we believe in a future kingdom, which I think if

137
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.920
you dun't, then you're left with all kinds of confusion

138
00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:11.920
about why they didn't get this or why they didn't

139
00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:14.600
get that, And so many Christians will come and then

140
00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.560
spiritualize that, which just even destroys the text even more

141
00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:21.680
so I cannot stress that enough. All right, So with

142
00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:27.759
all that said, our job today is, Isaiah forty, we

143
00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.439
need to get from verse eighteen to verse thirty one.

144
00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:34.919
Now here's what I'm going to do. And many many

145
00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.840
cases when I stand behind the pulpit, especially since artificial

146
00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:42.399
intelligence is, you know, taken so much taken over everything

147
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:45.799
in our world, I will utilize a lot of artificial intelligence.

148
00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:47.679
But it's a bit. It's kind of a I go

149
00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:50.039
to artificial intelligence, and we go back and forth, back

150
00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:52.039
and forth, back and forth, back and forth, hour after

151
00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.360
hour after hour. It gives me something, then I will

152
00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.279
challenge this, or I will change this, or I will

153
00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:59.279
ask about this, and then it kind of expands and expands,

154
00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:00.799
and then I have to try to cut it all

155
00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:03.840
down and then try to say how to put it together.

156
00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:08.440
Well in this particular case, because at this point, I

157
00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:10.480
think we've already made the point. We need to just

158
00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.919
kind of get through, Isaiah forty, my goal today is

159
00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.360
I'm going to try to restrict myself to simply what

160
00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:20.320
AI gave me. I'm going to try right now. You know,

161
00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.399
as soon as I read like one sentence, what will

162
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.799
I do? I probably will expound and leave it. But

163
00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:30.080
I'm going to try to say stay focused because we

164
00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.080
do need to finish Isaiah forty. I man, at some

165
00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:33.879
point it's going to be, you know, twenty twenty seven,

166
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.120
we're still going to be in Isaiah forty. But at

167
00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.320
some point I feel like we keep making the same point.

168
00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:40.559
So we're going to try to move forward. So our

169
00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.240
goal is, our one is to go from eighteen to

170
00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:48.399
twenty four, right, eighteen to twenty four, all right, So

171
00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.600
let's read. Just I want to go back and read

172
00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.039
from one to seventeen. But if I do that, then

173
00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:55.039
you know, then I will start. So we're just going

174
00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:57.320
to start in first eighteen all right. So if you,

175
00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.480
if someone tunes into this on the internet, go back

176
00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.960
and listen to the five hundred hours of teaching that

177
00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:05.679
we've already done in Isaiah forty one through seventeen, all right,

178
00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:10.360
starting a verse eighteen to whom then will ye? Now

179
00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:17.000
let's start right there. Who is the ye? That's Judah,

180
00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:20.919
it's being spoken to those and Babylonian captivity. I'm just

181
00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.559
gonna stress that over and over and over. Okay, Remember

182
00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:28.559
it's given, It's made clear numerous times in Isaiah forty

183
00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:33.240
who this is too correct? Everybody, remember that we'll count

184
00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:35.000
those when we get to the end. All right, to

185
00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.759
whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will

186
00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.120
ye compare unto him? Now, I know I'm already doing

187
00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:44.480
what I said I was not going to do, but

188
00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.679
I'm already expanding on it. So why is he asking

189
00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:55.519
them these questions? Okay? Yes, we spent two hours what

190
00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:01.120
two weeks ago looking at all the religious nature of

191
00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:06.000
Babylon and everything about its idolatry and everything. So God

192
00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.200
is like, hey, guys, who are you gonna compare me to? Right?

193
00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:13.240
And there's the implication is they shouldn't be comparing him

194
00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:15.919
to anything, but they could possibly be comparing him to

195
00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:20.240
whom the Babylonian idols. Why would they possibly be comparing

196
00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:26.600
their God to the Babylonian idols? Because they're there. The

197
00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.360
Babylonian gods, from their worldview, beat their God because where

198
00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:36.080
is the temple for the true God? And shambles it's destroyed, right,

199
00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:41.159
so Babylon has won, so they could be comparing All right,

200
00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.279
does everybody understand that? All right? The workman melteth a

201
00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:49.519
graven image the goldsmiths, spread it over with gold, and

202
00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:53.320
casteths silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he

203
00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:57.000
will have no oblation, chooseth a tree that will, that

204
00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.960
will not rot. He seeketh under him a cunning work,

205
00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.399
meant to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved?

206
00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.879
Have you not known? Have you not heard that? Hath

207
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.559
it not been told you from the beginning? Have you

208
00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:15.519
not understood from the foundations of the earth. It is

209
00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:17.960
he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and

210
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.679
the inhabitants thereof, or as of grasshoppers, that stretcheth out

211
00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.360
the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as

212
00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.000
a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princess to nothing.

213
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.480
He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yay,

214
00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.519
they shall not be planted, Yay, they shall not be sown. Yay,

215
00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:37.279
their stock shall not take root in the earth. And

216
00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:39.679
he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,

217
00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.080
and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. All right, now,

218
00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.120
I think we can clearly there's two I'll just mention

219
00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.039
two brief things, and then we'll see what AI does

220
00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:53.320
with the text. All right, are you ready? First, I

221
00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.840
think we can clearly see this is a direct discussion

222
00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.320
and response to the idolatry that the people are surround Adviy.

223
00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:04.360
Can we all agree with that? Now? Typically, what do

224
00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:08.799
Christians run to in this that section of scripture? What

225
00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:11.799
do Christians love to run to and have lengthy discussions

226
00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:19.240
and debates about in that section? Probably every sermon mentions

227
00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.720
it at least once maybe five times? Okay, whenever they

228
00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:35.360
take on this section or teach this sason, what about it?

229
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:42.320
What does anything in it jump out at you? Okay?

230
00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:47.600
All right? Does everyone how many are using the King James?

231
00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:55.720
Did everybody find the word circle? Verse twenty two? What

232
00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:01.279
does it say? Okay? Why does this verse get so

233
00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.960
much attention in many Christian circles? See you get hit

234
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:12.200
no pun intended? Okay, okay. A lot of people say

235
00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.519
this proves the Earth is round? And it gets into

236
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.960
a big discussion. Does the NIV use the word circle? Okay? Right,

237
00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.639
So there's a lot of discussion. Now, let's just make

238
00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.279
it very clear that's not the point of the passage, right,

239
00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:26.639
That's not the point of the passage. Right. Point of

240
00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:30.120
the passage is not to prove anything or that. Again,

241
00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:33.399
I don't need Isaiah forty and my culture to prove

242
00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.840
the world is round. There's literally photographs from the space

243
00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.600
of here. I don't need that. Those who are still

244
00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:41.759
running around believing the earth is flat are out of

245
00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.039
their ever living minds. They got more prompts and just

246
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.240
quoting Isaiah forty. It probably is not going to fix

247
00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.399
it if they if a photograph from space, but then

248
00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.200
they say the photographs of space is fake? All right,

249
00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.120
So just note that. I don't know how much discussion

250
00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.000
we'll get into that. Does it actually prove that? What

251
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.399
does the word circle mean? What is the word in Hebrew?

252
00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.559
How is it being used? Okay, I don't know. If

253
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.240
AI addresses it, it will one of the things that

254
00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.279
did not do we spend a lot of time with

255
00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.919
what Ai gave me, because if I spend time with it,

256
00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.440
I knew then this would turn into fifteen hours. So

257
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.080
we'll just keep that in your mind and we'll do

258
00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:17.279
some work, all right. Does that sound good? All? Right?

259
00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.799
Here we go. AI says that we should call this

260
00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:27.679
section the incomparable God versus the worthless Idols and Rulers.

261
00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:33.840
The incomparable God versus Worthless idols and rulers. Everybody good

262
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:39.600
with that title, right, God is incomparable, right because the

263
00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:44.559
question what is the question who are you comparing me to?

264
00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:49.159
That's where and it's comparing the idols and rulers. So basically,

265
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.480
what does God want those in captivity to know? The

266
00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:58.279
religious system around you cannot compare to me. The rulers

267
00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:03.960
who have you in captivity cannot compare to me. Right now.

268
00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:07.279
The only problem with this is this is one of

269
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.960
the what's the main lesson we should get here, is

270
00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:15.639
they are being given biblical and philological truth that is

271
00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:19.399
contradicted by what they see. Therefore, they're gonna have to

272
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:27.080
believe this by faith because by sight, the gods of

273
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.399
Babylon seem to be incomparable and to seem to be

274
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:32.879
great and seemed to be mighty. It seemed to be

275
00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:38.440
in charge, and the God of Israel seems to be absent, defeated,

276
00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:43.000
weak and capable. And sometimes that's one of the difficult

277
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.279
things about being a Christian is we believe that by faith.

278
00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:48.320
We talk about it all the time. We have to

279
00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:52.559
believe by faith sometimes when everything around us calls into

280
00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.360
question what we believe, and that's a very difficult concept,

281
00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.120
is it not? So I think we can see right

282
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.120
here that the type it'll make sense, all right. Isaiah

283
00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.960
forty eighteen through twenty four is part of a larger

284
00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.240
section going all the way back to verse twelve, and

285
00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.920
that from twelve it goes all the way from twelve

286
00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.640
to thirty one. Actually, but we're breaking these sections down

287
00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.920
into individual parts, and this entire section from twelve to

288
00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:23.319
thirty one emphasizes God's absolute supremacy over creation, over idols,

289
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.720
and over rulers. So from Isaiah forty twelve to thirty one,

290
00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:38.640
what is emphasized God's supremacy over what three things? Creation, idols, rulers, creation,

291
00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:44.799
idol's rulers. Right, this passage exposes the absurdity of idol

292
00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.920
worship and the fleeting nature of human rulers, contrasting them

293
00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:52.480
with the sovereignty of the One True God. So, simply put,

294
00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:54.920
this section is going to focus on what God is

295
00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.759
greater than idols. God is greater than rulers. Idols and

296
00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:05.519
rulers are worthless. God is greater than both. Specifically, they

297
00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:08.559
need to hear this in their situation. All right, we've

298
00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.680
read Isaiah forty eighteen through twenty four. AI gives me

299
00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.400
a different translation, but we'll skip that, all right. So

300
00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:21.519
let's focus now on the context and structure of the section. Right,

301
00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:26.039
context and structure. The first thing AI wants us to

302
00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:29.160
see is the immediate context, all right? What is the

303
00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:33.119
immediate context? The immediate context would be Verses twelve through seventeen,

304
00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:37.119
which we talked about twice. If you notice, right, we

305
00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:41.039
talked about it before, we talked about verses twelve through seventeen,

306
00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:45.480
before we spent the two hours talking about the idols

307
00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.119
in Babylon. Then last Sunday I spent another hour talking

308
00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.000
about verses twelve through seventeen. So you've had two hours

309
00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.880
of teaching on verses twelve through seventeen. You should be

310
00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:59.960
experts on it, all right. So Verses twelve through seven

311
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:05.119
is the immediate context, right. That preceding section highlighted God's

312
00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:09.200
sovereignty over creation, showing him showing how the nations are

313
00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:13.039
insignificant before him. So in a roundabout way, Verses twelve

314
00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.160
through seventeen is emphasizing what's going to be emphasized, where

315
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:21.400
in this section it's a continuation. Does that make sense?

316
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.240
All right? Verses eighteen through twenty four. The passage contrasts

317
00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:31.079
God's supremacy with idols and earthly rulers. Isaiah forty twenty

318
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:34.880
five through thirty one, which will cover next. That section

319
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.960
reinforces God's power over all of creation and human strength,

320
00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:44.559
calling Israel to trust in him. All right, So, basically,

321
00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.839
if we want to make it simple, Isaiah forty twelve

322
00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.039
to thirty one, basically is this, God is in charge

323
00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:54.960
of everything. God is greater than everything. Hey, those in

324
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:58.680
captivity trust in God, don't trust in human rulers, don't

325
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:03.160
trust in idols. I mean, it's pretty simple. It's not difficult, right,

326
00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:07.119
It's not difficult. The problem is the reason we even

327
00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:10.240
have to spend so much time is because preachers come

328
00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:13.960
in and they insert whom into this entire discussion us.

329
00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.359
Now there's times to discuss us, but we'll see how

330
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.279
we can do that. So there's the immediate context, everybody,

331
00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:24.480
no problem with the immediate context. Right now, Let's look

332
00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:28.240
at the AI gives us the structural breakdown, all right,

333
00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:32.160
Look in verse eighteen, what do you have? In verse eighteen,

334
00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.559
we have a question, very good, what is the question

335
00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:44.920
to whom will you like? In God? Who will you

336
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.640
compare God to this calls for reflection. Can any idol

337
00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:52.880
or ruler truly compare to Yahweh? And the answer is

338
00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:58.880
nothing can compare to God, No idle, no ruler. I

339
00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:02.680
get what is so? It sounds so simple right from

340
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.799
our perspective, we were like, well, come on, nothing can

341
00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:08.839
compare to God? But why is it such an issue?

342
00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:13.680
It's an issue because of what they see, right, what

343
00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:19.119
they experience, and that is that is the struggle with

344
00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:24.480
feism in general, That is the struggle with faith in general.

345
00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:27.480
So let's make it simple. Say, see, this is how

346
00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.200
you can apply it to us. We are all humans

347
00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:35.200
struggle with the same thing. Any belief in the true

348
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.599
God is confronted with what reality? What reality are we

349
00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:42.599
confronted with by people who believe in God? We believe

350
00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:47.000
in a God in whom we cannot see, But we

351
00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:53.599
are surrounded by circumstances which not only we can see,

352
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:59.680
we can feel, we are impacted by. And sometimes it

353
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:03.559
is confusing. Why the God whom we cannot see, whom

354
00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:05.599
we are taught? What about the God and whom we

355
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:12.359
cannot see, just like they're being taught, all powerful, all knowing,

356
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:18.160
right present everywhere at all times. Well, if we have

357
00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:22.240
a God and whom we cannot see, who's omniscient, omnipotent,

358
00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:26.599
and omnipresent, and we have circumstances that seem to be

359
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.240
literally out of control, the question is, then why isn't

360
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:35.200
this our omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God doing something about what

361
00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:40.000
we can see? Therefore, we can conclude what some people

362
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.720
will conclude, that there is no God, or God is

363
00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:49.160
weaker than the You can see all the negative things

364
00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:55.319
that can be concluded, that this is the problem of theism.

365
00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.200
We can proclaim and scream there's a God, there's a

366
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.160
God that look at creation. It proves God. But proving

367
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.039
a God who then doesn't do anything in the very

368
00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:09.319
creation which he created seems very problematic. God is over creation.

369
00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:22.079
But what happens, what happens in this creation? Plague, famine, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards,

370
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:29.000
tsunamis right, nations, everything that happens. And you're like, it

371
00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:34.240
appears from a human perspective, what God is not there?

372
00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.319
And so they're struggling with it, just like we would

373
00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:43.720
struggle with it. Now does God give them a simple answer? Well,

374
00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:47.839
the only thing for Israel at least they have this.

375
00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:51.160
They do have a promise from their God that he

376
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:56.720
is going to intervene in their situation. He is going

377
00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:01.200
to intervene in their situation, right, and he does intervene

378
00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:04.519
in what a physical material way? Now they have to

379
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.319
wait for it. Keep that in mind, because that's the

380
00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.160
end of this entire section is about waiting. Right, they

381
00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.359
have to wait for it. Now. Is there a parallel

382
00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:16.000
to us, Well, we live in the midst of a

383
00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:19.160
world where there are we sometimes don't understand where God is.

384
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:22.920
Are we not promised that God will intervene? Yes? But

385
00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:28.920
when will he intervene? Well, ultimately in the end, Right,

386
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:32.160
do we have any guarantee that He's going to intervene

387
00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:36.680
in any of our circumstances in our life? None? Everyone

388
00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:39.960
understands that. Right. You have no guarantee that God's going

389
00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:43.880
to intervene to get rid of cancer, to save your child,

390
00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:48.000
if your child dies from resurrection. There is no guarantee

391
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.519
of God intervening in any of our circumstances in any way,

392
00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:54.480
shape or form. We can't go to these promises and

393
00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:58.519
apply him to our circumstances. What we can say they

394
00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.160
waited for God to intervene based on what God's that

395
00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:05.160
God said he would. I do know that God will

396
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:09.119
intervene when what happens. Well, if we go to a Revelation,

397
00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:14.880
when the sky opens, the horse comes through, someone's sitting

398
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.920
upon that horse with a sword, death, destruction, kingdom set

399
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:23.720
up in Revelation twenty, they're one thousand years. The end

400
00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.640
of the thousand years, they're ultimately a new heaven, new earth.

401
00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.200
No more pain, no more suffering, no more death. Will

402
00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:32.079
that we don't know when that's even going to occur,

403
00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:36.079
do we? Now? If we keep it in that perspective,

404
00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:41.279
then guess what that prevents us from doing? Believing and

405
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:44.640
thinking that God's going to intervene in our specific situation.

406
00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:49.119
It's not. In fact, every time we whenever there's a problem,

407
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:52.519
whenever there's pain, they're suffering and death. I know that

408
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:54.839
nobody likes when I say this, but this is the case.

409
00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:58.079
Whenever there's a pain, there's a problem, there's a tragedy,

410
00:25:58.119 --> 00:26:01.759
and someone says, let's pray about it, we are literally

411
00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:04.720
praying to the God who knew it was going to happen,

412
00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:08.079
did nothing to stop it from happening, And depending on

413
00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:12.519
your theology, actually ordained it to happen, So it's very

414
00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.079
weird to now pray for God to intervene and that

415
00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:19.359
which he did not stop, that which he allowed, and

416
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:21.480
that which He may have ordained. That's why we did

417
00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:23.119
that whole thing about maybe we don't know how to

418
00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.960
pray the right way, right, and so this fits in perfectly,

419
00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:31.559
and we can understand this, can we not. He wants

420
00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:34.519
them to realize God is truly in charge, but it's

421
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.000
going to require faith to understand that. All right, what

422
00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:42.720
happens in verses nineteen through twenty eighteen was a question

423
00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:50.480
what happens in nineteen through twenty Do we feel this

424
00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:55.759
as being maybe somewhat ridiculing, being somewhat sarcastic what heth

425
00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:58.000
vil ay I believes it is, but you can tell

426
00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:07.839
me if you agree or disagree, well, definitely goes back.

427
00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:11.000
I mean, they've had this problem numerous times. But basically

428
00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.400
it's kind of ridiculing idolatry because it's describing that what

429
00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:19.720
makes it human hands, make it right, human hands crafted,

430
00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:23.319
and that these human hands, that these idols are basically

431
00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:28.839
what they're lifeless and powerless. Now we know we talked

432
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.039
about the opening of the mouth ceremony. The Babylonians would

433
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.079
have believed they had power, but he's trying to tell

434
00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:39.240
them their belief is fraudulent, there's wrong, there's nothing there. Right.

435
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:49.559
What happens in verse twenty one right? Verse twenty one

436
00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:55.720
reads have you not known? Rhetorical questions? Have you not known?

437
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:58.559
Have you not heard? Has it not been told from

438
00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.519
you from the beginning? Have you not understood? These are

439
00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:05.680
rhetorical questions, almost offered in what kind of like a rebuke?

440
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:10.000
Can we agree with that? So? Now? So? Verse eighteen

441
00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:12.839
was a question. Verse nineteen to twenty is kind of

442
00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.759
a ridicule of the idols. Verse twenty one is kind

443
00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:19.440
of a rebuke and form of rhetorical questions for forgetting

444
00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:24.039
God's supremacy. He confronts basically, God confronts Israel with rhetorical

445
00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:28.599
questions about what they should already know? Can we agree

446
00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:33.160
with that? I mean, aren't all the questions basically assuming

447
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:36.160
you should already know this? Guys? Right? Why should they'd

448
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:39.920
already know it? Because this goes all the way back

449
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.079
basically coming out of Egypt. As Robert said, they've been

450
00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:46.599
told this over and over and over and over and over.

451
00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:51.799
What does that seem to indicate From a practical standpoint,

452
00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:59.160
this is very important. We can learn all the theology.

453
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:02.599
Theology is the study and knowledge of God. Right, so

454
00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.440
all these questions are about God. Correct? So philologically, have

455
00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:11.039
the people of Israel been instructed? Yes? Have they been

456
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:13.559
taught about whom God is and whom God isn't, to

457
00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:16.119
what he does and what he doesn't do. And they've

458
00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:18.319
been taught the nature of the promises given to them?

459
00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:21.359
Can we all agree with that? Yes? So what happens?

460
00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:31.240
Philological truth is great sitting where and a pew and

461
00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:37.640
a church in front of the tabernacle wherever. Right, it's

462
00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:43.440
theological truth is great in church. When does the logical

463
00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:49.680
truth become kind of meaningless and worthless to us? When

464
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:51.960
we get in our car, drive down the road and

465
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.119
maybe someone cuts us off, gets out of the car,

466
00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.200
tries to drag us out of the car and beating

467
00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:59.640
us down, All of a sudden, philological truth becomes not

468
00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.200
so yeah, all of a sudden, now things become very different. Right,

469
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:06.680
Theological truth is great, But when your temple has been

470
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.359
destroyed and you're in Babylonian captivity, you don't And you know,

471
00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:13.160
even if you know the exact date. I'm here for

472
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:15.559
seventy years, so my children are gonna grow up and

473
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:19.079
possibly die in captivity all of a sudden. Theological truth

474
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:22.400
doesn't mean so much. Theological truth is great until you

475
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:24.960
get a call at midnight that your child's been killed

476
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:29.720
by a drunk driver. Right, theological So we have to

477
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:33.480
realize sometimes theological truth is great theoretically, it can be

478
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:37.160
very difficult to remember it practically. They're having a trust

479
00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.000
God is like you should have already known this in

480
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.079
some way. That is absolutely true, But it just demonstrates

481
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:48.119
that what we know can greatly be impacted by what

482
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:55.079
we experience and our lives. Typically what wins knowledge or

483
00:30:55.480 --> 00:31:01.759
circumstances and experience circumstances experience to trumps our knowledge. Yes,

484
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:05.480
I mean it typically does, because it impacts our emotions,

485
00:31:05.559 --> 00:31:08.480
and then our emotions almost always win. So they get

486
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:12.480
rebuked by these rhetorical questions. What happens in verses twenty

487
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:16.880
two through twenty four? What happens in twenty two through

488
00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:28.240
twenty four? And is he that saith upon the circle

489
00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:32.559
of the earth, who is the he God? Okay, and

490
00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:37.160
the inhabitants thereof? Or what grasshoppers. So what he wants

491
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.000
to contract Which inhabitants are you think he's necessarily pointing

492
00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:47.279
to here Israel, Judah, or he's pointing to Babylon. Maybe everyone,

493
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:49.440
but I think for their specifically case, he wants them

494
00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:52.559
to understand that all these, no matter the armies, no

495
00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:56.599
matter the rulers, compared to him, they are insignificant. They're

496
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:00.359
nothing but grasshoppers. Right. That stretcheth out the Hemans as

497
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:02.799
a curtain that spreadeth them to attempt to dwell on.

498
00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:10.640
That bringeth the verse twenty three. Oh, now you're getting

499
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:13.599
specifically to the leaders. See the inhabitants I think are

500
00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:16.519
the inhabitants of Babylon. The princes are the rulers of Babylon.

501
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:22.799
To nothing. He maketh the rulers or judges of the

502
00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:28.200
earth as vanity. Yay, they shall not be planted. Who's

503
00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:33.559
the they? Who shall not be planted? The rulers? Right,

504
00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:37.240
they shall not be sown? Who's that? The rulers? Their

505
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:40.680
stocks shall not take root. He shall also blow upon

506
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:44.240
them who's the them? The rulers? And they show whither,

507
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.839
and their whirlwinds shall take them away as stubble. So

508
00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:50.279
what is he wants then under so in verse eighteen,

509
00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:53.160
he asked a key question, who are you gonna like?

510
00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:56.319
In God to calls for them to reflect that there

511
00:32:56.359 --> 00:32:58.920
is no idle ruler that can compare to God. Verse

512
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:03.480
nineteen to twenty two he ridicules idolatry, and he describes

513
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:06.279
how they are made by human hands, which are lifeless

514
00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:10.319
and powerless. Verse twenty one, he rebukes them for forgetting

515
00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:13.839
God's supremacy by confronting them with rhetorical questions about what

516
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.039
they should already know. Verses twenty two through twenty four

517
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:22.200
God God's rule over earthly rulers. He exposes how human

518
00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:27.559
rulers are insignificant and temporary. In his side, again, what

519
00:33:27.640 --> 00:33:32.400
is the struggle for the people? God is saying human

520
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:38.799
rulers are temporary and they are vain. What is their experience? Well,

521
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.559
if they've been there almost seventy years, it looks like

522
00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:47.920
the Babylonian rulers are pretty what permanent? Okay? Agreed? And

523
00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:50.960
same thing can happen in our lives? Right? We see

524
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:56.519
a circumstance, and sometimes a circumstance feels what permanent? Do we?

525
00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:02.359
What are you always taught about? Suicide? What's the cliche

526
00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:06.400
everyone tells someone who's gonna kill themselves. You're seeking a

527
00:34:06.440 --> 00:34:11.119
permanent solution for a temporary problem. I know it sounds

528
00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:12.800
so good, and when you're going through it, it's like,

529
00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:15.119
would you please just get out of my way? Because

530
00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:17.400
that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, because you say

531
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:19.760
my problem is temporary. You don't know how long I've

532
00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:23.519
been dealing with this problem, right, But in reality, from

533
00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:30.320
an eternal perspective, everything we face is from an eternal perspective,

534
00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:35.519
it's temporary, right, everything we face because everything on this

535
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:39.599
earth is gonna want faith, but you have to see

536
00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:42.719
it from an eternal perspective. Someone can say, well, your

537
00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:45.559
situation is temporary. You don't know that I'm gonna be

538
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:48.639
suffering for this for the rest of my earthly life. Right.

539
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:53.000
The only way that works is if you believe in eternity. Correct.

540
00:34:53.239 --> 00:34:55.440
Someone has a terminal disease and you're like, well, you

541
00:34:55.440 --> 00:34:58.400
should not seek to end your life. Well it's terminal.

542
00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:02.440
I'm going to die with it's okay, so but it's temporary. Well,

543
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:05.320
it's temporary as far as eternity is concerned, maybe not

544
00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:10.159
for life. So that's that's very important to understand that perspective. Okay,

545
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:14.599
that's the structural breakdown. Everybody got verse eighteen nineteen through

546
00:35:14.599 --> 00:35:18.280
twenty twenty one, twenty two through twenty four. Everybody got that.

547
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:22.960
We actually don't even need much help on that, do we? Right?

548
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:27.400
But AI always doubles down. So there's the structural breakdown.

549
00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:31.159
Now it's going to give us an exegetical analysis, an

550
00:35:31.239 --> 00:35:34.599
exogetical analysis. We can go through these pretty quick, all right,

551
00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:37.559
cause it's going to take that structural breakdown. Now, it's

552
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.119
going to break it down exogetically, so that means it's

553
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:44.400
just going to expand on it, all right. So Isaiah

554
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:48.199
forty verse eighteen, to whom then will you like in God?

555
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.079
Or what likeness compare with him? What is the key question?

556
00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:55.880
We already talked about it in the structural breakdown. What's

557
00:35:55.920 --> 00:36:03.079
the key question being asked? Can God be compared to anything?

558
00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:06.960
And what's the answer? Nothing? Right, there's a rhetorical question

559
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:09.800
and it demands an answer of no. No one compares

560
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:13.760
to Yahweh or God. The word likeness refers to a

561
00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:17.079
representation or image. The same word is used in Genesis

562
00:36:17.159 --> 00:36:20.239
one twenty six for humanity. Being made in God's image,

563
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:24.880
the implied rebuke. Any attempt to represent God with an

564
00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:29.960
idol is inherently flawed because nothing can can be compared

565
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:33.480
to God. You can't make anything in God's likeness because

566
00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:36.679
nothing can compare to God. It will not capture everything

567
00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:40.280
God is. Does that make sense? All right? So what

568
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:44.239
is the philological implication the uniqueness of God? This passage

569
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:51.280
confronts idolatry directly. Unlike false gods, Yahweh is beyond human limitations.

570
00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:55.000
The sin of idolatry is not just about statues. It

571
00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:59.239
is about reducing God to something manageable and controllable. Meaning

572
00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.599
we can commit the same sin by reducing God to

573
00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:06.360
something in our mind that we can completely comprehend and understand.

574
00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:11.920
I think Church, this is my own feeling. I believe

575
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:15.039
pastors have been committing this kind of sin since the

576
00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:18.840
beginning of Christianity because we like to reduce God into

577
00:37:18.840 --> 00:37:23.679
something wide that we can understand, something that we this

578
00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:27.039
and God will this. Don't we constantly speak about God

579
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:31.719
in very dogmatic terms. Yeah, in some cases, I think

580
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:34.480
we may be reducing God to something, to an image

581
00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:37.000
of our own creation. Remember the famous quote that's often

582
00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:43.400
attributed to votaire. God created man and his image, and

583
00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:46.440
man has been returning the favor ever since. Right now,

584
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:48.880
that's attributed to voter. I don't have a source for it,

585
00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:52.000
but we get the idea, all right. Everybody got that,

586
00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:56.960
all right? So now we go to Isaiah forty nineteen

587
00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:59.960
through twenty. What is this section all about? We already

588
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.440
look at it in the structural breakdown. This is kind

589
00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:06.239
of ridiculing or mocking idolatry, right, So I'm gonna read

590
00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:09.400
it the way AI gives this to me. AI writes

591
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:14.480
it out differently. It says an idol exclamation point. A

592
00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:18.960
craftsman cast it. A goldsmith overlays it with gold and

593
00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:23.360
cast for its silver chains. He who is too impoverished

594
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:26.320
for an offering, chooses wood that will not rot. He

595
00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:29.400
seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idle

596
00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:34.119
that will not move. All right. So AI breaks this

597
00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:37.800
section down into two parts. The absurdity of idol worship.

598
00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:41.320
Idols are made by human hands. They do not create anything.

599
00:38:41.760 --> 00:38:45.320
The contrast with God is stark. God creates humanity, but

600
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:50.639
humanity creates idols. That's the contrast here. God creates people,

601
00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:56.840
people creates idols. Right, the wealthy used gold and silver,

602
00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:00.760
the poor will use wood, but neither are God. They're

603
00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:05.960
just silver, gold or wood. None of them are actually God. Secondly,

604
00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:09.719
Ai says the inability of idols to move or act.

605
00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:12.880
See that phrase at the end of that verse twenty

606
00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:20.480
depending on your translation, shall not be moved or they

607
00:39:20.519 --> 00:39:23.159
will not move, all right, The phrase they will not

608
00:39:23.239 --> 00:39:26.199
move is ironic. Idols must be nailed down to keep

609
00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:29.199
them from falling over, and they don't move anywhere. Right.

610
00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:34.119
The Babylonians and the Canaanites carried their gods in processions,

611
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:38.960
believing they needed human support. Isaiah mocks this belief, highlighting

612
00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:41.960
how their so called gods needs stability while the true

613
00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:44.639
God upholds the universe. And we talked about that. They

614
00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:47.880
would take these processions through the streets carrying their idols,

615
00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:53.039
and so now God is basically mocking that your God

616
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:55.920
has to be held up or you have to move it.

617
00:39:57.239 --> 00:40:02.599
I created everything. That's the contrast there, all right, we

618
00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:07.400
got that right now. Next verse twenty one, this is

619
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:11.360
a rebuke for forgetting the truth. Ai types it out

620
00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:14.960
this way. Do you not know? Do you not hear?

621
00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:17.840
Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have

622
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:21.639
you not understood from the foundations of the earth. This

623
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:25.039
is a series of rhetorical questions about how many rhetorical

624
00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:29.280
questions do you find? And verse twenty one, how many

625
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:31.880
rhetorical questions do you find? Ai gives me a number

626
00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:35.559
less se if you find the theme four. Ai says

627
00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:39.519
that there are four rhetorical questions here. This is what

628
00:40:39.559 --> 00:40:44.159
Ai says. Each question escalates pressing Israel to remember what

629
00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:47.159
they already know. This is how Ai breaks them down.

630
00:40:47.239 --> 00:40:50.360
Number one, do you not know? They should already know

631
00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:53.280
from history and experience, as Robert said, they should already

632
00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:56.480
know this from Egypt, right. Number two do you not hear?

633
00:40:56.840 --> 00:41:00.679
They have been taught through the law and profits? They

634
00:41:00.719 --> 00:41:04.840
have the law and profits? Okay. Number three has it

635
00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:08.119
not been told from the beginning? Refers to Israel's tradition

636
00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:12.159
and revelation. And number four have you not understood from

637
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:16.840
the foundations of the earth? Creation itself testifies to God's supremacy.

638
00:41:17.639 --> 00:41:20.639
So Ai breaks it down, do you not know? Have

639
00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:22.719
you not heard? Has it been told to you from

640
00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:25.360
the beginning? And have you not understood from the foundations

641
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:29.880
of the earth? So they should know from their history.

642
00:41:30.119 --> 00:41:32.199
They should know from the law and the profits, they

643
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:35.159
should know from their own tradition in God's revelation, and

644
00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:38.880
they should know from creation. In other words, guys, there

645
00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:43.360
is no excuse you don't know these things, right, So

646
00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:48.639
the philological implication there's accountability for knowledge. Israel has no

647
00:41:48.760 --> 00:41:53.480
excuse for idolatry. They have been given divine revelation history

648
00:41:53.719 --> 00:42:00.480
proving y'ahways supremacy. Now, but what's the problem again, doesn't

649
00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:02.880
mention this, but we will mention this. The problem is

650
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:05.639
all of those lessons and seeing all of those things.

651
00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:11.719
All it takes is one circumstance to completely so impact

652
00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:15.400
you that you forget everything. Remember that in that always

653
00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:20.280
our problem with Israel. We're always constantly they saw God

654
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:23.559
part the Red Sea, they saw the plagues. What happens

655
00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:27.760
when they get into the wilderness? Where is God? Because

656
00:42:27.800 --> 00:42:36.280
what is always greater than theological knowledge? Circumstances? Experience? Why

657
00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:42.239
do you think circumstances and experiences are have a greater

658
00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:47.960
impact on us than theological knowledge. What do you think

659
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:52.280
is the cause of that? Israel basically was in a

660
00:42:52.360 --> 00:42:56.159
Walking Living seminary twenty four to seven. But why is

661
00:42:56.199 --> 00:43:00.840
it that circumstances would always outweigh the philological knowledge which

662
00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:13.440
they knew. Okay, I'm gonna throw this. As human beings,

663
00:43:14.400 --> 00:43:17.039
do you think we are driven by emotion or driven

664
00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:24.960
by intellect? What drives us emotions? Right? And those emotions

665
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:30.719
flow from what well from inside of us? Right? And

666
00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:35.519
what is there inside of us? A sinful nature? Right?

667
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:39.079
So if our emotions drive us, and our emotions flow

668
00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:42.440
from a sinful nature, then our sinful nature using those

669
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:47.639
emotions will always then forget what. We're not gonna think philologically,

670
00:43:48.360 --> 00:43:51.559
We're gonna think humanistically, We're gonna think materialistically. We're gonna

671
00:43:51.559 --> 00:43:55.280
think because it flows from inside of us. Everything that

672
00:43:55.320 --> 00:43:58.000
comes from inside of us comes from what a sinful nature,

673
00:43:58.039 --> 00:44:00.639
because we have a sinful nature. So our life is

674
00:44:01.360 --> 00:44:07.400
we're not driven intellectually, we're driven emotionally. That is, there's

675
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:09.920
no I don't think there's any debate on that. Right.

676
00:44:10.440 --> 00:44:16.199
You can know five hundred things, but the right circumstance,

677
00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:20.599
getting the right emotion, the right feeling, you will do.

678
00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:23.920
That's why I get so mad when Christians like I

679
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:26.440
just don't know how anyone could do that. I don't

680
00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:28.920
know how anyone could do that. I don't know how

681
00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:33.400
anyone can do that. Think about it. The man who

682
00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:39.960
knew God helped him kill Goliath, David, the man who

683
00:44:40.280 --> 00:44:43.920
witnessed and saw all the things that God had done.

684
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:46.239
Where was God when he saw a woman taking a

685
00:44:46.280 --> 00:44:52.880
bath on her roof? Well, because what wouldn't the intellect

686
00:44:53.039 --> 00:45:01.039
wasn't driving desire, emotion, feeling. Right, They're a prophet who

687
00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:05.880
saw God bring fire down from heaven, and then what

688
00:45:05.960 --> 00:45:10.000
did he do? Immediately after that? He sat down under

689
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:17.880
a juniper tree and asked what the God to kill him? Right? Well?

690
00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:20.320
Basically given up on God, giving up on everything. Over

691
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:22.559
and over. There's times in the Bible like I don't

692
00:45:22.639 --> 00:45:27.039
understand why do they not if I can see? Don't

693
00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:34.760
We always think if I can see what they saw? No,

694
00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:39.800
because all it takes is what you see it. Then

695
00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:43.440
you go and then you experience the next desire we

696
00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:47.519
are basically we go from desire, feeling, and emotion. That's

697
00:45:47.559 --> 00:45:51.719
where we Our days are controlled by our desire, our feelings,

698
00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:56.239
and our emotions. You can sit in church for five

699
00:45:56.679 --> 00:46:04.800
hundred hours out in this building, right, I could preach

700
00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:08.159
to you for five hours. I'm putting others before yourself,

701
00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:14.719
do nothing, don't let anger, bitterness, frustration, show love, show compassion,

702
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:17.639
and before you get home you may be fighting with

703
00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:23.039
each other in the car. Why because all that philological

704
00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:25.800
truth meant nothing as soon as someone got in the

705
00:46:25.840 --> 00:46:28.599
car and said something you didn't like, talked back to

706
00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:31.440
you the wrong way say, and you get frustrated and

707
00:46:31.480 --> 00:46:33.639
you get irritated. You know it to be true, and

708
00:46:33.679 --> 00:46:36.119
I know it to be true, and it is maddening

709
00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:39.079
that that's the way it works. But what does that demonstrate?

710
00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:47.280
Sinful nature trump's philological knowledge. I know that goes against

711
00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:50.000
every sermon you will ever hear. It is true, your

712
00:46:50.039 --> 00:46:53.800
sinful nature trumps your philological knowledge. Everyone was like, if

713
00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:56.360
I can't stand with what if those kids would just

714
00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.599
be taught better, if this person would have just meant

715
00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:02.239
I'll stop it. All the teaching in the world will

716
00:47:02.280 --> 00:47:06.280
not fix your sinful nature. Now, if you believe people

717
00:47:06.320 --> 00:47:09.800
are morally neutral, then maybe teaching will work. But haven't

718
00:47:09.800 --> 00:47:13.039
we done that throughout our human history? What is always

719
00:47:13.079 --> 00:47:15.960
the solution? When you get out of Christianity will do

720
00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:18.559
the same thing, But the world will always say the

721
00:47:18.719 --> 00:47:25.719
problems can be fixed with what education? Education? Well, all

722
00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:27.360
the education in the world. And look at all the

723
00:47:27.400 --> 00:47:31.119
problems in the world. Has education fixed them? No? Now,

724
00:47:31.159 --> 00:47:36.519
what education will do will make a dumb sinner a

725
00:47:36.559 --> 00:47:40.599
smart center. So it just may change the sin which

726
00:47:40.639 --> 00:47:49.719
they are committee, right, Because so I just want to you,

727
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:52.079
when all of this have you not heard? Have you?

728
00:47:52.079 --> 00:47:55.000
You should know? They should know? But why do they

729
00:47:55.079 --> 00:47:57.320
not do something? All right? Well, okay, now what happens

730
00:47:57.320 --> 00:48:02.920
in verse twenty two through twenty four. Remember this is

731
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:06.199
the insignificance of human rulers, right, So AI types it

732
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:09.199
out this way. I'm trying to hurry because we need

733
00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:11.440
to finish this. It is he who sits above the

734
00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:15.039
circle of the earth and its habitants are like the

735
00:48:15.079 --> 00:48:18.559
grasshoppers who stretch out the heavens like a curtain, spreads

736
00:48:18.599 --> 00:48:22.480
them as a tent to dwell in, who brings princess

737
00:48:22.519 --> 00:48:24.960
to nothing makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

738
00:48:25.159 --> 00:48:29.000
Scarcely are they planted scarcely, so scarcely has their stem

739
00:48:29.039 --> 00:48:31.400
taken root in the earth. When he blows on them,

740
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:36.199
they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

741
00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:40.960
All right, so here we go. AI breaks it down

742
00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:43.960
basically into two major points. Verse twenty two, God rules

743
00:48:44.039 --> 00:48:47.360
over creation, sits above the circle of the earth. It's

744
00:48:47.400 --> 00:48:51.360
describing God's sovereign rule over all things. That's the point

745
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:55.480
of that passage. Okay, God sitting above the circle of

746
00:48:55.480 --> 00:48:59.639
the earth. It's just showing what it's not a scientific statement,

747
00:49:00.119 --> 00:49:06.239
philological statement. The philological statement is what God sits above

748
00:49:06.519 --> 00:49:12.440
all things. It's not making a scientific statement. Okay, I

749
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:14.039
know people like to get into them, but that's not

750
00:49:14.119 --> 00:49:17.079
the point. Stretches out the heavens like a curtain. I mean,

751
00:49:17.159 --> 00:49:22.320
obviously it's using what kind of language. It's very poetic.

752
00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:25.599
I see, it's not being scientific. He stretched out the

753
00:49:25.639 --> 00:49:29.480
heavens like a curtain. He sits above the circle. It's

754
00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:35.320
not trying to make some dogmatic scientific statement, right. It

755
00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:39.480
emphasizes his power in creation, contrasting it with lifeless idols. Okay,

756
00:49:39.480 --> 00:49:41.480
that's verse twenty two. How about verse twenty three or

757
00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:44.480
twenty four. This is the fleeting nature of human power.

758
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:48.280
He brings princess to nothing. Human rulers rise and fall.

759
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:52.800
God remains supreme, and then I mean, basically they're gonna

760
00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:56.480
be carried away. They're basically they're not permanent. Their power

761
00:49:56.559 --> 00:49:59.440
is an illusion, all right, So what are the philological

762
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:05.920
themes here? God is incomparable, idolatry is futile, and human

763
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:09.920
earthly power is temporary. If you want three basic themes,

764
00:50:09.960 --> 00:50:14.920
those are the themes. God is incomparable, Idolatry is futile,

765
00:50:16.119 --> 00:50:21.119
Earthly power is temporary. Everybody got those three things. God

766
00:50:21.159 --> 00:50:32.480
is what incomparable. Idolatry is what feutile. Earthly power is temporary.

767
00:50:32.679 --> 00:50:36.760
Let me go through those one more time. God is incomparable.

768
00:50:36.840 --> 00:50:45.440
Idolatry is feudal. Earthly power is temporary. Everybody got those.

769
00:50:46.239 --> 00:50:49.000
If you remember that, then you remember the section. Okay,

770
00:50:49.360 --> 00:50:52.000
then AI gives me application. I'm not going to go

771
00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:53.920
through all of that because I've been trying to apply

772
00:50:53.920 --> 00:50:58.320
it throughout. It gives me all kinds of discussion questions. Okay,

773
00:50:59.239 --> 00:51:00.880
but I'm not going to go all of that, and

774
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:05.360
then AI gives me a conclusion. Isaiah forty eighteen through

775
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:09.360
twenty four exposes the foolishness of idolatry the fleeting nature

776
00:51:09.360 --> 00:51:12.280
of human power. You see a theme we keep repeating,

777
00:51:12.760 --> 00:51:15.639
calling us to trust in the One True God, the Creator,

778
00:51:15.719 --> 00:51:22.360
sustainer and supreme ruler over all things that's eighteen to

779
00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:26.199
twenty four. And I allowed AI to control that as

780
00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.159
much as possible. But you saw that I left Ai

781
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:32.119
about fifty times there. Bet Okay, Right, AI broke the

782
00:51:32.159 --> 00:51:35.159
text down very well, did it not? And what a day?

783
00:51:36.039 --> 00:51:40.320
AI kept it focused on whom on Israel, because that's

784
00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:45.280
whom it is about. Right. We talked about some applications there,

785
00:51:45.320 --> 00:51:47.719
but we'll stop right there. I won't won't say anything

786
00:51:47.719 --> 00:51:50.159
else because the next hour we need to get from

787
00:51:50.159 --> 00:51:55.159
where twenty five to thirty one. All right, I think

788
00:51:55.199 --> 00:51:58.519
we can do it. All right, Well, you're foolish to think. Okay,

789
00:51:58.519 --> 00:52:03.639
now I'm choking, right. Pray, Lord God, we come before you. Lord,

790
00:52:03.679 --> 00:52:10.360
forgive us for our idolatry. Forgive us for our being

791
00:52:10.519 --> 00:52:15.320
controlled by our emotions desires. Forgive us for forgetting the

792
00:52:15.360 --> 00:52:19.000
truths that we have been taught. Lord. We are sinners,

793
00:52:19.239 --> 00:52:21.800
and that's our only hope is in what Christ has

794
00:52:21.840 --> 00:52:24.039
done for us. And it's in his name we pray.

795
00:52:24.199 --> 00:52:26.159
And God's people said