Isaiah 40:6-8 Pt 1

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All right, Isaiah chapter forty, Isaiah chapter forty. This is

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how we're going to end the year. Sow will begin

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next year. It's gonna be Isaiah forty through fifty five

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a lot until we can try to finish this section up.

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And of course this all started because of listening to

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sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five. And I'm ending

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the year still listening to sermons on Isaiah forty through

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fifty five, and I can still report they only get worse. Okay,

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Yesterday I will spend an hour and a half reviewing

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a sermon on Isaiah forty three versus I think eighteen

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and nineteen. If you want to look at those verses

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really quick. Isaiah forty three eighteen through nineteen. Isaiah forty

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three eighteen through nineteen. We read these words, do not

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remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold,

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I will do a new thing. And guess what those

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two verses Isaiah forty three, eighteen through nineteen. They are

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constantly used in sermons at this time of the year,

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because today all the sermons and most churches today will

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be sermons focusing on what the new year. So it

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turns into God's going to do a new thing. The

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only problem with that, Isaiah forty three, eighteen through nineteen

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has zero nothing to do with you. Okay, you can't

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be telling people God's going to do a new thing

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for you. What is the new thing He's going to

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do in Isaiah forty three, verse nineteen. What's the new

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thing in Isaiah forty three nineteen? It's releasing them from

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Babylonian captivity. We've talked about this like a thirty seven

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thousand times. And if you go to Isaiah forty look

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at like verse one and two, Isaiah forty three, verse

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one and two, does it mention who these message is for?

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Oh Jacob? What's the next verse? Oh Israel. So it's

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not complicated. Ladies and gentlemen. You don't need to go

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to Bible college. You don't need to go to seminary.

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You just need to learn how to read. But for

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some reason, sermons cannot handle the text correctly. So we

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spent an hour and a half yesterday reviewing a sermon

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on Isaiah through eighteen through nineteen, and it was basically

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self help pop psychology, telling everyone God's going to do

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a new thing for you in the coming year. It's

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just complete garbage. Right. So then this morning I'm like, well,

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we're in Isaiah chapter forty, and where are we today?

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What section do we begin today? We started verse six,

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and we decided in our observational outline that we're going

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to break it down Isaiah forty verse six to what

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if you remember the observational outline, Yeah, we broke of

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six to eight if you remember correctly. Okay, all right,

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so six to eight. So then I was like, okay, well,

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let me just look really quick this morning, do a

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search for Isaiah forty six to eight. Guess what. I

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pull up a sermon. I start hitting play, and at

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first I was pretty impressed. I'm like, okay, this is interesting.

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He starts with an illustration. Okay, pretty typical in a sermon,

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and his illustration was this, there's lots of shows on

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television where people have certain items assess to determine their value. Right,

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They'll go into a pawn shop, They'll say, Hey, here's

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this item, and then someone will assess it. There are

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a lot of reality shows on television. He names a

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few of those shows, and so then he hey has

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a demonstration for everyone in the congregation. He has two

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items for everyone. The first item is a little card

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on the card on the front and back is writing.

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He sets the card aside, he says in the second

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item is a twenty dollars bill. Which item do you

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think is worth more? Well, obviously in most situations, people

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would pick the twenty dollars bill, but because he's compared,

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he has that with the card. He knows that everyone

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will probably say the card. So he's like, right, most

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people will say the card. So he explains what the

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card is. He had a little family project. He told

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everyone in his family to imagine that they were in captivity,

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they were in prison and North Korea, and that on

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this card they were going to write down the things

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that they would want to remember being kept in captivity,

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what they would want to remember, right, So they wrote

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everything on the card. And I was like, oh, this

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is interesting, right, because if he's going to use this

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as an opening illustration for Isaiah forty versus six through eight,

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that makes sense, right, because how would you then fit

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the illustration to the passage. These people are in captivity

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and Isaiah forty through fifty five is their card to

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help them remember something, right, right? I mean, come on, right?

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Let's where it should go, right, guess where it goes?

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It goes nowhere, because then he prays, and then he

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just starts something completely different and never refers back to

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the card. I'm now maybe by the end of the

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sermon he refers back to the card. I'm hoping. I

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was trying to listen to the end of the sermon

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right there when we started, and he was in two

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Timothy somewhere, so I don't know what was going on,

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and I was like, what is happening? What is that?

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Because I thought immediately he would be like, ladies and gentlemen,

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you remember this card, and it may not appear to

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be valuable, but it would be valuable to the people

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in captivity. Right now. The only problem with his illustration

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number one, he didn't even return to it. But number one,

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the things they had written on the card were probably things,

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you know, sentimental things. Let's make it very clear. What

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makes Isaiah forty through fifty five of great value to

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the people it was given to who were in Babylonian captivity?

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What makes it of such great value? Okay, that's a

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good church answer. Well, true, true, that's true. It tells

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them they're getting out of captivity. So I know, as

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Christians we gotta make it sentimental, right, but there's nothing

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sentimental about it. It's God's word. It is God's word

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that means I can at least trust it. But it

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is telling them they're getting out of captivity. If it

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would have been like, well, for God so loved the world,

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if it would have been just some basic Bible verse,

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what a value would it be to them in captivity. Now,

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I know you want to say, well, it's God's word

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and they'll be, but in reality, what meant something to

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those in captivity was what this isn't gonna get out?

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All right? So if you give me a little card

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and I'm in captivity in North Korea and you got

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little sentimental sayings, I'm gonna throw the sneaking card in

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the trash. I don't care about your sentimental sayings. I

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want to say, I want a card that tells me

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what I'm getting out. I know that sounds horrible, but

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come on, let's just be I know in church we

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gotta make everything like it's a Hallmark movie, but we

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can be realistic, right, Little sentimental sayings don't do anything

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for me. If I'm in a North Korean prison. I

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need a message that tells me what I'm getting out.

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What the great comfort of this is not that God

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spoke to them. The great comfort is that God told

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them what they're getting out right, they're getting out? And

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that is that? Not exactly how the message begins? Comfort,

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Ye come fory my people, speak, says your God speak comfortable,

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Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her. And well,

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what is that? It gets right to the point, does

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it not? Hey? Comfort, go give comfort to the people.

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And what are you and what are you to speak

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comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her? What are

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you to cry out to her? Your warfare is ended?

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And is pardon you ever see from the Lord? Double

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var Her says, Remember we spent I don't know if

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it feels like three sermons on all of that. Yes,

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so it gets right to the point. Is that some

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sentimental sentiment. No, it's getting right to the point. So

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so so many times in preaching, we just I don't

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get what we do. I just don't I don't understand,

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Like I'm all I mean, I almost wish that there

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would be a law passed in the United States of

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America that would ban all sermons, because it may be

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the best thing that could ever happen to the church

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is for sermons to come to an end, because that

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has the sermons keep people from the text. It was

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just like yesterday when I reviewed the sermon on Isaiah

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forty three eighteen through nineteen. By the end of that message,

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even though all the people in the congregation loved it

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and they were saying Amen, Amen, Amen, they didn't learn

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anything about Isaiah forty three, eighteen through nineteen. And the

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message I was listening to this morning on Isaiah forty

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six through eight, at least the direction it was going

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immediately turned it into whom us and Ah, the whole

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thing has got to stop. So all that's why we're

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doing this. That's why we're doing this, and so to

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move us into the next year working on this, here

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we go. And if you think about it, really the

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point of all of this, let's just make it very clear,

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it's not even really about Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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If anyone's caught on, this is about just basic how

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to handle the text of scripture. And isn't it crazy

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that I'm like probably over eighty sermons and I've yet

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to find one, and I've listened to sermons from Baptists,

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Reform Baptists, Presbyterians, you name it, Bible churches and every

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single one. Just I don't understand, like it's like you think,

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like on one hand, when you when you when I

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start criticizing, I start thinking, well, I wonder if I'm

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being fair, you know, But how many sermons does one

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have to review before you kind of go? I think

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I'm on to something here, right, I think I'm on

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to something here. So is everybody ready? Isaiah chapter forty?

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All right? Does everybody remember what we called this? I'm

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not gonna go back and review. Well, we'll just read.

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We'll do this. Since we're still I think we can

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at least do this. We'll go back and we'll read

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Isaiah forty one through five. Because we do have the

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time to do that, we can at least try to

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establish the basic context here. So Isaiah forty one through five.

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Everybody ready? Here we go. Comfort Depending on which translation

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I'm reading, I'm going to read it from. I'm going

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to go from here because I'm reading it from a

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different translation, but I'm reading the words on my mind

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from the King James. Right, here we go. Isaiah, Chapter forty,

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Verse one, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

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All right, someone is being told to comfort his people.

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Who are the people who are the people? Right? Comfort

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my people? These are the people who areware Babylonian captivity.

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How do we know this? Chapter thirty nine? Okay, verses

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five and following here, everybody got that down, all right.

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So someone's being told to go comfort the people who

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are in Babylonian captivity. And who is telling them to

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bring that comfort? God's right. They're in verse one right there,

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to speak comfortably to Jerusalem. What is the significance of Jerusalem,

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capital city of which kingdom? Judah, who's in Babylonian captivity?

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All right, all right, very good, speak comfortably to Jerusalem

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and cry under her what is to be cried under her.

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Warfare is accomplished, Her iniquity has pardon, and for she

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has received the Lord's hand double of all her sins.

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Everybody should know those three things. We went over them

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so many times. Then last week was all about verses

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three through five. The voice of Him that crieth in

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the wilderness. Prepare ye. The way of the Lord makes

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straight in the desert a highway for our God, every

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

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and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough

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place plain, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

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and all flesh shall see it together, For the mouth

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of the Lord hath spoken it. All right? What was

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the big emphasis in verses three through five that we

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spent on last week? Okay? Well, we acknowledge that that

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text is referencing the New Testament to John the Baptist,

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but we're not studying the New Testament, so we're not

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in that part portion. So what did we focus on

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for the two plus hours? All right? Yeah, okay, we

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definitely I made an argument that we've got to we

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can't state it this way. Did we not spend two

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plus hours trying to identify the voice? Right? Okay? Because

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this voice is to cry in the wilderness? Right now?

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We identified that, that was pretty simple. Yes, What was

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the significance of the wilderness? Yeah, to leave Babylon to

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go back to Jerusalem, in a sense was wilderness. So

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a voice is in a sense crying out in their captivity,

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right right, crying out in their cactivity. And what is

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this voice saying? Prepare the way of the Lord. Right,

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there needs to be preparation made, and so it says,

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make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

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Every valley should be exalted, every mountain and shall be

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made low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the

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rough place is plain. Now we agreed that that most

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likely is using some form of poetic language. But remember

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I really pushed back and saying, just because it's poetic

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language doesn't mean it's not pointing to something that's literally

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going to happen. But it's just the issue that it's

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describing it in a poetic way. And the reason I

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made such a major point of that is because most

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sermons take this prepare the way and they see all

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of that preparing the way. They see it as being

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what kind of preparation sermon after sermon did this spiritual? Right,

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So then it turns into, hey, you need to prepare

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for God, and you need to prepare for God by

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doing what repenting of your says, humbling yourself. And they'll

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give you a list of four or five stop watching Netflix,

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whatever the case may be. They'll give you a list

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of things to do that has nothing to do with

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this text. Now, John the Baptist may reference as the

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one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way, and

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he calls people to repent, but you can't read that

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back into this text, right. So what we said is

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that this voice is telling people to prepare to make

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what a day, remove all obstacles that will stop them

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from doing what. Going back to Jerusalem. Yes, So we

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then said, well, hmm, who's the individual who steps up,

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who really prepares the way and who gets involved in

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all of this? And we said Cyrus, right, And we

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looked at the decree of Cyrus and we compared the

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decree of Cyrus to this and what did we find.

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There's enough similarities that you can be like, hmm. In

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a way, Cyrus is the one who cries out and

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tells everyone to do what. Remember he told it. He

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called for the people to do what, get this and

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gather this, and so in a sense, he was a

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part of it. So we talked about that and we

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went through that. I don't want to go back and

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review everything, but I just want to make sure we're

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on the same page there, right, okay, And then ultimately

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the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all

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the flesh shall see it. And I think the glory

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of the Lord here being revealed, is revealed in what

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way Cyrus is rising up, Babylon is defeated, and they

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get to go back. I don't. And then what happens

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when they get back, Well, they rebuild the temple, right,

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which is which is associated with what God's glory? All right?

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All right, so everybody see how that all corresponds? All right?

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And in a sense, all flesh you'll see it at

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least all when we say all flesh again, I think

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this is all poetic language. It's the idea that everyone's

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going to know that Cyrus has done what with the

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Jews released him, and they're going to go back. Okay,

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I think that's very clear, right, And all this is

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going to happen. Why the end of verse five, the

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end of verse five, for the mouth of the Lord

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has spoken it. This is all happening because of God.

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God is the one sovereign of sovereign over the entire process.

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Everybody got that? All right? Now? That brings us to

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six through eight. Let's read six through eight. Everybody ready, everybody, ready,

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here we go. The voice said, cry, And he said,

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what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all

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the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

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The grass withthereth the flower fadeth, because the spirit of

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the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass,

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the grass withereth the flower fadeth. But the word of

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our God shall stand for ever. All right, now, and

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those verses what immediately jumps out at you? Now, we're

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just doing some basic observations. What are some things that

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jump out at you? What like? What's what really stands

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out or you feel is important? Okay, good, good, good good?

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All right, you may let's all may write that down.

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All right, we have a voice here. This is important. Okay,

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this this the first big thing that should jump out

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at everyone. All right?

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Second, okay, possibly all right?

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Anything else? Okay, there's some comparison happening. There is that

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comparison and contrasting. Right, what's being what's kind of being

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compared and contrasted here? Well? I think we could I

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think I can never one agree to this that what's

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being compared is the frailty of life ultimately to the

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Word of God? Is it not? Does it? Remember? Does

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everyone remember our observational outline what we reference the section

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as we spent. That's why, that's why we spent all

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that time on the observational outline. We spent over to it.

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There we go the frailty of humanity and the enduring

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word of God, or how God's word endures? Right, because

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is that not the way it's all set up? Look

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and look at verse six. All all to words, all

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flesh or all man is grass, and all the goodliness

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thereof is the flower that fail of the field. So

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it's trying to say, hey, human beings are just like

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what grass, They're like the flower. What happens to it?

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They all fade, they all go away, they blow away? Correct,

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But what in contrast to that? What is the contrast?

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Look at verse eight. The word of the contrast to

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the frailty of life is the enduring word of God. Okay,

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everybody see that now and its context, it's simple. Why

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is he telling them, hey, we are frail and we

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will all go away, but God's word endures. Why is

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that so important to them? Okay, So we'll look at

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the end of verse five. That's why we worked all

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the way through the versus. The end of verse five,

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all right, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken

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it right, Okay, all this is going to happen because

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God has spoken it. So then in verse six through eight,

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what does he then re emphasize the word the Lord

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is going to endure forever? Why is that important? Because

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human beings are going to come and go right? So

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and their situation? Who do they see as the powerful humans?

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And their context the Babylonians? What is he telling them

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about the Babylonians? They're like grass are going to be

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blown away? Who's gonna ultimately tape blow them off the scene?

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Persia is gonna come in, Cyrus is gonna come in

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and release them? Sooner or later, the Persians are gonna

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go away. All human beings, no matter their power, no

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matter their position, their prestige, no matter their fame, they're

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there and they disappear. What's going to last? God's word?

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What then do they need to hold on to? And

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what specifically about God's word? Not some sentimental message, but

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the very specific message that they are going to be

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released from their captivity. That, I mean, the section is

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easy to understand, right, We don't need to spendle I mean,

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I think I've already just explained it, right. I mean,

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we'll work through it a little bit more. But there's

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the base. I just want you to get the basic

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grasp of it. So from our hermeneutical perspective, six to

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eight is maybe the easiest section in the whole book, right,

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I mean, that's simple. You don't even need to go

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to Bible call. Oh, you don't need to go to

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Bible college for anything. If you have reading comprehension. Bible

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college actually may be more detrimental to pastors than just

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taking classes on reading comprehension. But verse six is where

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the hermoneutical challenge is. And what is the hermoneutical challenges?

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And verse six the voice? What's the hermoneutical question? Oh,

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there we go, first the identity, and second is it

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the same voice in verse three? Right? I mean that's

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a good question to have, right. And verse three we

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have the voice. Now please note we note in the

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Hebrew there's not a definite article, right, so it should

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not necessarily be translated. The voices should be translated a voice, right,

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does everybody remember that? Okay? So verse three we have

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the voice. Now in verse six we have the voice said,

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so the voice of him that Christ in the wilderness.

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Now the voice said, so, how do we understand this?

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That's what we're gonna spend some time working on this morning.

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We're going to try to figure this part out. Does

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that make sense? All right? So we're gonna look at

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the connection or possibly disconnection between the voice in Isaiah

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forty verse six and the voice in Isaiah chapter forty

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verse three. Right, and I believe that we can agree

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that this is an important interpretive question. Right, So just

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starting out, how many, with the show of hands, think

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the voice in three and the voice in six is

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the same voice? It's It's okay, We're just gonna just

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see what you think. I mean. You've all read Isaiah

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forty hopefully about a bazillion times in your Christian life. Okay,

385
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so you've had to draw some conclusion. So based on

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your previous study, all right, Robert's willing to commit what

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has everyone else done in the past with it? You

388
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.680
did something with it when you read it? Okay? Yes,

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same voice? I think most people when we read it,

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we probably just assume it's the same voice. Let's be fair.

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And most of our reading throughout our Christian life, what

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did we probably not bother to do? We probably didn't

393
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bother to identify the voice right, which just shows how

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poor our reading skill is, because anybody should stop and go, hmm,

395
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I gotta figure this out here, right. In fact, what

396
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we tend to do is we because we've read the

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New Testament, we just read verse three and just probably

398
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immediately oh John the Baptist and not even realizing we're

399
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destroying the actual historical context of the section. So is

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it the same? Is it different? I think it's very important.

401
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So we're gonna try to figure this out. Okay, all right,

402
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.200
So I think we can reference this if we want

403
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to outline this a little bit. Well, I think we

404
00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:39.200
can say, well, look at this as the text of

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two voices, the text of two voices, and the two

406
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voices are identified, and what two verses three and six?

407
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All right, it's very simple. We've already established that, but

408
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just for an outline purpose, we'll call this the text

409
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of two voices, and then we'll just say the we'll

410
00:25:56.119 --> 00:25:58.720
have Isaiah underneath that. You can put Isaiah forty verse

411
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three and Isaiah four verse six. Right, So far, so good.

412
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All right, So now we want to do the second

413
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So right there, we just want to say the text

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of the two voices and those are the text verse

415
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three and verse six. Second thing I want to do

416
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is point out the observations on their similarities, the observations

417
00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:26.240
on their similarities. Okay, right, what are what's the first similarity?

418
00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:30.200
First observation? We're just doing observation, not interpretation. What's the

419
00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:38.359
first observation on a similarity that you see here? What's

420
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:49.839
the first similarity? Both first three and verse six begin

421
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with a voice. Okay, that's the first, right, that's the

422
00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:00.359
we're doing observation. Nothing complicated about observation. Right, it's a voice.

423
00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:03.160
Please note a voice. I know some translate it the

424
00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:05.480
but we don't want we want to get away from that. Right.

425
00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:13.759
Second and both verses, an unidentified voice speaks, which creates

426
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:18.079
a literary connection and invites the reader to explore how

427
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:20.960
the two voices relate. I think we can see that, right.

428
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Is it an unidentified voice? Yes? Does it not create

429
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.160
then a literary connection? That would it? Says? Some people

430
00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:34.400
would say invite the reader. I don't like to say that.

431
00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:38.680
It doesn't invite the reader. It demands that the reader

432
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:43.440
figures out how the two voices relate. Anyone who's ever

433
00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:46.359
read Isaiah forty and didn't stop to figure that out.

434
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:51.960
That's not reading, okay, that's just skimming words. To read it,

435
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.079
you would have to go, wait, what's just happening here?

436
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.440
I hate? I hate when I see how if I

437
00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:00.200
don't have a novel here in front of me, if

438
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:02.559
you read a novel, people will spend more. Might be

439
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.759
much more likely to stop in a novel and go,

440
00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:07.640
h what's going on here? Who's that? Wait? How do

441
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:11.319
they connect here? Wait? Didn't they do that in chapter three? Wait?

442
00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:16.880
What's happening in the Bible? Okay? Done? I don't know

443
00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:20.079
why we do that. That shows we show more respect

444
00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:25.119
to a novel than we do to God, because we

445
00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:29.519
should be like, what is going on here? It should

446
00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:31.440
be more important to figure this out than it is

447
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:33.519
to figure out how a novel What a novel is

448
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.599
trying to say? Should it not? But with so many

449
00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:40.319
times it don't, So it demands, it demands that the

450
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:43.839
reader does something with it? All right, Next, so we

451
00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:47.759
have both begin with a voice, Well both verses I

452
00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:51.759
have an unidentified voice which speaks, which demands the reader

453
00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:54.759
does something here. Try to figure this out. I think

454
00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.880
it's fair to say, does both kind of contain a

455
00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:04.880
divine commission. Both voices appear to issue commands, and verse

456
00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:11.799
three the voice does what what is he commanding? Commands?

457
00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:13.599
The preparation of the way of the Lord? Right?

458
00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:26.799
How about in verse six the voice that.

459
00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:34.400
Right, right, but it's telling it's giving a something to cry.

460
00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:38.000
It's a commission to do something right, And verse three

461
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:42.000
the voice cries in the wilderness, telling people to prepare. Correct.

462
00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.799
The voice in six is saying, hey, cry out, and

463
00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.440
this is what you are to cry. And then it

464
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.839
tells what is to be said. It's it's a I

465
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:54.599
think we can put it down. It's a proclamation of

466
00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:58.359
a specific message. Would that be fair to say? All right?

467
00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:03.680
I think that I I think that's an accurate way.

468
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:08.039
Both passages seem to involve somewhat of, at least in

469
00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:12.279
ver especially verse three, somewhat of a prophetic announcement. Oh.

470
00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:14.240
I think both of them do to some level. They

471
00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:19.359
emphasize God's impending actions deliverance, judgment, or revelation. I think

472
00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:22.640
they do point forth to God doing something. So there's

473
00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:26.319
kind of a prophetic aspect to them. I think that

474
00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:28.599
that's all. I think we can see all of that

475
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:32.960
to some level. How about so there's some observations on similarities.

476
00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:37.720
How about some observations on differences, especially in the functions

477
00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:43.720
of the voice? All right? And verse three? The voice

478
00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:46.720
and verse three announces a call to action. Can we

479
00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:52.400
agree to that? And that action is what prepare the

480
00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:55.880
way of the Lord? This voice focuses on God's coming

481
00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:58.920
and the need to remove obstacles for his arrival. Would

482
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:04.079
you believe that's a accurate statement? Right? Get everything out

483
00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:08.759
of the way? Right? Okay? How about verse six? The

484
00:31:08.920 --> 00:31:12.279
voice and verse six seems to be issuing a command

485
00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:17.079
to cry out to proclaim a message. I think that's fair. Yes, okay.

486
00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:22.759
The voice shifts the focus to basically to speaking about

487
00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:25.559
the human life and enduring nature of God's So the

488
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:28.319
main difference is the roles are kind of different, right,

489
00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:32.839
One role is hey, everyone prepare. The other role it

490
00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.880
seems to be just cry out and proclaim a message.

491
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:40.680
One is a call to action and the other one

492
00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:44.240
means as more of a call to proclaim. Could we

493
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.240
at least acknowledge that somewhat of a difference. I think that,

494
00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:50.640
I think that maybe I think maybe there's a difference.

495
00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:57.240
So there's similarities, there's differences, but there's nothing there's nothing

496
00:31:57.319 --> 00:32:00.400
really glaring about that. Do you agree if we try

497
00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:04.000
to break that observation down to the similarities and differences,

498
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.559
there is there nothing that kind of just jumps out going, WHOA,

499
00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:11.319
these are so radically different, They're very similar. Can we

500
00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:14.039
agree to that? I mean, I know there's a different

501
00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:17.640
role there, maybe there's, but it's so similar in so

502
00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:23.240
many ways. Yes? Or do you feel different? Yeah? I

503
00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:27.240
feel like, whoa, these voices are radically different? Or do

504
00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:29.799
you feel like what they're kinda kind of the same.

505
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.519
But I'm saying that overall it feels pretty similar, don't

506
00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:43.799
you think? Or am I missing something? Yeah? They both

507
00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:46.039
have a message in a sense. I mean, we can

508
00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:49.920
try to find some differences. I just feel like that overall,

509
00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:53.599
I don't see like, oh man, this look at this.

510
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:56.880
This voice is so radically different than this voice. I mean,

511
00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:00.200
it's night and day. Can we at least agree on

512
00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:04.559
that that it's not like night and day? All right? Okay, good,

513
00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:06.720
I'm just gonna say that we can agree on that.

514
00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:08.880
I don't know if we can, but I feel like

515
00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:12.519
I'm not seeing anything that goes ooh, We've got we're

516
00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:14.880
onto something here. I could be wrong? All right? So

517
00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:17.920
are they the same voice? That's really the question we're

518
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:20.160
trying to ask here. So what have we done here?

519
00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:23.319
We've realized that we have a text with two voices

520
00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:27.359
verse three, verse six. We've looked at observations on similarities,

521
00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:29.880
and we've tried to look at some up some observations

522
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:32.759
on differences, and I think we've done a little. We've

523
00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:34.720
done is about as well as we can. Right, we

524
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:36.680
could probably break it down a little bit more so

525
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:39.720
Number four, are they the same voice? All right? Are

526
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:46.119
you ready? First, here are all the arguments compiled that

527
00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:49.799
they are the same voice. Here are the arguments that

528
00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:51.880
they are the same voice. You ready? What do you

529
00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:54.960
think is the first argument that they are the same voice?

530
00:33:55.759 --> 00:33:58.359
What do you think is the first argument usually listed

531
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:10.480
that they are the same voice? What do you think? Okay? Well,

532
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:18.239
this is the way it's described literary continuity, Right, both

533
00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:23.360
voices are introduced in a similar way, a voice with

534
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:33.679
no clear indication of a change in speaker, and the

535
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:39.039
use of the repetition of a voice links the two passages.

536
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:43.840
So literary continuity is the first argument that they are

537
00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:47.360
the same voice. Does everybody like that? One? Do you

538
00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:55.199
think that's a good argument literary continuity. All right. Okay, yeah,

539
00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:58.679
you're not being very committed, but okay, all right, I

540
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.679
think it's a decent argument. I mean, look, put it

541
00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:05.079
this way. At least, it's an argument based off an observation.

542
00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:11.199
Both begin with a voice agreed. Both neither one is

543
00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:17.920
identified agreed, and it's using that repetition a voice, so

544
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:20.800
it seems to link the two. I think that that's

545
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:25.960
pretty good, all right. Number two. The second argument is

546
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:32.079
that they there is a unified prophetic message. A unified

547
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:38.639
prophetic message. The voice in verse three and the verse

548
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:45.159
and verse six may represent the same divine message being

549
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:52.000
proclaimed in stages. So the argument here is they are

550
00:35:52.039 --> 00:35:56.679
a unified prophetic message broken down into two stages. Verse

551
00:35:56.760 --> 00:36:00.000
three is to call to prepare for God's coming. Verse

552
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:04.320
six is to proclaim human frailty in God's enduring word,

553
00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:11.840
which provides the basis for trusting in his promise God's coming.

554
00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:17.800
You can trust it. Why Because God's word is enduring.

555
00:36:18.199 --> 00:36:21.880
So they're saying it. It could it. There's a correlation

556
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:24.239
between the two. It's like two, it's like part of

557
00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:26.519
the same message. It's like part one part two of

558
00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:31.719
the same message. Yeah, that they're they're so that that's

559
00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:33.760
a that's a good argument that I like that one,

560
00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:37.840
maybe even better than literary continuity. That unified message. I

561
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:40.400
like that because even if I'm preaching it, I kind

562
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:43.760
of did that? Did I not? Did I not read

563
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:46.440
the last part of verse five and then say, now

564
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.440
this voice see that? Because there's a there's a it

565
00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:57.519
flows all right. The next argument is thematic connection. So

566
00:36:57.559 --> 00:37:01.079
there's a literary continuity, there's a unified prophetic message, and

567
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:05.519
there's a thematic connection. What is the theme that connects

568
00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:11.800
the two? If you're reading this, what do you think

569
00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:17.920
the thematic connection is? I feel like we're an English

570
00:37:17.960 --> 00:37:22.199
Lit class? Okay, oh well, what did you say? God? Sovereignty?

571
00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:26.159
All right? Almost everyone agrees that's the thematic connection here.

572
00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:29.679
Both voices emphasize the sovereignty of God and the need

573
00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:32.280
for readiness, suggesting they could be a part of one

574
00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:39.039
single prophetic proclamation. So those are the arguments for them

575
00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:45.400
being the same voice. Literary continuity, unified prophetic message, and

576
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:48.519
thematic connection. Everybody got that? Do you think you can

577
00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:51.039
you can make that argument if someone asks you if

578
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:54.480
these are the same voices? Now the reality is if

579
00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:56.760
people go to church, they'll never ask you if they're

580
00:37:56.760 --> 00:37:59.559
the same voices because church people don't care. If an

581
00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:01.679
atheist was reading the text, they would be like, is

582
00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:04.119
that the same voice, because they would read it differently.

583
00:38:04.360 --> 00:38:07.199
Christians would be like, what does this mean to me? Right?

584
00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:11.679
Because that's how we preach sermons, right, That's the I'm

585
00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:14.519
telling you. Sometimes the worst thing I think everyone should

586
00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:17.480
read the Bible before they get saved and they'll understand

587
00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:19.960
it better than they do after they get saved. After

588
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:23.039
you get saved actually hinders your ability to understand the

589
00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:25.800
Bible because now, once you get saved, you read it

590
00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:27.639
as a Christian. And when you read it as a Christian,

591
00:38:27.719 --> 00:38:30.119
what do you do? You turn it into this mystical

592
00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:34.239
sentimental thing about you and which actually hurts the text.

593
00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:37.800
But if someone was to ask you, those would be

594
00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:40.000
your three arguments for why they're the same voice. What

595
00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:47.119
are they? Literary continuity, unified prophetic message, and thematic connection?

596
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:51.639
Everybody got that, all right? How about the arguments that

597
00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:56.000
they are different? What would be the arguments that they

598
00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:58.400
are different? What arguments would you put forth that these

599
00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:28.880
are different voices? Okay? Do what? Yes? Oh? Oh, that's

600
00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:31.159
a good point. Okay, keep that in mind. I didn't

601
00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:32.760
even think about that one, right, I mean, if it's

602
00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:34.280
the same voice, why does they have to then in

603
00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:37.440
verse six say a voice, if it's the same voice,

604
00:39:37.480 --> 00:39:39.480
would just be a voice said all of these things.

605
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:42.320
That's a good point. That's a really good point. All right,

606
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:45.119
So here we go. First, though, this is what is

607
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:49.880
typically offered a change in focus. Verse three focuses on

608
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:52.400
preparing the way of God, while verse six emphasizes the

609
00:39:52.440 --> 00:39:57.320
contrast between human fraility and divine permanence. So it says

610
00:39:57.360 --> 00:39:59.400
that there is a change of focus, and the shift

611
00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:01.880
of focus could indicate that the voice in verse six

612
00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:04.679
is a different speaker with a new message. And we

613
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:07.400
did mention that it does. There is, and when we

614
00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:10.199
looked at the differences, it does change. This one is

615
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:15.079
prepare and this one is proclaim. So that is a

616
00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:18.639
different focus. I think we can at least agree on that,

617
00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:22.480
all right. Whether that means that there's a different in speaker,

618
00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:26.199
that's a whole different argument. Second, right, now, this one

619
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:29.840
may get confusing. Are you ready? All right? They call

620
00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:34.360
this a diological The reason that these are different voices

621
00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:38.360
is a diological because of the diological structure, if I

622
00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:43.800
can state it correctly, all right, the diological structure, now

623
00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:47.719
the structure of the dialogue, You're ready. In verse six,

624
00:40:48.760 --> 00:40:55.920
the command cry is followed by a dialogue what shall

625
00:40:56.079 --> 00:41:02.840
I cry? This diological element differs from the straightforward proclamation

626
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:06.760
in verse three, suggesting a different voice or a new

627
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:14.559
phase in the message. Does everyone catch that? Verse three?

628
00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:16.440
It's simply the voice of him, the crist and the

629
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:23.920
wilderness doing what prepare the way? Okay? Verse six the

630
00:41:24.039 --> 00:41:30.119
voice said cry, and he said what shall I cry?

631
00:41:30.280 --> 00:41:33.760
Now there's this dialogue added in that's missing in the

632
00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:38.360
first section. And they're like, wait, something something has changed here.

633
00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:49.039
Does everybody see that? Do what it is? Minor? But

634
00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:51.840
it is a difference heright, It is a difference we

635
00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:54.440
did when we did our observation. We didn't necessarily point

636
00:41:54.440 --> 00:41:57.360
that out. It is a difference here, right. The voice

637
00:41:57.400 --> 00:42:00.159
in three doesn't seem to need, doesn't need anything. It

638
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:03.960
just knows what to say. Six, it's like a voice

639
00:42:06.519 --> 00:42:11.440
cries and said what shall I cry? Well, wait, so

640
00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:16.119
the voice said cry. So the voice is telling someone

641
00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:18.320
to cry, and then someone responds back to the voice,

642
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:24.880
what shall I cry, right, So there's this dialogue. So

643
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.440
and a roundabout way, Verse three just says the voice

644
00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:31.599
of him says prepare. Doesn't tell who to prepare, but hey, prepare.

645
00:42:32.440 --> 00:42:34.960
You don't have any dialogue here. You have the voice

646
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:37.480
speaking to someone and someone speaks back to the voice.

647
00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:42.519
That is an interesting difference. Can we at least acknowledge that? Okay?

648
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.360
I think we can at least say that, all right? Next?

649
00:42:45.639 --> 00:42:49.000
All right, so these are arguments or different voices and

650
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:54.360
change in focus diological structure next and verse three multiple voices.

651
00:42:54.440 --> 00:43:02.679
In prophetic literature, Isaiah often employees multiple voices and his

652
00:43:02.960 --> 00:43:09.719
prophecies to reflect the variety of divine messages and their progression.

653
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:15.280
This could could imply that verse six introduces a second voice.

654
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.960
So the argument is that this is somewhat common within

655
00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:28.559
prophetic literature to have multiple voices. All Right, Well, I

656
00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:31.599
don't know, I don't know what you want to do

657
00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:35.000
with that. All right, So we've got so if you

658
00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:38.480
look at those arguments, and then we could add Stephen,

659
00:43:38.760 --> 00:43:43.360
we could add Steven's point here. I don't know how

660
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:48.599
he stated it, basically, if it's if it's two voices,

661
00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:55.280
I'm gonna type this out. If it's two voices, why oh,

662
00:43:55.360 --> 00:44:08.239
or I'm sorry? If it's one voice. If it's one voice,

663
00:44:08.679 --> 00:44:19.719
why have them identified two separate times? Does that make sense?

664
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:31.039
Is that a good way to say it?

665
00:44:31.159 --> 00:44:33.800
Is? Everybody okay with that one? Does that make sense?

666
00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:36.679
Does everybody understand what's being said? There? Hey? Why if

667
00:44:36.679 --> 00:44:38.760
it's if it's the same voice, why would you say

668
00:44:38.760 --> 00:44:41.159
in verse three, a voice and then in verse six

669
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:45.480
a a voice, you would just be a voice said

670
00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:50.400
what all of these things you wouldn't have You could

671
00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:52.480
just say if it's the same voice, then the section

672
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:57.719
would go from where verse three to verse eight. But

673
00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:00.239
verse three I mentioned the voice. Verse six men says

674
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:03.199
the voice, you would have no reason to say, say

675
00:45:03.239 --> 00:45:06.039
at two different times. So that's a good argument. That's

676
00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:09.000
a good argument. Now, so those are our arguments for

677
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:12.519
arguments against. Now here's a question. I didn't even put

678
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:14.079
this down in my notes, but I'm going to ask

679
00:45:14.159 --> 00:45:19.679
you here's the question. You're ready, doesn't make any difference?

680
00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:36.000
Does it make any difference? Does it make any difference

681
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:50.679
if it's one or if it's two. What would make

682
00:45:50.719 --> 00:45:59.000
a difference? Do what? Okay? But I'm saying what in

683
00:45:59.480 --> 00:46:04.079
what about the voice has the most impact on our

684
00:46:04.440 --> 00:46:09.440
interpretation of this text. It's not whether it's one voice

685
00:46:09.519 --> 00:46:14.320
or two voices. What would probably be most of most

686
00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:21.800
importance is the identity of voice or voices. Correct Why

687
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.239
because if we in verse three identified that voice with

688
00:46:25.320 --> 00:46:29.800
whom Cyrus, well, that may become a little bit more

689
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:33.320
complicated if that's the same voice in verse six, does

690
00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:46.199
it not? Because he's telling someone to go proclaim a message?

691
00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:51.320
Is Cyrus? Cyrus is spoken of in very glowing terms

692
00:46:51.400 --> 00:46:54.719
right as a servant of God and basically the anointed

693
00:46:54.760 --> 00:46:57.400
in all kinds of ways. But this would be him

694
00:46:57.480 --> 00:47:04.840
serving almost as what telling someone to go preach a message?

695
00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:07.920
Or am I missing y'ah? I feel like y'are looking

696
00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:11.039
at me like I'm crazy? If Cyrus is the voice

697
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:14.719
in verse three, as we discussed, right, we talked about

698
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:18.320
not everyone. Remember, even Ai pushed back on that. But

699
00:47:18.440 --> 00:47:22.639
Ai had to acknowledge that Isaiah forty three through six,

700
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:26.000
it has a lot of similarities with the decree of Cyrus,

701
00:47:26.320 --> 00:47:29.039
So there was at least some agreement even with Ai. There.

702
00:47:29.360 --> 00:47:32.400
I'm saying now, if we get to verse three through five,

703
00:47:32.639 --> 00:47:34.800
if we get to verse six and it becomes the

704
00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:55.000
same voice. Now we have Cyrus Ezra one. Remember remember okay, oh,

705
00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:57.920
we're right. Oh, now that's true. That does provide a

706
00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:00.480
little bit of help. But you see that it would

707
00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:10.440
be Cyrus telling someone to go preach. Right now, do

708
00:48:10.480 --> 00:48:12.199
we need to look at the decree of Cyrus to

709
00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:14.280
see if you feel that that would be in character?

710
00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:18.079
Do we need to look at it? I mean, we

711
00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:21.119
looked at the decree pretty good last week, but we

712
00:48:21.159 --> 00:48:26.559
can look at it again. Now. I know I'm introducing

713
00:48:26.599 --> 00:48:31.159
this discussion early on, but that's okay. Duck can look

714
00:48:31.199 --> 00:48:46.440
at it and tell me what you think. Everybody there,

715
00:48:48.199 --> 00:48:51.039
all right, if you've started Ezra one, verse one, this

716
00:48:51.119 --> 00:48:54.559
is your Bible, may even say this decree of Cyrus,

717
00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:58.000
or it may see King Cyrus's proclamation for chapter heading.

718
00:48:58.679 --> 00:49:06.639
Everybody see that, all right? Look at that proclamation. Where

719
00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:13.000
does he start speaking? Two? Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia,

720
00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:15.400
the Lord God of Heaven, have given me all the

721
00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:17.519
kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to

722
00:49:17.559 --> 00:49:20.440
build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

723
00:49:20.679 --> 00:49:23.079
Now what is the striking thing that jumps out at

724
00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:28.199
you immediately? In verse two? What is the most striking

725
00:49:28.239 --> 00:49:35.960
thing about his words. There the Lord, God of Heaven,

726
00:49:36.440 --> 00:49:42.559
and he uses what word for Lord there? It's all capitals, right,

727
00:49:42.559 --> 00:49:48.039
What does that mean? Jehovah? Right, using the covenant name

728
00:49:48.119 --> 00:49:53.159
for God, right, the national name for God. The eternal

729
00:49:53.199 --> 00:49:57.920
One has given me all the kings of the earth.

730
00:49:57.960 --> 00:49:59.880
And he hath charged me to build him a house

731
00:50:00.079 --> 00:50:02.440
at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among

732
00:50:02.519 --> 00:50:07.000
you of all his people, his God be? Who is

733
00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:10.000
there among you of all his people? His God be

734
00:50:10.079 --> 00:50:12.440
with him? And let him go up to Jerusalem, which

735
00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:14.639
is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord

736
00:50:14.679 --> 00:50:21.199
God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem.

737
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:28.159
Now he's definitely giving a proclamation, right, and he tells

738
00:50:28.199 --> 00:50:34.679
them what to do. Yes, let the men of the

739
00:50:34.679 --> 00:50:38.159
place help him with silver, gold, all the preparation. Kind

740
00:50:38.159 --> 00:50:40.920
of type of thing is occurring. Right. That's why it

741
00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:43.519
sounds so much like Isaiah forty three through five. Can

742
00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:46.599
you see why I'm so committed to that? You know

743
00:50:46.679 --> 00:50:50.039
that position well. Now The problem is, though, when you

744
00:50:50.079 --> 00:50:53.519
get the verse six, Now my position may have a problem.

745
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.199
Do you see where it can become complicated? Now because

746
00:50:57.239 --> 00:50:59.800
you would have go back to Isaiah forty verse six,

747
00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:03.440
the voice said, if we say that voice is whom Cyrus,

748
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:09.840
then what is Sorrus saying someone? Then he says, cry right,

749
00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:12.920
And as Robert pointed out, then the people or whoever

750
00:51:12.960 --> 00:51:15.159
this person is, is looking to Cyrus and saying, what

751
00:51:16.840 --> 00:51:21.119
what shall I say? And what are you supposed to say?

752
00:51:21.360 --> 00:51:24.360
All men is like grass? All the goodliness thereof is

753
00:51:24.360 --> 00:51:27.840
the fire of the field. And then he goes on

754
00:51:27.960 --> 00:51:30.360
to say the word of God will abide forever. Now

755
00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:33.920
at the same time, though, is that too far out

756
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:38.119
of character considering what he says in the proclamation? Because

757
00:51:38.159 --> 00:51:40.480
he is convinced that who told him to go build

758
00:51:40.480 --> 00:51:44.440
the city, that God himself has given him his word

759
00:51:44.719 --> 00:51:47.440
to do so, and he wants the people to know

760
00:51:47.920 --> 00:51:53.199
that what's going to stand that word from God? So

761
00:51:53.360 --> 00:51:55.760
in some ways it kind of fits and other ways.

762
00:51:55.760 --> 00:51:57.639
I don't know if I'm stretching a little bit, right,

763
00:51:57.679 --> 00:52:08.960
I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying, I mean,

764
00:52:09.039 --> 00:52:13.079
those are it's pretty strong words to say God. I mean,

765
00:52:13.119 --> 00:52:16.320
he calls him the Lord God, he tells him he look,

766
00:52:16.320 --> 00:52:18.639
what did he say? Go back to Ezra one like

767
00:52:18.800 --> 00:52:21.519
verse two or three does he say God told me

768
00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:32.280
or God commanded me? How did he say it? Oh?

769
00:52:32.280 --> 00:52:36.239
It definitely was right. But I'm yeah, he looked at

770
00:52:36.280 --> 00:52:40.480
the way he mentions how it's spoken. He says, what

771
00:52:40.760 --> 00:52:41.239
about God?

772
00:52:43.159 --> 00:52:57.639
Yes, yeah, yeah, well then you would have the voice

773
00:52:57.639 --> 00:52:59.239
being God in verse.

774
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:05.320
Yeah. I don't know if that works right, I mean,

775
00:53:05.360 --> 00:53:13.960
he definitely says God said right. Oh yeah. Look, look,

776
00:53:14.039 --> 00:53:17.639
I understand my argument is nobody. I mean, nobody agrees

777
00:53:17.679 --> 00:53:20.000
with me, even Ai disagrees with me. I understand that.

778
00:53:20.440 --> 00:53:23.440
So and some will argue we shouldn't even have to

779
00:53:23.480 --> 00:53:29.360
identify the voice. It's just a metaphorical literary device to

780
00:53:29.400 --> 00:53:33.199
just say, hey, it's personalizing this entire concept. We don't

781
00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:35.719
really need to figure it out. It's just an unspoken

782
00:53:35.840 --> 00:53:37.960
voice that does these things, and we don't need to

783
00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:40.079
really try to figure it out. I understand that's how

784
00:53:40.079 --> 00:53:42.960
many people approach it. I'm just saying, if I look

785
00:53:42.960 --> 00:53:45.400
at verse three, I don't know the voice of him

786
00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:47.480
that Christ in the Woldern is telling everyone to prepare

787
00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:49.639
the way. I don't know who else that can be

788
00:53:49.719 --> 00:53:52.360
other than Cyrus. But okay, I mean you could argue

789
00:53:52.400 --> 00:53:55.440
it's Isaiah. But Isaiah's been dead for one hundred years,

790
00:53:55.559 --> 00:53:57.639
so or you could just say it doesn't matter, it's

791
00:53:57.719 --> 00:54:01.239
just God telling everyone to prepare the way for himself.

792
00:54:02.519 --> 00:54:05.760
You could, but Cyrus is the only one who fits

793
00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:10.239
the bill in any historical setting. So I'm not saying

794
00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:12.519
then that means that he's the same voice in verse six.

795
00:54:12.599 --> 00:54:15.280
I'm just saying if we say verse three and verse

796
00:54:15.320 --> 00:54:18.239
six is the same voice, you can see what happens

797
00:54:18.239 --> 00:54:19.440
if you put Cyrus in three.

798
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:40.320
Okay, right, Oh, he'd be speaking then to someone else, right,

799
00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:43.519
it becomes yeah, I.

800
00:54:43.480 --> 00:54:47.960
Know now verse six. Then then then then you start

801
00:54:47.960 --> 00:54:51.000
trying to figure out, uh, the voice said cry, and

802
00:54:51.039 --> 00:54:54.320
he said what shall I cry? Okay, well, who's who?

803
00:54:54.480 --> 00:55:15.639
Who entered into the dialogue? Right? The voice in verse six? Okay,

804
00:55:15.679 --> 00:55:18.559
so God telling Isaiah? So in verse three. So so

805
00:55:18.639 --> 00:55:21.280
you're gonna say, then just make sure I'm following the flow.

806
00:55:22.719 --> 00:55:24.519
So first, are you saying the voice in three and

807
00:55:24.559 --> 00:55:27.559
six are the same? Okay? So then you would say

808
00:55:27.599 --> 00:55:30.800
the voice of him that Christ in the wilderness is God,

809
00:55:31.800 --> 00:55:34.599
and the and the voice then in verse six is God.

810
00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:39.079
He cries out and he's telling whoever because it can't

811
00:55:39.119 --> 00:55:41.800
be can't necessarily be I guess it could be Isaiah

812
00:55:41.800 --> 00:55:44.639
writing this one hundred years before. So all right, so

813
00:55:44.679 --> 00:55:47.039
that God is the one in three and God is

814
00:55:47.079 --> 00:55:51.000
the one in six. Okay, all right? That that I

815
00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:57.519
mean that that's a possibility. I'm not I'm not gonna

816
00:55:59.079 --> 00:56:06.719
well it definitely is fulfilled. Sorry, oh yeah, yeah, she

817
00:56:06.920 --> 00:56:18.480
just basically a he went hey wall okay, yeah, right right,

818
00:56:20.679 --> 00:56:24.960
all right. So so Sarah's arguments three and six, God

819
00:56:25.039 --> 00:56:28.559
is the voice? All right, does anybody? Is everybody see that?

820
00:56:34.280 --> 00:56:38.519
And then verse yeah, the response in six what shall

821
00:56:38.559 --> 00:56:41.880
I cry? Then God is speaking and he's telling someone

822
00:56:42.400 --> 00:56:45.360
to try out. It could be Isaiah. And then Isaiah

823
00:56:45.400 --> 00:56:47.320
is like, well what shall I say? And then he

824
00:56:47.360 --> 00:56:56.960
gives him the message. Well, the that is hope, the

825
00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:01.920
God's words going to abide forever. So yeah, the reality is, hey,

826
00:57:02.639 --> 00:57:06.039
men die that my word will abide forever. So it

827
00:57:06.199 --> 00:57:09.440
works versus I think it works to some level. Three

828
00:57:09.480 --> 00:57:12.679
and six B. I mean, I like, obviously I like

829
00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:16.599
it being Cyrus and three, but I understand the problems

830
00:57:16.599 --> 00:57:21.280
that arises in six, right, But at the same time, Ezra,

831
00:57:22.119 --> 00:57:26.039
the way he speaks in Ezra that sounds so like it.

832
00:57:26.280 --> 00:57:28.920
I can see it fitting here, right, I mean he said,

833
00:57:28.960 --> 00:57:31.599
I mean when you it's almost shocking to read how

834
00:57:31.599 --> 00:57:34.840
he speaks, and Ezra, you're kind of like, that's Cyrus,

835
00:57:34.880 --> 00:57:46.039
Like what what is that? Oh? Right, absolutely right, But

836
00:57:46.400 --> 00:57:48.400
in this particular case, so if we go with that,

837
00:57:48.599 --> 00:57:51.000
we could change all of last week's message if and

838
00:57:51.039 --> 00:57:52.880
that's perfectly okay, if we need to change all of

839
00:57:52.960 --> 00:57:56.159
last week's message, but uh no, I mean it's perfectly

840
00:57:56.159 --> 00:57:58.079
okay because we may need to have to go back.

841
00:57:58.199 --> 00:58:00.239
The whole point here is to work through this and

842
00:58:00.320 --> 00:58:04.559
a in a careful way where others don't, and so

843
00:58:04.679 --> 00:58:07.079
that it's all it's all worth doing all of this.

844
00:58:07.360 --> 00:58:10.000
So if we go with this concept, then the voice

845
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:11.679
of him that cries in the wilderness, let's just make

846
00:58:11.719 --> 00:58:13.360
sure we're on the same page. If we go with

847
00:58:13.440 --> 00:58:15.519
this concept, the voice of him that cries in the

848
00:58:15.519 --> 00:58:21.920
wilderness is God. He's crying out into their wilderness, their captivity.

849
00:58:22.239 --> 00:58:26.039
He tells everyone to prepare the way for himself. Right,

850
00:58:26.519 --> 00:58:29.000
and then he says that, hey, all of this is

851
00:58:29.039 --> 00:58:31.840
to be done. So he's just so weird if that's

852
00:58:31.920 --> 00:58:36.920
God talking, because he speaks, do what you see how

853
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:40.239
that's kind of weird because then it's like, and the

854
00:58:40.280 --> 00:58:42.280
glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Well wait, it's

855
00:58:42.280 --> 00:58:55.760
the voice, okay, So yeah, now we're back to two voices. Now,

856
00:58:55.800 --> 00:58:57.920
if we go back to two voices, then I'm going

857
00:58:58.000 --> 00:59:01.480
to return back to three. Is okay? Then I'm gonna

858
00:59:01.480 --> 00:59:04.760
go back to three. You see that? That what? What

859
00:59:04.840 --> 00:59:08.159
are we discovering? Though? Here's the look, and that's perfectly okay.

860
00:59:08.360 --> 00:59:10.840
Other people listening to this will be like, oh, that's

861
00:59:10.880 --> 00:59:12.559
a mess, and it was all confusing. I don't care

862
00:59:12.599 --> 00:59:15.159
what anybody else thinks. This is the reason we do this,

863
00:59:15.239 --> 00:59:19.760
because what are we demonstrating that this is hard and

864
00:59:19.880 --> 00:59:23.519
complicated and all the nice, little cute little sermons do

865
00:59:23.679 --> 00:59:27.079
nothing to help anyone see the complications here. And this

866
00:59:27.199 --> 00:59:30.039
is why when little you know, kid who grew up

867
00:59:30.039 --> 00:59:33.519
in church walks into a college classroom and the professor

868
00:59:33.559 --> 00:59:36.239
can tear them into shreds because the little kid's never

869
00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:39.239
been prepared to deal with the text. Okay, you gotta

870
00:59:39.280 --> 00:59:41.239
know how to deal with the text. What are we learning?

871
00:59:41.440 --> 00:59:45.199
I don't know what to do with three through eight, right,

872
00:59:45.559 --> 00:59:47.360
I'm trying to identify all of the you know what

873
00:59:47.440 --> 00:59:50.119
some people say, is you're making it too complicated? No,

874
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:53.639
we're not. These are basic questions that what should should

875
00:59:53.679 --> 00:59:59.440
arise from what just observational reading has to have These

876
00:59:59.519 --> 01:00:02.280
questions dealt with sermons. Don't want to do with this.

877
01:00:02.519 --> 01:00:04.760
It's just coming in to do you do? What? Give

878
01:00:04.760 --> 01:00:07.679
you three points of application? Right?

879
01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:12.400
Hey, guys, you need to prepare this week and you

880
01:00:12.440 --> 01:00:16.000
need to listen to sermons and read your Bible and repent.

881
01:00:16.119 --> 01:00:18.480
And it's gonna give you a list of things to

882
01:00:18.559 --> 01:00:21.880
do that This is not This text is not prescriptive

883
01:00:21.960 --> 01:00:24.639
telling us what to do, is it.

884
01:00:24.639 --> 01:00:28.559
It's giving them what to do. It maysn't even relate

885
01:00:28.679 --> 01:00:31.880
to us in that particular way. So we'll stop here

886
01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:35.840
for the first hour and what we're gonna We're gonna, well,

887
01:00:35.920 --> 01:00:38.000
we'll try to put this back together in the next

888
01:00:38.159 --> 01:00:40.480
But I think what we just discovered is looking at

889
01:00:40.519 --> 01:00:46.039
these voices, Why was it beneficial? Because now we're realizing

890
01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:49.800
the difficulty in identifying the voice? Can we agree? And

891
01:00:49.880 --> 01:00:52.199
because as soon as we start trying to identify the voice,

892
01:00:52.280 --> 01:00:57.840
what do we run into possible problems? Like everyone can

893
01:00:57.880 --> 01:01:01.320
make a good argument here, Sarah was making a good argument, right,

894
01:01:01.519 --> 01:01:04.239
but then I think there's some difficulties with the argument. Right.

895
01:01:05.840 --> 01:01:07.519
In some ways, I liked it because it was going

896
01:01:07.599 --> 01:01:09.199
to simplify it, but then when I start reading it,

897
01:01:09.239 --> 01:01:10.679
then I'm like, I don't know if it works. But

898
01:01:10.719 --> 01:01:13.039
then I want to go with Cyrus, which sounds good,

899
01:01:13.159 --> 01:01:14.840
and then I get the verse six and then I'm like, well,

900
01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:17.239
I'm not so sure about that, right, So that like,

901
01:01:18.159 --> 01:01:21.039
it's not easy. So what we may have to do

902
01:01:21.119 --> 01:01:22.800
is we may have to just come to the conclusion

903
01:01:22.800 --> 01:01:26.480
that we the the identity identity of these voices are

904
01:01:26.559 --> 01:01:29.360
never going to be known. And then we have to say, well,

905
01:01:29.400 --> 01:01:35.639
then how does that impact our interpretation of the text? Right?

906
01:01:35.760 --> 01:01:39.000
Does that make sense? And it will have some profound

907
01:01:39.000 --> 01:01:40.880
impact on it, But we'll have to we'll determine that

908
01:01:40.920 --> 01:01:43.119
in the next hour. Right, So let's stop here for now.

909
01:01:43.239 --> 01:01:45.159
Lord God, we come before you this morning. Lord, we

910
01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:46.760
thank you that we can be in a place where

911
01:01:46.800 --> 01:01:49.440
we can do exactly what we've just done. It may

912
01:01:49.519 --> 01:01:53.159
sound confusing to other people. They may not understand why

913
01:01:53.199 --> 01:01:54.880
we would want to even be in a place doing

914
01:01:54.920 --> 01:01:57.920
this on a Sunday morning, but Lord, it's your word,

915
01:01:58.119 --> 01:02:00.880
and we're trying to demonstrate that we take that seriously

916
01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:06.239
and we want to understand it, because without proper understanding,

917
01:02:07.519 --> 01:02:09.559
then all we're doing is just making it say whatever

918
01:02:09.599 --> 01:02:12.079
we want it to say, which we've probably all been

919
01:02:12.119 --> 01:02:16.000
guilty of. Forgive us for doing that. Help us consider

920
01:02:16.039 --> 01:02:18.519
this even more carefully in the next hour and see

921
01:02:18.519 --> 01:02:21.280
what conclusion we can come to. And we ask all

922
01:02:21.320 --> 01:02:22.960
of this in Jesus name, and God's people said