"WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS
TEXT: ISAIAH 8-12
FOR EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE PAST WAS WRITTEN TO TEACH US, SO THAT THROUGH THE ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES WE MIGHT HAVE HOPE." -- RM 15:4
"THESE THINGS HAPPENED TO THEM AS EXAMPLES AND WERE WRITTEN DOWN AS WARNINGS FOR US, ON WHOM THE FULFILLMENT OF THE AGES HAS COME..(BLESSINGS OF CHRIST HAS COME)"
-- 1 CORINTHIANS 19:11
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO READ FROM A BOOK, BUT NOT JUST ANY BOOK; TODAY WE ARE GOING TO READ FROM A BOOK THAT IS LITERALLY GOD-BREATHED.
WE WILL BE READING FROM A TEXT THAT WAS WRITTEN OVER 2,700 YEARS AGO... BY A MAN WE NEVER MET, IN COUNTRY MOST OF US HAVE NEVER BEEN -- AND FROM A CULTURE LONG SINCE GONE.
BUT THOUGH ISAIAH WROTE THESE WORDS THEY ARE NOT HIS -- FOR IT WASN’T ISIAH THAT DECIDE WHAT HE WOULD WRITE DOWN.
"ABOVE ALL, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE CAME ABOUT BY THE PROPHETS OWN INTERPRETATION.FOR PROPHECY NEVER HAD IT’S ORIGIN IN THE WILL OF MAN, BUT MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.." 2 PE 1:20,21
I HOPE YOU HAVE NOT COME HEAR TODAY TO SIMPLY HEAR A NICE TALK FROM A PREACHER -- BUT RATHER THAT YOU HAVE COME TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD....
THIS IS GOD’S WORD -- IT’S POWERFUL! IT’S LIVING! IT’S ACTIVE! IT’S TRUTH! IT IS A LAMP TO OUR FEET! IT IS A LIGHT TO OUR PATH! IT’S WONDERFUL! IT’S THE WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE! IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES!!
THE PASSAGE WE ARE GOING TO READ TODAY WAS WRITTEN DOWN BY ISIAH OVER 2,700 YEARS AGO -- AND HE WROTE IT DOWN BECAUSE GOD TOLD HIM TO....
THESE WORDS ARE MEANT TO ENCOURAGE US, COMFORT US, CHALLENGE US AND TO WARN US... AND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS MEN AND WOMEN JUST LIKE US HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER TO HEAR THESE WORDS.... AND COUNTLESS LIVES HAVE BEEN CHANGED BY THEM....
AND AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN -- HE WHO HAS EARS WILL HEAR WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY TODAY....AND THEN WILL BE BLESSED BECAUSE OF IT.
PRAYER
WHEN ISAIAH BEGAN HIS MINISTRY IN 734 BC GOD’S PEOPLE, THE NATION OF JUDAH WAS FACING A TERRIBLE CRISIS -- A CRISIS THAT HAD AWAKENED A DEEP FEAR IN THEM AND HAD SHAKEN THE HEARTS OF THE KING AND THE PEOPLE AS THE TREES IN THE FORESTS ARE SHAKEN BY A MIGHTY WIND.
THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST CRISIS GOD’S PEOPLE HAD FACED NOR WOULD IT BE THE LAST. BUT AS WITH ALL CRISIS IT FORCED GOD’S PEOPLE TO MAKE A DECISION AS TO:
WHO TO TRUST; WHAT TO FEAR; WHERE TO TURN AND WHERE TO LOOK
WHAT WAS THE CRISIS THAT GOD’S PEOPLE WERE FACING? (MAP)
LET’S QUICKLY TALK ABOUT IT....
THIS EVENT OCCURRED DURING THE TIME WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE HAD DIVIDED INTO 2 KINGDOMS; JUDAH IN THE SOUTH AND ISRAEL IN THE NORTH.
THIS EVENT ALSO OCCURRED DURING THE RISE OF THE POWERFUL ASSYRIA EMPIRE. A CRUEL MILITARY PEOPLE. AT THIS TIME ISRAEL THE KINGDOM IN THE NORTH, HAD FORMED A COALITION WITH SYRIA TO OPPOSE THE SOON COMING ASSYRIAN ARMY. AND THEY WANTED JUDAH TO JOIN THIS MILITARY COALITION, BECAUSE THEY SAW JUDAH’S PARTICIPATION AS STRATEGICALLY NECESSARY. HOWEVER, AHAZ THE KING OF JUDAH, REFUSED TO JOIN THIS COALITION. THEREFORE SYRIA AND ISRAEL, KINGS REZIN AND PEKAH RESPECTIVELY; WERE PLANNING TO INVADE JUDAH AND REMOVE AHAZ FROM THE THRONE -- AND PUT ON HIS THRONE THEIR OWN KING, A KING WHO JOIN WITH THEM IN THE COALITION AGAINST THE ASSYRIA EMPIRE....
SO THE CONTEXT FOR OUR STUDY TODAY IS THE SOON COMING INVASION OF SYRIA AND ISRAEL FROM THE NORTH.
AND THE PEOPLE IN JUDAH WERE AFRAID... THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE INVADE BY A FOREIGN ARMY... AN ARMY WHO KILL THEM, KILL THEIR FAMILIES, BURN THEIR HOUSES AND TAKE WHAT EVER THEY WANTED.... THE HORRORS OF WAR AND THE TERRORS OF OCCUPATION WERE ABOUT TO RAIN DOWN UPON THEM. (WE IN AMERICA HAVE BEEN BLESSED NOT TO HAVE HAD TO EXPERIENCED THE TERROR AND SUFFERING OF FOREIGN INVASIONS...)
WITH THAT BACKGROUND IN MIND LETS TURN TO:
ISAIAH 7:2-9
(VS 4a); THAT’S GOOD ADVICE;
(WHAT TO BE -- AND WHAT NOT TO BE, ISIAH ANSWERS THAT QUESTION)
BE CAREFUL; BE CALM; DON’T BE AFRAID
(VS 4b); ISRAEL AND SYRIA MAY HAVE SEEMED FRIGHTENING TO AHAZ AND JUDAH, BUT TO GOD THEY WERE NO MORE OF A THREAT THEN SMOLDERING STUBS OF FIRE WOOD)....
(VS 7); GOD SIMPLY SAYS THAT IT WON’T HAPPEN; THAT IT WON’T TAKE PLACE...
YOU SEE, THESE INVADING ARMIES ARE MESSING WITH THE LINE OF DAVID THROUGH WHICH GOD PROMISED THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD COME...
(VS 8); THEY ONLY HAVE HUMAN HEADS/LEADERS OVER THEM -- MERE MEN... BUT YOU HAVE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY...
(VS 9); "IF YOU DON’T STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH; YOU WILL NOT STAND AT ALL...."
IF WE DON’T STAND IN OUR FAITH -- OUR ENTIRE LIFE WILL BE UNSTABLE... BECAUSE OUR FAITH IS THE VERY FOUNDATION OF OUR LIFE.
THE NATION OF JUDAH WAS FACING A SERIOUS CRISIS -- WHAT WERE THEY GOING TO DO? WELL, AS WE WILL SEE -- AS WE STUDY ISIAH TODAY THAT THEY MADE THE WRONG CHOICE... AND THEIR ERROR SERVES AS A TIMELESS WARNING AND EXAMPLE TO US -- ON WHOM THE FULFILLMENT OF THE AGES HAS COME....
WHAT LESSONS DO WE LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES GOD’S PEOPLE MADE NEARLY 3,000 YEARS AGO W LEARN THAT:
WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS
(AND WE ALL FACE MANY CRISIS OF VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES IN LIFE; "ECONOMICAL" "RELATIONAL" "OCCUPATIONAL"
"SPIRITUAL" "EMOTIONAL" "PHYSICAL"
WE LEARN THAT WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS 1ST OF ALL:
1. DON’T TRUST WHAT THEY TRUSTED;TRUST IN THE LORD!
AHAZ AND THE NATION OF JUDAH WERE FACING AS VERY REAL CRISIS. IT WASN’T IMAGINARY - IT WAS REAL -- IT WAS ON IT’S WAY.... SO GOD SENT HIS PROPHET ISAIAH TO THEM AND GAVE AHAZ AND THE NATION THIS MESSAGE...
"BE CAREFUL, KEEP CLAM AND DON’T BE AFRAID. DO NOT LOSE HEART BECAUSE OF THESE 2 SMOLDERING STUBS OF FIREWOOD..." IT IS EASY TO LOSE HEART WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS..
BUT WHILE IN THE MIDST IF HIS CRISIS GOD TOLD AHAZ TO TRUST IN HIM, TO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE SITUATION HE WAS NOW FACING...
FOR YOU SEE, THESE INVADING KINGS WERE ONLY HUMAN/MERE MORTAL MEN.
AHAZ HAD GOD ON HIS SIDE... AND GOD PROMISED AHAZ THAT THEIR INVASION WOULD FAIL -- THAT THEIR ATTEMPT TO REMOVE HIM FROM HIS THRONE WOULD NEVER TAKE PLACE...
NOW, WHAT’S AHAZ GOING TO DO.... HE HAS A DECISION TO MAKE. WOULD HE TRUST GOD OR WOULD HE TURN ELSEWHERE?
AHAZ CHOSE TO NOT TRUST IN THE LORD....
BECAUSE THE THREAT FORM SYRIA AND ISRAEL WAS VERY REAL AND NEAR AND BECAUSE AHAZ’S FAITH WAS NEITHER....
AHAZ INSTEAD TURNED TO THE KING OF ASSYRIA FOR DELIVERANCE... BE HIND THE SCENES HE MADE A DEAL WITH THE ASSYRIAN KING TIGLATHPILESAR.... SEEKING HIS HELP AGAINST ISRAEL AND SYRIA.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, AHAZ MADE THE WRONG CHOICE... HE PUT HIS TRUST IN A MAN... RATHER THAN IN THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHICH ALWAYS RESULTS IN TROUBLE.
LISTEN TO ISAIAH 2:22;
"STOP TRUSTING IN MAN, WHO HAS BUT A BREATHE IN HIS NOSTRILS. OF WHAT ACCOUNT IS HE?"
MAN IN NOTHING/HE IS MORTAL/HE IS LIMITED IN POWER AND IN KNOWLEDGE -- WHY PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM IT’S UNREASONABLE!
AND JUDAH WOULD ONE DAY FIND OUT THAT ASSYRIA WAS NOT THE PLACE FOR AHAZ TO PUT HIS TRUST IN.... AS WE WILL SHORTLY SEE.
WHEN YOU ARE FACED WITH A CRISIS.... WHEN YOU ARE FORCED BY THIS LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES TO MAKE A CHOICE BETWEEN PLACING YOUR TRUST IN GOD, OR PLACING IT SOMEWHERE ELSE, WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE?
YOU MAY BE WONDERING --
WHY SHOULD WE TRUST IN GOD ANYWAY ?
1. BECAUSE; GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY;
"THE LORD ALMIGHTY SAYS, `SURELY AS I HAVE PLANNED, SO IT WILL BE, AND AS I HAVE PURPOSED, SO IT WILL STAND’...."
-- IS 14:24
IF GOD SAYS IT WE CAN TRUST HIM... IT WILL HAPPEN WE CAN BE CERTAIN HE WILL DO WHAT HE SAYS... GOD PROMISED AHAZ THAT THE INVASION WOULD BE UNSUCCESSFUL -- AND THAT HIS REMOVAL FORM THE THRONE WOULD NOT PLACE -- AND IT COULDN’T TAKE PLACE -- BECAUSE GOD SAID SO... HE PROMISED...
AND GOD HAS MADE PROMISES TO US....
THAT NOTHING IN ALL OF CREATION (DEATH/LIFE, ANGELS/DEMONS, HEIGHT/DEPTH) CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS.
THAT HE CAUSES ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD...
AND THAT HE IS PREPARING A PLACE FOR US, :DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUSTS IN GOD; TRUST ALSO IN ME. IN MY FATHERS HOUSE ARE MANY ROOMS;... I AM GOING TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.."
WE CAN TRUST GOD BECASUE HE IS TRUSTWORHTY
2. ANOTHER REASON WE SHOULD TRUST IN GOD, IS BECAUSE NO ONE LOVES US LIKE HE DOES. GOD CAN ALWAYS BE TRUSTED, HE WON’T STAB US IN THE BACK (HE WON’T USE OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF US) NOR WILL HE BAIL OUT ON US WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH... LIKE MANY PEOPLE DO.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY AHAZ PLACED HIS TRUST IN THE KING OF ASSYRIA.... AND HE WAS NOT AT ALL TRUSTWORTHY -- AND ONCE HE HAD USED JUDAH FOR HIS OWN PURPOSES THE ASSYRIA KING WOULD MARCH AGAINST JUDAH... ATTACKING HER SEEKING TO DESTROY HER... YOU CAN READ THE ACCOUNT OF THIS IN 2 KINGS 18/19 AND ISAIAH 36-39.
THAT WON’T HAPPEN WHEN WE PUT OUR TRUST IN GOD...
3. A THIRD REASON WE SHOULD TRUST GOD IS BECAUSE WHEN WE DON’T THINGS USUALLY GET PRETTY UGLY.... THEY DID FOR AHAZ AND JUDAH
LISTEN TO ISAIAH 8:6-8
IN THIS PASSAGE ISIAH IS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY... HE IS USING WORD PICTURES.
"WATERS OF SHILOH" ARE SYMBOLIC OF TRUSTING IN GOD
"MIGHTY FLOOD WATERS OF THE RIVER" IS THE EUPHRATES SYMBOLIC OF THE ASSYRIAN KING.... (READ IT NOW)
AHAZ AND JUDAH CHOOSE TO NOT TRUST IN GOD ("THEY REJECTED THE GENTLY FLOWING WATERS OF SHILOH")-- AND THINGS DID GET UGLY -- JUDAH WAS STABBED RIGHT IN THE BACK BY THE ONE THEY HAD PUT THEIR HOPE & TRUST IN -- THEY SHOULD OF TRUSTED IN THE LORD..
ONLY HE IS THE SOLD ROCK ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND..
LET’S READ TOGETHER SOME GREAT PASSAGES ABOUT TRUSTING IN GOD..
"SOME TRUST IN CHARIOTS AND SOME IN HORSES, BUT WE TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD. THEY ARE BROUGHT TO THEIR KNEES AND FALL, BUT WE RISE UP AND STAND FIRM" -- PS 20:28
"TRUST IN HIM AT ALL TIMES, O PEOPLE; POUR OUT YOUR HEARTS TO HIM, FOR GOD IS OUR REFUGE..." -- PS 62:8
"IT IS BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN THE LORD THAN TO TRUST IN MAN.." -- PS 118:8
"THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD ARE LIKE MOUNT ZION, WHICH CAN NOT BE SHAKEN BUT ENDURES FOREVER." PS 125:1
THIS ONE IS NOT IN YOUR NOTES -- BUT IT’S ONE I AM SURE YOU KNOW;
"TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL MAKE YOU PATHS STRAIGHT..." -- PR 3:5,6
AND TO THOSE GREAT WORDS OF SCRIPTURE WE COULD ADD THESE WORDS -- THE WORDS; "TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS....JUST TO TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD..JUST TO REST UPON HIS PROMISE, JUST TO KNOW "THUS SAITH THE LORD"....
1 LESSON WE LEARN FROM THESE POWERFUL 3,000 YEAR OLD WORDS IN ISAIAH IS; WHEN FACING A CRISIS
DON’T TRUST WHAT THEY TRUSTED -- TRUST IN THE LORD
NEXT WE EKARN WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS
II. DON’T FEAR WHAT THEY FEARED; FEAR THE LORD
ISAIAH 8:12,13
WHAT DID AHAZ AND JUDAH FEAR?
THEY FEARED THE SYRIANS, THEY FERAED THE ISRAELITES, THEY EFARED THE ASSYRIANS --- THEY FEARED THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.... THEY FEARED JSUT ABOUT EVERYTHING...
EXCEPT THE ONE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO FEAR...THEY DIDN’T FEAR GOD....
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS; BY THEIR ACTIONS...
SOMEONE HAS RIGHTLY SAID;
IF YOU FEAR GOD -- YOU FEAR NOTHING ELSE BUT IF YOU DON’T FEAR GOD -- YOU FEAR EVERYTHING ELSE
THAT STATEMENT IS 100% TRUE...
WHEN YOU FEAR GOD -- YOU REVERE HIM, YOU RESPECT HIM, YOU RUN TO HIM.... YOU TRUST HIM BECASUE THERE IS NO SAFER PLACE TO BE..
YOU SEE, FEAR AND TRUST GO HAND AND HAND IN SCRIPTURE
"WHEN THE ISRAELITES SAW THE GREAT POWER THE LORD DISPLAYED AGAINST THE EGYPTIANS, THE PEOPLE FEARED THE LORD AND PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM..." -- EX 14:31
THEY WNATED TO ON GOD’S TEAN/SIDE...
AND THE PSAMISTS WIRTES;
"YOU WHO FEAR HIM TRUST IN THE LORD -- HE IS YOUR HELP AND SHIELD.." -- PS 115:11
AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT -- IF WE DON’T REALLY FEAR GOD LORD WE WILL NOT PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM....
LOOK BACK AT ISIAH 8:13, AND THIS TIME WE’LL READ 14 AS WELL...
ISAIAH 8:13,14
WHEN WE FEAR THE LORD -- HE WILL BE A SANCTUARY FOR US....
HE WILL PROTECT US SO WE’LL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR...
I LOVE PS 33:18;
"BUT THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, ON THOSE WHOSE HOPE IS IN HIS UNFAILING LOVE..."
SURE TO AHAZ AND JUDAH --ISRAEL AND SYRIA SEEMED FRIGHTENING BUT TO GOD THEY WERE NO MOIRE THAN A COUPLE OF BURNED OUT STUBS OF FIREWOOD...
WHEN WE FEAR GOD WE CAN TRUST HIM TO TAKE CARE OF THE BURNING STUBS OF FIREWOOD IN OUR LIVES... SURE THEY MAY LOOK SCARY NOW BUT IN GOD’S SANCTUARY THEY WILL WON’T.
HOW DO WE KNOW WE FEAR THE LORD...
GOD SAYS IN PR 8:13
"TO FEAR THE LORD IS TO HATE EVIL; I HATE PRIDE, ARROGANCE, EVIL BEHAVIOR AND PERVERSE SPEECH.."
IF YOU DON’T HATE EVIL -- IF YOU ARE NOT STRIVING TO REMOVE EVIL BEHAVIOR, PRIDE, ARROGANCE AND PERVERSE SPEECH FORM -- YOUR LIFE IF YOU ARE NOT SEEKING TO BE IN GOD’S PERVERSE -- YOU DON’T FEAR THE LORD -- AND THAT IS WHY YOU FIND LIFE SO FRIGHTENING...
DON’T FEAR WHAT THEY FEARED -- FEAR THE LORD
DON’T TRUST WHAT THEY TRUSTED -- TRUST IN THE LORD
III. DON’T TURN WHERE THEY TURNED -- TURN TO THE WORD
WHERE DID THE PEOPLE IN ISAIAH’S DAY TURN WHEN THEY WERE FACED WITH THIS CRISIS LET’S LOOK AT ISAIAH 8:19,20
WHERE DO YOU TURN WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS?
TO DRUGS, ALCOHOL, SEX, THE PHYSIC NETWORK, DO YOU NUMB YOUR PAIN IN ENTERTAINMENT -- OR DO YOU SEEK COMFORT IN YOUR MONEY...
MANY TIMES THE LAST PLACE A PERSON TURNS IS TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY....
GOD’S WORD IS LIGHT
GOD’S WORD -- HAS ANSWERS, BRINGS COMFORT, GIVES DIRECTION -- HOLDS OUT HOPE.... LIFTS US UP WHEN WE ARE DOWN.... SHINE SLIGHT INTO OUR DARK WORLD....
THE HOLY SPIRIT A GIFT GIVEN TO US AT OUR IMMERSION IS IGNITED WHEN OPEN THE WORD... SEEKING GOD’S FACE... ALOT OF PEOPLE TODAY LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT.... HOW THEY WANT THE HOLY SPIRIT TO MOVE IN THEIR LIVES AND IN THEIR CHURCH... BUT WHEN WE ARE NOT IN THE WORD WE DO NOT SPEAK THE HOLY SPIRITS LANGUAGE... THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS THROUGH THE WORD...
TO HELP US IN OUR CRISIS...
AND STAND BEFORE YOU TODAY SPEAKING EXPERIENTIALLY...
LET ME SHARE WITH YOU.....AN EXAMPLE OF THE POWER OF THE WORD IN A CRISIS...
WHEN FACED WITH A CRISIS --
DON’T TRUST WHAT THEY TRUSTED -- TRUST THE LORD!
DON’T FEAR WHAT THEY FEARED -- FEAR THE LORD!
DON’T RUN WHERE THEY TURNED -- TURN TO THE WORD!
IV. DON’T LOOK WHERE THEY LOOK;LOOK 2 THE FUTURE (LOOK 2 JESUS)
THINGS LOOKED BAD AND GLOOMY FOR GOD’S PEOPLE IS ISAIAH’S DAY.
LISTEN TO ISAIAH 8:21,22
BUT BEGINNING IN CHAPTER 9, HE TELLS THEM TO LOOK 2 THE FUTURE...CH 9
(1) AREA THAT SUFFERED THE MOST WOULD BE THE FIRST TO BE BLESSED... JESUS MINISTRY MAINLY AROUND THE AREA OF GALILEE...
(2) JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
(3) 2 THINGS WILL HAPPEN WHEN THIS LIGHT DAWNS;
NATION INCREASE/JOY INCREASE
(4) A WORD PICTURE OF AN OPPRESSOR BEING DESTROYED...
WHAT OPPRESSOR DID CHRIST UNTIMELY COME TO DESTROY? SATAN
(5) A PICTURE OF THE END OF WAR -- A TIME OF PEACE WHEN THE IMPLEMENTS OF WARE FARE ARE NO LONGER NEEDED...
(6) ALL OF THIS RESULTS FROM WHAT?
A CHILD IS BORN...
(7) THE HOUSE OF DAVID IS UNDER ATTACK BUT -- WILL ENDURE UNDER GOD’S PROTECTION...
CH 11
(1) STUMP OF JESSE -- DAVID’S FATHER -- JESUS...
CONTRAST A STUMP WITH ASSYRIA BEING CUT DOWN COMPLETELY
STILL HOPE FOR JUDAH
(2) COUNSEL AND POWER
(3) EARTHLY RULERS CAN ONLY JUDGE BY THIS
THIS NEW RULER ALE TO JUDGE FAIRLY IN ALL SITUATIONS
(4) HE WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT
"STRIKE THE EARTH," FOR THOSE WHO ARE DOWN AND OUT HE IS A DELIVERER....BUT FOR THE PRIDEFUL/OPPRESSOR HE WILL STRIKE WITH THE ROD OF HIS MOUTH --THE WORD
(5) GIRDING UP HIS LOINS PREPARING TO DO BATTLE,AGAINST EVIL...
(6) IS ISAIAH TALKING HERE ABOUT A FUTURE 1,000 YEAR REIGN WHERE THE NATURE OF ANIMALS WILL BE CHANGED? NO
ISAIAH IS USING WORD PICTURES... TO DESCRIBE THE PEACE AND TRANQUILITY THAT COMES ABOUT WHEN PEOPLE COME TO KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR -- FORMER ENEMIES WILL NOW GATHERED TOGETHER
WORSHIPPING IN PEACE UNDER THIS NEW LEADER..
(GATES OF SPLENDOR -- WORSHIPPED WITH THOSE WHO KILLED THEIR HUSBANDS)...
AND WHERE WILL THIS PEACE EXIST -- IT’S NOT WORLDWIDE IT’S ON GOD’S HOLY MOUNTAIN... WHICH THE BIBLE SAYS IN HEB 12:22,23 IS THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD...
(10) CHRIST IS A BANNER TO WHICH NATIONS WILL RALLY
DO YOU SEE THE PICTURE ISIAH IS PAINTING THERE... FLUTTERING OVER THE WRECKS OF HUMAN BATTLEFIELDS THEIR IS A FLAG... THAT FLAG IS JESUS CHRIST... AND TO THAT FLAG PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS CAN GATHER TO FIND THE PEACE THEY HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR...
(11) 1ST TIME GOD GATHERED HIS PEOPLE WAS FORM EGYPT
GOD IS GOING TO BRING THEM OUT A SECOND TIME -- BUT THIS TIME OUT OF ALL COUNTRIES... (N-S-E-W)
(12)
(13) PEOPLE WILL GET ALONG/PEACE HARMONY/GOD’S PEOPLE NO LONGER DIVIDED/BITTER RIVALRIES & DIVISION NO LONGER EXIST...
(14) A WORD PICTURE OF THE UNITED FORCES UNDER THIS NEW LEADER CONQUERING THE WORLD FOR HIM...
(15) PICTURE OF GOD REMOVING BARRIERS
WHEREVER GO’S PELE ARE IN BONDAGE HE WILL PROVIDE A WAY FOR THEM TO COME TO HIM/TO M ZION...
ALL PEOPLE UNITED IN 1 KINGDOM
(16) THOSE IN CAPTIVITY AND BONDAGE WILL HAVE A WAY BACK TO KINGDOM OF GOD..
NT "THE WAY"
JESUS "THE WAY"
