Isaiah 54-55
Notes
Transcript
Isaiah 54-55
Isaiah 54-55
Good evening church! Last week we shared together in the incredible prophetic experience about the Messiah, Jesus in Isaiah 53, and this week we pick up with a continuation of prophecy but this time it is primarily directed at Israel, but I hope you will see also includes us in some of these promises. Lets pray and examine God’s Word together.
1 “Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.
Remember church that the prophecy had been written before the Babylonian captivity. But was intended both for Israel to read it in that state of oppression and depression, just as it was written for us to partake of it in our day. Before we get too deep in the exposition of the passage, lets consider the context. Ancient Israel was a culture that honored fertility. The blessing and inheritance was passed on primarily to the first born son. It was looked upon as a bad thing, a shameful thing, if you couldn’t provide your husband with a son.
So this chapter begins in verse one calling Israel the barren one, and she is told here to sing, to break forth into singing, to cry aloud for there is a new day coming! A day, that will not just bring an end to the oppressive captivity, but also to the shame that you have felt, the feelings of inadequacy. It was a different culture in a different time, and hear God was speaking to them in the way that they could most relate to.
This morning I was telling Nicole about a video I saw yesterday about a young woman who in her mid twenties had had all here teeth removed due to rot from drug addiction. She was in her 30’s now, and felt shame, rejection, and judgement upon her. She met a dentist that agreed to help here and made her some permanent teeth. When she looked into the mirror she wept, tears were falling, but she was rejoicing, in her heart she was singing.
She was now beautiful. I don’t know that she would have won a pageant of any sort, but I just mean her radiance, her gratitude as she hugged the dentist, as she beamed in front of her children. And I thought both what a beautiful story, and how sad and shameful of a testimony of our culture.
There are plenty of places in the world where one’s value, or one’s beauty is not based upon how many teeth they have, yet in America, I don’t have current stats, but in 2016 we spent almost 20 billion dollars on orthodontics, just making sure our teeth are straight? There are tons of other things I could have used in our own culture. Over 2/3rd’s of Americans are overweight yet we have an issue with fat shaming. In this culture at this time, it was infertility.
God says to the barren, sing for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman. So near fulfillment to them was you will be delivered from your captivity and you will be blessed and multiply. Far fulfillment is seen in the book of Galatians chapter 4 when Paul quotes this same passage, I think to include all of us that have been grafted in through the New Covenant in Jesus.
So they are told to have faith in the promise of God and to expand their tent. Notice it doesn’t say just hang out in your mom’s basement and wait for God to do it. The land of Israel is such an interesting study all on it’s own. The span that God gave them is laid out in several different places in the Scripture. Two of the most important are found in Gen 15:18
18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
All the land spanning from the Nile to the Euphrates. The second place, and we won’t turn there is in Joshua 1vs4. But what we need to understand, what the world needs to understand really is that Israel has not yet ever fully occupied all of the land the Lord has given them. Even when they first entered into the promised land, they occupied about a tenth of it. I guess the part the world needs to know, it that they will. That God is a keeper of His promises, all of them.
So, partial fulfillment of this several times throughout the history of Israel. They were regathered as a nation in 1948. Partial fulfillment. There was the 6 day war in 1967. When Israel launched a multifaceted attack and ultimately seized Syria's Golan Heights, the West Bank and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as well as the then Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.
Since then as Israel has tried to obey God’s instruction and receive their land by enlarging the place of their tent, and stretching out their dwellings, the whole world, including America at times has cried out against them to do the opposite, to shrink their tent, to give up their land, and they have to the Palestinian state.
The world needs to know, America needs to know that at the return of Jesus, all that was said to be theirs, will be. Everything from the Nile to the Mediterranean Sea, to the Euphrates. If you were to map that out today, it includes everything that Israel currently possesses, plus all of the territory occupied by the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. God is a promise keeper.
I don’t think I’m forcing application for us here, but maybe. Like I said, the history of Israel all by itself is an interesting study. It has grown and it has shrunk, and grown again, and shrunk, but the day is coming when it will be made hold.
God tells them to grow, to enlarge the place of their tent and the same applies to us. In two ways, neither of them as a nation, but as individuals in relationship with Him. We are always in a place where we are either growing, Or we are shrinking back away from Him. I remember as a kid someone telling me that you will always be as close to God as you want to be, because the only thing holding you back it you. Verse 4 Isa 54:4-6
4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
6 For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God.
Again, the Lord is using terms that were meaningful to them. The idea of widowhood was aloneness, abandonment in a sense has the husband has left, or you were denied one in the first place, but verse 5 says I, your Maker is your husband. Men, don’t forget the church it the bride of Christ, we have that picture in our bibles as well, so this is not feminized or a display of weakness.
Just like in chapter 53 where it was said Jesus wants to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, because they are too heavy for us. God Himself is not just our Maker, He is Redeemer, He is Holy, and He is not just the God of Israel, He is the God of the whole earth.
And God wants to due what no earthly husband could possibly do, what no husband or wife could adequately do for another, minister to the forsaken, the grieving, those morning rejection. He want to be the Husband that restores all of that. Verse 7
7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
We already know that God has never forgotten Israel, that He is faithful to His promises, that until full fulfillment is done, He will always maintain a remnant. Yet He acknowledges both their feelings and the appearance of things in their captivity. The idea, is I understand you feel like I’ve forsaken you…well read the rest of the scroll says the Lord, your Redeemer. Verse 9
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Certainly when the flood waters covered the earth, the mountains and the hills could not been seen. Every single day of our lives there are things that are unseen to us. Things that God knows that we don’t know, it explains as we read in the next chapter why His ways are different than ours.
But here, just because the mountains can’t been seen, it doesn’t mean they are removed, as the waters receded, the thing that was blocking their view, when that was removed, it was obvious, that the mountains remained in their place, as do God’s eternal promises.
Now in this next section, I want you to see something before we go through it and I can’t really show it to you without skipping ahead for a second. First the primary target of The Holy One of Israel for the rest of this chapter is Israel…but, but, the One who is called the God of the Whole Earth tacked this onto the end, which I fully believe means it also applies to those that fit this description. Look at the last verse with me quickly, verse 17. Isa 54:17
Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
So, not limited to Israel, nor is it extended to everyone that goes to church, even a good, solid, bible believing teaching church. It is extended to those that are truly His. Not those serving themselves, but it is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. I point that out for a number of reasons, first there’s some cool stuff in here I want a part of.
Second, I’ve talked to a whole lot of bummed out religious church goers in my life, that have never, ever, repented of their sins, turned away from being a servant of themselves and became a servant of Christ. The go to church, they give money, they might even show up on a work day, but they don’t know Jesus. And they can’t figure out why God’s blessing aren’t being poured out upon their lives.
Repentance and faith are distasteful to the unregenerate; they would sooner repeat a thousand formal prayers than shed a solitary tear of true repentance.
The Necessity Of Regeneration, Volume 54, Sermon #3121 - John 3:7
Charles Spurgeon
God says this is for His Servants, so lets see what it is, back to verse 11. Isa 54:11
11 “O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.
God see you o afflicted one, the one that feels like they are caught in the undertow or being tossed by the wind. The one that can’t find comfort anywhere else, in any one else. He says, I will pour out my riches upon you.
I think there are some awesome parallels here to the New Jerusalem mentioned in Rev 21, not everyone agrees with me, but check it out later and just the the Word speak for the Word.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.
Man, you Mom’s and Dad’s know that when life is knocking us around, our greatest fears are not for ourselves, but protecting our children. God gives the promise here that we don’t have to fear for them, because our security is in Him. Look at it with me, verse 14.
14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Notice He doesn’t say here don’t fear. There are tons of places in the Bible that say don’t fear. Here it is in righteousness you shall be established; again You shall be far from oppression, now look at it....for you shall not fear…vs 15.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
Notice it doesn’t say no weapons shall be formed against you. There may be. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t say no weapons shall strike you, sting you, just that they won’t prosper against the servants of the Lord.
Chapter 55…I think this is the Old Testament version of the Whosoever will invitation we see in the New testament Gospel of John. Isa 55:1-2
1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Pastor Jim and I were talking the morning that Josh Lawrence was with us. I was talking to him about a trip I took several years ago to Honduras, and how the people had nothing and were filled with joy. They had Jesus and that was enough.
They had shelter over their heads and food in their bellies, so when 3 o’clock rolled around it was time to play soccer, time to enjoy their families. When I say shelter, I can’t imagine anyone in this congregation has a garage that isn’t bigger than the average home I saw. And probably much better constructed. They were content.
I thought at the time, how much of our stress in America, is for things that we don’t need, for things that don’t ever satisfy?
Remember last week in chapter 53 when it was talking about dry ground and I took you to John 7 where Jesus says anyone that thirsts let him come to Me and out of his heart will flow torrents or rivers of living waters?
We continuously offer Jesus here. Look at these verses again…Isa 55:1-2
1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
This next verse would have been so good on Sunday…Isa 55:3
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David.
Incline your ear…like shhhhhhhhh, hey, I want to hear this. I’m inclining my ear. I want to be satisfied, I want to eat what is good, and not just take in noise, I want my soul to delight, I want life in my very soul.
I said this would have been a great verse for Sunday…for a couple of reasons. Have you ever seen two people listen to the same exact thing, or maybe listen to the same exact teaching, the same sermon, and to one it was revolutionary and to another, they didn’t get a thing? Or they just don’t get what you saw, or received, or heard?
I’m not saying Sunday was revolutionary, but it is a good example. As I was teaching Sunday, not all at once, but there were at least 10 people that were asleep. I was going to say heavily fighting fatigue, but there were some that weren’t fighting at all. I mean one was less that five minutes after worship ended.
But then there were others that truly had inclined their ears. And they had questions and desired to go deeper. Same room, same message, some inclined and some reclined.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people.
5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
Speaking of King David here. Always interesting the life of King David. A man after God’s own heart. Not a sinless man, not even a perfect example. His sin of adultery, led to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. He tried to hide his sin. His kids were messed up, one tried to overthrow him. But a witness because he had a real, and personal relationship with God.
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
No where in the New Testament or the Old should one take comfort in his sin nor continue in it, Christian or non-Christian. Another Spurgeon quote here....
Nowhere in the whole compass of Revelation is there a promise of forgiveness to the man who continues his iniquity!
The Need And Nature Of Conversion, Volume 48, Sermon #2797 - Isaiah 55:7
Charles Spurgeon
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
God doesn’t think like we do, He doesn’t do what we would do…He knows all that we don’t know....
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Grace and Peace