Isaiah
2023
Isaiah 40
March 27, 2024 • Pastor Dallas Sandoval
Isaiah 40 · The 2nd section of Isaiah is like the New Testament. Its main focus is on the Lord’s salvation, prophecy concerning Messiah and the coming Kingdom. God’s People Are Comforted 1-31 · These are words of hope for God’s people. · Prepare for the Lord’s arrival. 1 ”“Comfort, yes, comfort {cause to breathe again} My people!” Says your God. A] They had been receiving some heavy warnings of God’s impending judgment. They would be carried off to captivity. Jerusalem would be left in ruins. B] Isaiah prophesied about those who would be in captivity. · This is encouragement, written in advance. C] The Lord Jesus Christ taught us that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. D] The psalmist writes that the word of God comforts us. Ø The Holy Spirit takes the holy word, and gives to us a holy comfort. 2 “Speak comfort {tenderly, kindly, speak to the heart} to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’s hand Double for all her sins.” A] The day is coming when there will be no more spiritual warfare. B] There was a time before we came to Christ when our lives were at war against God. The Bible says we were enemies of God, our hearts were enmity towards God. C] Our sin has been totally and forever pardoned through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has given us grace upon grace. Ø God doesn’t pardon us by punishing us, His Son was punished in our place. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. A] The message of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Messiah. This is recorded in all four gospels. B] Make yourself available to be a voice in the wilderness. C] Prepare your heart for the Lord to enter in, obstacle-free. 4 Every valley shall be exalted {lifted up} And every mountain and hill brought low {made a plain}; The crooked places {uneven ground} shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; A] Whenever a king was coming to town, all of these preparations would be made. B] The King is coming, are you preparing? 5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed {will appear}, And all flesh {humanity, people} shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” A] Christ is the glory of the LORD. Ø Hebrews 1:3 ”who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,“ B] The fact that the Lord has spoken, it is good as done. 6 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh {humanity} is grass, And all itsloveliness is like the flower of the field. · This is why it is important to not choose a spouse based upon looks only. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the peopleare grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” A] Isaiah is contrasting the temporal with the eternal. This life is transitory. The life God promises is forever. B] We can build our lives upon the eternal promises of God. C] Throughout history man has tried to destroy the word of God. Ø Voltaire said he would destroy the Bible in his lifetime. 50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible was being printed in his house. 9 O Zion, You who bring good tidings {herald good news}, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, Youwho bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God {your God is coming}!” 10 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, Hisreward is with Him, And His work {recompense} before Him. · The Lord will return to establish His eternal kingdom. Ø Isaiah 9:6-7 ”For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.“ Ø Daniel 7:13-14 ”“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.“ Ø He shall rule with a rod of iron. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom {close to His heart}, And gently lead those who are with young {mothers who are nursing}. A] The Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. B] This a prophecy that has a dual fulfillment. Near fulfillment was the Lord bringing His people back from Babylon. Far fulfillment is the Lord gathering His people to His Kingdom. 12 Who has measured the waters {oceans} in the hollow {palm} of His hand, Measured heaven {universe} with a span {from the tip of the pinky to the tip of the thumb} And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? A] 71% of the earth is covered by water. 352 quintillion gallons. B] The earth weighs an estimated 6 billion trillion tons. · And this is only the planet earth. He has the whole universe in His hand. He’s got you and me brother, in His hand, He’s got you and me sister, in His hands. If He can carry the weight of the world, He can carry you. 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him? A] Man says in his ignorance, “If I were God….” B] It’s often in times of agony or deep pain that we question God’s goodness, grace and guiding. 14 With whom did He take counsel {consult for advice}, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles {continents} as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. · God is not threatened by the nations that have made themselves His enemies. · God’s people do not have to live in fear by National chaos. · National turmoil shouldn’t cause us to live in fear. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 19 The workman molds an image {idol}, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished {poor} for such a contribution {gold and silver} Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image {an idol} that will not totter {fall over}. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard {learned}? Has it not been told you from the beginning?Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits {enthroned} above the circle of the earth {it’s not a flat earth}, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers {tiny like ants}, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain {it has a beginning}, Andspreads them out like a tent to dwell in. · The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. · The Milky Way Galaxy is 10,000 years wide by 100,000 years long. · Current estimates is that the universe is 93 billion light years in diameter. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. · God can bring the great men of the earth to nothing. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. · John 10:33 ”The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”“ · Philippians 2:6 ”who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,“ 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host {stars} by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. · How many stars are in the universe? There is a star for every grain of sand upon planet earth. · Psalm 8:3-4 ”When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?“ 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? · If He knows the name of the stars, He knows your name. · The omniscient LORD knows all about you and what you’re going through. 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard {learned}? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable {there is no limit to His understanding}. · The Universe has a Creator. In school we had models of the solar system. See picture of model. Ø This is only 1 of 3,916 solar systems in our Milky Way Galaxy alone. · John 1:3 ”All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.“ · Colossians 1:16 ”For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.“ · Hebrews 1:2 ”has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;“ 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. · We must admit our weakness before we can receive the strength that He wants to give to us. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on {trust in, hope in} the LORD Shall renew {exchange} their strength {for the trials}; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.“ A] The “waiting” used here, is not like playing on your phone, waiting for them to call your name. This is active waiting. Ø Have you put your trust in the Lord yet? Ø The tragic bridge collapse and the sad story of the people that died in the theatre attack remind us that any day could be our time to die and go into eternity. B] The purpose for God’s strength is action, not inaction. C] My prayer is that this study of the Scriptures glorified the Lord, and encouraged and comforted your heart. D] Continue to read ahead in Isaiah and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to encourage your heart in His promises and coming Kingdom.
Isaiah 21-23
January 24, 2024 • Pastor Dallas Sandoval
Isaiah 21-23 · This study will conclude the second unit in the book of Isaiah, the first unit consists of chapters 1-12, this second unit includes chapters 13-23, which covers God’s judgment of 10 nations. · The Lord was teaching His people that repentance is the remedy, not running to the world for help. Isaiah 21 · The Fall of Babylon would come at the hands of the Medo-Persians around 200 years after this prophecy. The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed 1-10 1 The burden {prophecy, heavy message of impending judgment} against the Wilderness of the Sea. Aswhirlwinds in the South {Negev, Desert} pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A distressing {troubling} vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam {part of Persia}! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing {groaning} I have made to cease. · The Lord does not take kind to bullies. 3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. Iwas distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it. 4 My heart wavered {staggered}, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me. · Daniel and John had similar experiences with the heaviness of the prophecies they were given to speak. 5 Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower {NU: spread out the cloth, carpet}, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint {oil} the shield! 6 For thus has the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.” 7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And helistened earnestly {paid close attention} with great care {fully alert}. 8 Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at mypost every night. 9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.” · This would be fulfilled in the near future in Daniel 5 under Darius the Mede. · This will be fulfilled in the far future in Revelation. · Revelation 14:8 ”And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”“ · Revelation 18:2 ”And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! · The gods of the nations couldn’t protect them from the wrath of God so why should God’s people trust in these people? 10 Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God ofIsrael, I have declared to you. Proclamation Against Edom 11-12 11 The burden against Dumah {Idumea; Edom}. He calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night {how far gone is the night, what is left of the night}? Watchman, what of the night?” 12 The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire {ask}, inquire {ask}; Return! Come back!” · Edom would fall at the hands of the invading Assyrians. Proclamation Against Arabia 13-17 13 The burden against Arabia. In the forest {thickets} in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies {caravans, nomads} of Dedanites. 14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema {NW Arabia}, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him {fugitives} who fled. 15 For they fled from the swords {Sargon of Assyria}, from the drawn sword, From the bent bow, and from the distress of war. 16 For thus the LORD has said to me: “Within a year, according to the year of a hired man {NIV: as a servant bound by contract would count it, an exact year}, all the glory of Kedar {Muhammad’s lineage} will fail; 17 and the remainder {survivors} of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken it.”“ · Isaiah prophesied this defeat of Arabia about 5 years before it happened. · These Arabian nomadic tribes would fall at the hands of the invading Assyrians. Isaiah 22 Proclamation Against Jerusalem 1-14 1 The burden {vision, prophecy} against the Valley of Vision {Jerusalem, Upper Kidron?}. What ails younow, that you have all gone up to the housetops {flat roofs}, · Jerusalem may be called the Valley of Vision because of the prophets who were given visions here. · This is most likely the invasion of Sennacherib. 2 You who are full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city? Your slain men are not slain with the sword, Nor dead in battle. 3 All your rulers have fled together; They are captured by the archers. All who are found in you are bound together; They have fled from afar {NIV: while the enemy was still far away}. 4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.” · The Lord Jesus Christ would weep over Jerusalem too. · Luke 19:41-44 ”Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”“ 5 For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity By the Lord GOD of hosts In the Valley of Vision— Breaking down the walls And of crying {of death} to the mountain. 6 Elam bore the quiver With chariots of men and horsemen, And Kir uncovered the shield. 7 It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys Shall be full of chariots, And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. 8 He removed the protection of Judah. You looked {trusted} in that day to the armor {weaponry} of the House of the Forest {built during Solomon’s reign}; · The Lord removed His protection from His people, because they didn’t want it, and instead looked to their own defenses. 9 You also saw the damage to the city of David, That it was great {KJV: many}; And you gathered togetherthe waters of the lower pool {the pool of Siloam}. · King Hezekiah’s tunnel diverted the water of the Gihon Springs to keep the enemy from cutting off their water supply. 10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, And the houses you broke down To fortify the wall {the breaches in the defense walls}. 11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the water of the old pool {the ruins are in the Jewish quarter today}. But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago. · Preparations aren’t a bad thing, but they are a useless thing if we aren’t looking to the LORD. 12 And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning, For baldness and forgirding with sackcloth. · The Lord is still calling to repentance. · Luke 5:32 ”I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”“ · 2 Peter 3:9 ”The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.“ 13 But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” · Instead of repenting, they continued with the party life and selfish fleshly indulgences, looking to the world, but not looking to the Lord God. · “Let us live it up before we have to give it up.” -The Rebels · They live disregarding the warnings, ignoring the signs of the times. 14 Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts, “Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,” says the Lord GOD of hosts. · They would continue to live in sin until their death, they would die in their sin. The Judgment of Shebna 15-25 15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “Go, proceed to this steward, To Shebna, who is over the house {NIV: the palace administrator}, and say: · Shebna was 2nd in command under King Hezekiah. · He did not use his high-ranking position to be an example to the people of God. He disregarded the Lord’s warning. · Promotion from God should not lead to promotion of self. · Promotion from God should be marked by devotion to God. 16 ‘What {right} have you here {what do you got?}, and whom have you here {who do you think you are?}, That you have hewn a sepulcher here, As he who hews himself a sepulcher on high, Who carves a tomb for himself in a rock? 17 Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently, O mighty {strong} man, And will surely seize you. 18 He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball Into a large country; There you shall die, and there your glorious chariots Shall be the shame of your master’s house. · Shebna wouldn’t be buried in the sepulcher that he carved for himself. 19 So I will drive you out of your office, And from your position he will pull you down. · Shebna is a type or description of our the Antichrist. 20 ‘Then it shall be in that day, That I will call {appoint} My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; · Eliakim is a description of Christ. 21 I will clothe him with your robe And strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility{authority} into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem And to the house of Judah. 22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And heshall shut, and no one shall open. · This prophecy has a double fulfillment; immediate, and future. · Isaiah 9:6 ”For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.“ · Revelation 3:7 ”“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:“ 23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 ‘They will hang on him {the peg} all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. · This is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. · John 17:5 ”And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.“ 25 In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.’ ”“ · The sad reality was, despite having a good leader, they would still rebel and incur the judgment of God. · Many see this as a reference to the Crucifixion of Christ. · Daniel 9:26 ”“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.“ Isaiah 23 · Tyre was the most important city of Phoenicia. · It was a wealthy ancient city. · Tyre was the nation that Jezebel came from. · It is in modern day Lebanon. · Ezekiel describes its destruction in Ezekiel 26-28. · It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Proclamation Against Tyre 1-18 1 The burden against Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish {the area of Spain}! For it {fortress} is laid waste {destroyed}, So that there is no house, no harbor; From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. 2 Be still {mourn in silence}, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon {25 miles North of Tyre}, Whom those who cross the sea {Mediterranean} have filled {enriched, replenished}. 3 And on great waters the grain of Shihor {the Nile}, The harvest of the River, is her revenue; And she is a marketplace for the nations. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon; For the sea has spoken, The strength of the sea, saying, “I do not labor, nor bring forth children; Neither do I rear young men, Nor bring up virgins.” 5 When the report reaches Egypt, They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland! 7 Is this your joyous city, Whose antiquity is from ancient days, Whose feet carried her far off to dwell {her international influence}? 8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, Whose merchants are princes, Whose tradersare the honorable of the earth? 9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. · This is the destiny of rebellious pride. 10 Overflow through your land like the River, O daughter of Tarshish; There is no more strength. 11 He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan To destroy its strongholds. 12 And He said, “You will rejoice no more, O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus; There also you will have no rest.” · There is no rest for the wicked, but only for those who come to the Lord Jesus Christ. 13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans {the Babylonians}, This people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, They raised up its palaces, And brought it to ruin. 14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For your strength is laid waste. 15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king {normal life span}. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: · This is the enemy’s plan for your life, V13-15. 16 “Take a harp, go about the city, You forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.” 17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with {revive} Tyre. She will {again} return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD {who live in the LORD’s presence}, to eat sufficiently, and for fine{CSB: sacred} clothing.“ · The riches of Phoenicia would be stored up for God’s remnant people. · Phoenicia would reject the witness of God’s people and would remain godless idolators, and immoral people. · Here is a picture of what Christ provides for His people; God’s presence, sustenance and satisfaction; clothed in His righteousness. · How do we receive these? Repent and believe.