April 20, 2025

Isaiah 42:5-9

Isaiah 42:5-9

We continue our work on Isaiah 42. At the end of the lesson I make a mistake in what I say about Ezra 1:7. It is corrected in the next episode.

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We continue our work on Isaiah 42. At the end of the lesson I make a mistake in what I say about Ezra 1:7. It is corrected in the next episode.

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All right, Isaiah chapter forty two. Isaiah chapter forty two.

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The goal today.

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I don't think it'll happen, but we need to go

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from See, we've covered a section verses one, two, four,

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we covered that we need to cover today five through nine,

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hopefully in this hour and then the next hour ten

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through twelve. I think is the way we broke it

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down in our observational outline.

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So that is the goal.

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But let's go back in at least remind ourselves of

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the main thing that we have done with Isaiah forty

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two that goes against well, I think AI said we

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are currently in conflict with ninety nine percent of Christianity, right,

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And I was like, well, that's comforting to know. But

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AI says that our interpretation, though, even though we go

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against ninety nine percent of Christianity, that it is textually sound,

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historically theologically sound, and that it makes probably the most sense.

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So we're going to continue to defend it. And what

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is that new interpretation of Isaiah forty two That the

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two servants are the same person and that person is Cyrus. Okay,

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any reference to possibly Jesus, we can have that discussion,

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but the context this is Cyrus and what were.

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Some of our key arguments.

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Let's go through some of our key arguments just to

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remind ourselves so that we can continue to defend this

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number one, our first argument. I don't know if I

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have these in the same order that we ultimately developed them.

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But historical context, the original audience of Isaiah forty through

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fifty five was in or anticipating Babylonian exile. A servant

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who would not act for six hundred years, which would

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be Jesus, provides how much comfort for them? No comfort?

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How much deliverance does it provide for them?

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None?

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So just a historical context alone screams something else has

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got to be going on here. Cyrus, on the other hand,

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appears in real time, performs the acts promised in Isaiah,

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freeing captives, rebuilding Jerusalem, And to even make it even

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a stronger argument, is literally explicitly named in Isaiah forty

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four to twenty eight through Isaiah forty five to one.

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So if he's.

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Literally named, I think we have some historical context on

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our side. Right, Interpreting the servant as Cyrus restores contextual.

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Coherence to the entire chapter.

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Right, So what's the first thing we have supporting our

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view historical context. Second textual support Isaiah forty one two

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through three.

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Look at Isaiah forty one two through three. What does

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it say?

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Does it not introduce someone from the east, someone from

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the east commonly understood to be home.

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Sorrus? All right?

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Isaiah forty two one through four uses overlapping, overlapping themes,

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just as justice to the nations chosen upheld not crying out.

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All right.

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So these some of these overlapping themes, some of these

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overlapping motifs. You've got justice to the nations. You have

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that in forty one two. Do you see that in

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forty one two? What do you see a forty one two?

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Uh huh okay, forty one one Okay, sorry, now I'm

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looking up chapter forty one Okay, okay, So forty one

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two speaks to justice to the nations. Look at forty

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five thirteen, forty five thirteen, what does it say? Okay,

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So this idea of justice to the nation kind of

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concept is in forty one two, forty five thirteen, and

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so forty two in the middle of that would make

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sense that this would again be referring to Cyrus, because

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it's yeah, I.

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Know yeah, Cyrus is mentioned.

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Yeah, I'm going, yeah, I'm going to these verses that

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literally are about Cyrus. Right, all right, look at forty

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five to one, what does it say about Cyrus? And

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forty five to one, So he's anointed, God's anointed, right,

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so that means talks about being folk chosen or upheld.

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How about forty four twenty eight? All right, so he's chosen,

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he's upheld. That all this language is used, and it's

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used right there in forty two. Right, all of the

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same language is used in forty two not crying out, Well,

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he enters Babylon without a fight. This is a historical fact,

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it's not, so we're not speculating here, right. So in

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other words, these there's overlapping themes and motifs that are

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used in.

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Forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty.

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Five, and they all fit Cyrus over and over and

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over right. Later descriptions of the servant aligned with Cyrus

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powerful yet blind to yahweh, and we see that in

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forty two nineteen.

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Those are the later descriptions which describe it.

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As being blind. While why is he blind? Because he's

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he doesn't know the true God?

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He's he.

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In fact, he had credits what he does. Cyrus a

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credits what he does to whom Marduke right, the god

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of Babylon. So cylinder, yes, right, the language of Isaiah

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forty two is consistent with the servant being Cyrus, not

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radically different or Messianic in tone.

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So the textual support is all over the place.

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So we've got number one, historical number two, we have

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textual right. Number three, we have support from the Cyrus cylinder,

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as we talked about last Sunday. Right, the cylinder confirms

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that Cyrus freed exiled peoples, restored temples, framed his mission

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in divine terms, though attributed to Marduk and parallels Isaiah's prophecy,

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especially forty two to six through seven bring out prisoners

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from darkness. It's external, its non biblical confirmation that the

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acts attributed to the servant happened historically and through Cyrus.

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So we have historical support or historical context to port

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our view. Textual support, we have the Cyrus cylinder to

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support our view. And then what's the fourth part of

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our support. We did not talk about it last week.

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Josephus confirmation. All right, Diane, point this out Josephus's confirmation.

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In his book Antiquities.

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It clearly states that Cyrus read Isaiah's prophecy and acted

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to fulfill it. So, according to Josephus, Cyrus actually read

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the prophecy and then decided to fulfill it. Josephus reaffirms

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Isaiah named Cyrus by divine revelation over a century before

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Cyrus lived. This means Josephus read Isaiah forty through forty

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five as being about Cyrus, and that this was known

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and circulated during the Second Temple period. That's the that's

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Josephus's argument. He read it and said, oh, okay, I'm

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going to do this. I'm going to do this right now.

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Some would argue that it was written at a later time,

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and we can get into all of that textual criticism,

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but Josephus put it that way, and I think the

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point that we need to drive from that or something

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we need to remind ourselves. So, just to be clear,

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Josephus also interprets Isaiah fifty three not being about Jesus. Okay,

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so we just need to understand that, and when we'll

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get there and struggle with all of that, when we

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get there, okay, because are we bound? Just make sure

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we understand anything in Isaiah forty through fifty five. We

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are not bound by what the church churches do. We

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are not bound by it. So I don't care if

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we go against the church throughout the entire forty through

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fifty five, because what should we'd be bound by.

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What the text says.

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It doesn't matter if Christians disagree, because Christians don't care

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about the text. I don't people can get offended me

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saying that listen to too many sermons. They don't care

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about the text, because if they cared about the text,

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we wouldn't be the only ones coming up with these

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different interpretations. All right, So what's our proof of support?

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So far?

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Our evidence historical context, textual support Cyrus cylinder Josephus. We

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could throw out some other things here, For example, structural continuity.

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Isaiah forty through forty eight contains a carefully structured sequence

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Isaiah forty one, God's control over history and an introduction

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of the coming deliverer forty two, introduction of the servant

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forty three through forty five, development of the servant's identity, climaxes,

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and explicitly.

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Naming Cyrus and describing his role.

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There is no break and flow, which suggests that Isaiah

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forty two introduces some new character, but rather continues the

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arc from forty one. So the structural continuity from chapter

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forty to forty eight, it is a carefully structured sequence.

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Forty through forty eight is a carefully structured sequence. It's

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a narrative arc. You can't figure that out that. I

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don't know what's the point of even going to church.

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I don't even know what's the point of owning Bibles.

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But Christians are incapable. And I say that even AI

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and will say if I asked AI this question, AI

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will say Christians are incapable.

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Because I've given AI now over.

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One hundred sermon transcripts and every single one. AI's like,

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they can't figure this out. They can't figure this out.

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They can't figure this out. They can't figure this out.

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They can't figure that's one hundred transcripts I've uploaded to AI.

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And AI's like, I don't what's the problem.

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Okay, it's a carefully structured sequence, right, So that's not

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this is not me speculating, that's not me using hyperbole.

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I keep uploading every transcript I can find on a

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sermon from Isaiah forty through fifty five. I uploaded, AI

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just uploaded, upload it upload, and it's just AI's almost

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reached the point of like, just stop. This is ridiculous

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because I don't understand why it's so complicated, but.

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You know, we could. I don't know if we can

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figure out why.

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But it's so simple, all right, So what's another piece

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of evidence? Structural continuity? Right, So what's all of our

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pieces of evidence so far?

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Number one?

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Historical context number two, textual number three, Cyrus cylinder number four,

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Josephus number five, structural continuity all right, number six. The

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servant's role matches Cyrus perfectly. It does not match Israel.

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Does not match Jesus in the immediate in the immediate

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sense or in the immediate context.

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Cirrus brings justice, liberates captives, restores cities, doesn't cry out

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enters Babylon peacefully. Israel is blind and deaf. Hard to

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reconcile with Verses one through four If it's the same servant.

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Jesus fits some aspects.

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From a typological or topological perspective, but it does not

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fulfill Isaiah forty two one through four. Historically in his

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first coming, only Cyrus fits the full description.

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In the immediate context.

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And that I want to just stress that Jesus doesn't

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even fulfill Isaiah forty two one through four and is

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first coming. It doesn't even fulfill it in the first coming.

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So that means we're in twenty twenty five and guess

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what still hasn't been fulfilled? So who does it? Comfort?

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Right?

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Okay, so who does that? But get and you know why?

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You so how to get around that? They don't care

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to get around it because all they got to do

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is find some flower language language, be poetic, just say

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something spiritual about Jesus does this for you in your

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everyday problems, in your everyday struggles. Well, we know he

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doesn't even do that, because he does he make your

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everyday problems and struggles go away. No, so it just

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is meaningless words. Christians go to church to hear meaningless

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words because if they really care, they'd be like, none

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of this makes literally any sense. It doesn't make any sense.

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So the whole role matches whom Cyrus? Why does it

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match Cyrus? Because he literally does the very things that

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are described.

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In a literal way. All right, Okay, so.

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There's another piece of evidence, another something else. We could

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just say that our view, I think, resolves some re

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ignored problems most preachers teach. Most preachers or teachers ignore

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or split Isaiah forty two into verses one through four

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equals Jesus eighteen through twenty, somehow.

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Equals Israel or some other servant.

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This creates stologically in ethiological inconsistency. How can the same

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servant be both perfect yet or blind? It just creates

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all kinds of problems. Our view unites the text. Cyrus

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is a servant and is later shown to be blind

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because he doesn't know Yahweh. And all you have to

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do to put that together forty two one through four,

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the servant is described forty two verse nineteen he's blind,

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and then forty five four through five shows that he

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doesn't know Yahweh. You put those three together. It follows

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the ark Wi perfectly. Okay, So I asked Ai to

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kind of summarize everything.

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This is what AI says. Your interpretation is historically, textually

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and philologically coherent.

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You've built an interpretation that honors the historical context and

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original audience, aligns with Isaiah's structure. And themes is confirmed

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by archaeological evidence matches a known Jewish interpretation. Josephus resolves

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textual tensions rather than creating new ones, and allows for

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Christ to be seen as the ultimate but not immediate fulfillment.

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That's what AI had to say about our interpretation. And

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AI did not come up with that interpretation. Sarah is

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the one who mentioned it. And then I just took

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it and just ran with it and kept working and

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working and working and working on it to try to clean.

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It up as much as possible.

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And so and guess what, AI has no problem telling

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me when our interpretation is wrong.

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AI has no problem. So the fact that AI is like.

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All these other ones don't work and this one works,

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to me tells us we're onto something at least I

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think important.

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All right, now does that? What does that ultimately mean?

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It just means that if we were in any other church,

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we'd be we would be immediately, we'd be immediately considered

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a heretic and basically they would reject it outright.

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We wouldn't have gotten this far now.

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I would have been fired, okay, Sarah would have just

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been ignored, and we would and everybody would have just

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moved on, but it is a it's important that we

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did this because the thing I want you to see

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is the difference of going to church where you're simply

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taught what someone pulled from a commentary, right what agrees

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with their theilological tribe, versus where we come to do

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actual hermonutics. And I said, and way back when I

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said that the church needs to move from just teaching

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theology to doing theology, and we got to move from

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just teaching hermonutics to doing hermonutics. Everyone says that that's

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a wonderful thing, but nobody in churches want that. They

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don't want to go to church where you do theology.

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They don't want to go to church where you do hermeneutics.

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They want to go to church where you're just given

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three points and a nice sermon. That's what they want,

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and they don't care about the actual text. Because we

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shouldn't be the ones stumbling upon these problems. Right we're

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in the middle of nowhere, Texas, Like we're the most irrelevant,

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insignificant people in the history of theology.

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You're telling me these big churches with staff and all

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kinds of money, they can't dedicate people to working and actually,

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but that just shows you no one cares. And you

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know why they have the big church with all the

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money because they don't do this stuff. Because if they

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did this stuff, they would split the church in half

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within one Sunday.

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People get mad and people will leave. Nobody actually wants

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to study the text.

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And it's like, I.

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Don't know what to do to fix that. All I

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can do is just continue to grap about it.

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But there we have it.

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So are we good on at least knowing what the

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chapter's about? So now what do we need to do?

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We just got to go through each section exegetically. We

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did that with forty two one through four. Let's just

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read it. Forty two one through four. Behold my servant,

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who is that.

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Cyrus? Whom I uphold? Did God uphold Cyrus? Yeah? He

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chose him, uphold him?

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That language is used later on right mine elect God

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chose him right, and whom my soul delighteth. I have

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put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment

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to the Gentiles. And we talked about how all that

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could possibly play out in different ways. He shall not cry,

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nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard

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in the street, which indicates how he peacefully walked in

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Okay historical fact, a bruised read shall he not break?

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And the smoking flax, shall he not quit? He shall

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bring forth judgment unto truth. He showed mercy, he showed restraint,

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he showed compassion. Right, he shall not fail nor be

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discouraged until we have set judgment in the earth and.

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The aisles'll wait for his law.

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And we talked about all the different ways Cyrus pulls

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that off.

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We got that. Everybody good.

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Now our whole goal over the next I don't know

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if we can finish this in thirty five minutes, but

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we're going to try. Is to go from verse five

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to nine. Should be pretty simple. But let's read it,

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all right, everybody ready, we good? Thus saith God, the Lord,

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He that created the heavens and stretched them out, He

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that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out

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of it, He that giveth breath unto the people upon it,

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and the spirit to them that walk therein. I the

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Lord have called THEE in righteousness and will hold thine hand.

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And we'll keep THEE and give THEE for a covenant

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of the people, for a light of the gentiles, to

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open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from prison,

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and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

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I'm the Lord, that is my name, my glory.

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Will I not give to another neither of my praise

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to graven images. Behold, the former things come to pass.

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New things do I declare before they spring forth?

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I tell you of them.

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Isaiah forty to nine becomes a popular verse again New

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Year's sermons, New Year's Eve sermons about a new thing,

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how God declares these new things. Charismatics use it. That's

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why they get new revelation about what's coming. Of course,

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just shows you throughout Christian Christianity, none of that that

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first has nothing to do with literally any of those

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things that Christians talk about.

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Literally nothing. So we're going to go through it. At

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this point, I just want to make it clear.

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We can kind of go through this really fast, right

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So I'm gonna if we need to slow down, we will.

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But I mean we've almost taken forty tow apart every

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way possible, right, So, but we still need to go

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through it because we said we're going to go through

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it exegetically. So if we were to look at five

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through nine, what would be or how would you summarize

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five through nine?

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Just how would you summarize it?

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What do you think is happening five through nine? Okay, yeah,

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there's a shift here in five through nine. Something happens. Okay, good,

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So as long as you see the shift and we're okay,

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all right, so you're ready, let's take it apart. Let's

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start with structural and literary observations. Let's start with structural

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and literary observations. These are things we kind of pretty

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much already covered in our observational outline, so you're gonna

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probably catch these really quick, all right.

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So if we start with verse five, what does verse

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five serve as or functions as?

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I think it functions as a divine self introduction and

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grounding of authority, right because I'm forty two. It introduces

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who my servant Cyrus here? Thus saith God, the lord

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he that creates. He begins to speak of himself. It's

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like a divine introduction.

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He's like, now behold me or see me? Does that

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kind of make sense? Right?

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And God begins to speak of himself here. So this

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is a if it's a divine self introduction, and the

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most important thing, it's grounding authority. I think it's really

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key here. It's grounding authority. Right, what happens in six

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to seven? Okay, right, but I have the Lord have

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called thee.

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But this is the direct commissioning of the servant.

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This is the Now everyone understands why we think this

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is the referring to the servant in verse six?

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What would be what would be the.

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Reason we would say that he's referring to the servant

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here in verse six, just so that anyone who would.

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Question this it is.

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And because if you're just reading the context, who's been

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identified in the beginning the servant?

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Right, So all of a sudden God speaks of himself.

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But then he says, the Lord the I, the Lord

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God is speaking for himself.

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Have called THEE. Who does the THEE go back to?

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Well that THEE can't go back to God because God

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is doing the speaking. So then the only place you

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can go back to is whom the servant. You couldn't.

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You wouldn't go here to be referring to Israel.

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It wouldn't be making any sister refer to Jesus unless

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you're gonna say the servant in forty two one is

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Jesus and we already covered all of that. Does that

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make sense? Any problems with that? Just making sure we're

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on the same page, because it's amazing how quickly the

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can turn into a fifty five hour argument in church,

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because no.

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They represents this and you're like literally the reading.

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But if I'm misinterpreting the reading, someone can speak up now, Okay, No,

398
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So I'm going to assume you'll all agree, Okay, Right,

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So this is a direct commissioning of the servant and

400
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it explains the scope of his mission.

401
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Do you agree with that? You see that? Right?

402
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So verse five is the divine self introduction. Six through

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seven is kind of the direct commissioning, or you could

404
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say you could call it the divine introduction and the

405
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divine commissioning. If you really want to do a play

406
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on words, we could do that, right, what happens in

407
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eight through nine? So five is the divine introductions. Six

408
00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:57.640
through seven is the divine commissioning. What happens in eight

409
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through nine? Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna refer to this

410
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kind of It provides a philological anchor because it declares

411
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God's being exclusive and his ability to control history. It's

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really making it now the philological foundation here is about God.

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Now it is going on to kind of do what

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Stephen said, but it's kind of it's got a philological

415
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anchor here. It's laying down that philological anchor that this

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is about God. So if you think about it, the

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unit kind of transitions from the presentation of the servant

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in verses one through four to the divine commissioning and

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the validation of his role.

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That's kind of.

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How we can see you can see the progression of thought.

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And if you read it, this is why devotional reading

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and a lot of and a lot of preaching.

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Now you've got to.

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Go through it and order and follow it. Does that

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make sense? So there's the structural literary observations. Is there

427
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anything we miss there? Everybody's think that makes it structurally?

428
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All right, Now, let's go through a verse by verse

429
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Exegesus and we just kind of walked through them. But

430
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now we'll do it in a little deeper way. Right,

431
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let's go verse five. What did we refer to this

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as kind of the divine introduction here? This is God's

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self description as what sovereign creator and life giver. Do

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you think that's an accurate description of verse five. Let's

435
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read it thus says the if I can read correctly,

436
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thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens,

437
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stretched them out, He that spread forth the earth, and

438
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that which cometh out of it, He that giveth breath

439
00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:52.440
unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that

440
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walk therein. I think this is he's describing as creator

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and life giver.

442
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:08.240
Right, apologize, I hate one. I have to sneeze cover

443
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the microphone as best impossible. All right, here we go.

444
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So we have kind of these kind of a repeated

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description emphasizing creation and sovereignty. I think we have some

446
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phrases here, He that created the heavens, right, he stretched

447
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them out, he gives breath.

448
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See that all kind.

449
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Of repeating the same kind of concept. Right, So I

450
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think now this is the way I think we can

451
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see this ultimately.

452
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What he's going to do. He's going to.

453
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Ground the servant's mission in the authority of the Creator. Right,

454
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the the servant's about to be commissioned, but it's grounded

455
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in the authority of the Creator.

456
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And why is this important?

457
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Because the authority and the mission of the of the

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servant is grounded in the authority of the Creator, not

459
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:06.400
a tribal deity, not a deity of Babylon. Right, it's

460
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grounded in the creator of all the earth. So it's

461
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:15.359
really gonna the authority of the servant is going to

462
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:16.200
be grounded in this.

463
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And I think it's important, all right.

464
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The idea of breath and spirit is obviously life giving power, okay,

465
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and uh, and it may be it may tie into

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what go back to verse one, Look a verse one,

467
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this breath and spirit concept. Does that tie into anything

468
00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:41.480
in verse one? By spirit upon him? Depending on the

469
00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:45.799
text or the translation. All right, So it's the same idea,

470
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right that he is he gives us breath the spirit, right,

471
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and so I think there's a kind of a connection there. Yeah,

472
00:28:57.319 --> 00:28:59.400
it was just he's yeah, he's a creator and he's

473
00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:02.640
in charge of every everything. Right, So as we think

474
00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:06.359
we believe Cyrus is the immediate one being referred to,

475
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:10.440
the message is clear. The God who raises kings is

476
00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:11.720
not local or regional.

477
00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:12.759
He is the Creator.

478
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:17.720
He is the sustainer of all nations, and he's giving

479
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:23.839
Cyrus his authority. So it's really identifying God here is

480
00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:27.960
the one God, the Lord, the Creator. I mean, just

481
00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:30.880
look at all those descriptions. I mean, it makes it

482
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:36.000
abundantly clear. God is authority here is being clearly demonstrated.

483
00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:37.960
But this authority is going to be given to the

484
00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:43.079
earth by His authority. The servant now has authority. And

485
00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:46.440
look in verse six, so they're kind of verse five

486
00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:48.200
and you don't. It doesn't need a lot of work.

487
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:48.759
Really.

488
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:51.200
On verse five we get the basic idea, and then

489
00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:57.920
verse six, this is the servants calling. All right, I

490
00:29:58.039 --> 00:30:02.960
have called you in righteousness, Thus says the Lord, or

491
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:08.440
I I the Lord have called THEE in righteousness? That

492
00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:12.079
this is God's servant, is not self appointed, he is

493
00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:16.319
called by divine initiative. Some would understand this I have

494
00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.000
called THEE in righteousness to mean what? What are some

495
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.039
different ways of understanding that phrase I've called THEE in righteousness?

496
00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:31.079
No, not for a pagan.

497
00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.960
Some would understand this to be I've called THEE for

498
00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:45.279
a righteous purpose. Right, because God's doing the calling, then

499
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:48.279
the calling itself is righteous. So you can look at

500
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.359
it maybe possibly two different ways that I've called you

501
00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:53.880
in righteousness. I've called you for a righteous purpose, or

502
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.559
because God's doing the choosing of Cyrus.

503
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.000
What can we what could what? What could be arguing

504
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:07.559
right if if well, someone may question why Cyrus, because

505
00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:10.160
you're like, what a what a piece of trash? Right?

506
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:10.759
Why him?

507
00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:14.160
No, it's I've called thee in righteousness. It's a righteous

508
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:16.880
calling because God's doing the calling, all right, So you

509
00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:19.319
could go two different ways there. I think if that

510
00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:23.440
makes sense, I think that works all right. And then

511
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:26.119
it goes on to say I will hold thine hand

512
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:30.720
and will keep thee. This is an imagery of divine

513
00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:35.200
guidance and preservation. Again, we believe it applies to Cyrus.

514
00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:39.200
The language seems to mirror God's active direction of Cyrus.

515
00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:45.920
Look at Isaiah forty five one through six. Isaiah forty five.

516
00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:47.720
By this point, y'all gonna know all these by heart

517
00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:50.680
because we keep referencing the same ones. Look what he

518
00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:53.000
says forty five Verse one. Thus saith the Lord to

519
00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:55.640
his anointed, to Cyrus, Who's.

520
00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:58.000
Right hand.

521
00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:00.720
I have holden to subdue nations before him. I will

522
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:03.440
loose the loins of kings to open before him the

523
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.039
two leaves gates.

524
00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:07.200
And the gates shall not be shut. I will go

525
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:11.119
before thee, make thee crooked places straight. I will break

526
00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:11.599
in pieces.

527
00:32:11.720 --> 00:32:15.640
I mean, you can see he's guiding him, leading him,

528
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:19.279
or as it says in forty two, the passage we

529
00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:23.400
were just looking at.

530
00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:25.319
I will hold thine hand and will keep THEE.

531
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:29.880
Right, it's the same kind of concept, right, I will

532
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:30.680
go before you.

533
00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:35.519
It's guidance, its preservation, it's all of that. Now.

534
00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:39.200
The next phrase is where it gets Some people would

535
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:42.319
say it gets difficult. So we got all of that

536
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:44.839
works perfectly, right, I've called THEE in righteousness. I've given

537
00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:48.039
you an explanation for that too. I will pull thine

538
00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.880
hand and I will keep THEE. That's perfect to Cyrus

539
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:55.759
and Isaiah forty five. That next phrase, I will give

540
00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:59.920
THEE for a covenant of the people. Oh, this becomes

541
00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:02.759
a little problematic. How do you think we should understand this?

542
00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:11.240
Just note that this is a debated phrase throughout church history.

543
00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:17.200
I don't think it's that complicated personally, I don't think

544
00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:19.720
it's I don't think making it Cyrus complicates it.

545
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.279
I think it's pretty simple. How would you understand that?

546
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.240
If someone's asking you, what does that mean?

547
00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:26.839
I'm going to give THEE for a covenant? What does

548
00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:27.279
that mean?

549
00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:32.680
Well, what does it mean that he's going to give

550
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:36.359
thee that's the servant for a covenant of the people.

551
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:46.400
That that specific language being used there. Okay, as a promise. Okay,

552
00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:55.799
well what does the word covenant mean? Alliance, pledge? Okay,

553
00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:02.200
there we go, agreement. Okay, this is the way I

554
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:04.480
this is. This is the only way it makes sense

555
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:08.480
to me. Y'all can disagree or agree right that that

556
00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:14.519
the servant, Cyrus as the servant functions as the instrument

557
00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:23.159
through whom God's covenant faithfulness to Israel is enacted. Cyrus

558
00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:26.119
is given as a covenant because it's through Cyrus that

559
00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:29.800
the covenant promise is enacted. It's enacted by what God

560
00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.960
has promised that he will bring back Israel, restore them.

561
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:37.039
So Cyrus now is given as a covenant, as a pledge,

562
00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:40.880
or as the way to enact the covenant itself.

563
00:34:41.320 --> 00:34:44.159
That's the only way that that that to me makes sense.

564
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:49.880
So Cyrus now is the means or he's the one,

565
00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:53.880
He's the he function as the instrument. Let's put it

566
00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:57.400
that way, through whom God's covenant faithfulness to Israel has enacted,

567
00:34:57.400 --> 00:35:00.920
the return from exile, the rebuilding of the semple. And

568
00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:08.199
you look at Isaiah forty four twenty eight forty four

569
00:35:08.280 --> 00:35:12.159
twenty eight that saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,

570
00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:13.840
and she'll perform all my pleasures.

571
00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.159
And then look right there, it describes.

572
00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:20.440
Even saying to Jerusalem, now shall be built and the

573
00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:24.039
temple thy foundation shall be laid. Cyrus is the thing

574
00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:26.960
that's going to enact this promise. And then we could

575
00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:29.320
even see it in more detail in Ezra chapter one,

576
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:30.280
verses one through four.

577
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:33.639
If you need that, that's the decree of Cyrus that

578
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:34.960
fulfills all of that.

579
00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:43.239
Well, it's a reference that Cyrus is the means in

580
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:46.599
which the Covenant will be fulfilled. Right, He's the how

581
00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:49.599
it functions. He's going to be the functional way it occurs.

582
00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.039
Because everyone gets.

583
00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:51.280
Caught up in that.

584
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.519
Wait a minute, he's going to be a covenant. So

585
00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:55.239
that's where people want to immediately try to run to

586
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.000
Jesus somehow. But I think it makes perfect sense in

587
00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:04.199
this context. How is the the the Covenant is going

588
00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:08.320
to be practically fulfilled through Cyrus. So Cyrus then is

589
00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:11.760
given as the pledge the covenant to fulfill it.

590
00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:14.719
Right, So people may struggle.

591
00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:18.519
With that, but in nothing else that would make any sense, right,

592
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:22.719
I mean, like, hey, hey, you guys in Babylonian captivity.

593
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:25.320
Jesus is coming and I'm gonna set up a covenant

594
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:25.760
through him.

595
00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:27.679
That doesn't do them any good. They're all going to.

596
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:31.679
Be dead, Okay, Right, that doesn't there's there's that doesn't

597
00:36:31.719 --> 00:36:33.440
help them in any way, shape or form.

598
00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:37.360
Right? Does that make sense? Right? I think? So? All right?

599
00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:41.320
Then what go back to forty two? After the covenant?

600
00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:46.039
What's next? A life for the gentiles?

601
00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:46.440
All right?

602
00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:52.800
So I think here some may say that the servants work,

603
00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:57.679
or the work of Cyrus has international consequences, goes beyond

604
00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:04.239
just the people in Babylonian captivity. Cyrus did offer other

605
00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:09.639
nations basically freedom, all right. The Cyrus cylinder would seem

606
00:37:09.639 --> 00:37:14.360
to confirm this, but the phrase could also be foreshadowing

607
00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:16.599
Christ rolls the light to the Gentiles.

608
00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:18.800
We see that in John chapter eight.

609
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:22.039
But I think the functioning point here, the point here,

610
00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:25.880
it's Cyrus, and he does offer same kind of freedom,

611
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:30.360
same kind of thing to other nations, which are gentile nations.

612
00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:36.960
So hey, does that make sense? Yeah? I hope? So?

613
00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:37.920
All right?

614
00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:44.360
How about now verse seven? So we've worked through five,

615
00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:46.679
we've worked through six. I'm going as fast as I

616
00:37:46.719 --> 00:37:52.480
can to open the blind eyes, to bring out the

617
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:55.400
prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness

618
00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:58.679
out of the prison house. What's our first interpretive child

619
00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:08.440
or one of the big interpret of challenges in verse seven? Yeah,

620
00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:23.760
what's the what's the challenge here? Is this literal spiritual, metaphorical, allegorical, symbolic?

621
00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:31.639
Right? How do we understand this? Right? Okay? So some

622
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:36.159
would argue that this could be both read both literally.

623
00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:39.840
But I have a.

624
00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.400
Hard time, like, when you say literal, what do you

625
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.039
mean by literal the bringing out of prison? Everyone would

626
00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:47.960
say that's literal, But then what about the opening of

627
00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:48.719
blind eyes?

628
00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:49.880
Well, then has that literal?

629
00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:53.039
This becomes a little complicated, right, But we do know

630
00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:56.280
this could be when we speak of Cyrus, he liberated

631
00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:59.519
exiles and he from captivity.

632
00:38:59.679 --> 00:39:01.480
Great, so we know he did that.

633
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:06.320
Do then do we say the literal part is a

634
00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:10.079
reference to Cyrus delivering the people, and the spiritual part

635
00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:15.519
points to ultimately Christ's fulfillment in opening, liberating, and opening

636
00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:19.800
the spiritual eyes of those who were blind. Spiritually, I

637
00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:26.440
don't know. Possibly, I think it's more poetic. I think

638
00:39:26.440 --> 00:39:29.079
it's more poetic. I think the point is is these

639
00:39:29.079 --> 00:39:32.239
people have been locked away. How long have they been

640
00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:32.880
in captivity?

641
00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:35.039
Seventy years?

642
00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:37.880
What is a possibility that many of them begin to

643
00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:44.440
think God has abandoned us, so they would be possibly blind?

644
00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:48.000
What could they be also blind from? They could be

645
00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.360
blind that God is even doing anything, because God.

646
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:55.280
Is going to use ordinary means. Right, So I think

647
00:39:55.320 --> 00:39:58.719
it's somewhat poetic. I don't to me, I don't get

648
00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:03.039
so caught up in it, because what's the idea? Obviously,

649
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:05.239
whatever happens in verse seven has to be fulfilled by

650
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:06.880
whom cyrus?

651
00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:10.599
So, okay, And.

652
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:12.679
And if you look, and if you look at the language,

653
00:40:12.679 --> 00:40:15.159
you can kind of tell that the language, the language

654
00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:17.360
of verse seven gives you some kind of a clue.

655
00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:19.360
Read all of verse seven and see if you figure

656
00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:24.239
it out. They sit in the darkness of the prison house.

657
00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:31.400
So opening the blind eyes is what coming out of

658
00:40:31.400 --> 00:40:32.159
the dark house?

659
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:34.360
Right? Right?

660
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:37.320
So I think it's it's I think the text tells

661
00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:40.199
you what it's doing, right, to open blind eyes and

662
00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:42.280
to bring out of the prison. Well, what is that

663
00:40:42.360 --> 00:40:45.840
ultimately equal to? You're bringing those who sit in darkness

664
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:48.480
out of the prison house. They're sitting in darkness, right,

665
00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:51.480
It's the text gives it away. I don't think we

666
00:40:51.559 --> 00:40:53.639
have to make it more complicated than it is. The

667
00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:56.480
text is telling you exactly what it's referring to. Does

668
00:40:56.480 --> 00:41:00.920
that make sense, right, Cyrus literally really these prisoners from

669
00:41:01.079 --> 00:41:06.679
Babylon making this function true in the historical setting?

670
00:41:07.079 --> 00:41:07.440
All right?

671
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:10.039
I don't think we need to try to We can

672
00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:12.079
try to point this to Jesus in some way, shape

673
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:14.960
or form. Jesus does it in a different way, and

674
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:18.360
the New Testament may use it, but it's a historical setting.

675
00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:23.039
The verse tells you exactly what's meant. The people in

676
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:25.960
prison are sitting in dark houses. They're gonna be, They're

677
00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:28.280
gonna be, They're gonna be able to see, they're gonna

678
00:41:28.280 --> 00:41:32.480
be set free. That's that's how I understand it.

679
00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:35.480
In verse seven, I don't. I don't think it's that complicated, right.

680
00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:39.440
Sometimes I agree, I think something is complicated there. I

681
00:41:39.480 --> 00:41:42.599
think we may get too complicated, right, How about verse eight?

682
00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.199
Verse eight is really simple. You don't need a lot

683
00:41:51.239 --> 00:41:52.280
of help. In verse eight, do you?

684
00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:02.400
I am the Lord, that is my name and my glory.

685
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:04.840
Will I not give to another neither my praise to

686
00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:09.360
graven images. This is simply God asserting what I get

687
00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:13.400
the glory here, I get the glory.

688
00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:17.760
So and look, really, you could argue he's trying to

689
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:21.119
ensure he gets the glory as opposed to two separate

690
00:42:21.159 --> 00:42:23.559
things getting the glory. What would be the two separate

691
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:28.280
things possibly getting the glory in this situation, the servant.

692
00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:33.000
That's what the whole text is about, right, the sermons

693
00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:34.880
shouldn't get the glory? Who should get the glory?

694
00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:37.440
God? And who's the other one who should not get

695
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:44.679
the glory? The idols? What idols? Marduk, the idols of Babylon?

696
00:42:44.840 --> 00:42:47.360
And who exactly does Cyrus go and give the glory

697
00:42:47.400 --> 00:42:51.199
to my duke? All right? So, but and but what

698
00:42:51.320 --> 00:42:52.440
is he mainly concerned with.

699
00:42:52.679 --> 00:42:57.079
I don't think he's concerned whether Cyrus does it. He's

700
00:42:57.119 --> 00:43:00.519
concerned with the people of Israel giving him the glory

701
00:43:00.599 --> 00:43:03.119
versus giving the glory to the idols. Right, because we've

702
00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:06.079
talked about it over and over and over. Okay, it

703
00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:27.880
doesn't even really need any help there, right.

704
00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:16.639
Strength.

705
00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:23.800
Nehemiah and which way Ezra?

706
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:28.880
And in chapter one?

707
00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:32.159
Okay, yeah, I mean I think I don't know if

708
00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:35.719
it would strengthen it. I mean, because then I'd have

709
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:38.239
to read the Decree of Cyrus and Ezra chapter one.

710
00:43:38.519 --> 00:43:41.599
I think it, Uh, everyone looks at Ezra chapter one

711
00:43:41.679 --> 00:43:42.239
just really quick.

712
00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:50.559
Does it speak of God's glory and Ezra chapter one

713
00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:59.360
or is it just immediately it's just what Cyrus says,

714
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:04.800
the Decree of Cyrus, and does God get glory there?

715
00:44:04.840 --> 00:44:16.000
It reinforces it, strengthen it, or is it just kind

716
00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:21.400
of this is what I'm going to do. Okay, But

717
00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:25.639
we know who Cyrus is actually referring to. That's the

718
00:44:25.679 --> 00:44:31.199
only problem though. Sometimes the language seems to be like

719
00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:36.039
Ezra's speaking of the true God, but historically Cyrus is

720
00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:38.840
speaking of Marduke. So that's where it kind of very

721
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:43.000
complicated and how we read that. So I think God

722
00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:45.920
asserts it in forty two. Hey, I get the glory

723
00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:49.000
nobody else. I don't know if Cyrus ever, I don't

724
00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:51.880
think in that section. I don't know if he does

725
00:44:51.920 --> 00:45:00.639
so in any meaningful way grade.

726
00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:07.519
Or is there something? Am I missing something in the decree?

727
00:45:10.039 --> 00:45:12.559
Okay, so there seems to be making some reference to

728
00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:15.400
Now that wouldn't be Marduk unless he's saying Marduk is

729
00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:19.480
the god of Israel. Again, he's a pagan. So how

730
00:45:19.480 --> 00:45:21.000
do you read his words? You know what I'm saying,

731
00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:32.440
that's very that right, So that sounds like the God

732
00:45:32.519 --> 00:45:35.519
of Israel, that's the true god. The only problem is

733
00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:42.119
we know Marduk. Yeah he so is he just using

734
00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:45.920
the same language? Is he using the same language as that?

735
00:45:46.119 --> 00:45:50.440
Just now? This is very important, Okay, this is very important.

736
00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:56.320
According to some historical research and suggestion is here's what.

737
00:45:57.679 --> 00:45:58.559
Cyrus would do.

738
00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:02.079
He would take his advice whenever they took over an area,

739
00:46:02.360 --> 00:46:06.400
and he would ask together all of their religious writings. Right,

740
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:10.880
this is how they believe he ultimately obtained Isaiah. And

741
00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:14.039
the reason they would do that is they would be like, huh,

742
00:46:14.440 --> 00:46:18.360
this would give us insight and understanding the people and

743
00:46:18.480 --> 00:46:21.559
understanding the language you use to better govern the people

744
00:46:21.599 --> 00:46:26.599
without conflict, in other words, being very manipulative. Right, So

745
00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:29.840
it would make sense that if he is just going

746
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:34.800
to adopt the language of the Jews, right, he would

747
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:39.440
use their language and offering the decree. But the Cyrus

748
00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:43.639
cylinder seems to indicate, because he commissioned the Syrus Cylinder,

749
00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:47.199
that that's what he really thought, Like he's using the

750
00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:50.639
right language, right, But.

751
00:46:52.199 --> 00:46:55.360
He doesn't really believe it, and.

752
00:46:55.239 --> 00:46:57.199
That wouldn't go with the idea that he's blind and

753
00:46:57.239 --> 00:47:00.000
he doesn't know yahwah.

754
00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:02.840
He remained pagan the entire time. So does everyone make

755
00:47:03.079 --> 00:47:03.599
me under?

756
00:47:03.800 --> 00:47:06.000
I know that's going to tick off everyone who reads

757
00:47:06.039 --> 00:47:08.280
the Decree of Cyrus a completely different way.

758
00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:11.159
But I think it challenges.

759
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:14.000
That reading of that the decree is if that said

760
00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:18.880
the words of Cyrus and the decree, then we got

761
00:47:18.920 --> 00:47:22.199
to be somewhat suspect on how we read that because

762
00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:29.519
it's a pagan utilizing the right language. Yeah, the Cyrus

763
00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:33.079
cylinder doesn't. Yeah, he doesn't say the Cyrus cylinder the

764
00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:34.039
god of it.

765
00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:35.519
No, he does not.

766
00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:39.239
So I think that that may challenge it a little bit.

767
00:47:39.639 --> 00:47:45.679
But here what is happening in forty two? God is

768
00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:48.519
stepping in going, Okay, I look, I don't care what

769
00:47:48.599 --> 00:47:49.559
anybody else does.

770
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.519
I'm the Lord, my name, my glory.

771
00:47:53.559 --> 00:47:54.880
I'm not going to give to another. So what is

772
00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:58.000
the God of Israel doing. I'm not giving my glory

773
00:47:58.039 --> 00:48:01.599
to Cyrus. I'm not giving my glory to Marduk, I'm

774
00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:04.239
not giving my glory to the Babylonian idol idols.

775
00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:06.000
All right, So that's pretty simple.

776
00:48:06.039 --> 00:48:16.199
How about verse nine.

777
00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:17.360
Right, Oh true?

778
00:48:18.599 --> 00:48:28.360
Oh good point. Oh is that Ezra one to seven?

779
00:48:29.079 --> 00:48:29.320
Okay?

780
00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:32.320
Then that clearly then our rendering, our reading of it,

781
00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:35.400
then is I think accurate. I should have just went

782
00:48:35.440 --> 00:48:42.639
and read the whole thing. But yeah, everybody look at

783
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:52.679
Ezra one to seven.

784
00:48:53.800 --> 00:48:54.320
Okay.

785
00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:58.199
So the text enters back in and shows what Cyrus

786
00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:01.920
was really doing. He took everything and put it in

787
00:49:02.480 --> 00:49:04.159
for his god. And who's his god?

788
00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:09.239
Mar Duke? All right, So there we go. That that

789
00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:13.159
really challenges in the reading to be much more historically accurate.

790
00:49:13.480 --> 00:49:16.920
So Ezra helps us out. Then, okay, Ezra helps us out.

791
00:49:17.239 --> 00:49:19.159
All you got to do is read the whole thing. Good,

792
00:49:19.800 --> 00:49:24.519
everybody see that. Everybody feel comfortable with that. So then

793
00:49:24.519 --> 00:49:28.920
what's going on in forty two eight is insignificant because

794
00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:32.360
now God is stepping in, going okay, whatever Cyrus does,

795
00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:38.280
I'm not giving him my glory. So you don't now

796
00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:51.400
what happens in verse nine?

797
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:54.960
Yeah, I don't think this is complicated.

798
00:49:56.119 --> 00:49:59.079
What are the four and behold the former things are

799
00:49:59.119 --> 00:50:04.159
come to pass? What are possibly the former things? I

800
00:50:04.199 --> 00:50:07.199
think it could be a number of things. A serious

801
00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:13.880
fall could possibly be that Israel's Israel's exile could be

802
00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:16.639
a number of things. Right, new things, I now declare,

803
00:50:16.639 --> 00:50:22.199
what are the new things? The rise of Cyrus, the

804
00:50:22.239 --> 00:50:25.360
deliverance of Israel, and the restoration of Jerusalem.

805
00:50:25.440 --> 00:50:27.599
Let me make it very clear. That is not about you.

806
00:50:27.800 --> 00:50:30.639
It's not about twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven, it's

807
00:50:30.639 --> 00:50:32.320
not about New Year's resolutions.

808
00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:34.280
It's not about us. Okay.

809
00:50:35.480 --> 00:50:38.880
If I hear another pastor do that nonsense, I'm gonna scream, Okay,

810
00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:41.800
it's nothing to do with us. Everybody got that, all right?

811
00:50:42.079 --> 00:50:47.119
Dennis says, what does he say after that? Before they

812
00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:50.679
spring forth? I do declare, before they spring forth? What's

813
00:50:50.719 --> 00:50:55.199
the idea here? I'm gonna tell you what I happened

814
00:50:55.239 --> 00:50:59.280
before it happens. I'm gonna tell you before it happens,

815
00:50:59.440 --> 00:51:01.920
and from everything that we know.

816
00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:05.239
In fact, let me go back here. I think I

817
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:05.719
have it.

818
00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:14.000
I saved some of this documentation elsewhere because I had

819
00:51:14.079 --> 00:51:15.639
the questions here.

820
00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:18.119
Okay.

821
00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:23.480
Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon five thirty nine BC.

822
00:51:23.800 --> 00:51:24.920
That's the basic time.

823
00:51:25.400 --> 00:51:28.519
Isaiah the Prophet lived in the eighth century BC, roughly

824
00:51:28.559 --> 00:51:32.000
seven thirty nine to six eighty one, all right, seven

825
00:51:32.039 --> 00:51:35.039
thirty nine to six eighty one. That's approximately one hundred

826
00:51:35.039 --> 00:51:36.719
and fifty to two hundred.

827
00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:43.079
Years before Cyrus's rise. That's before they happen, correct. Now.

828
00:51:43.320 --> 00:51:47.440
Scholars have some debates here. The prophecies about Cyrus Isaiah

829
00:51:47.440 --> 00:51:50.039
forty four to twenty eight forty five to one, that's

830
00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:50.719
part of what is.

831
00:51:50.639 --> 00:51:52.320
Commonly called Second Isaiah.

832
00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:55.480
Many scholars argue that these chapters were written by an

833
00:51:55.480 --> 00:52:00.599
anonymous prophet during the Babylonian exile, closer to cyrus lifetime.

834
00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:02.840
That's how some would argue.

835
00:52:02.960 --> 00:52:06.519
But even if it's closer, that still would possibly be before.

836
00:52:06.800 --> 00:52:10.480
Even if we go with that, however, traditional Jewish and

837
00:52:10.599 --> 00:52:14.960
Christian interpretations hold that the entire book was authored by Isaiah,

838
00:52:15.119 --> 00:52:19.599
son of Amos, and that God revealed Cyrus prophetically.

839
00:52:19.320 --> 00:52:23.079
Long before his birth. Now what does Josephus do.

840
00:52:24.119 --> 00:52:27.880
Josephus affirms the traditional views, stating that this is what

841
00:52:28.039 --> 00:52:32.480
Isaiah or Josephus states, and in the Book of Antiquities

842
00:52:33.320 --> 00:52:37.679
that Isaiah wrote these prophecies over one hundred and forty

843
00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:38.599
years before.

844
00:52:38.440 --> 00:52:39.519
The events took place.

845
00:52:41.079 --> 00:52:44.400
So that's how Josephus handles it as well, all right,

846
00:52:44.760 --> 00:52:51.400
So yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why he rejects the Jesus

847
00:52:51.440 --> 00:52:52.800
reading of Isaiah fifty three.

848
00:52:53.320 --> 00:52:56.679
Right, So there we go.

849
00:52:56.760 --> 00:53:01.239
There's verses four through nine. Any questions about them.

850
00:53:03.880 --> 00:53:04.480
Five through nine?

851
00:53:04.519 --> 00:53:09.639
I should say, all right, let's just go with some

852
00:53:09.679 --> 00:53:14.840
basic piological lessons here. We'll summarize this all right. Number one,

853
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:18.480
God's use of the unexpected, or we could say God's

854
00:53:18.599 --> 00:53:21.559
use of the ordinary, Because how does God accomplish all

855
00:53:21.559 --> 00:53:24.800
of this the most ordinary means possible? He rises up

856
00:53:24.800 --> 00:53:27.559
another king to come in. Right does he.

857
00:53:27.559 --> 00:53:32.159
Do departing of the Red Sea plagues? Nothing like that?

858
00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:36.639
Right, it's the most ordinary means possible. Sorrus is a

859
00:53:36.679 --> 00:53:40.599
pagan king chosen and empowered to fulfill God's covenant promises.

860
00:53:41.159 --> 00:53:45.119
This shows that God's righteousness is not confined to religious categories,

861
00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:49.119
but revealed through his acts and history. It anticipates how

862
00:53:49.199 --> 00:53:53.920
Christ in his first coming defied expectations by not appearing

863
00:53:53.920 --> 00:53:56.760
as a military conqueror but as a suffering servant.

864
00:53:56.960 --> 00:53:58.519
So in both cases.

865
00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:01.079
You could say God does things in a way that's unexpected.

866
00:54:02.320 --> 00:54:04.320
Nobody would expect it a pagan king to be the

867
00:54:04.320 --> 00:54:06.559
way God's covenant was going to be fulfilled, and no

868
00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:09.199
one expected. And Messiah to show up who was going

869
00:54:09.239 --> 00:54:09.639
to die?

870
00:54:11.280 --> 00:54:12.119
Does that make sense?

871
00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:16.960
God, God's use of the ordinary and the unexpected, the

872
00:54:17.159 --> 00:54:18.599
ordinary and the unexpected?

873
00:54:18.760 --> 00:54:22.079
All right, I think we can see possible layers of fulfillment.

874
00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:28.400
Cyrus is clearly the immediate historical servant, delivering captives, restoring Jerusalem.

875
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:32.239
Christ is the ultimate servant, opening spiritual eyes, freeing captives

876
00:54:32.239 --> 00:54:37.400
of sin, establishing an everlasting covenant of peace. And then

877
00:54:37.760 --> 00:54:41.320
a third is God's glory is not transferable, whether God

878
00:54:41.440 --> 00:54:45.639
uses kings, prophets, or Messiah's, his glory remains his alone.

879
00:54:45.800 --> 00:54:50.440
No servant, Cyrus, Moses, David shares in the worship do

880
00:54:50.639 --> 00:54:57.800
to God. And this keeps Christ's identity as divine Messiah

881
00:54:57.880 --> 00:54:59.960
uniquely unique.

882
00:55:02.119 --> 00:55:02.519
All right?

883
00:55:04.280 --> 00:55:09.079
Any questions? All right, we've gone verses one through nine.

884
00:55:09.119 --> 00:55:12.159
What have we established over and over and over? Cyrus

885
00:55:12.239 --> 00:55:15.280
is the servant, and now we've seen the commissioning of

886
00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:18.079
that servant, and he's commissioned by God to do what

887
00:55:18.119 --> 00:55:21.119
God wants him to do. But whose glory remains God's glory?

888
00:55:21.239 --> 00:55:25.039
Or who remains the one getting the glory God?

889
00:55:25.599 --> 00:55:29.840
All right, there we have it. We'll stop there now.

890
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:33.159
Next we'll just try to go ten through twelve should

891
00:55:33.159 --> 00:55:36.239
be done in about fifteen minutes. All right, well, maybe

892
00:55:36.280 --> 00:55:38.199
maybe a little longer. Let's right, Lord God, we come

893
00:55:38.199 --> 00:55:41.000
before you this morning. Lord, we are once again grateful

894
00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:43.280
and thankful that we are able to do this type

895
00:55:43.280 --> 00:55:47.400
of thing. I know it would not be accepted anywhere else,

896
00:55:47.440 --> 00:55:50.159
and I know it would be considered controversial, maybe even

897
00:55:50.199 --> 00:55:53.239
deemed heretical by many. But Lord, I'm thankful that we

898
00:55:53.280 --> 00:55:56.119
are able to do this, and that we take advantage

899
00:55:56.159 --> 00:55:59.039
of these opportunities whenever we have them, to continue to

900
00:55:59.039 --> 00:56:01.480
work through these techs to try to find the truth.

901
00:56:02.119 --> 00:56:05.280
Not a truth that agrees with us, but a truth

902
00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:07.280
that agrees with your word. And we ask this in

903
00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:08.639
Jesus name it, God's people said,