Category Archives: Wednesday Bible Study

All Glory to God our Father

Today we will go through Isaiah 48 and marvel that this chapter, written about 2,600 years ago, could be written for us today. We gentiles, through the ministry of Paul, after the Jews had rejected their Messiah and their role of ambassadors of Christ’s church unto us, we gentiles have now become sons of Abraham. And this would have scandalized the Jews of that day as we were reviled as pagans, idolizers and generally unpleasant people. Not that the Jews hadn’t worshipped a golden calf or 2 during most of their history. We are a different people, but God knew that and knew that the Jews would be obstinate, but gave them the free will to do what they would. And because the Jews played their strong suit, which for them was obstinently stupid over the patently obvious, God sent his Apostles to the Gentiles, which caused the Apostles to stumble around a bit until they got with the program

Here we find Peter had a dream from God:
Acts 10:9-16
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
11 and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”
15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

So what separates us from the Jews is circumcision and what we eat. But what is unclean and where did that idea come from? You have to go back another 500 years, when Moses was leading them out of Egypt to the promised land, God came to them, and he did that a lot back then, and told them what to eat and what not to eat.

Leviticus 11:1-8
1 The Lord spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth.
3 Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.
4 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which divide the hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you.
5 Likewise, the shaphan, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you;
6 the rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you;
7 and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you.
8 You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

So you see, there were things they could eat and very specific things they could not eat. And I believe the whole “what you eat” thing came from wanting to separate them from what they had done in Egypt, the eating, customs and such. They had lived in Egypt for 430 years and the Egyptians were a Godless people. They had many gods of the small “g” variety. I believe God wanted to have a very clear separation between these 2 peoples, so they didn’t become Jews that acted like Egyptians in the promised land.
Also, sanitary conditions in the hot desert, with close proximity to around 2 million neighbors, made it necessary for God to spell out exactly what to eat and how to prepare it.
Exodus 12:37 37 Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.
I have no idea why women didn’t get mentioned in this passage. It might be a Hebrew thing of you don’t state the obvious.

So food made us different from the Jews, and that got Peter in trouble with Paul. Peter came to Antioch while Paul was there. In fact that is why Peter and Paul were in the same place. Paul had just been officially accepted by the Apostles as one of them after 14 years of going out among the gentiles and preaching that Jesus is our Savior. This was a big relief to Paul, not that he needed to be justified by men when Jesus was his boss, but it’s nice to be accepted by whom you work with. Peter at this time had been hanging around with gentiles, living with them, eating with them and going native, as the saying goes. Then, some Jews who were labeled “so-called believers” because they were false ones, show up and give Peter the stink eye for living like a gentile. Peter, who had exhibited poor choices in his day, starts to shun the gentiles and act like the false believing Jews. Paul, with his brand new and shiny Apostle badge, decides that Peter needs to be publicly spanked back into doing the right thing.

Galatians 2:11-21
11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.
12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.
13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?
15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles.
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!
18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.
19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

There is nothing in the Bible that stated how red Peter’s face became when this happened, but that’s probably a good thing, as we would still be arguing about it.

What I have done is separate out the Jews from ourselves. The Jews did not and still have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and quite often had trouble accepting the Father, too. And we will see that in Isaiah 48. What we will also see is how this book not only speaks of the past but talks to us today. Keep in mind that people, unbelievers, will scoff at that idea.

A prime example of why you should not send you children to college these days.
William Dever, a professor of archaeology from Lycoming College. “I doubt that the miracles attributed to him ever took place. I don’t think he led three million Israelites out of Egypt in an exodus across the Sinai. This was on ABC online news from Dec 28, 2012.

Jude:17-20
“Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said before. They said to you, “In the last times there will be people who laugh about God, following their own evil desires which are against God.” These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world, who do not have the Spirit. But dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 3:3-8
“First, you must understand this: In the last days people who follow their own desires will appear. These disrespectful people will ridicule God’s promise by saying, “What’s happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of the world.” They are deliberately ignoring one fact: Because of God’s word, heaven and earth existed a long time ago. The earth appeared out of water and was kept alive by water. Water also flooded and destroyed that world. By God’s word, the present heaven and earth are designated to be burned. They are being kept until the day ungodly people will be judged and destroyed. Dear friends, don’t ignore this fact: One day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.”

Don’t get sidetracked with these boys talking about the “Last Days.” We are focusing on the here and now. Let us turn to Isaiah 48.

Israel’s Obstinacy
1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
2 “For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
3 “I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4 “Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7 “They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 “You have not heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a rebel from birth.
9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.

Deliverance Promised
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
13 “Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 “Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

Some things that caught my attention:

Verse 1: We swear by the name of the Lord – But not in truth nor in righteousness.
Yes, quite literally. I am talking about how we use the Lord’s name in vain. You say “that’s not the true sense of the term here.” Yes and no. If we are dealing with a strictly English translation of this term, I am going to interpret it as having 2 meanings. One, taking the Lord’s name in vain and two, swearing our dedication to God, falsely. I heard it a couple of nights ago, on the phone. A relative of mine, one that I had not seen in 45 years, had contacted me, wanting to chat and get back together. When asking about me, I gave her my now standard answer of my life really started in 2018, because I accepted the Lord and everything before was of no consequence, in fact bordering on garbage. I then dropped into a mini sermon, asking of course, has she accepted Christ? “Oh, I’m good” she tells me. She states that she’s not really religious, but she’s good with God. Oh really? How good is God with you? John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

You may have lived a charmed life, and by her account, she has, but all that is for naught if you haven’t accepted and repented with Christ. And that small matter of faith without works is not faith at all.

James 2:14-26
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Verse 4: “Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze” – How stubborn of a people are WE? You all know the word of God or at least you know some of it. However, we are a fallen people, all of us. And as of the Saved, the Holy Spirit is within you. The Bible tells us not to associate with sin.The short version is 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
I will also throw in Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

What am I getting at, you ask? Well, you rub up against evil and evil will cling to you. And if you continue to rub up against evil, willfully, a lot of times, not really even considering it to be evil, it’s just what I do, what I have always done. How can that be bad? I just want to be entertained, you say. At what cost, I ask? Our culture has corrupted us, dulled us with what it does, we don’t even feel the wrong of it. I am not going to point a gnarled finger at any one thing. I say gnarled as that is all my pointer finger is these days.
The Holy Spirit, that part of God that is in you will convict you if you have taken what I have said here to heart. Let me now warn you that I am no prophet, no apostle, nobody special at all. Just some shlub that got the nod to do Bible Study and you are free to completely blow off what I say. It is between you and God. But be warned again, that if you continually rub up against evil, “oh it’s just a little evil” you say. Can you be just a little pregnant, I ask? The Holy Spirit will back off, your prayers to God could wind up in the spam filter. And eventually the Holy Spirit will “give you up unto whatever you willingly persist in doing.

Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
This is God talking about lusts of the hearts, but God will throw his hands up and let you do your thing. Free will to honor Him or to walk away.

Verse 5: Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’

We are not much on molten images these days, but we’ve pretty much replaced them with LCD screens or the big screen. I would call the entertainment industry our Babylon of today. We have a large segment of the population that have at least 3 generations trained through habituation and hooked on whatever comes across the boob tube. And then the internet comes along and boy howdy did that change things. Now we can instantly communicate with just about anybody without ever seeing their face. Back when a couple of boys from Israel made a program called ICQ, it allowed a user to chat with anybody around the world that was using the same program. My wife and I had friends from all around the world. Friends close enough that we thought we could travel and see them, all around the world and it revolutionized our concept of friends and what the internet was. This was around the late 1990’s. It was during this time that I was running my little slice of the internet. I managed a dial up service for around 1100 customers in Ruidoso NM. It was there that I started to see the dark side of what instant and anonymous communication meant on the Information Superhighway. Gambling, Porn, Cyber Theft, viruses that would infect your computer, you’d never know it, and steal all your information and then your computer would infect all your friends’ computers because that’s the way they programmed it. Even then, though I was not a Christian as I know it today, I was taken aback at what I saw.
I am pretty sure that the internet is how the final Antichrist will gather his followers so quickly. So let me change what I said. Hollywood used to be our Babylon and still has an attraction. The internet has now taken over as our Babylon.

Verse 13: “Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
I refer back to the university professor making claims of disbelieving the Bible. I have heard it from my own family. Disbelievers will claim that this world is the only thing that is real and the book you are quoting from is a fairy tale.
OK, buckle up, I am going to take another swing at this.
I hope you are aware that the entertainment industry that is so valued in our society is almost wholly composed of Godless people, and they are not shy about telling you that.
Whose master do you suppose they are serving? You might kid yourself and think, I can sit through all the cursing, innuendo, sex and killing and not be affected by it. Really? What is satan’s goal in all this? To dull your senses to sin, so that you are increasingly numb to what is paraded in front of your eyes. All in the name of entertaining you and keeping you happy. The command from Jesus was to love your neighbor as you would love yourself. This is in Mark 12:31. And how will you do this when you are so numb to sin that your neighbor is seen as more of an adversary to be wary of, than someone in need. There is evil in this world and it is in the form of keeping you happy and occupied. That is the supreme irony. What we comfortably consume would be the thing that keeps most of us out of Heaven.
Many people will dispute that. But then most “Christians” think of themselves as good people. I know I did. I mentioned in Sunday School at our Church that people want to turn off the television, because satan is its master.

Crickets…

You know that smile you get from people that says you are a weirdo, one to be tolerated but not listened to? Yeah, I get that and yes, I am a weirdo. This Sunday School is populated by most of the Elders and stalwart Believers of our church, the core group. And I love these people. But satan has done his work all throughout our Land. If you cannot get this core group of Believers to acknowledge that satan is in charge of what entertains them, well, what else will they find acceptable satan is in charge of? How much satan is too much satan?

They thought they were all armoured up and a little bit of evil slipped through a chink in their armor and has clung to them, rendering them unwilling to remove it from their lives. That’s absurd you think. I do too. Something or someone has persuaded them. Was it God, saying “It’s OK, I understand, I don’t mind a little idol worship”?

Definition of an idol: a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered. Or, an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.
Definition of worship: the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.

I say to “get rid TV”, they say “nope, they don’t see the harm and it keeps them entertained.”  And/or, “No way! What would I do with my time?”

I am as guilty as the rest. I use the internet for my entertainment and research. I have changed how I use it, my entertainment is mostly people building things. My rules are they cannot curse and that limits the vast majority of what’s out there. I have another rule that I will not look at anything that has the female form in it. Women dressed chastely are not a problem, but you don’t see much of that online. So, those are my rules and this is not about me. I have asked the Lord for some heavy duty discernment and armour and now I use approximately .003% of the internet.

The biggest threat to me online is people that profess to be Believers, but are not. Much like the Jews that were so-called believers, but were false. And that is where my brothers in Christ are very valuable. I have a couple of them that I bounce things off of and they correct me when I am wrong. Your friends in Christ are as important as going to Church.

This was a lot to talk about today. As I said before, you are under no compunction to listen to my message. Listen to the Holy Spirit within you. Read your Bible, talk to your friends in Christ.

And remember:

2 Timothy 3:16
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

All Glory to God our Father

Let us start out with a bit of Thanksgiving.
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Now turn to Isaiah 47, where we find God focusing on Babylon. Babylon today is just a ruin, as prophesied in Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah was a fellow prophet with Isaiah at about the same time and lived in the small village of Anathoth which today is called Anata. It is located 3 miles NE of Jerusalem. This prophet lived through the invasion and exile of his people to Babylon and had this prophecy about the fall of Babylon.
Jeremiah 51:1-4
Thus says the Lord:

1 “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai
The spirit of a destroyer.
Leb-kamai is a cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me.
2 “I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate her land;
For on every side they will be opposed to her
In the day of her calamity.
3 “Let not him who bends his bow bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
4 “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And pierced through in their streets.”

Babylon was a very ancient city. Mentioned first in Genesis 10. Founded by Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, who we know was a son of Noah. So Babylon was founded not too long after Noah’s boys got off the boat.
It seems probable that the name given to the city actually supplanted the original name at this time, and this incident contributes to the long history of Babylon as a center of religious significance, and as a source of false religion and rebellion against the true God.
Genesis 10:10
10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
And from here we can turn to Genesis 11 and find out why it was called Babel.
Genesis 11
Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

This city was known far and wide for its splendor and wonders. I have read, in doing research for this chapter, current day writers wistfully stating that Babylon was a great city, as great as San Francisco or New York. And I thought to myself, truly, nothing is new under the sun and that can be found in:
Ecclesiastes 1:9
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

Whoever wrote that really nailed it. And in looking into that, because I couldn’t resist chasing down another interesting factoid in the Bible, it turns out that they, the people who translate, interpret and ponder such things in the Bible, think that Solomon wrote it. Figures. Smartest guy ever, blessed good and hard by God and he writes something that turns out to be an eternal truth.

Now, I will carefully step back out of the rhubarb and continue my original point. You have a modern unbeliever, pining for an ancient city, destroyed by the Judgement of God, comparing it favorably to a couple of modern and equally godless cities. And none of them sees the irony.

Babylon back then was a wondrous jewel of the desert, now currently in a permanent state of ruin and inhabited only by jackals and owls, about 700 miles from Jerusalem with a prime slice of desert separating the 2 cities.

We round out our Biblical smack down of Babylon by turning to
Revelation 18:1-10
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.
2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
7 To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’
8 For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

Lament for Babylon
9 “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

I am spending a bit of time with Babylon because it is a major theme and subject in the Bible and the life of the Jews. There are 113 verses in the Bible that refer to Babylon. That in itself is quite amazing. And in those 113 verses, it is mentioned in the beginning, in Genesis, in the middle, the exile, which is a major topic of Jewish writing and where we are at right now, and the end of the Bible in Revelation. I think perhaps that in Revelation, the city’s name is being used symbolically, because the place is just a ruin now. Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild the city in 1983, building on top of the ruins with bricks with this inscription: “This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq.” It didn’t work out though, I think he was hung in or near Babylon and there is quite a bit of Jewish online talk of having old texts that predicted this event, but there is a code that only certain Jews understand. That’s nice and all but if God wants the place to stay rubble, it will stay rubble.

Let us turn back to Isaiah 47 and read that.

Lament for Babylon
1 “Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.
2 “Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 “Your nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame also will be exposed;
I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”
4 Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit silently, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.
6 “I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 “Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’
These things you did not consider
Nor remember the outcome of them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you sensual one,
Who dwells securely,
Who says in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.’
9 “But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10 “You felt secure in your wickedness and said,
‘No one sees me,’
Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;
For you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 “But evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you suddenly.
12 “Stand fast now in your spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13 “You are wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
14 “Behold, they have become like stubble,
Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way;
There is none to save you.

Some verses that stood out to me.
Verse 4 – I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.
Verse 6 – “I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage
And gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them.
Verse 10 – “You felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘No one sees me,’ Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you.

Let’s talk about this. Our society is rife with this very thing. Have you ever done something and thought “Nobody knows or has seen this, so it’s OK.”
Think about it and how we can change our lives to what our Lord Jesus wants them to be. To be righteous, or as righteous as we can be.

Verse 11 – “But evil will come on you which you will not know how to charm away.

Let us now turn to 1 Kings 11 and see what’s up with our boy Solomon.

It was bound to happen. So much wealth, wisdom and women. The first verse in chapter 11 tells the story.
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,

The Old Testament allowed polygamy, but did not encourage it. Then the Romans took over and said it was disgusting and immoral. They allowed the Jews to continue practicing polygamy in Palestine, but everywhere else, the practice was prohibited. Rome is quite a few hundred years off into the future, so in Solomon’s day many people did have more than one wife. And it is not always a bad thing. Women that could not be married for whatever reason would be added as wife and now another widow is not begging on the streets.
I am not sure anyone could have told Solomon to restrain himself when it came to wives. Let’s read on and find out how this plays out.

2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

God then raises adversaries against Solomon. You have to remember that during Solomon’s reign, things were unusually calm, within his government and without. An Edomite named Hadad, who was in the royal line of Edom, had a long time grudge with David, Solomon’s Father. Actually, it was Joab the Commander of David’s army, well let’s just read it in Verse 14:
14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom.
15 For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck down every male in Edom
16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom),
17 that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy.
18 They arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land.
19 Now Hadad found great favor before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20 The sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.”
22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely let me go.”

And so it went. More adversaries, more problems to deal with and most importantly, God was angry with him.
God then uses a prophet named Ahijah that happened to have a new cloak when he met Jeroboam, the soon to be new king of Israel. They were walking down the road together and suddenly Ahijah tears his new cloak into 12 pieces. He hands Jeroboam 10 pieces of cloak and tells him this represents the 10 tribes he would rule over. As God had said, He would tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands but let Solomon have 2 tribes, (Judah and Benjamin) for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. God would allow Solomon to rule his pieces of the cloak all the days of his life. Which was pretty generous considering how Solomon had been acting.
Look at Verses 39 and 40;
39 Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

I guess Solomon was not feeling real grateful for God letting him keep his much diminished kingdom and his life.
Let’s finish this out and read verses 41 to 43;
The Death of Solomon
41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42 Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 46

1 Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle.
The things that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary beast.

2 They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,But have themselves gone into captivity.

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been borne by Me from birth
And have been carried from the womb;

4 Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will bear you!
I have done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.

5 “To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal and compare Me,
That we would be alike?

6 “Those who lavish gold from the purse
And weigh silver on the scale
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They bow down, indeed they worship it.

7 “They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it;
They set it in its place and it stands there.
It does not move from its place.
Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer;
It cannot deliver him from his distress.

8 “Remember this, and be assured;
Recall it to mind, you transgressors.

9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.

12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded,
Who are far from righteousness.

13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.

So what are we talking about here? Idols? Again? This has been a near constant theme when God is talking through Isaiah to his people. To bring this home just a bit, go back to a time when you were young and raising kids. I believe all of us here have had children and now grandchildren and some of us great grandchildren. Any time you are dealing with a kid, there’s going to be a bit of frustration imparting our wisdom into those small resistant packages that insist on just having fun and doing it their way. You tell little Johnny no, don’t put the cat in the toilet, but since Johnny has already done this once and it was grand fun, he considers your request as optional. 

You laugh at that reference, but my son tried that very thing out at Reflection Farm. Tried to put a kitten in the porta potty. Seemed like a perfect fit to him, where it seemed like a stupid thing to me and therein lies the problem. I told him no, don’t do that. He considered it and disregarded it, ‘cause what fun is it to not put a kitten in the toilet.  

I am using this as an analogy to God and the Jews. He creates his people. Well just one of them at first in Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God put man into the garden of Eden and told him to keep it and cultivate it. You see the problem don’t you? No mechanized equipment to “cultivate” that virgin ground. Not an oversight on our Lord’s part, how do you build character if you don’t struggle some? But our God is a merciful God.

Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone;
I will make him a helper suitable for him. 

And I am sure some of us are thinking then,the next thing we expect to see pop into existence is a big shiny John Deere dealership.
I did say some of us, not all. 

Drop down to verse 21 of Genesis 2

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

Imagine Adam’s surprise when he woke up and saw that sitting there. Keep in mind John Deere was well off into the future and he didn’t have any preconceived notion of it, thereby could not be disappointed by a woman sitting there rather than a big green monster parked in the shade with the keys in it. 

Yes, I am being a bit mirthful, but in a Greek tragic comedy sense. Adam and Eve had it all. They walked and talked with God and had dominion over all the earth. Verse 26 says to “let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

And because of their innocence, they did not know evil, and in that, they were much like children, who don’t know right from wrong. We don’t know why Adam did not follow Eve when she encountered a smooth talking serpent. And here we come to the difference between Men and Women. A man sees a snake, and I am talking a manly man, not a girly man that sheiks at snakey things. So Man knows that he has been given dominion over all, sees a snake, says cool until it starts talking and then smashes it with a rock, because none of the other animals had started talking to him, but mostly ‘cause talking snakes just ain’t right.

Women’s brains are wired differently. They are built to make personal connections. They are ruled by emotions. These are things that help them rearing children. But when it comes to talking serpents, they can be swayed by emotions or feelings more than logic. You may argue with that, but if you are honest you felt it yourself, it you are a woman. You can be swayed by feelings. You know something is wrong, but it feels right, therefore it makes sense to you.

Eve got talked into something. She was told by God that they should not eat from that certain tree. They would die if they ate from that tree. That’s a hard and fast rule, a law. She got persuaded to break that law, because what the serpent told her sounded good. Good enough to circumvent the logic of following the Law because it’s the Law. The snake used their innocence against them. And because Adam was not with her to stomp the snake, here we are left with pining for that John Deere Dealership.

The end result is that they were both cursed by God. Man was consigned to toil in the earth and eat of the plants of the field. Dust you are and to dust you will return.

Genesis 3:15-16
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Genesis 3:15 is important as it is where theologians have pointed to this verse as the Protoevangelion or “the first gospel.” This verse is the first promise of redemption in Scripture. The He is Christ in “He shall bruise you on the head” and satan could only bruise Christ’s heal, symbolic for causing Him to suffer. The seed of woman will defeat the seed of satan.

To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”

Sin had changed the dynamic between Man and Woman. The harmonious system of God-ordained roles into struggles of self will. Lifelong companions, husbands and wives will need God’s help to get along. The woman’s desire will be to lord over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design.

Ephesians 5:22-23
22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

This interpretation of Genesis 3:16 is based on identical Hebrew words and grammar used in Genesis 4:7 where we find God counseling Cain over his unacceptable offering. 

7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Not being a Hebrew scholar, but trusting in Godly men who are, I am thinking that “sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” is what they are talking about. Specifically the word desire. That is the word they focused on in both passages, 3:16 and 4:7 that leads Hebrew scholars and Theologians to believe that women will struggle to be over their husbands.

You’ll note that Adam gave in pretty quickly to Eve’s request to eat of the apple, and that also has a consequence in the scheme of things.

Conflict will be between Man and Woman on who will be the head of House and God makes the call.

These passages in Genesis and in Ephesians are what women will struggle with, specifically their self-will and what the feminist movement has written off as Nope, God didn’t mean that. Did you know that many of the women that were leaders of the original feminist movement in the United States were Jewish. That serpent is still playing that same old game.

You’ve probably wondered if I have wandered too far off into the rhubarb. How does this relate to idols? Well, you can’t have idols if you don’t have sin and it is mentioned in the Bible how women have led men off into the sin of idolatry. 

Numbers 25:1-4
While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.
2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.

Another good example is our boy Solomon and we’ll get to that. But let’s pursue the idols that God is talking about in this chapter of Isaiah.

In verse 1, Bel and Nebo are Babylonian gods. Bel means lord, probably referring to Marduk, the most powerful god in Babylonian folklore. Nebo was the god of wisdom, which I am sure they did not use in an ironic sense, but if they had any sense at all, they should have. 

In verse 2, when Cyrus came, even these 2 gods were taken into captivity.

Listen to me Oh Jacob. God is imploring them to pay attention to what he is saying. Versus smiting them where they stand. A Merciful God, who is angry at his chosen people, because He is Holy and that is a concept that they don’t seem to get, nor do we.

God’s Holiness is unlike any other, Hosea 11:9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

his Holiness is essence of otherness, James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Hebrews 6:18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which lit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

He is high above any other, and no one can compare to Him Psalm 40:5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

His very being is completely absent of even a trace of sin. God’s holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes. His love is a holy love, His mercy is holy mercy, and even His anger and wrath are holy anger and holy wrath. These concepts are difficult for humans to grasp, just as God is difficult for us to understand in His entirety.

We were raised in His image. We, meaning by extension Adam, used to walk in the cool shade and talk with God. After satan had done his work, we got kicked out of paradise, our innocence was gone. God in His Mercy had a plan B all along. This book, from the very first, talks of the coming of Christ and redemption. What troubles me when reading this is God has to remind them, and us, where we came from, who we are. 

12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded,
Who are far from righteousness.

13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.

His righteousness and salvation is the coming of His Son. And His Son came and was rejected by his people, was crucified and suffered what was the hell of His Father pouring out His Holy Wrath on Him, Jesus. He then gave up his Spirit and was buried. He then rose again and now it’s a brand new ball game. The old Laws have been eclipsed by Love and Faith. What is missing in this world is that Love and Faith. We are sinful creatures, have been since Adam. What I want you to think about is how much Love you have in you heart. Not hand wavy stuff they bandy about now, but Love that Jesus spoke of.

John 15:9-17

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Romans 13:8: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

1 Corinthians 13:2: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

1 Corinthians 16:14: “Do everything in love.”

That type of Love.

Let us now turn to 1 Kings 10

The Queen of Sheba

10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions. 

2 So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 

3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. 

4 When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 

5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 

6 Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 

7 Nevertheless I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. 

8 How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. 

9 Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” 

10 She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

I wonder what might have happened if the Queen of Sheba had not found Solomon so smart. I do think she was coming with the thought of possibly dominating Solomon and who knows how that would have gone.

11 Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. 

12 The king made of the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.

13 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land together with her servants.

What happens next is basically Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom. The scripture goes on to list all the things that Solomon had. Gold, horses, horsemen, ‘cause horses without horsemen are just expensive lawn mowers. He had 1,400 chariots and so on. 

I hope you can, in your imagination, see how all this stuff, even for a Godly man, could be a very great temptation. And we will leave that right here until next week, when the God speaks to Solomon.

Let us finish with Psalm 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!

6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

All glory to God the Father

All glory to God our Father

Let us turn now to Isaiah 44 and read it together.

The Blessings of Israel

1 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,

And Israel, whom I have chosen:

2 Thus says the Lord who made you

And formed you from the womb, who will help you,

‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant;

And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

Jershurn is yet another name, and an honored one, for Israel. It means righteous or straight and is in contrast to Jacob, which means over reacher or deceiver. Possibly even trickster. 

Lest you think this is a one time use of this new name, not so. While you were perusing Deuteronomy, you would have encountered it first in: – You were perusing Deuteronomy weren’t you?

Deuteronomy 32:15

“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—

You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—

Then he forsook God who made him,

And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Also in:

Deuteronomy 33:5

“And He was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

The tribes of Israel together.

Let’s go back up to the first one, Deuteronomy 32:15 and consider that for a moment. 

Deuteronomy was written by Moses, in Moses’s day, around 1400 BC. The book is right after Numbers, in case you didn’t happen to read it yet. The Hebrew translation is “These are the words”, from the first 2 Hebrew words in Deuteronomy. When the Greek Septuagint translated this book, they got the name wrong. Their version means “Copy of this Law.” A better description of it is “a record of Moses’ words of explanation concerning the Law.”  It is a bit legal and dry to read, but instructive all the same.

Moses wrote that Jeshurun had grown fat and kicked. Meaning that Israel had gotten quite happy with itself and started to rebel against their God. Elohim, and we are dealing with the Hebrew word for God now, because they are all Hebrew and this was well before the Middle Ages came and started dropping J’s all over the place. So Elohim had brought his people out of Egypt and blessed them, because they were his people and He was their God. I keep bringing this up because it is important. This is where God’s plan for bringing salvation to his people, through is Son, Jesus Christ into fruition. And from the word Go, those Jeshurunites, those sons of Jacob were not buying into the program. And as of this day, those stiff necked Jews are still not buying into the program. 

Getting back to Deuteronomy, the book itself does not advance chronologically from the last 2 books and takes place in one location and for a period of about a month. And that month is the last month of Moses’s life. Elohim had told him he would not be crossing over to the promised land. He and his people were encamped in the rift valley, on the plains of Moab, near Jericho. This book is Moses last words of divine revelation from God to the people of Israel. 

Like an ox who has gotten fat and intractable, the people of Jacob were not living up to God’s Law. A more valid question would be, when did they live up to God’s Law? We will have to chase that down another day.

3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring

And My blessing on your descendants;

4 And they will spring up among the grass

Like poplars by streams of water.’

5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

And that one will call on the name of Jacob;

And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’

And will name Israel’s name with honor.

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

‘I am the first and I am the last,

And there is no God besides Me.

7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

From the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

We have heard this same argument from God 2 or 3 times now in Isaiah. God is, quite reasonably, asking “Who is like me? Let them come forward and state their case.”

There must have been a very uncomfortable silence when that was asked.

8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?

And you are My witnesses.

Is there any God besides Me,

Or is there any other Rock?

I know of none.’”

The Folly of Idolatry

9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. 

10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? 

11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.

12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 

13 Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. 

14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 

15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. 

16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 

17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 

19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” 

20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Another talk about idols, that we have heard, again, many times. These Jews had a thing choosing poorly. But we must not laugh at their expense. Are we any different? Since Hollywood came into existence, we have had our own idols. In fact it has become so pervasive that now it has just about overtaken our culture. You have a favorite movie star or more modern media personality, maybe a sports team? Would you rather watch your favorite movie, tv show or sports game than read the Bible, go to Church or do the Lord’s work? These media personalities or sports stars that so capture our attention, we now have them telling us how to live, how to be more virtuous. Telling young women that you no longer have to be a slave to a family, raise kids and all that. No, get an abortion, live your own life. And young women are listening. From the Census in 2016, of the 11 million families in America without spouses, 8.3 million of them were single mothers. If the trend continues, single parent homes will eclipse traditional family homes in the not too distant future.

From 1970 to 2015 there were 45.7 million legal abortions in our country.

Hitler only killed about 6 million Jews. Our country, following the lead of satan, has far surpassed that. Stalin said “a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic.” And that is how people are treating it. A mere statistic, not the horror that it is. God is watching and there is a very strong possibility that He has removed his blessing from the USA. I recommend that you all read Romans 1:18-32 later today.

Out of all that bad news, we can take heart that we have a Merciful and Loving God.

God Forgives and Redeems

21 “Remember these things, O Jacob,

And Israel, for you are My servant;

I have formed you, you are My servant,

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud

And your sins like a heavy mist.

Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

23 Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!

Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;

Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it;

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob

And in Israel He shows forth His glory.

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

 and the one who formed you from the womb,

“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,

Stretching out the heavens by Myself

And spreading out the earth all alone,

25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail,

Making fools out of diviners,

Causing wise men to draw back

And turning their knowledge into foolishness,

26 Confirming the word of His servant

And performing the purpose of His messengers.

It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’

And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’

And I will raise up her ruins again.

27 “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’

And I will make your rivers dry.

28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!

And he will perform all My desire.’

And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’

And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

1 Kings 8 to 9

When last we left Solomon, everything was going well. The Lord’s Temple was done but for the details and so was his Palace. Let us turn to 1 Kings 8 and pick up the story.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

1 Kings 8

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. 

2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 

3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 

4 They brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. 

5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. 

6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. 

7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. 

8 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. 

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 

10 It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Then Solomon faced the crowd and addressed the people.

12 Then Solomon said,

“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

13 “I have surely built You a lofty house,

A place for Your dwelling forever.”

He then blesses the people and gives a prayer of dedication and benediction. What do you do after you’ve built the Lord’s Temple, thanked the Lord and blessed the people? Sacrifices, of course. They now had a beautiful temple to do the sacrifices in and this was something they had waited for a long time. In Israel today, they have all the material to build the Lord’s temple anew, just waiting for someone to give them permission to start building. It is thought that it will be the antichrist that will be that person. As I said before, the Jews have still not gotten with the program.

Getting back to Solomon and sacrifices, they offered to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. And I imagine it must have taken more than a day to get that done. 

While all the Levite priests were hip deep in blood, Solomon observed a feast with all Israel, and that was quite a feast. 

1 Kings 8:65-66

65 So Solomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. 

66 On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David His servant and to Israel His people.

Seems like a good time was had by all. One of the few times Israel was happy and aligned with the Lord. 

Let us now turn to 1 Kings 9 and see that God gives a promise and a warning.

1 Kings 9

God’s Promise and Warning

1 Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that Solomon desired to do, 

2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 

3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 

4 As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 

5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

6 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 

7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 

8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 

9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”

A quote from the 80’s “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” I imagine that’s how Solomon was thinking. And could you blame him? God made him the wisest, wealthiest and pretty good looking to boot. Everything is coming up roses. 

Next week, the Queen of Sheba comes a callin’ to see just how dang smart ole Solomon is.

We will find out then.  Let finish this with:

Psalm 145:1-3

1 I will extol You, my God, O King,

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

9 The Lord is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,

And Your godly ones shall bless You.

11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom

And talk of Your power;

12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts

And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The Lord sustains all who fall

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to You,

And You give them their food in due time.

16 You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them.

20 The Lord keeps all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

All glory to God our Father

Revelation 21:5: “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Our King Jesus told John this from His throne in Revelation, but it holds for the whole book. Keep that in mind when you hear that this Bible is too old and outdated to be of use.

Let us turn to Isaiah 43 where we find El Shaddai, that is Hebrew for Mighty One, speaking to Israel, about to redeem them with these words from his prophet.

1 But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,

And He who formed you, O Israel,

We are going to pause right here and find the first reference of Jacob as Israel.

Genesis 32:28

He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

This was right after Jacob wrestled a man till daybreak. That man was Jesus. Jacob had been concerned over meeting his brother Esau again after so many years, remembering that he stole Esau’s birthright and ran off to live with Laban and gain 2 wives. He was thinking it might not go well so he sent his 2 wives, 11 children and all the rest that he had, across the stream and then went back across to spend the night alone, brooding over the coming day. God arranged that for Jacob, just like he arranges our lives for us. Have you ever had something happen at just the right time and place, that you wondered at it? I believe we would call serendipitous, works of God we are too self absorbed or just plain clueless to understand. Never discount how God works in our lives and put it down to luck.

So Jacob gets named Israel and those 2 names become interchangeable and used many times in the Bible. Isaiah uses it this way 21 times in his book of prophecy. And in that form, it is God’s special attachment to the seed of Abraham.

Back to the verse at hand:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

This is the best thing that could ever be said to a people, “You are Mine! This redemption God is talking about will not be complete until Christ returns to reign over his faithful remnant, all those who believed and accepted Christ.

Verse 2:

2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

This is symbolic of all the travails that we will be confronted with throughout the centuries. God promises them, they, the remnant, will survive it all.

3 “For I am the Lord your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your place.

God delivered his chosen from Egypt and will also deliver them from Babylon and all future exiles. Cush was Ethiopia and Seba is in Southern Arabia, across the Red Sea. They became compensation, so that God could spare Israel.

Verse 4

4 “Since you are precious in My sight,

Since you are honored and I love you,

I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

5 “Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

And gather you from the west.

6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring My sons from afar

And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

We saw this in 1948 when the Jews came back home. Called from the ends of the earth.

Verse 7

7 Everyone who is called by My name,

And whom I have created for My glory,

Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

And the deaf, even though they have ears.

This speaks of them having their spiritual eyesight and hearing restored.

Back in chapter 6, Isaiah was talking to a people that could not see or hear the word of God.

Jeremiah 5:21 said the same thing:

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not.

Verse 9

9 All the nations have gathered together

So that the peoples may be assembled.

Who among them can declare this

And proclaim to us the former things?

Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,

Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

Those smooth talking idolatrous soothsayers could not predict Cyrus would deliver Israel from Babylon. The gods of those nations showed no ability to predict anything at all. They had no witnesses to accredit their gods that they could speak prophetically. 

Verse 10

10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

And there will be none after Me.

On the other hand, Israel’s God was able to not only predict the future, but could make the present do what He wanted. Thereby enabling Israel to witness accurately that their God was real and a Mighty God!

Verse 11

11 “I, even I, am the Lord,

And there is no savior besides Me.

12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,

And there was no strange god among you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And I am God.

El Shaddai!

Verse 13

13 “Even from eternity I am He,

And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;

I act and who can reverse it?”

Deuteronomy 32:39

‘See now that I, I am He,

And there is no god besides Me;

It is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded and it is I who heal,

And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

Babylon to Be Destroyed

Verse 14

14 Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And will bring them all down as fugitives,

Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice.

Babylon was very proud of those ships and now the fugitives of the conquering arrny of Cyrus left in those very ships to escape Judgement. 

Verse 15

15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.”

The Lord was King over Israel from the very beginning, but the people asked for a human King.

1 Samuel 8:4-7

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

From king, small caps, to KING, all caps

Luke 1:31-33

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Verse 16

16 Thus says the Lord,

Who makes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,

The army and the mighty man

(They will lie down together and not rise again;

They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick):

18 “Do not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

Deliverance of the nation in the past will look small in comparison to the future deliverance that the Lord will give his people.

Verse 19

19 “Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

21 “The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare My praise.

Elohim, that is God in Hebrew, is telling His people that He is God over all, which seems obvious to us, well some of us in this age, but not so much to his people back then. They had a notoriously short memory and a what have you done for Me lately attitude. Idolatry was rampant back then. As evidenced by how many times God asked rhetorically for the idols to come up with something, anything at all. Which of course they could not.

1 Kings 18:21

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 

450 prophets of Baal and they could not get a response from their god, even after cutting themselves and becoming hoarse from shouting to get Baal’s attention. 

Elijah’s God not only burned the sacrifice, but the stone altar and the water that was in the ditch. That’s a great story and I encourage you to investigate it on your own.

God has a grievance with the people.

The Shortcomings of Israel

Verse 22

22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

23 “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,

Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

Nor wearied you with incense.

24 “You have bought Me not sweet cane with money,

Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,

You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

Can you imagine what God thinks of us today??? We no longer have to sacrifice or follow the Law. We merely believe and accept His Son as our Savior and Lord. Elohei Chasdi, which is The God Of My Kindness, in Hebrew. For God is my stronghold, the God (Elohim) who shows me lovingkindness (Chasdi). Psalm 59:17.

Today, with all the pull of our modern life style, looking up from our phones takes more willpower than many people have. Our Merciful God has offered us a wonderful gift. He wants our worries, all of them, so that we might not be burdened. And he wants the details of our life, the good things, the bad things, the mundane things. A Father is interested in His children.

Verse 25

25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

God hates sin and He won’t remember ours. The only thing better than that is eternal salvation.

In spite of Israel’s absolute unworthiness, the turning away, wanting their own king, idolatry and all that, God is still offering His hand and will not remember their sins. A merciful God indeed.

Verse 26

26 “Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together;

State your cause, that you may be proved right.

27 “Your first forefather sinned,

And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.

Sins of their patriarchal ancestors, like Abraham, kept them from claiming personal merit. 

Verse 28

28 “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary,

And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.

Even though God will forgive the nation in the messianic age, she must still suffer in the intervening interval.

Let us now turn to 1 Kings Chapter 3, and pick up where we left off last week.

God had blessed Solomon with great wisdom and here we find that he is judging a complaint made by 2 women. Harlots living in the same house and had babies within days of each other. One woman slept upon her baby son and smothered it. On finding this she took her dead son and swapped it out with the other woman’s live son. The other woman, waking in the morning and trying to nurse her son, found it was dead. But looking closely, she was able to tell it was not her son at all. So now they are standing before their King and Judge. 

Turn now to verse 23 and let us read how Solomon judged.

1 Kings 3:23

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

A very well known story, I think I heard a more sanitized version of it in Sunday school. We didn’t talk about harlots in those days, possibly just women living together and we were left to draw our own conclusions as to why women did things like that. I still wonder sometimes.

Solomon had indeed been given great wisdom. He now acquired much wealth and power to go with that, like bookends. The scripture talks of how many horses and chariots he had, how much stuff it took to run the kingdom from day to day. A staggering amount of provisions that were brought in from all over the kingdom. Everybody shared the burden of keeping the King and his people well fed and happy. While this was going on, Solomon was said to have spoke 3000 proverbs and over 1000 songs. He was known far and wide as the wisest King. 

1 Kings 4:34

Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon now forms an alliance with King Hiram of Tyre, which is just North of Solomon’s Kingdom. Hiram had been a friend of King David and was happily surprised that Solomon turned out to be a chip off the ole block, so to speak. Hiram lived in the hill country with all the trees and his people were known for their skill in lumbering and shipbuilding. 

1 Kings 5:3-6

3 “You know that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ 6 Now therefore, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

And Hiram was pleased…

1 Kings 5:7

7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”

So Solomon starts work on the house for the Lord. A big job like that takes a lot of people. The conscription of forced labor, malcontents, people conquered and captured in war, 30,000 of them were levied from all across Israel. He sent them in relay, 10,000 a month. They worked 1 month in Lebanon and 2 months at home. This project required a tremendous amount of skilled labor also.

1 Kings 5:15-18

Now Solomon had 70,000 transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, 16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. 17 Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

It was the 480th year, since they walked out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, taking a slight 40 year detour in desert for bad attitudes and now the Lord’s house is being built. So far, so good. Solomon is getting busy, building things, astounding all with his wisdom. He seems to have his head in the game. This is where pride lurks, when you are doing well and feeling good about it. I’ve felt it, back in the day when I rebuilt an entire School District’s technology backbone. Basically stuff I learned and I have always been good at learning on my own. Came up with a plan, gave it to my Boss and he said make it so, and I did. The best part was, it was free. I used technology that they already had and made it work my way. I actually felt pride flowing through my fingertips as I typed this. Dangerous stuff.

1 Kings 6:11-14

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, 12 “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. 13 I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

I think God had seen in Solomon, the beginnings of the corrosive agent of pride and gave him a little pep talk. “You’re doing good Son, keep up the good work and I will not have to take off my belt and give you a whoopin.”

1 Kings 6:37-38

In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

The Lord’s House is done and it is beautiful! Gold and Cedar, it must have smelled wonderful, until they started sacrifices again. Now Solomon starts on his palace, because what good is it to be King if you don’t have a super swell palace to lounge in. He also hires a skilled bronze craftsman named Hiram from Tyre. It must have been a common name, either that or the King of Tyre named Hiram, moonlighted in bronze for walking around money. Whoever this Hiram guy was, he was good at what he did. He outfitted the Lord’s house, gave it all the bells and whistles it needed. A very handy guy to have around.

We finish it out here with Solomon being just about done with the Temple.

1 Kings 7:51

Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

Everything is going well. The Temple has a few details left to get done. Solomon’s house is also about done. What is Solomon going to do with his time now? We will find out next week.

Let us end with a couple of proverbs from Solomon about pride. 

Proverbs 11:2

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 27:2

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

A stranger, and not your own lips.

All glory to God our Father.

Let us turn to Isaiah 42. I want you to keep in mind while we go through this scripture that the Holy Spirit was speaking through Isaiah about Our Savior Jesus Christ 600 years before Christ was born. Imagine if we were given an important message 600 years before the event. How would we as a people react? 600 years ago was 1419. That was before the printing press, which was still a couple of decades to come, and even before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. A very large chunk of time, and the amazing thing to me is this book spans 1500 years, written by around 40 authors. A consistent story of the Grace and Mercy of God and the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. I have had people tell me that the Bible is a fairy tail, couldn’t be true. 

How could it not be? People generally can’t agree on the color of the sky, but this Book, written by many different men, over a really long period of time, and they kept the message? How does that happen except by the hand of God. Yet the unbelievers scoff, can’t understand, it just don’t make sense to them. It does to us and that in itself is proof of God’s hand. Just something to consider…

1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

    and he will bring justice to the nations.

An interesting observation of content and meaning between different versions of the Bible. I primarily have used the NIV version because it is a bit easier to read and I really get tired of all those Thees and Thous. However, the NIV version has been known to condense or paraphrase the Word of God down to something that changes the meaning, at least for me. We keep a King James version, in fact my wife uses it, to check on things now and then. This is one of those times. The King James version of verse 3 is this:

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

 

Did you notice the difference? Just one word, will over have, put a gnat in my orange juice, so to speak. Does it change the meaning for you? It did for me. The NIV states that God will put His spirit on Jesus. The King James states that He did put His spirit on our Savior. Both are true. When Isaiah was speaking it was a future event, where God will do this thing. But God is everlasting, meaning that there was never a time when God was not around. And He knew that we, the people of this day would be reading it and His spirit had already been placed on Jesus.

Now, in the big picture view, where we all hold hands and sing Kumbiya, I suppose it doesn’t change all that much, but it sort of bugged me.

Getting back to verse 1 of Isaiah 42, I think we will go with the King James version at least verse one.

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

Matthew 3:16-17

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

2 He will not shout or cry out,

    or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he will not break,

    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4  he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

Our Lord Jesus is the servant that our Heavenly Father delights in. So gentle that he does not break a bruised reed.

 Matthew 21:7-9

7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 20:28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus rode a donkey when he came the first time. 

Yet when he comes back the second time, He will be riding a white horse and come as a conquering King. 

Revelation 19:11-16

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 

12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 

13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 

14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 

15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

5 This is what God the Lord says—

the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,

    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,

    who gives breath to its people,

    and life to those who walk on it:

6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;

    I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

    to be a covenant for the people

    and a light for the Gentiles,

7 to open eyes that are blind,

    to free captives from prison

    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another

    or my praise to idols.

9 See, the former things have taken place,

    and new things I declare;

before they spring into being

 I announce them to you.”

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,

    his praise from the ends of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,

    you islands, and all who live in them.

11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;

    let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

    let them shout from the mountaintops.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord

    and proclaim his praise in the islands.

13 The Lord will march out like a champion,

    like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;

with a shout he will raise the battle cry

    and will triumph over his enemies.

14 “For a long time I have kept silent,

    I have been quiet and held myself back.

But now, like a woman in childbirth,

    I cry out, I gasp and pant.

15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills

    and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn rivers into islands

    and dry up the pools.

16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

    and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

    I will not forsake them.

What a wonderful message, the mighty hand of God stretches out and gives us breath. He opens the eyes of the blind and frees captives of their prison. Our enemies are but dust before Him. He will smooth the rough places and will not forsake us. 

That was the good news part of the scripture. God will do and has done all these things, but we must fear our Creator too. Those who do not accept his Son as Lord and Savior and walk in righteousness will suffer His wrath.

17 But those who trust in idols,

    who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’

    will be turned back in utter shame.

18 “Hear, you deaf;

    look, you blind, and see!

19 Who is blind but my servant,

    and deaf like the messenger I send?

Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,

    blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;

    your ears are open, but you do not listen.”

21 It pleased the Lord

    for the sake of his righteousness

    to make his law great and glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and looted,

    all of them trapped in pits

    or hidden away in prisons.

They have become plunder,

    with no one to rescue them;

they have been made loot,

    with no one to say, “Send them back.”

23 Which of you will listen to this

    or pay close attention in time to come?

24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,

    and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord,

    against whom we have sinned?

For they would not follow his ways;

    they did not obey his law.

25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,

    the violence of war.

It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;

    it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

God the Father will shower Blessings upon us if we do as He asks. And as our Holy Father, He will discipline us when we stray and we will stray. The price of sin is death but He has given us His Son, our High Priest and Savior, that we might live.

Let us now step back a bit further and turn to 1 Kings 1 and see just how God’s children, those brothers of Joseph, who became very fruitful on the plains of Goshen, why had they become the idol worshipers of Isaiah’s day. 

This is one of the great stories of the Bible. David, the King of Israel is now an old man and could not keep warm. So his administrators searched the land and found a beautiful virgin named Abishag to nurse him and keep him warm. I think this is where the saying “It’s good to be King” arose from. It was during this time that one of his sons decided that he would now be king. It appears that David was a father that spared the rod and spoiled the child. You will recall that this had happened before with another Son. Absalom was another who exalted himself, and he had great hair. 

2 Samuel 14:25-26

25 Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him. 

26 When he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

That’s almost 5 pounds of hair. He tried to be king but it didn’t work out. You could say his hair did him in.

2 Samuel 18: 9-15

9 Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going. 

10 When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 

11 Then Joab said to the man who had told him, “Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 

12 The man said to Joab, “Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect for me the young man Absalom!’ 

13 Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” 

14 Then Joab said, “I will not waste time here with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. 

15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.

David’s sons thought much of themselves and now while David is an old man, just trying to stay warm, another son, Adonijah, decides now is the time to be King. But God makes the decisions here, not man and it was such that Solomon was made King. Because it was promised to Solomon’s Mother, but mostly because God wanted Solomon to be King. Much like God chose David to be King, instead of his handsome brothers.

1 Samuel 16:6-13

6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 

9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 

10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 

11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

David Anointed

12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Another would-be king finds that his aspirations did not meet with God’s approval.

So now David now charges Solomon to walk in the Lord’s way…

1 Kings 2:1-4

1 As David’s time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 

2 “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 

3 Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 

4 so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

David now goes to be with the Lord and Solomon starts to get busy with running the Kingdom. His father, David, left him a bucket list of people needing attention.

Adonijah the would-be King was executed. He asked for Abishag as a wife and Solomon did not find favor with that request.

Joab the bloody and traitorous head of David’s army is executed.

Shimei is executed for leaving his home when Solomon had told him not to. Shemei had cursed David mightily and David had told him that he would not put him to the sword. Never said anything about his son not doing it.

Solomon marries the daughter of Pharaoh and gets asked a question from God.

1 Kings 3:1-15

Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 

2 The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 

7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 

8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 

9 So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

God’s Answer

10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 

11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 

12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 

13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 

14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

What a deal! Solomon only wanted discernment and wisdom enough to run his kingdom. God was delighted with that humble request and said yes to that and MORE. Which we will find is a double edged sword in a sense. Get everything you didn’t even ask for and see what a mere sinful man will do with it. And we will pursue that next time.

All glory to God our Father.

I’ve been reading much about prophets of late and it’s got me curious. When you think of prophets, you might think that Jesus was our last prophet and yes, Jesus was a prophet. What then is a prophet, you might ask? In the dry and unbelieving world that we live in, I found this when searching in online: A prophet is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on that entity’s behalf, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the supernatural source to other people. That definitely sounds like Jesus and I wonder if that surprises you. That Jesus was a prophet among all his other glorious attributes and our Savior. These are things that come to me in the middle of the night and cause me to ponder just a bit.

Let’s turn to Isaiah 41 and see what our prophet of God’s word has for us today.

Isaiah 41 seems to be a continuation of the questions asked in Chapter 40. Basically that chapter and this one deal with the greatness of God and the weakness of man. This chapter can be broken down into 3 segments. 

Verses 1 through 6: God overrules individuals.

Verses 7 through 20: God asks Israel to trust Him.

Verses 21 through 29: God overturns and mocks idols

1 “Be silent before me, you islands!

    Let the nations renew their strengths

Let them come forward and speak;

    let us meet together at the place of judgment.

These Islands I imagine would be the pagans, idol worshippers, gentiles and Us. Don’t think that God is just talking to the people of Judah. This passage is in the Bible for a reason. How could it not be about us, too? We are just as wayward as the Jews. Keep in mind you are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read, and your life is under scrutiny every day. What do others learn from you? Do they see an accurate picture of your God?

Are you constantly needing to remind yourself that this Book is the Living Word of God and useful for our daily living, as much now as it was then? What’s coming is Judgement. Like DelRoy said last week. We’re all going to live forever. Where will you live when judged of your faith?

Lightness is overcoming darkness. Our God is telling them, and us, to be quiet and consider what He is about to say. 

2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,

    calling him in righteousness to his service?

He hands nations over to him

    and subdues kings before him.

He turns them to dust with his sword,

    to windblown chaff with his bow.

Who is this person? Some say Cyrus the King of Persia, but no, I believe it is Jesus and his rule of righteousness at his return to Earth. Who among us could turn Kings to dust? Who among us could do anything but return to dust ourselves.  

Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,

    by a path his feet have not traveled before.

4 Who has done this and carried it through,

    calling forth the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord—with the first of them

    and with the last—I am he.”

The majesty of our Lord God, from which all has been created. Those Jews, led out of Egypt. How many miracles did they witness. And yet not that long afterward, while Moses was chatting with God, they persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden calf to worship. God came very close to destroying them. And I wonder today, how close we come. We have no Moses to talk God out of it. His Grace and Mercy are truly a blessing, each day. Make sure you tell Him that.

5 The islands have seen it and fear;

    the ends of the earth tremble.

They approach and come forward;

6     they help each other

    and say to their companions, “Be strong!”

7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,

    and the one who smooths with the hammer

    spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.

One says of the welding, “It is good.”

    The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

The hubris of man. We think that we can overcome what God has wrought. Nail down those idols so they do not topple. What Idols have you nailed down in your life? What is so important, so powerful in its attraction that you put it before all else? Be honest with yourself. We’ve all done it. For me it would be technology, learning new things to do with it. I had a working artificial intelligence of a sort. No, I did not create it on my own but I did get it working on a little tiny computer the size of a deck of cards. I could tell it to turn on and off my lights, start my coffee. I was working on a robot that would follow me around and expedite my supposed needs. Idols come in various forms. You need to recognize that and take measures to remove them from your life. And one of the best ways of doing that is reading the Bible and being around and talking with other believers, like what we are doing now. Remove the people from your life that do not serve the Lord. And if you are going to a Church that serves out only skim milk, find one that serves meat, or speaks the whole truth. They are getting harder to find in these modern times. 

8 “But you, Israel, my servant,

    Jacob, whom I have chosen,

    you descendants of Abraham my friend,

9 I took you from the ends of the earth,

    from its farthest corners I called you

I said, ‘You are my servant’;

    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;

    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This is God’s basic argument for all of us. I chose you after calling you from the ends of the earth. Since we have accepted Christ, we are also descendants of Abraham in spiritual sense. We are his servants. Let that sink in a bit. Do you feel like a servant? Act like one? Really? How do you think the Lord feels about our rebellion? He chose us and He did not reject us, meaning that in spite of various sins we commit, and remember He hates sin, He still calls us His children. And do not fear. How could we?

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

11 “All who rage against you

    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;

those who oppose you

    will be as nothing and perish.

12 Though you search for your enemies,

    you will not find them.

Those who wage war against you

    will be as nothing at all.

13 For I am the Lord your God

    who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, Do not fear;

    I will help you.

To have the Creator of us and the universe say to us do not fear, he’s got our back. Wow. We are nothing, as you’ll see in the next verse, nothing. God can vanquish your enemies, including satan’s demons. What could we possibly worry about. I used to be very concerned with security, after all, I thought I was in charge of my life. I knew how to shoot, pistol, rifle or shotgun and was good at it. Had my concealed carry. Kept a close watch on large parking lots when shopping among the unwashed. Mildly paranoid if you had to ask. Now, when my Lord is my Savior and protector, the last time my brother in law was visiting, I gave him all my pistols. My nephew will probably get the rifles and shotguns. I have no need for them. I am not concerned about my safety, I am not concerned about anything at all really, that is my Lord’s concern. All I have to do is believe, trust and have faith. And is that all you have to do, too. 

14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,

    little Israel, do not fear,

for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,

    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,

    new and sharp, with many teeth.

You will thresh the mountains and crush them,

    and reduce the hills to chaff.

16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,

    and a gale will blow them away.

But you will rejoice in the Lord

    and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Once again, God is reassuring his people and us that he will protect us, strengthen us, make us grind our enemies so that the wind will pick up the pieces of them and blow it away. Our God is an Awesome God!

17 “The poor and needy search for water,

    but there is none;

    their tongues are parched with thirst.

But I the Lord will answer them;

    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights,

    and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water,

    and the parched ground into springs.

19 I will put in the desert

    the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.

I will set junipers in the wasteland,

    the fir and the cypress together,

20 so that people may see and know,

    may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

    that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Our whole purpose in this life of ours is to glorify our God. To know that He is all powerful, all knowing, all involved with our little lives. We so often forget to glorify God in the successes that we have in this life of ours. Could we have accomplished that success on our own? It is all good to be humble and meek, but if you forget to glorify God, you are missing the point and probably the Blessing. 

Quite a few times in the Bible it says to be in constant communication or prayer with God. 

Romans 12:12 

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 

Pray without ceasing,

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Ephesians 6:18 

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

To name a few. 

This constant prayer is part of giving glory to our Lord. I am not sure if they really mean constant prayer as in CONSTANT prayer, by I think that by doing good works, keeping the Lord at the front of your mind, praying with great regularity, not hit and miss with mostly a miss. This in particular is what I think it means. That and loving your neighbor as yourself is going to go a long way toward what the scripture implores us to do. So do so!

21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.

    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.

22 “Tell us, you idols,

    what is going to happen.

Tell us what the former things were,

    so that we may consider them

    and know their final outcome.

Or declare to us the things to come,

23     tell us what the future holds,

    so we may know that you are gods.

Do something, whether good or bad,

    so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

24 But you are less than nothing

    and your works are utterly worthless;

    whoever chooses you is detestable.

I do like when God is using His ironic sense when talking about things made of wood or metal or what have you. He is talking to the people who try to justify themselves with things made of wood, metal or stone. These days we would add plastic and technology to that list of stupid things to worship. I am continually struck by how everything old is new again and there really is nothing new under the sun.

25 “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes—

    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.

He treads on rulers as if they were mortar,

    as if he were a potter treading the clay.

King Cyrus who would be considered to come from the East. Who calls upon my name – This expression means, probably, that he should acknowledge Yahweh to be the true God, and recognize him as the source of all his success. This he did in his proclamation respecting the restoration of the Jews to their own land: ‘Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, Yahweh, God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth’ Ezra 1:2. There is no decided evidence that Cyrus regarded himself as a worshipper of Yahweh, or that he was a pious man, but he was brought to make a public recognition of him as the true God, and to feel that he owed the success of his arms to him.

26 Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know,

    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?

No one told of this,

    no one foretold it,

    no one heard any words from you.

Which of your idols could foretell such things as these from the beginning of the world unto this day? Do not fool yourself in thinking idolatry is of the past and has no connection to our timeline. We idolize many things, to our ruin.

27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’

    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.

The passage means that the hearer of the good tidings of the raising up of a deliverer should be sent to the Jewish people. To them the joyful news was announced long before the event, so long before that many forgot. It would occur as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy recorded among the Jews. Isaiah refers here to his own prophecies uttered so long before the event would occur, and which would be distinctly known when they would be in exile in Babylon.

28 I look but there is no one—

    no one among the gods to give counsel,

    no one to give answer when I ask them.

29 See, they are all false!

    Their deeds amount to nothing;

    their images are but wind and confusion.

A final “outburst of scorn” and fittingly so. Idolatry has been one of the primary sins that his chosen people fell into. The first commandment: God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:1–3

This is why God told Joshua to destroy all who breathe:

Deuteronomy 20:16-18

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

Verse 16 and 17 in Deuteronomy is a major argument by nonbelievers, saying God is not a loving, forgiving God. Why would He kill all those people. The answer is in verse 18. And them, being nonbelievers and have not read the Bible, continue to claim what they do, which corrupts others who hear this. These nations were not unaware of God and His ways.

We find in Joshua 2:11 what Rahab the prostitute said to the spies:

I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

We look to Romans 1:21-25 to find the Cannanites were not Innocent victims:

Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. 

Is this not still true now? Hear the word of our Lord and heed it!

Let’s finish with this:

Psalm 62:5-8

5  Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6  Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

This last Wednesday we had a special treat. Pastor DelRoy led Bible study with a talk on the Rapture and Tribulation. I recorded the hour long session with all its small talk, coffee pouring and mysterious noises from out of the blue. It was a great talk by DelRoy, as it always is.

Today we start a new division in Isaiah. Chapters 1 through 39 were of the judgement and government of God. Really the method of how God judged his rebellious people and what he expected of them in their day to day life. From here on out, Isaiah will speak of the Grace of God. Judgement will not be spoken of, for a while at least. Salvation will be the new message. The earlier chapters had the revelation of the Sovereign on the throne, these coming chapters reveal the Savior in the place of suffering. 

We have in chapter 40 a message of Comfort from God. I know that because it is listed at the top of the chapter in my NIV Bible. I’d say that is a welcome change from the continuous smiting His people required in previous chapters. 

This is such a change from what had been written before that this is where critics come in and say “Hang on, this is so different that we must have two Isaiahs here. Of course, two Isaiahs, two prophets of God, in pretty much the same time and space. What we have here are men whose hearts are not aligned with God and put much trust in their own ability to reason things out. The Bible is the written word of God. His thoughts put down through his messengers. Yes, we are all sinful people, prone to pride and conceit. But when the Holy Spirit is upon you, guiding your thoughts and what gets put down on paper or papyrus as the case may be, he is the author, not the scribe. You are short changing God when you start arguing about what the Bible says. When you have more faith in yourself than you do in God, this is what happens.

Oh, I am sure they had and have good intentions for their arguments. We always have good intentions when we are sinning. But that is what the vile deceiver does.  A whisper here, a nudge there, pretty soon you think that you have the perfect explanation of how the Bible is wrong. But if you’d actually read the Bible, you would find scripture verses such as my favorite one here:

Revelation 22:18-19

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

That should cure you of any notion of tampering with the message, don’t you think? Possibly, you argue, but it’s very near the end of the Book, so maybe they didn’t get that far. Well, there’s your problem, you’re doing it wrong. Read the whole Bible before forming opinions and then ask God for understanding. You can find many dozens, and I do mean many dozens of warnings about changing God’s words. 

Getting back to Isaiah, God decided to now focus on Grace and Salvation after covering Judgement and Government. You always eat your meat and potatoes before you get your dessert. Everything God does makes sense, is not complicated and because we don’t understand it does not mean God is wrong. So no, God did not change messengers, just the message. I run into this all the time in doing research. These boys can’t agree on the color of the sky, yet they know better than God in regards to what He has said. The hubris of Man. I could go on, but let’s not, and get back to Isaiah 40. 

We are going to find in this section of Isaiah that God is revealed as Creator, as Savior and as Sustainer and he will not be the great unknown to his people. He will be a very personal God, very much of a reality for His people.

The Bible is to be used to know God and how he wants us to live. And how he wants us to live is through Jesus. I ask, ironically, how hard is that? To live through Jesus, to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, to confess your sins and to not simply go to Church each week, wearing a hole in that cushion you always sit on, because you always sit in the same spot. Listen to the sermon and go home to watch some trashy TV, listen to the same garbage on the radio and basically not show that you are of Christ. Having the Holy Spirit indwell you is supposed to show. People are supposed to notice that you are of God. And if they don’t notice, there very likely could come a day when the Lord says, as in Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”.

Let’s use Isaiah himself as an example of how a Godly man should look. Early in his life as a prophet, he walked around in the buff for a good long while. A clue perhaps? Yes, you say, but people walk around like that in San Francisco and the citizens of the town hardly bat an eye. I counter with “the whole town burned down once and nobody seems to have gotten the message.” Sodom of the West Coast I call it. And let’s not forget the San Andreas fault. God has said that earthquakes are going to be a major sign of the end times, so their day of atonement is coming. But let’s move on and determine what else would make Isaiah stand out as a man of God. Unruly beard and fiery eyes? Maybe, but we all tend to grow a bit of fur on our faces now and then (as I pull on my own fury chin). How about the absolute assurance in the way he spoke of God and his prophecies. The not caring of the consequences of his words or actions. How he spoke, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty…” 

I think you could tell he was a mighty man of God. The point being it is up to us to do more than just go to Church, to show that we belong to Jesus. To do his good works.

Matthew 7:16-20

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

 

Lets go to Isaiah 40 and see how God brings comfort to his people.

1 Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.

Since the last chapter told of impending doom of the Kingdom of Judah and its captivity, this now is a promise for the restoration of the Kingdom and the return of the people from Babylonian captivity. 

3 A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

    the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

    a highway for our God.

A clear reference to John the Baptist, “A voice crieth, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah.”

4 Every valley shall be raised up,

    every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

    the rugged places plain.

John’s duty was to bring back the people to obedience to the law and to remove all self-confidence, pride in national privileges, hypocrisy, and irreligion, so that they should be ready for His coming. Level the road, so to speak.

5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

    and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Probably not the context that is being referred to here, but this is what came to my mind:

Revelation 1:7 

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”

    and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;

    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” 

So shall it be! Amen.

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,

    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

Again not in the context of this verse but we find this in:

Isaiah 6:8-10

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;

    make their ears dull

    and close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

    Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    but the word of our God endures forever.”

Yes, we are grass and weeds along with a few flowers, here and there.

If God were to take an interest in how we as a people are behaving, I mean in the way that He did to the people Moses brought out of Egypt. Would we as a nation not wither??? 

Not saying that he does not take an interest in us. I would not be here right now if He had not taken an interest in me. And that interest in me, not that I am anything special at all, that interest started back when the stars were not yet formed. It is the same for all of us. As it was for them. They had access to God, maybe more so than we do now. We no longer have prophets to tell us what God says. I am not counting the unruly bearded types on the street corner with cardboard signs speaking of Doom. 

What we do have is the Bible. What is clear to me in reading this passage in Isaiah is not really talking to his people of that day. Most of what is said in this chapter is for us. You may shake your head at that, but how could his people who were already judged by God to be carried off into captivity, how could they feel they were benefiting from what he was saying? I think it would be “That’s nice and all, but what about the here and now?” No I believe this chapter and beyond is for us. How could it not be? We are so easily swayed by all the distractions of our modern life. The devil is very busy because we have such small attention spans. And that is by design, don’t you think? We used to have an oral tradition, and with it, memories that would contain all that was said. Now, with the influence of the serpent, education is no longer valuing rote repetition of what you need to memorize and strengthening your brain. My wife and I worked in education and when I talked to educators about old ways of teaching versus new, they would just shake their heads at me, the poor fool that did not buy into the baloney that is being served out. No, most people, kids especially with their phones and internet, we are no better than terrestrial goldfish. And whose idea was that? Did God want us to be stupid, not being able to remember His written word? Nope. He loves us and wants us to do well. Why did he send his only begotten Son down here to die on a cross, for our sins, if he did not love us? This is the work of satan who has dominion over this world. We are in a battle that most people have not one clue about. A spiritual battle of dark forces. It is talked about in this:

Daniel 10:13 

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 

Who was this prince of the Persian Kingdom? A very high powered demon of satan. If an angel of God has to struggle against a demon of satan, that’s something to think about. Nothing has changed. There is probably a prince of satan over every major city. That would certainly explain San Francisco. We need to take this seriously and use the armor of God. That is found in Ephesians 6:10-18. Read that often.

Let us read the rest of Isaiah Chapter 40 together.

9 You who bring good news to Zion,

    go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,

    lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

    say to the towns of Judah,

    “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

    and he rules with a mighty arm.

See, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:

    He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

    he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

    or weighed the mountains on the scales

    and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

    and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

    or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

    they are regarded as dust on the scales;

    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

    they are regarded by him as worthless

    and less than nothing.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God?

    To what image will you liken him?

19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,

    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

    and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A person too poor to present such an offering

    selects wood that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

    to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught

    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,

    no sooner are they sown,

    no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me?

    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

    not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

A poetic and beautiful piece of scripture of God’s comfort for His People, of which we are. Much of what Isaiah says in his many chapters is not easily known to us. The places I go for commentary mention that quite a bit. All we can do is ask God for understanding and have Faith that he has a loving interest in every one of us. 

Now for a change of venue, Ronda asked us to take a look at Mark 13:24-27. Mostly because she wants our take on why her son thinks he’s a post tribber. Let’s go there and read 

Mark 13:24-27

24 “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,

    and the moon will not give its light;

25 the stars will fall from the sky,

    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 

27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

My take is I don’t know. I am pretty sure that we are going to be snatched away in a twinkling:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Also, the Jews are still very important to God and I am thinking that will determine the how and when of things. Beyond that, the Lord has not blessed me with understanding, and that is just fine. Some things we just won’t know, we just have to believe.  

Let us finish with this scripture.

Romans 8:14-17

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.