American Loon

All Glory to God our Father. Today we have a major change in our reading of Isaiah. There are 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah and ironically, there 66 books of the Bible. Isaiah is considered the most revered prophet of the Bible and there are no such things as coincidences in God’s world. Our Sovereign Creator:

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

In reading those 3 verses, the very beginning of the Bible and the Living Word of God, we find the basis for Faith. When we accept that God created the Heavens and the Earth with just a Word, we also must accept that God is in control of every event, every moment, every breath of all of His creation. There are no such things as luck, good fortune, karma or as I’ve mentioned, coincidences. Our Father is in control. We must have Faith in God as Isaiah did. So much so that he was given a vision of Heaven with our Lord Jesus sitting on the throne. And Isaiah, knowing he was in the presence of the most Holy One, fell to his knees. 

Isaiah 6

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Isaiah became a mighty prophet for our Lord and spoke boldly to the people of Judea. The first 35 chapters of Isaiah is quite poetic. Lots of smiting of ungodly people in an artful prose.

We come now to the 36th chapter and there is a very noticeable change. We have a story here that is referenced in other parts of the Bible and in historical records. 

2 Kings 18 & 19

2 Chron 29 & 30

Assyria is dug up 

Archaeologists had been digging on these sites for years and never really knew who these things they had dug up had belonged to. Finally, after finding some crucial clay tablets, they realized they had unearthed the records of the Assyrian Empire. Much to the astoundment of all non believing researchers. For the longest time, this among other things, they kept claiming the Bible was wrong because they couldn’t find anything of the Assyrians. So, naturally the Bible was wrong, not them. All things come in accordance to God’s will. 

Isaiah is divided up into 3 parts. Books 1 through 35 are of Judgement. They deal with the Tribes of Israel and Judah, and the Judgement by God of these peoples, who were in rebellion and worshipping false gods. The Assyrians just swept up the Northern Tribes of Israel and they never returned. 

We find now the Assyrians trying to capture Jerusalem and this is the story in Books 36 through 39. The writing style is more direct and clear. Think of it as the 7th inning stretch before we head back into the Books of 40 to 66. The writing style goes back to poetry and talk of God’s Grace and Salvation.

Let’s start out with a brief overview of the story, Chapters 36 to 39.  I will begin with the idea that Sacred and secular history are not the same. There are great spiritual truths that are hidden here that are seen only with the eyes of Faith. The Holy Spirit must teach us the divine purpose in the recording of this and all scriptural history. This account records a tremendous change in the history of the world. Here we see the transfer of the world power from Assyria to Babylon. Babylon is known as the first great world empire and it denotes the time of the Gentiles. Babylon was also known as a real menace to God’s people. This is a record of a Son of David beset by enemies and who went down to the verge of death, but was delivered out of it and continued to reign. Does this not sound like the story of Jesus, 600 years before Jesus’s birth.

In this story we have 3 miracles:

1. The Death Angel slays 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.
2. The Sun retreats 10 steps on the stairway of Ahaz.
3. Hezekiah is healed with his contrition of his sin.

And we have 2 important letters:

1. The first was from the Assyrian King that Hezekiah  took directly to God in prayer and his people were delivered.
2. The second was from the King of Babylon which flattered Hezekiah, who did not take that letter to God in Prayer and led to the undoing of the Southern Kingdom.

Let’s begin. Turn to Isaiah 36. I will read and render my commentary at the same time. You can follow along in your Bibles and see how this unfolds. 

Isaiah 36

Verse 1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.

King Hezekiah was a good king. His name means “God has strengthened,”  Hezekiah was 25 years old when he began his reign and zealously began to set things right. He reopened the Temple in Jerusalem and brought back the passover as a national holiday. King Hezekiah made sure that idols were smashed throughout the land and ended any pagan worship. Apparently the bronze serpent that Moses had made in the desert Number 21:8-9 was being worshipped by some people. Hezekiah smashed the serpent and led his people as a God fearing King.

And now he was feeling quite pressured by powerful King Sennacherib. Hezekiah had watched as the Tribes of Israel were being swallowed up, one by one, and was very concerned that he would be next.

The Assyrian King sent his military commander and army from a town South and East of Jerusalem. Lachish is about 37 miles from Jerusalem, so a days travels for a battle tested army. Which means Hezekiah is pretty much surrounded. The field commander stopped near the aqueduct of the Upper Pool and a couple of Hezekiah’s Court officials went out to see what he had to say.

Verse 4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?

Here we have a man, absolutely confident of his power. He had already subdued everyone else in the neighborhood and now he is trying to intimidate his next conquest by belittling them and mocking their supposed alliance with Egypt and more importantly the Jew’s Lord. Those high places mentioned refer to the asherah poles. Asherah poles were wood poles (sometimes carved, sometimes not) or trees planted by the “high places” where pagan worshipers sacrificed. They were used to worship the pagan goddess Asherah. After the construction of the temple under King Solomon, there were those who would instead worship Asherah on a high place and were considered blasphemous to the Lord, worshiping a different God in different ways and in different places than how He prescribed.

After the construction of the temple under King Solomon, there were those who would instead worship Asherah on a high place and were considered blasphemous to the Lord, worshiping a different God in different ways and in different places than how He prescribed.

This military leader was trying to say that the Jew’s God was in the very place of those asherah poles that Hezikiah had torn down. Where the Assyrian army had been fighting and conquering the other tribes, he found “high places” where Jehovah had been worshipped, which Hezekiah had desecrated. Now where are you going to find help?

Verse 8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

Rabshakeh, who is the name of this military commander, continues his mocking tone and pretends to bargain with them, doubting they would even have 2000 men to ride his generous gift of horses. Adding to the taunt that the least of his captains would command more horsemen than that. 

Verse 10 is interesting in that Sennacherib, the King of Assyria was noted for making claims of Divine sanction for the wars in which he is engaged. Isaiah also taught that it was Jehovah who brought the King of Assyria into Judah, and used him as an instrument of Judgement.

 

Isaiah 7:17

The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.

And the empty prideful boast that the Lord himself told him to march against this country and destroy it. 

Verse 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

It is interesting that the Jewish officials did not have much confidence in their people. Possibly knowing themselves so well and how rebellious they had been, they thought it better to keep negotiations in a more foriegn language. Obviously these guys were new to being a diplomat, thinking they could have the opposing side cooperate with a statement like that.

And it backfired. 

Verse 12  But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

Military men have always had a frank way of speaking. He is saying that the inhabitants of not only the wall, but of the city, will bear the brunt of what will happen if King Hezekiah does not surrender. Famine and slavery or death is what he is speaking of. This has always been the way of war, even unto this day. If you look at Syria now, today, they are experiencing this very thing. You must remember that these people are the descendants of Ishmael and will always be in contention with each other. 

Genesis 16:11-12  

And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.

And that has held true since this scripture was written.

Verse 13 

13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern,17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

Appealing directly to the people on the wall and by extension the people of the city. Don’t listen to your King, listen to me. I will give you peace and fruit from your own trees, water from your own wells. Forget that mandate from God Himself telling me to destroy this country. You can’t possibly believe your Lord will save you. To Rabshakeh, one god is as good as another and none of them have stood up to him so far. How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?

Verse 21

But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.

Tearing your clothes was a sign of distress and angst. These boys went back to their King and gave him the bad news. And the King, hearing the bad news, also tore his clothes.

So, you ask, what does this really mean to me? You’ve heard me going on and on about this story and how cool it is that we can find actual references to it in our history books. That’s nice and all, but you personally don’t find history all that exciting and could I just get to the point? 

Why yes I can. What does this look like to you? A powerful man shows up at your doorstep, making demands, threats, taunting you and even bargaining with you. Saying that if you listen to me and do things my way, it will be better for you and that God you pray to isn’t really going to help you anyway. Let’s make a deal so you can really start enjoying your life instead of following a bunch of rules that this “God person” says you must do and aren’t a lot of fun. 

Am I ringing any bells here? Didn’t Eve hear the same message? Or perhaps when it’s time to drive your friend into town for some grocery shopping because she can’t drive anymore and you sort of felt bad about that, but she talks a lot and is SO thankful to you that it gets annoying. You’d rather stay home and watch some trashy TV show and maybe not go to Church this next Sunday because the Pastor doesn’t say anything interesting anyway.

This to me speaks very directly of satan. Does he not whisper to us, taunt us, bully us? Put little inconvenient questions in your head. Little doubts. 

That one sin that nobody knows and you really feel bad about it. Jesus said that when you believe in Him, accept Him, all your sins are forgiven. Are they really, are you sure about that? I know that I have had those thoughts pushed at me. It is one of the most persistent, nagging feelings that you still have to ask for forgiveness, over and over again for something that God has already forgiven and forgotten. The Scripture says in:

Isaiah 43:25

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

And in:

Hebrews 10: 14-18

14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Has that answered the question of your sins being forgiven? When satan comes knocking, put on the full armor of God:

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

So, go out into the world fully informed of God’s Love and fully armored against the desires of evil. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. READ YOUR BIBLES! And if you truly believe in Christ, satan has no purchase in your life. The Lord has put His Laws in our hearts and in our minds. Go forth and do His works. 

It is clear today that we as God’s children are in sinful rebellion of the wishes of our Lord. As sin was entered into us, from our Father Adam, and to which God asks the woman “WHAT IS THIS YOU HAVE DONE?” Gen 3:13. The whole world that God saw on the sixth day and had said was very good, in Gen 1:31, must have groaned in despair. You see not just Man was damned by sin, the world, the universe was also damned.

We see a lot on the news that looks like lunacy, I can find no better word for it. This is not new to God. He saw the same thing in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham argued with our Lord, actually bargained with our Lord and who among us would have the temerity to do such a thing. But Abraham asked our Lord to not destroy two of the most wicked cities on earth if he could find, ultimately, just 10 good people. And our Lord said he would save the cities for just 10 good people. The fact is that he found only one person, Lot, in those cities and the 2 angels hustled Lot and his family out of town before destroying them. So I wonder where is our Abraham today, and who is our Lot. 
It seems as if we are at a similar point to the Jews in the time of Judges, which was around 1400 to 1000 BC.

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Is that not what today is like. Sure we have laws, as they did in that day, but the law worked for them like does for us. It doesn’t work. It was never meant to work. 

-Rabbit Trail Warning –

What I had been taught, and probably you also had been taught, is God gave the law to Moses and he came down the mountain and spoke the law unto the people. This would have been the second time, because the first time he came down the mountain with stone tablets, with writing from the hand of God, he saw, well let’s just go there and read it.

Exodus 32:7-10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10“Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

Then Moses spent a quite a bit of time on his knees, pleading with God to spare his people and God then changed his mind and did not destroy these people. Notice that God always has a backup plan. Verse 10 says let’s destroy this people, which I had great plans for and then I will make you a great nation. There WILL be a Great Nation. Whether these Jews are part of it or not is not going to stop God’s plan of Jesus coming and rescuing us sinners, all sinners. Moses, although by his own admission was not eloquent, was able to talk his people out of destruction.

A good story and instructive for our day, don’t you think. We as a people are so busy building our own golden calves, that I doubt most of us would look up from our stupid smart phones to notice that we’ve been smited by our Creator.

What I have recently discovered was something small but really interesting and instructive. I happened to be listening to Grace Stream from John MacArthur’s church a couple of mornings ago – I really recommend you try it out. I have found it very good for streaming the Living Word of God into my head, those days when I’ve gotten up too early, and it puts me right out, as in asleep. But, just before I drifted off I heard this new and interesting thing. 

The law was given from God to Angels who then gave it to Moses and he gave it to the people. Yes, I said Angels gave the Law to Moses. And this is where some controversy exits. We still have Judaists in this day, apparently.

 Paul writes in Galatians 3:19: “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

And people, no doubt being prompted by satan, have said Paul is conflicting with Exodus 32:15-16,  Some have even said he is lying. 

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.”

And in Exodus 34:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.” 

To my knowledge this is a current controversy, but it quite well could have been used back in Paul’s day by the Judaists to discredit him. They also point accusing fingers at Acts 7:51-53

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”  

This was by Stephen, being guided by the Holy Spirit as he schools the High Priest and Council. Stephen gives an eloquent 2000 year history, from Abraham to Jesus’s crucifiction and his words from the Holy Spirit were so enraging that they took him out and stoned him. And as he was being stoned, he looked up to heaven and forgave them.

If you recall, I pretty much did the same thing last week. Rattled off from Abraham – no, I started at Adam and went down the line to Jesus. Now, I am in no way saying I anything like Stephen, nothing like him. But, what I am saying is, in today’s current culture, you could have the same thing happen to you if you told this to people who are in rebellion, people that don’t want to hear of the Mercy, Grace and Salvation of our Lord. This is not a warning in any way, just a heads up. People all over the world are still being killed for being Christians.

That was a bit of stomping off into the rhubarb, but we will get back to our original rabbit trail by saying ironically, when Stephen gets stoned, this is where Paul comes into the picture. The very guy they are saying is lying about Angels and the Law. We find also…

Hebrews 2:1-3 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard…”

Exodus is silent about Angels being on Mount Sinai when the Law was handed out. The Bible is the Living Word of God. As such, we will receive what understanding as God sees fit to give us. Mysteries remain, until prophets or apostles or even the Holy Spirit fills us in. God gives us the understanding that He wants us to have, not what we think we need.  A good example of this was my reading Exodus 32, again. I suddenly noticed in verse 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

I have read Exodus before and I don’t recall that particular verse standing out to me. “Out came this calf.” Sounds like something I would have tried, as a child, to explain what stupid thing I had just done. And this is what happens when the Holy Spirit reveals something to you. No big fan fare, just a quiet revelation of something that you did not know but needed to know.

Pray for Discernment and Understanding. You might be surprised at what you learn.

Under the small issue of how we got the Law, I am pretty convinced that it went from God’s hand to Angels to Moses and to the People, who promptly decided nope. I don’t know how you translate nope into Hebrew, but the end result is the Law was not obeyed. And it was never meant to be used as a tool for justifying us or saving us. It was meant to show them and us, who have all been born with a conscience, knowing right and wrong, what really rotten people we are. We can’t follow God’s Holy Law and as such we will be damned to eternal darkness and torment. That’s ultimately what the Law’s purpose was. You, walking down the street, thinking you are a pretty good guy or gal, pretty good doesn’t cut it in comparison to how Holy God is and what he wants us to be. The Law was meant to be a burden to us, so much so that we can’t do it and throw our hands up in the air, we need help, we need a mediator. We need Jesus. God was driving us toward Jesus. He is our advocate and the Holy Spirit that indwells us, knows our heart and speaks to Jesus even when we don’t know what to say. He is our Abraham bargaining with Jesus. And that is what the prophets foretold. When Jesus came he said Love is the greatest thing, what you must do is Love your Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then Love your neighbor. Then all the other laws are followed. All of them.

It is clear today that we do not have Love and thus are not in compliance with God’s desires. I looked at the research of Church attendance in our country. It’s not good. Now just going to Church is not going to save you, but you have to start somewhere. What struck me as I was going through this was all the odd ball religions in the US. There is only one true God but not everybody got the message. Buddhists, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Muslim. Of just us Christians, 36% said they go to Church at least once a week. And married people are more prone to Church going than others. Keep in mind that not everybody is truthful on these surveys and what I was looking at was from 2017. 
Europe was in worse shape than us and it’s pretty clear the trend is going to get worse, as in a great falling off of Faith. 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

My point is, where is the Love? The Love that will satisfy the Law and get us God’s Grace, Mercy and Love coming back at us, the undeserving sinner. That kind of Love. We all have people we should Love, family members, even. Read the New Testament and after reading that, all of it, tell me where you found how holding a grudge and anger against anyone, is what we should do. Remember Stephen being stoned, looked up and said forgive them. Could we, as believers and followers of Christ, do anything less?

The command from our Lord Jesus Christ is to Love and thus satisfy the Law.  Many of our neighbors, friends, even family are walking the wrong path. The wide road. Find it in your hearts to speak to them. Remember, it is not your job to save them. God offers His hand and opens their hearts. He is using us in a way, that is as much for us as it is for them I think.

End of Rabbit Trail

Isaiah 35 – Let us read it together.

Joy of the Redeemed

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;

    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, 

2 it will burst into bloom;

    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

    the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

    steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

    “Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

    he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

    he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,

    and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

    and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool,

    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;

    it will be called the Way of Holiness;

    it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

    wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there,

    nor any ravenous beast;

    they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

10     and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

    everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

What a wonderful passage. God’s Judgment has cooled and this is the dawn of the Millennial Kingdom. Earth will be transformed. We will be transformed. Our Lord Jesus, our King will have returned and we will be in our glorified state. In perpetual joy and praising our King and Savior. Think about that day, when it comes. 

The End of Revelation, Chapter 21 does a pretty good job of describing that time. For those of you that have not gotten to read Revelation yet, let’s read this one together.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

And we end with this, the 9th verse from the end of the Bible. Cue Charlton Heston’s Voice as Moses…

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Come join us in our Bible study. Currently we are going through the book of Isaiah and we quite often wander off topic to discuss issues of Faith, Love and Salvation. You can find us at South Grove, a Senior Living facility, in Grove City MN. We are in the Blue Bird room, off the Gym and you can access that from the West side doors, which are open to the public. We start at 10AM with coffee and pastries. All are welcome!

Opening Prayer

The Lesson for today, Wednesday August 14, 2019

Today in Isaiah, we start out with a series of Woes as we often do in Isaiah. There was a lot of iniquity in the people of Judah and the surrounding tribes and nations. You could say the people were all but overwhelmed with sin. And the Lord brought prophets of the people to bring attention to that fact. And many times, the people choose to ignore the prophets and when they became too strident in their denunciation, killed the prophets. Jesus in Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!

These very people, whom God brought out of slavery in Egypt, whose heart of the Pharaoh he hardened, so that Pharaoh and all of Egypt might see the mighty glory of our God. The culmination of that was the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh and his army. These Jews, these ingrate Jews, asked Aaron to make them a golden calf after they thought Moses had been gone too long. A golden calf, a false god to worship, because God had not done anything for them in the last hour or so. You might say, “but wait, God had not given them the 10 Commandments yet, they didn’t know.” God had been a flaming cloud, leading them out of Egypt since right after the first Passover. 

Exodus 13:21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

The earliest scripture reference to idolatry is in Exodus 20:3-6 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

However, since Moses was God’s mouthpiece, I am pretty sure it was mentioned early on that worshipping anything other than God was not to be entertained.

And this brings us to our current woe being issued by Isaiah. Idolatry was rampant in the Northern tribes and had been big in Judah during Ahaz’s time. Now we are in the reign of King Hezekiah, who was reported to have done right in the eyes of the Lord. 

This brings us to Chapter 28 and it’s a Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah. The scripture speaks of this tribe of Ephraim, named after the second son of Joseph. Joseph as we remember, was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Issac, who was the son of Abraham who was righteous before the Lord and the Lord told Abraham that he would make a great nation from his loins. Abraham (then Abram) chuckled as he was very old. I’m trying to make you see what I see when I think of this. This story, that arcs through time, is incredible in that many of the things it talks about are relevant to this day. The Faith of a few key people comes down through the centuries and relentlessly points to the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And after He is crucified and rose again, now the Holy Spirit comes in to the Apostles and from them, into the believers. We have 19 generations from Adam to Abraham. And from there 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to Exile. The Exile we are referring to is the Babylonian Exile of Judah. From Exile to Jesus is another 14 generations. We know this because it’s told to us in

Matt 1:17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

The Bible is thought of by many people to be a confusing jumble of old people doing strange things, some parables and a really scary ending. If you look at this as the living word of God, this book becomes a story of his Grace, Mercy and Love. It is His story of how he teaches the people of the Bible, in their everyday sin filled lives, how he loves them, wants them to be His people and is willing to send his only begotten Son to die on a cross for them and us to have eternal salvation. Of course the people rebelled, because he loved us enough to give us free will. His hand is offered to each one of us. It is a Big Story and the more you read the Bible, the more you will understand the story. I love history and I can see some of these scenes played out in my mind’s eye. Like the story of Joseph being sold into captivity by his brothers because he was his father’s favorite. The people of Joseph’s son, Ephraim, mentioned specifically in Isaiah 28, have fallen prey to pride, conceit, drunkenness but most importantly, the sin of idolatry. And as we have seen, this has long been the history of God’s people of which we are a part.

Romans 11:17-24  But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. 18 But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root. 19 “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” 20 Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. 21 For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either. 22 Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. 23 And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 24 You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.

Once again, part of the story of how God’s Grace, Mercy and Love will bring His chosen people back to him in the book of Revelation. Just a remnant will be there when Christ comes to rule the Earth. 

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In this case I believe the dragon to be satan and the woman to be the Church. Just another part of the story.

Isaiah 29 is a Woe to David’s City which is of course Jerusalem. Isaiah is aware that all his preaching to the authorities is to no avail.

Isaiah 30 is a Woe to the Obstinate Nation. Isaiah finds out that the palace is in favor of an alliance with Egypt. Trusting in Egypt rather than God for defense and Salvation.

Isaiah 31 is a Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt. The Princes of Judah were attracted to the prospect of reinforcing the cavalry of Judah with Egytian horses and chariots. 

Isaiah says in Isaiah 36:9 “with an Egyptian contingent. Isaiah once more condemns this as trusting in an “arm of flesh “instead of in the “Holy One of Israel.” 

All God wants is to Trust him and they can’t seem to find that in themselves. Are we the same way? Do we have Faith that God will provide “Our Daily Bread” like it says in the Lord’s Prayer.

Do we have Faith that God will not give you a challenge in life that is too big to handle? Do we consult with God on a daily basis? Why would our Father want to give the gifts we so eagerly ask for to someone he doesn’t know? Someone that never talks to Him.

Your life can be filled with Faith in our Lord, or it can be filled with all that flesh can offer you, with no assurances of Mercy and Grace that our Father is so willing to Bless you with. When is the last time Mercy and Grace were shown to you by people? I am not saying it doesn’t happen, cause there are good Christians out there doing the work of the Lord. But generally, it’s gonna cost you something. The ways of the flesh will not save you. Only Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 32 The Kingdom of Righteousness. It speaks of Our Savior being a shelter from the wind and a warning to The Women of Jerusalem and their complacency among other things. 

Isaiah 33 In my Bible the heading is Distress and Help. You can guess who those are in distress and who is offering His hand as help. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Isaiah 34 Judgment Against the Nations

Let’s read this one together

1 Come near, you nations, and listen;

    pay attention, you peoples!

Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,

    the world, and all that comes out of it!

2 The Lord is angry with all nations;

    his wrath is on all their armies.

He will totally destroy them,

    he will give them over to slaughter.

3 Their slain will be thrown out,

    their dead bodies will stink;

    the mountains will be soaked with their blood.

4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved

    and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;

all the starry host will fall

    like withered leaves from the vine,

    like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;

    see, it descends in judgment on Edom,

    the people I have totally destroyed.

6 The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood,

    it is covered with fat—

the blood of lambs and goats,

    fat from the kidneys of rams.

For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah

    and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 And the wild oxen will fall with them,

    the bull calves and the great bulls.

Their land will be drenched with blood,

    and the dust will be soaked with fat.

8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,

    a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.

9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,

    her dust into burning sulfur;

    her land will become blazing pitch!

10 It will not be quenched night or day;

    its smoke will rise forever.

From generation to generation it will lie desolate;

    no one will ever pass through it again.

11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it;

    the great owl and the raven will nest there.

God will stretch out over Edom

    the measuring line of chaos

    and the plumb line of desolation.

12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,

    all her princes will vanish away.

13 Thorns will overrun her citadels,

    nettles and brambles her strongholds.

She will become a haunt for jackals,

    a home for owls.

14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,

    and wild goats will bleat to each other;

there the night creatures will also lie down

    and find for themselves places of rest.

15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,

    she will hatch them, and care for her young

    under the shadow of her wings;

there also the falcons will gather,

    each with its mate.

16 Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,

    not one will lack her mate.

For it is his mouth that has given the order,

    and his Spirit will gather them together.

17 He allots their portions;

    his hand distributes them by measure.

They will possess it forever

    and dwell there from generation to generation.

I will stop our trolling through the chapters of Isaiah at this point, not because I like doom and gloom. No, it’s because I understand this chapter better than the others. This could be of the time Isaiah is living in. There is a whole lot of Judgement to go around and will be for the foreseeable future.

In my mind this is reference to Revelation and the tribulations that will come about. In chapters 6 through 19 in Revelation. We won’t go there now, because we have just a bit of that very same thing in this chapter of Isaiah. I did check with J. Vernon McGee and he agrees with my assessment. Or rather I should say, I am happy that I found something that J. Vernon McGee had already proclaimed and my idea lines up with his. 

The Lord is angry at all nations. How could he not be. The USA has all but kicked God out of our schools. North America and Europe profess to claiming to be Christians, but very few go to Church. According to Pew Research, 91% of Europeans claim to be Christian, however only 22% say they go to Church regularly. That would make the majority of them non practicing Christians, whatever that means. In the USA, the percentage of people claiming to be Christians is 70.6%. We are either more honest or there are more oddball religions in the US than Europe. And the same low number was noted for actually attending Church. 

The upshot is, if you have read the Bible and particularly the New Testament where Jesus is speaking, you’ve got to know God is not going to be happy with this lackluster effort to live as he wants us to live. It truly is a narrow path and most of your friends and neighbors will be walking their way to eternal damnation. Do something about it now, before it is too late.

Let us close with this:

Psalms 27:4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

 

We had a good turnout today for Bible Study with our friend Mike showing up for the second time and offering much welcome commentary. Our topic was Isaiah 27 and typically we will read the scripture together and I take off on my commentary of the scripture at hand. Normally, it doesn’t take long for me to wander off topic with whatever the Holy Spirit leads me to. And today that was talking about the 100 or so prophecies concerning the advent of Christ that have been fulfilled. If you are interested I have my outline for today’s lesson in a previous post. I spent a good amount of time going over the concept of GOD not lying or changing his mind. Quite a difference from us sinful humans.

I think everybody was already on board with that and then we went on to what turned out to be my main topic today, the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Christ, and the ABC’s are a description of how that happens:
A. Accept Christ. As simple as that. He is our Savior and the only way to Heaven and eternal life in His Presence.

B. Believe specifically that he was born of a virgin, suffered, died and rose again on the third day.

C. Confess your sins, contritely and completely. GOD, our creator knows your heart as does Jesus. There is no getting around it, everything you or I have done is known to GOD. Confess and ask for forgiveness.

Once you have done this, the Holy Spirit will indwell you. It was explained today, by Pastor DelRoy who is part of our group, that you must make room in your heart for the Holy Spirit to fill in and up. The more room you make the more the Spirit fills in.

I had told the people in our group to ask the Holy Spirit to take control of them. Paster DelRoy mentioned that “make room in your heart”, by removing what has cluttered it up with sin, rather than asking the Holy Spirit to take control of you, is the way to do that. That was my Elder Shepherd guiding me and I am very grateful for that correction. We all need an Elder Shepherd in our lives.

So, make room in your heart and life by removing the sin and whatever else you have hidden in there.

For me, it was a pressing need to delete all the reading material off my Kindle, and getting rid of all the books I had collected. My primary reading material for enjoyment was Science Fiction, but I had many other kinds of books. I am self educated. I read and kept books on whatever interests me and teach myself to do what I just read. History books, by the dozens. My wife tells people that she got a degree in History and I know it better than she does. Anyway, I felt I had to get rid of all of it. And I did. I stopped listening to music of any kind. This blog which I started 3 years ago had some really good writing. Totally pride filled, and well, all of the over 300 posts had to go. And so it went. This may seem a bit extreme to you. For me to have kept any of that stuff, I would have not had any room in my heart for I wanted more than life. I wanted the Holy Spirit in me and did whatever it took to make it work.

You may have a different drive to clean out sin. Follow wherever it takes you. After doing this and praying, a lot, my language cleaned up almost overnight. My heart softened. And my long reluctance to read the Bible fell away. Now I am teaching Bible Study on Wednesdays.

It turns out that the talk about the Holy Spirit and the discussion that followed, well, that pretty much rounded out the hour.

I am already looking forward to next Wednesday. Join us if you can. The details of how to do that are in the previous post.