ISAIAH 61-622008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 61-62

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008.

We're in Isaiah chapter 61 and we'll be looking at chapter 61 and 62 today and as we've been closing out really now we're heading towards the end of the book of Isaiah. The majority of these passages that we're studying are looking towards the future that is yet to come and we're looking at

the kingdom that will be established and set up by Jesus Christ when He returns. Now, right now you and I are living in what we call the church age or the age of the Gentiles and God is doing a work in the church and He's poured out His Spirit upon the church and He's called the church to be the light of the world.

But there's coming a time very rapidly that the church is going to be taken out of the picture, that we're going to be caught up into the clouds to be with the Lord forevermore. It's called the rapture of the church. And at that time, God is going to once again focus his attention on the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel has not been cast away by God, but the plan of God for Israel has been kind of put on pause as he's doing now the work in the church. And then as the church is caught up and together with him, then he will then again resume his plans, his purposes with Israel. And we'll be doing a tremendous and mighty work in them as we'll see again here in Isaiah chapter 61.

So most of these things are things that are promises yet future for the nation of Israel that will literally be fulfilled just as Jesus and the promises about him coming the first time were literally fulfilled when he came and was crucified on the cross for us.

I would also point out that as we look at these things, their promises for the nation of Israel that are yet future, and yet what Jesus Christ offers to us under the new covenant, many of these things also apply to us in a spiritual way immediately and right now, as well as speaking of our future.

that we have promised in the Lord. So let's start off this evening in Isaiah chapter 61 and look at verses 1 through 3. It says, "...the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

As we start off here in Isaiah chapter 61, we're looking at a very familiar portion of Scripture, probably to you. Because Jesus quotes this portion of Scripture, and we know from the portion itself, as well as what Jesus shared, that this is speaking about Him. Here in these first three verses, we're looking at the Messiah.

As it says there, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. That me is the Messiah speaking. It's Jesus saying these things. Jesus is saying these things through the prophet Isaiah. And then he quotes them later in Luke chapter 4. I believe it's Luke chapter 4. Yeah, Luke chapter 4 verse 18. Jesus reads this portion of scripture.

He stops kind of halfway through the passage that we just read, and I'll point that out in just a moment. And then he sits down and he says, today this passage is fulfilled before you. And Jesus is presenting himself as the fulfillment that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him.

And the Spirit of God has anointed Jesus Christ for some specific things. And there's some specific things he shares here that the anointing is for and the power of the Spirit is for. Number one, he says it's to preach good tidings to the poor. Jesus came to bring good tidings.

The Gospel message is a message of good tidings. It's good news. As the angels announced to the shepherds there on that night as Jesus was born, they said, we bring you good tidings of great joy. The coming of Jesus Christ and the coming of Jesus and the message that he has is

is something that is, well, they're glad tidings, they're good tidings. In fact, the word gospel means good news. And so what we're talking about here is some really good news. This new covenant that we have in Jesus Christ, the message of the gospel. Jesus says, the Spirit of God is upon me. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

Good tidings to the poor. In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said, Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who are weak. Blessed are those who mourn. He came to those who are hurting, to those who are in need. He came to bring good tidings, blessings, great joy to them with the message that He delivered, the message of life that is found in His name.

And so the first thing the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and anointed him to do is to preach good tidings to the poor. But then he goes on, he has also sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Not only is Jesus anointed to preach good tidings and glad tidings, he's anointed to heal the brokenhearted, to bring healing to the hearts of people.

To bind up, it means, to kind of sew back together and bring restoration to the hearts of those who have been wounded, to the hearts that have been broken and shattered, to the hearts that have been hurt, cut and scarred very deeply. The message of Jesus, in fact, Jesus himself, is able to heal the brokenhearted. In fact, it's only Jesus, really, that can bring healing here.

to the heart that is hurting, to the heart that is broken. And so he is anointed. He is empowered by God to heal the brokenhearted. The third thing he was anointed to do is to proclaim liberty to the captives. He came and he was anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives and opening of the prison to those who are bound. Paul goes into detail about this in the book of Romans, how we have been set free from

from the bondage to sin and death. We've been set free from the burden of the law. We've been set free from those addictions and those things that once held us in their grips. We've been set free by Jesus Christ from sin. Sin is no longer our master. We've been crucified with Christ, Galatians 2.20 says. And so the power of Jesus Christ, the coming of Jesus Christ comes along with freedom.

liberty to those who are captive in sin, bondage to those things of the flesh. And the fourth thing he says he is anointed to come and do, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. He came to proclaim that now is the time, right now, not tomorrow, tomorrow.

Chica was laughing at one of the books on the book table this evening because it says, I'm going on a diet tomorrow. Not right now. I'm going to eat what I want, but maybe tomorrow I'm going to go on a diet. Jesus came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And when is that? It's right now. In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 2, the Apostle Paul says, Today is the day of salvation. Now is the time of salvation. Right now, today. Today.

Jesus and His message applies to you and I. And He is anointed right now, today, to bring good tidings to us, to heal up the brokenhearted, to set us free from the bondage to sin and death. It's something that He is offering to us and He has accomplished for us right now.

And so Jesus comes and he reads this portion of scripture and he sits down and he says, today this is fulfilled. I am here. He is presenting himself as the one anointed by God to accomplish these things. And so if you need any of these things, if you need some good news, if you need what the gospel message provides, it's found in Jesus Christ. If you need healing for a broken heart, it's found in Jesus Christ. If you need to be set free today,

If you need to be set free, it's found in Jesus Christ. He is the one anointed by God with the Spirit of God to be able to proclaim this message and to offer this to those who will hear and receive it. And it's a message that's for right now. Here in verse 2, the very beginning is to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And that's where Jesus stopped reading.

He rolled up the scroll and he sat down and said, today it's fulfilled. But of course we see here that Isaiah continues on. And what we have here is a distinction between the first coming of Jesus Christ and the second coming of Jesus Christ. The first coming of Jesus Christ, he came, he was born of the virgin named Mary. We're going to celebrate that in just a couple weeks. I don't know if you're counting down the days yet, but it's about 22 days left. So

That's not very long. That's only three weeks, huh? Crazy. So we're going to be celebrating that. He came. He was born. He grew up. He ministered three years with his disciples. He was crucified on the cross. He came as one who was anointed by God to accomplish these things. And now we are able, by faith in Jesus Christ, to receive his message and receive what he has done for us. But Jesus left promising to come again.

There's going to be a second coming of Jesus Christ, distinct from the rapture. The rapture is when the church is caught up into the clouds with him, but Jesus doesn't actually come down to earth. We meet him in the clouds and then we are ever with the Lord from that point.

Later on, after the rapture of the church, Jesus will come again and he will actually set foot on the Mount of Olives, where he was when he ascended into heaven from his first coming. And at that time, he is going to establish his kingdom for a thousand years. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years. And so Jesus said, today this is fulfilled. He has come. He is anointed. He

That's the first coming. The second coming of Jesus will be slightly different. As we continue on in verse 2, we see that. It says, "...in the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified."

Here the second coming of Jesus Christ is on the day of vengeance, the battle of Armageddon. And there's going to be some great vengeance that takes place and a great battle that God, that Jesus Christ will fight. And he will establish his kingdom to comfort all who mourn. Having just gone through the seven years of tribulation, the seven years of God's wrath being poured out upon the earth, he will establish his kingdom to

to comfort those who mourn. He will establish his kingdom in Israel and it says in verse 3, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. The things that have just been completely wiped out and the ashes of their life, the ashes of the world will be exchanged for beauty under his kingdom. He's going to give them the oil of joy for mourning. There's going to be much death and destruction during that time.

There's going to be great mourning during the tribulation period, but when Jesus comes, He will establish His kingdom and He will give them the oil of joy in exchange for their mourning. And the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. So instead of being depressed and being down during that time, they're going to now have the garment of praise and be able to praise the Lord. And the result is that they will be called trees of righteousness.

They're going to have right standing with God. They're going to be right with God. And the results of all of this work of Jesus is that God may be glorified, that Jesus Christ may be glorified. And so the Spirit of the Lord has anointed Jesus for this work. He came the first time. He is coming again the second time. Now, as we look at the ministry of Jesus...

Those things we saw at the beginning, the proclaiming good tidings, healing the brokenhearted. I know those things sound absolutely wonderful. And I want to encourage you and share with you that these are things that now God has extended to us. Because Jesus said, hey, I'm going to the Father. You go into all the world and proclaim the good news. And God has anointed you to preach good tidings to the poor.

Not that you are the good tidings, as was the case of Jesus, but we're able to preach the message of Jesus Christ. That we are able to proclaim the message that He is the one who can heal the brokenhearted. That we can proclaim liberty to the captives, not in our name, but in the name of Jesus. He has sent us forth to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, which is today is the day of salvation.

Sometimes you may wonder, why don't I see really the Spirit of God working in my life? And I want to encourage you in this. He says, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to do these things. The Spirit of God has anointed you. Just as the Spirit of God anointed Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God has anointed you to do those things. And if you want to see God's Spirit work in your life, do these things. Proclaim.

Proclaim good tidings to the poor, to those who are in need. Proclaim good tidings to those who are spiritually bankrupt. Proclaim the good news. Share the gospel message. Many times, well, pretty much all the time, we want to see God's Spirit work so that we can determine whether or not we want to jump in and be a part of that. But here he gives us the instruction. He says, look, this is what you've been anointed for. Do it and you will see the Spirit of God work.

Do it. Proclaim good tidings. Proclaim the good news. And you will see the Spirit of God work. When you come in contact with the brokenhearted, share with them Jesus Christ. Share with them the love of Christ. And you will see the Spirit of God working in you and through you. Proclaim liberty to the captives, for those who are in bondage to addictions, for those who are bound to the flesh and the cravings and the lusts of the flesh, for those who are bound in sin.

Proclaim the good news. Proclaim liberty to the captives in the name of Jesus Christ. And you will see the power of the Spirit working in your life. Let people know. Today is the day of salvation. You want to see God's Spirit work in your life? Do these things. And we say, if I see God's Spirit working in my life, then I'll do these things. And God says, no. This is what I've anointed you to do. Believe it. Do it.

And you'll see the power of God working in your life. And so we have here the first coming of Jesus Christ, which we're to follow suit. We're to proclaim the message that he proclaimed. And then the second coming of Jesus Christ, which is yet future, and it will take place. Lord willing, come quickly, Lord Jesus, in the very near future. Verse 4.

And they shall rebuild the old ruins. They shall raise up the former desolations. They shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. And the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. Here in verse 4 and 5, we have the beginning of the result of the return of Jesus Christ.

It's continuing from the second coming. As He comes and establishes His kingdom and brings joy for those who have been mourning and exchanges mourning for the garment of praise and so on and so forth. As He comes and establishes His kingdom and brings these incredible blessings, then the following, the rest of the chapter is what's going to take place

As a result of Jesus coming back, as a result of His kingdom being established. And it says, "...and they, which is Israel, the nation of Israel, the land of Israel, shall..." Three things. "...shall rebuild, shall raise up, and shall repair." The ruins that is their nation, that is their country, the ruins that is their land, are going to be restored. They're going to be brought again to glory.

And there's going to be strangers who come in to feed their flocks. There's going to be such prosperity that they're able not to attend to those things themselves, but the others are going to take care of those things for them. They're going to have servants. The nation of Israel is going to be blessed. Their sons are going to be your plowmen and your vinedressers. You're going to have people to take care of. And there's going to be such abundance and blessing. It's going to be taken care of by those people.

around you. But notice he says that they will rebuild, raise up, and repair. It's kind of catchy, so it stood out to me. They will rebuild, raise up, and repair. When Jesus comes back, there's going to be great restoration. And as I shared at the beginning, these things will literally be fulfilled one day in the nation of Israel, but many of these things are true of us today spiritually, and this is one of those things. When Jesus comes into a person's life,

This is what takes place. There's a rebuilding and a raising up and a repairing. There's a renewing of a life. In fact, it's a brand new life, 2 Corinthians 5.17 says. There's a brand new life. There's a reconstructed life and the mess that we make of things begins to be pieced back together as we walk in relationship with God. He restores those years that the locusts have demolished.

ruined and destroyed. God renews, He restores. Where we have made a mess and there's brokenness and devastation, God rebuilds the result of Jesus coming into a life and coming into a situation as a rebuilding and a raising up and a repairing. There's great restoration of the presence of Jesus. Going on in verse 6.

But you shall be named the priests of the Lord. They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor. And instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double. Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Here we see the continuation of the blessing that will be poured out upon the nation of Israel at the return of Jesus Christ. When He comes back, their name, or they shall be named the priests of the Lord. We see from other portions of Scripture that the nation of Israel is going to have this place of prominence. The people of Israel and the nations around them are going to say, Hey, you're one of God's people.

Take us to the house of the Lord. Tell us about the Lord. They're going to want to get to know them. They're going to want to befriend them because they're one of God's chosen people. They're of the nation of Israel. And they're going to be named the priests of the Lord. People are going to desire to draw close to God because of His chosen people.

that are blessed and ministered to at the return of Jesus Christ. They're going to call you servants of our God. Now, remember, at the writing of these things, as Isaiah is writing these things, they're under threat of attack and destruction by the nation of Assyria because of their rebellion against God. Now, God has promised that Assyria would not be successful

But he also promised that Babylon, the nation immediately after Assyria, would be successful and would wipe them out and take them into captivity. God was dealing with and judging their sin and yet, in the midst of that, in the midst of dealing with their sinful condition and their rebellion, he's giving them these wonderful promises of hope about what he is going to do, this restoration that is going to take place.

And although they're rebellious children at the point of the writing, one day they will be named priests of the Lord and be called servants of our God. There's going to be such abundance. He says, you'll eat with the riches of the Gentiles. In their glory you'll boast. Instead of shame, you're going to have double honor. There's going to be a restoration. There's going to be even more than restoration, a lifting up and exalting of the nation of Israel that God may be glorified in them.

Instead of confusion, he says, they shall rejoice in their portion. And everything, he says, they'll possess double and everlasting joy will be theirs. Now again, we see these things and they will be fulfilled literally in the nation of Israel. And yet, at the same time, many of these things apply to us spiritually. Peter tells us that we are a nation of kings and priests who believe in Jesus Christ. God has given us the opportunity to be his servants.

To be called the children of God. To have, instead of shame, a place of honor. The promise of exaltation. That he who humbles himself will be exalted by the Lord. The promise of future glory that he has in store for us. Everlasting joy. Oh yes, that's a promise in Jesus Christ. It's a fruit of the Spirit. And it's what God has for every one of us through Jesus Christ. Going on in verse 8. For I, the Lord, love justice.

I hate robbery for burnt offering. I will direct their work in truth and will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.

Here we see Israel now taking the rightful place of prominence as God's chosen people. Finally it's going to take place. Finally the world will recognize that Israel is God's chosen people. Much of the world rejects this idea. Some reject it very violently. Many of the nations around Israel at this time today

wish that they could get rid of Israel. Many proclaim that they are going to drive Israel into the sea and make it as if they have never existed. Israel does not have a place of prominence for most nations, for most people. But in this day, they will have the rightful place and prominence in the world. And everybody will see them and recognize and acknowledge these are the ones that the Lord has blessed. These are God's chosen people.

He says their descendants will be known among the Gentiles. They'll be known, they'll be recognized, they'll be standing out. There will be some appropriate amount of respect that is given because they are God's chosen people. In Genesis chapter 12, God makes this promise to Abraham that through Abraham he was going to establish a nation.

And that the whole world was going to be blessed through that nation. And we find that fulfillment in Jesus Christ. But we also find it later on going to be fulfilled in this time. The world is going to be blessed through the nation of Israel and God's work in those days. And God tells Abraham in Genesis 12, 3, I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God promises blessings

for those who bless Israel. And in that day, the nations will finally recognize. Today there's many who curse, but in that day they will bless. They will recognize and acknowledge that they are God's chosen people, just as he said they are. Verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me.

Here in the land of Israel.

God is going to do a magnificent work, just as He has promised. There's going to be great rejoicing. In fact, the whole world is going to praise and glorify God. They're going to obey God as a result of this work that is going on. Verse 11 says, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. There's going to be this springing forth, this leaping forward.

of obedience and praise to God. This abundance of... The idea is like the abundance of growth. There's the spring that comes in, the fresh flowers and the vegetation that just comes forth so quickly. In the same way, there's going to be abundance and bringing forth of the praise of God as a result of His work in the nation of Israel. We continue on in chapter 62. He's continuing to deal with those blessings and those promises

for Israel in those last days. Chapter 62, verse 1. For Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns. Verse 2. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will name.

So the whole earth is going to bring praise. The whole earth is going to rejoice. There's going to be this springing forth of praise and obedience, this righteousness before God. And God says, as we start in chapter 62, for their sake, for Zion's sake, for the nation of Israel, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake, I'm not going to rest. God is saying, I am going to fulfill my promise.

I'm not going to rest. God is not going to rest, he says, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness. Until these things are fulfilled, God is not going to fall asleep and forget about the nation of Israel. He has not cast off the nation of Israel. He has not forgotten about them. God is promising that he will fulfill these things in Israel. He will bring forth these promises that he has made.

He says, the Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all the kings. Again, everyone around them is going to recognize this work of God in them and what God has accomplished in their lives. And he says, you're going to be called by a new name. You're going to be called by a new name. And this may not mean a whole lot to us. We give each other nicknames all the time. And usually that's not a compliment or a good thing.

But as God says, I'm going to give you a new name. The mouth of the Lord is going to give you a new name. We can compare it perhaps to the names that have been changed in scriptures and get a kind of an idea. As God changed Abraham to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, adding a piece of his name into theirs, changing the meaning, changing the significance, changing Jacob the heel catcher to Israel governed by God.

The name that we're talking about here is more than just the title, the thing that you write and you begin it with a capital. It's more than just the letters that are spelled out. But the name carries with it the character and the nature of the person.

And so as God says, I'm going to give you a new name, it's not just that He's changing their title, but there's a change of nature, a change of character that is taking place. He's giving them a new name because there's been a transformation. Because as they have turned to God and given themselves to God, as there's a springing forth of righteousness and praise, there's a transformation that takes place within the nation of Israel.

And so they'll be given a new name to represent this transformation, to represent this work that God has done in them. Verse 3 continues that line of thought. He says, You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land anymore be termed desolate, but you shall be called Hepzibah and your land Beulah.

He says there in verse 3, A crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. Their nature, their character is being changed.

And now they're going to be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. Picture it as the perfect ring with the magnificent diamond or gem or whichever stone that you prefer. The one that causes you to look and go, wow, that's awesome. That's what God says Israel is going to be. You're going to be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. Look at this, my precious jewel, my crown of glory.

There on my hand, God will save His people Israel. He says, you'll no longer be termed. You're no longer going to be called. This is the change of the name. You're no longer going to be termed forsaken. And your land isn't going to be called desolate any longer. There's many who say that Israel has been forsaken by the Lord because of the tragedies that they have gone through. Throughout Israel's history, there's been great devastation. Many attacks against Israel.

We're probably most familiar with World War II and the atrocities that were committed during that time under Hitler and the nation that was seeking to annihilate the Jews altogether. And it was tragic, but it's not the only tale of horror in the history of the nation. Israel has been treated that way. In fact, it has been, as some would say, forsaken. They've experienced great devastation.

But he says, no longer. No longer will you be called forsaken. No longer will your land be called desolate. There's going to be a change of name. Instead of being called forsaken, he says, you'll be called Hephzibah. And what does Hephzibah mean? Well, he goes on to tell us. He says, for the Lord delights in you. Hephzibah means the Lord's delight. The Lord's delight. Beulah, which is the name of the land,

I have it in my notes, but I don't see it. Married. And your land shall be married. It's right there at the end of the verse. See, if you just read your Bible, the answers are all there. And your land shall be married. Instead of being forsaken, instead of being desolate and cast off, the Lord is going to be joined, united, as he establishes his throne there in the land of Judah. There's going to be a change of name, a change of character, a magnificent work that takes place.

Now again, we can look at these things and we know, yes, they're yet future for Israel. And yet, these things are so true of us as we come to faith in Jesus Christ. Our name has been changed. Our character, our nature. We're a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old things have gone, Paul says. Behold, all things have become new. God has for us, not the same old life that we've been living, but a change, a transformation.

That's why he says to stop being conformed to the world in Romans chapter 12. To be renewed, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In Christ Jesus, we have a transformation, a change of character, of nature, a change of name. And in Christ Jesus, you know how God sees you? You're that precious jewel on his ring. The crown of glory in his hand. No longer called forsaken, but precious to him.

No longer called desolate, but He delights in you. He delights in you because you have believed in His Son, Jesus Christ. And so we have these wonderful promises as well, these awesome promises of God for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

In verse 6, he goes on to say, I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord do not keep silent and give him no rest till he establishes, until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. He says here, God says, I have set watchmen on your walls. I have set up watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem, God says.

And I have put them there for a specific reason, that they may never hold their peace night or day. What is he talking about? He's talking about some prayer warriors that he has set up. God said earlier, he says in verse 1, I will not take rest for Jerusalem's sake. I'm not going to fall asleep. I'm not going to hold my peace.

I'm going to make sure this happens. I'm not going to rest until this happens. And he says, not only is that true for me, but I've also set up watchmen on your walls and they're not going to, they're not going to hold their peace day or night. And so he says, you who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent. He says, give him no rest in verse seven until he establishes, until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. He's talking here about those that have

been established by Him and called by Him to be in prayer continually for His people, for His work. And it's a command not to rest, not to stop, but to continue on seeking Him in prayer. And I'm going to stop there for now because I want to close with that thought. We'll go on and we'll come back to verses 6 and 7. Verse 8 says, The Lord has sworn by His right hand...

And by the arm of his strength, surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies. And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine for which you have labored. Verse 9. But those who have gathered it shall eat it and praise the Lord. Those who have brought it together shall drink it in my holy courts. So here in verses 8 and 9, God is continuing to proclaim what is going to take place as he has established his kingdom. And he's saying...

I'm going to be protecting you. Before you would work hard and you would labor and you would toil and then someone else would reap the benefits. They would eat the fruit of it. You remember this probably with the case with the Midianites. And Gideon was called by the Lord, but what was he doing when he was called by the Lord? He was hiding, trying to thresh wheat, but he was keeping it hidden. Why? Well, because...

What happened whenever the Midianites who were around the nation of Israel and attacking the nation of Israel, when they saw anybody reaping produce, they would come in, raid the place, take all the food that they had just harvested. And that, again, is common throughout Israel's history. They worked hard, they produced, and then someone else received the benefits. God says, not anymore.

You're going to reap the benefits. Your food is not going to be eaten by your enemies. Your new wine, the produce of the vine, it's not going to be taken by the sons of a foreigner. Those who have gathered it shall eat it. God is promising protection that He is going to provide for them to meet their needs and He's going to keep it from being stolen or robbed by the nations around them. Verse 10. He says, Go through. Go through the gates. Go through the gates.

Verse 11,

Here God is announcing. It's the announcement of His coming. And He says, Get ready. I'm coming. Make preparations.

I'm on my way. He says, go through the gates. Make way for the people. Build up the highway. Fill the potholes. Repair the gates. Make sure everything's ready. Because I'm coming and the people are going to come. He says, I proclaim to the end of the world for them to tell the daughter of Zion, to tell the nation of Jerusalem, your salvation is coming and his reward is with him.

And at that time, they will be called the holy people. They'll be called the holy people. Most of the Jewish people today don't even believe in God. Very few believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Yet in that day, they will all believe. And they will be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. They'll be called the sought out and Jerusalem will be called the city that is not forsaken. There's going to be

the regathering, the restoration. There's going to be an incredible work of God in the land of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, and in His people in those days. And so He says, make preparations, get ready. I'm coming. I've proclaimed it to the end of the earth. I'm coming and my reward is with me. There's going to be a great work. And as we look at these things, I want to make sure you understand, these things are absolutely true.

And just as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, as was fulfilled by the prophet Zechariah, just as his garments were divided and cast lots for, as promised by the prophets, just as not a bone of his body was broken, as the scripture said, just as he was betrayed by a friend,

And on and on and on we could go just as Jesus fulfilled literally all of the prophecies about Him there in the Old Testament. These promises that we read, these prophecies that we read that are still yet future will be fulfilled in the nation of Israel. God has this plan for the nation of Israel and He is going to accomplish it. But at the same time, I don't want you to miss some wonderful truths that God also has for us. See, because He is coming again.

And He is going to do this work in the land of Israel, which means that the end is near. It means that our opportunities are running short. It means that it's time to make preparations. It's time to prepare the way for the people, to build up the highways, to build those roads to the people around us, to build those roads that we would be able to bring forth the truth, to bring forth and make way that people will hear the message of the Lord, that they will be gathered together

to God that they will come to worship Him and glorify Him that they too shall be called the holy people the redeemed of the Lord by faith in Jesus Christ Pastor Chuck often shares when you see Christmas decorations you know that Thanksgiving is very near having just gone through Thanksgiving I'm sure you can agree with that we see the Christmas decorations come up before Thanksgiving so when you see the Christmas decorations you know hey Thanksgiving is just a week or two away

In the same way, we're looking at prophecies that are going to be fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus Christ. And we see beginning of these things. We see beginnings of the tribulation period, the things that are prophesied and things coming into place that anything really could be fulfilled at any moment, that these events that have prophesied throughout Scripture can happen and take place.

And so as we see these things, they're like the Christmas decorations, which means we know that Thanksgiving is near at hand because before Jesus returns in His second coming, He returns for the rapture of the church. And so if we see the things of the end times coming together, and we see the nations being put into place, the scene being set, the stage being arranged for the final act, we know that

The rapture is even closer. Paul tells us that it's high time to awake for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And this evening I want to encourage you to awake. To awake. To prepare. To go through the gates and prepare the way for the peoples and build up the highways. Because Jesus Christ is coming again. And His reward is with Him. His salvation is with Him. And our time is very short. And the Spirit of the Lord has anointed you.

to proclaim good tidings to the poor and to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives and the acceptable year of the Lord that today is the day of salvation. You and I have been given a commission, a call. We've been put here to be prepared and make preparations for the coming King.

Just as John the Baptist was sent before the first coming of Jesus Christ to make straight the path of the Lord, to prepare the way of the Lord, you and I have been sent into this world to make straight the path of the Lord, to prepare the people around us for His return, for His coming. You and I are these watchmen that he refers to in verses 6 and 7. We're called to be watchmen, prayer warriors, not resting, not satisfied until He establishes

and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Not holding our peace day or night, not keeping silent, but going forth, calling out to Him until He establishes. In Luke chapter 18, verse 1, it tells us that Jesus spoke a parable to His disciples that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. As we are approaching these end times, as we are living in those last days,

Knowing that the rapture can happen at any moment. We are watchmen on the walls. And Jesus taught his disciples this parable that they would learn that they need to pray always and not lose heart. And he goes on to give this parable about a widow. And she goes before a judge and the judge doesn't want to hear a case. And she keeps going before him, get justice for me. And he would not. But as it continued on, after a while, he says to himself, he says, look,

I don't care about her. I don't care about God. I'm not worried about retribution. But, man, she's bugging me. I might as well hear her case just to get it over with, be done with it, so that she doesn't continue to come back and hound me over and over and over again. He says, Jesus said in another portion that we were to ask, to seek, and to knock.

And then he gives an example. He says, look, how many of you, if you have a child, if he asks for some bread, how many of you would give him a stone? Oh, no, we wouldn't do that. How many of you, if he asks for a fish, would give him a scorpion? No, of course we wouldn't do that. And he says, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts, how much more your heavenly Father? And so he said, ask and seek and knock to pray.

He gives this parable of the judge not saying that God's this mean judge and you got to keep begging him and finally he'll do it just to make you shut up. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, look, these are evil judges and they try cases. You as a parent, you as a friend, you as someone who loves someone else and gives to them because you love them, you're evil. God is good. How much more? How much more? It's a...

It's a message so that we keep on asking and keep on seeking and keep on knocking. And I want to encourage you this evening to be this kind of watchman as we're living in these last days, to pray without ceasing. You have family and friends that are unsaved. Be the watchman on the wall. Pray without ceasing. Don't give up. Continue. Don't let the Lord rest with your continual prayers, with your continual calling out to Him until He establishes it.

Those promises that He's given to you that have not yet been fulfilled in your life. Don't rest. Pray without ceasing and don't lose heart. He set us up as watchmen on the walls to be prayer warriors, to pray without ceasing, to be seeking Him and calling upon Him. And He's also sent us here, anointed by the Spirit of God, to proclaim good tidings, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the acceptable year of the Lord.

The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a couple songs. I want to encourage you in this time as they lead us in this first song to spend this time being this watchman. Be the watchman that God has called us to be and lift up those around you who are in need of salvation. Those who are not yet ready for the coming of Jesus Christ. Let's lift up those in our lives that God has placed us in contact with.

that they would hear and respond to this great news, that their hearts would be healed, that they would be set free, and that today would be the day of salvation for them. So let's seek the Lord and pray. Just you by yourself, on your own, just lift them up as we worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.