ISAIAH 19-28 PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 19-28 Precept Upon Precept

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 2013. We're here in Isaiah chapter 19, and we're looking at the chapters we read this week and going through the Bible in three years. And I really didn't have time to prepare a study for this evening, so I'm just going to read through all of the chapters that we read this week. No, I'm just kidding.

Just being silly, sorry. All right, so Isaiah chapter 19. Now as we again talk about Isaiah, we're dealing with the first of the major prophets. It's Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, also written by Jeremiah, and then Ezekiel and Daniel. And so we're right here in this major prophets or the prophetic section of the Old Testament that we're going through. The prophet Isaiah ministered around these dates, 745 to about 695 B.C.,

That was during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh.

And the prophets Hosea and Micah prophesied around the same time that Isaiah was prophesying. Now the chapters that we read this week, 19 through 28, all come from around the time that Hezekiah was reigning in Judah. And so we kind of narrow in the time frame between 726 and about 722 BC is the time when Isaiah was speaking forth the things that we'll be reading this evening.

And so if you are interested in the corresponding history to that, you can check out 2 Kings chapter 17 and chapter 18. And that gives you a little bit of a rough idea of the context of what was going on during Hezekiah's reign is when...

Assyria came and conquered the northern kingdom and carried them away into captivity. So it's all kind of in that time frame. There's a lot of things going on in Isaiah's day as he's bringing forth the messages that we're going to be looking at this evening.

As we look at the timeline visually, here's what it looks like. And so Isaiah was ministering to the southern kingdom. Now remember, Israel was split in two after Solomon. The northern kingdom kept the name Israel. The southern kingdom, where Jerusalem was, took the name Israel.

And so Isaiah was primarily ministering to Judah, but it was during the time when the northern kingdom was falling to the nation of Assyria. And so the Assyrian empire was the power of the day. And so that's who Isaiah is talking about a lot as he's talking about all the judgments that are to come.

The geography of Isaiah, again, here you see the map of the divided kingdom. The northern part is Israel. They're conquered earlier because they never had a good king, so they were in full-out rebellion from the very beginning. The southern kingdom, Judah, had some good kings, predominantly bad kings, and whether it was a good king or a bad king as a whole, the people were continuing to rebel against God, and so it brought ultimate judgment upon them.

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But we start out in chapter 19, and the key verse for chapter 19 of Isaiah is verse 1. It says,

Isaiah is primarily ministering to the kingdom of Judah, God's people Israel. However, he's also talking about many of the surrounding nations, in this case Egypt. And we've been looking at that starting in chapter 13 through about chapter 23. Isaiah is primarily focusing on judgments that will come to those surrounding nations. And so he says in verses 1 through 4 that the Egyptians will be given to a cruel master.

And so he's letting us know that Egypt will be conquered, that they're going to turn against one another, he says in verse 2, but then ultimately then they're going to be turned over to this cruel master. Again, Assyria was God's instrument or tool that he was accomplishing many of these judgments with. And so Assyria was going to be coming against Egypt and was going to be a cruel master.

Well also he says in verses 5 through 10 that the waters will fail. And for Egypt water is a big deal. It was right on the coast of course of the Mediterranean Sea and it had many rivers that came from that sea that went through the land of Egypt and the

The primary one, which I'm sure you're familiar with, is the Nile River that flows through Egypt. And so in verse 5, he tells us that the waters will fail, which would totally devastate the nation, devastate their agriculture and their whole way of life. And so it was going to be a great destruction upon Egypt that God was bringing. In verses 11 through 15, he tells us that the princes have become fools.

And so the wisdom of the nation, the counselors, had become foolishness. And God tells us why in verse 14. It says that the Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst. And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. And so here it gives us some insight behind the scenes. God's at work in...

in bringing this perversity and this foolishness that Egypt is now pursuing and following. And so they are bringing upon themselves this great destruction in their foolishness. Well, then in verses 16 through 25, it tells us that Egypt will return to the Lord. Now, you can see here the first three, those have been fulfilled. We can see them taking place when Assyria comes against Egypt and then also later on Babylon.

But this last one, this one is not yet fulfilled. Egypt has not yet turned back to the Lord. In verse 17, it tells us that in that time that Isaiah is referring to, that Judah will be a terror to Egypt.

Now, that would have been hard for the people to imagine in those days as Isaiah was prophesying this, because Egypt was very strong, and by this time, Judah was very weak. Primarily, it was just the city of Jerusalem with a few other cities, but

the rest of the nation had been conquered by Assyria. And so it seemed impossible for Judah to be a terror to Egypt, to be stronger than Egypt. And even now, although Egypt, of course, has its problems, you know, Israel or Judah being a terror to Egypt isn't something that, you know, seems very likely. But here, Isaiah prophesies that in that day, it's going to happen. There's going to be a reversal, right?

Now in the time when Isaiah is prophesying these things, the people of Israel and the people of Judah were looking to Egypt kind of as their salvation. They were expecting that here comes Assyria, this massive power from the north, and Egypt is going to protect us from Assyria. So they're relying upon Assyria and God through Isaiah is saying, I'm sorry, they're relying upon Egypt and God through Isaiah is saying,

You're relying upon Egypt, but Egypt is going to be destroyed. Now, in the future, Egypt is going to be terrified of Judah. So Egypt is not where you should have your hope, is the point. This isn't where you should be resting your confidence. One day they will serve you, Isaiah says. But before that happens, they're going to be destroyed. That's not where you need to put your hope and your rest.

But they will return to the Lord. It tells us in verse 22, it says, And so Egypt is a nation that will exist forever.

past the tribulation period into the millennium and it will become a nation that seeks the Lord and so that's the promise here it's not yet fulfilled it's yet future after Christ returns and establishes his kingdom then these verses will be fulfilled and they will turn to the Lord

Here's a quick look on the map at the nation of Egypt as well as Ethiopia. They were combined and united and divided throughout history. But you can see it's right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And then you can see all of these rivers that came down. And so Egypt relied upon those waters. And so if the waters failed, you can see why that would be such a big deal. And then, of course, the Nile River goes all the way down to the bottom. And so in the lower parts of Egypt, then...

Even more so, they relied upon that water because that was their main source. And so this is where Egypt and Ethiopia are. And God is saying they're going to be destroyed. They're going to be conquered. And you should not be relying upon them. Well, chapter 20 now, verse 3 is the key verse. It says, Then the Lord said, Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia.

How would you like to be the prophet Isaiah? Right? God says, alright, here's what I want you to do, Isaiah. You're going to be humbled and humiliated for three years as you walk around naked and barefooted.

Now, you can imagine this would create quite a stir. Now, if they'd never heard of Isaiah, probably it would be just like, okay, there's a weirdo. But they knew Isaiah. He's the prophet. The prophet Isaiah suddenly is walking around naked and barefoot. This was something that would like get people's attention, right? And so God used this as a sign to the people. And it was a sign against Egypt and Ethiopia, right?

Now again, remember that the nation of Judah was trusting in Egypt to save them from Assyria. They were expecting that Egypt would protect them. Their confidence.

As they considered the threat. Now, you could think about this, right? I mean, there's threats that you've considered perhaps. Maybe financial threats or emotional threats or some kind of like, you know, devastation is coming and you kind of try to prepare yourself and in your mind you play out the scenarios.

And often what you try to do, if you're anything like me anyways, is you try to, you know, pick a nice scenario and just convince yourself, well, that's how it's going to work out. And so I don't really need to worry about it, right? Even though maybe any of those could happen, but I'll just try to pick the one that I think or I like the best and I'll just convince myself. And that's what they did. They were thinking about the scenarios and, okay, well, they could come and destroy us. Well, I don't want to think that that's going to happen. So

you know, how's it going to happen? How are we going to be saved? I know Egypt is going to save us. And so they just fooled themselves into thinking that Egypt would protect them. They thought, hey, if we get band together, if we can unite, they will save us. Now you see the problem with this whole line of thought is they're not looking to God to save them.

They're coming up with their own plans, their own ideas, their own approach to how to bring salvation to their nation. And of course that came to relying upon Egypt. So here God gives them a clear sign. Something that will get their attention. God will take some radical steps when he wants to get people's attention.

And sometimes he'll use his prophets as signs. We'll see that in Ezekiel. We'll see that in Hosea, you know, that he uses his prophets. He says, all right, your life is to demonstrate and to bring forth a message from me. And the way I'm going to do that, Isaiah, you're going to be a walking illustration. As you walk around naked and barefoot, you're illustrating what's going to happen to Egypt.

So that the people as they're thinking Egypt's going to save me. And then they see Isaiah walking naked. And they realize well God says Egypt is going to be ashamed and naked and taken away captive. And so it's a clear message from the Lord. As he has Isaiah walk around this way for three years. In verse 5 it says, Then they, that is the nation of Judah, shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia, their expectation, and Egypt, their glory.

See, the whole point is God's saying, look, Egypt's going to be conquered. They're going to be led away captive and naked. And then you're going to realize how foolish it was to trust in them. You'll be ashamed of your strength, of your expectation. All of your hope was on them. And you'll be ashamed of it in that day. It's a good important lesson for us. If you trust in things besides God, don't be surprised if he takes it away captive.

Don't be surprised if later on, that thing that you trusted in, you're ashamed of. You're ashamed that you trusted in it. We have to be careful and we have to guard our hearts to make sure that we look to God for salvation. That is the salvation of our souls, but also the salvation of our lives and the things that we need and the things that we rely upon. That we're not just coming up with our own solutions, but that we're looking to God for

To meet our needs and to take care of us. If we trust in anything else, it will be led away captive. We see the timing of this prophecy that he gives in verse 1.

He says,

And when that happens, so you can picture, right? So here's Judah thinking, okay, here comes Assyria. They're coming down. They're conquering. All right, Egypt's going to save us. And then they look over and their neighbor's being conquered, right?

And they're thinking, okay, Egypt, Egypt's going to save us. Egypt's going to save us. And at that time, then they see Isaiah walking around naked. So again, it's very clear. God's saying, look, don't rely upon them. They're not going to save you. And so he's, you know, doing everything he can to call his people back to himself and get their attention. But they're refusing to listen. Well, that brings us now to chapter 21. Verse 1 is the key verse.

It says, Here in verses 1 through 10, we begin to talk about the nation of Babylon. And the announcement is given that Babylon is fallen.

And we've talked about this before here in the book of Isaiah. As Isaiah is prophesying these things, Babylon is not a threat. They exist, but Assyria is the world empire. Babylon's, you know, a small people. It's a nation, but it's not a serious threat. In fact, this is about a hundred years before Babylon would become a threat.

And then he goes on to say in verse 2, he says, So he's talking about Babylon and Babylon's fall. So 100 years before Babylon rises to power, Isaiah is prophesying about their fall, which is about 100 years after that. So it's about 200 years or 170 years before

Before the Medo-Persian Empire conquers Babylon, Isaiah says the Medes are going to conquer Babylon. Now, if you think about it, those numbers, you know, sometimes they kind of get mushy in our heads. But we've only been a nation for a couple hundred years, you know, a little over 200 years. And so it's like as if George Washington was prophesying about things that would be happening today.

I mean, that's pretty incredible to think about it in those terms. Here's what Isaiah is doing. The Medes are going to conquer Babylon. Babylon is not even a threat yet. But when they come to power, the next world power after them is going to be the Medo-Persian Empire. And so he's laying out history in advance for

As he brings forth these prophecies. And the prophecy is Babylon is fallen. So I marked this as partially fulfilled because Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians exactly like Isaiah said. But it wasn't an ultimate destruction of the city. It was really a slow decline of the city because there was no battle to take the city. They took it by going in through the river and they were able to take it by surprise.

And so the ultimate destruction of Babylon is going to be taking place at the end of the tribulation period as described in the book of Revelation. Well, then in verses 11 and 12, we have the burden against Duma. This is a place that is south of the Dead Sea. I'll show you a map in just a moment. It's also known as Edom, and this was conquered by Assyria. And so this is announced by Isaiah here.

And then in verses 13 through 17, he also says, all the glory of Kedar will fail. And he tells us in verse 16 that this is going to happen within a year. So he's telling us about, you know, Assyria as they work their way south. They conquered the Philistines. Now they work their way south to Edom. So here's Jerusalem. Here's the

the Dead Sea, the Philistines would be right here in this region. And so Assyria kind of works their way down. They conquer Edom down here to the south and then even down to Kedar down near the Sinai Peninsula. So they're continuing to wipe out all of these nations around Jerusalem. And Isaiah announces this ahead of time.

All right, chapter 22, verse 1 is the key verse. He says, "...the burden against the valley of vision. What ails you now that you have all gone up to the housetops?" As he talks about the valley of vision here in chapter 22, he's now speaking back to Judah and specifically Jerusalem. And as he speaks to Jerusalem, we see in verses 1 through 7, he says, "...all the leaders have fled."

Now he's looking forward to and he's announcing the destruction of Jerusalem. In verse 3 he says, And so here he's describing the fall of Jerusalem.

And it's interesting, as you go, you can check it out in 2 Kings chapter 25, verses 4 and 5 describe for us these same things that Isaiah is talking about. In other words, Jerusalem is not going to fall in battle and like, you know, the king marches out his troops and

To face Babylon and then they're defeated in battle. No, they're going to be holed up within the city and then the leaders are going to flee from the city and try to get away, but they're going to get caught. What?

And that's what happens in 2 Kings chapter 25. The city wall is broken down and so then the king and all of his men, they flee from the city. They try to sneak away through the wall and get away from the Babylonian army. In verse 5 of 2 Kings 25 it says, but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him.

And so just as Isaiah said, their rulers flee together. That's what happens. The rulers flee when Babylon comes against Judah. Now again, this is well in advance because Assyria is the power of the day. It's Assyria that's threatening Jerusalem right now. But it's later on, about 120 years later, when Babylon actually comes against Jerusalem and conquers it.

In verses 8 through 11, he tells us that Judah's protection is removed. And what he describes here is their trusting in themselves, how they fortified themselves and they trusted in these defenses that they established. They took all these steps and precautions and, you know, made sure that they had water and, you know, they were setting up and getting ready for the battle, but they weren't looking to God.

And that's what we see consistently throughout, you know, their history. They weren't looking to God. They weren't calling upon the Lord. And so if they were trusting in their own defenses, God says, okay, I'm going to let you trust in your own defenses. Verse 11, he says, you also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker, nor did you have respect for him who fashioned it long ago.

So you're coming up with these clever ways to store water between the walls so that you have provision, but you're forgetting to look to the maker who gave you the water. You're forgetting to look to God. You're forgetting to trust in God. And again, it's a reminder for us to trust in God. Otherwise, God will let you rely upon and trust in those things that you're trusting in, which will fail you for sure. Don't forget to look to your maker.

Sure, you take steps of precaution. Sure, you, you know, make provision and you establish, you know, what you need, whether it be, you know, for disaster or for the future, whatever it might be. Yeah, there's steps that you take. But if you're trusting only in those things, then God will let you and they will fail you. Then in verses 12 through 14, he says that there was joy instead of weeping. Here, God is calling for repentance. He's calling his people to repent and get right with God.

But instead, they decide to party. Hey, let's just have a good time. Verse 13, it says, Instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine, saying, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. God was saying, hey, the judgment's coming, so repent. They said, oh man, the judgment's coming. We only have a little bit of time to live it up. And so they go indulging themselves, saying,

Partying, saying, hey, we're going to die tomorrow. You only live once, right? So might as well get as much as we can out of this life. Instead of weeping and repenting over their sin, they went further into sin as this destruction was promised upon them. Well, then in verses 15 through 19, we have a specific individual singled out who is doing this. And it's the judgment upon Shebna.

In verse 16, God says to him, what have you here and whom have you here that you have hewn a sepulcher here? Sepulcher, yeah. As he hews himself a sepulcher on high, who carves a tomb for himself in a rock. And so here's what's happening. Shebna is arrogant and he's preparing for his death.

Now, you wouldn't normally think about it being arrogance to prepare for your death. But in this case, it was because he was thinking, I'm going to have an awesome funeral. I'm going to have an awesome grave. I mean, it's going to be wonderful. Now, of course, he wasn't just preparing for his funeral. He was also preparing his whole life and, you know, taking of the funds and that kind of thing.

But his idea, his mentality is we're not going to be conquered. I'm not going to be killed in some battle. No, I'm going to be killed and I'm going to be celebrated in this great luxury with this awesome tomb that I've prepared for myself. And so he's convinced that what God has said is not going to happen. That he's not going to die today.

in battle. He's not going to die in siege. He's going to die a nice life after he's lived for a while and he's going to have, you know, a nice funeral, nice retirement and so on and so forth. And so he's disregarding what God has said and just following his own plans. James warns us against this. He says, hey, watch out. You who say, hey, today and tomorrow we're going to go to this place, we're going to go to that place, we're going to spend a year there, we're going to buy, we're

And he says, you don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow. Your life is a vapor. You need to pay attention and say, hey, if God wills. In other words, bring God in. Look to God. Let him lead you. Rely upon him. Trust in him. James 4.16 says, but now you boast in your arrogance. And all such boasting is evil. We need to be careful not to make Shebna's mistake where we boast and plan in our arrogance.

and disregard what God has said in his word. Well, then in verses 20 through 25, it tells us that Eliakim will be established. And so Shebna's office is going to be given to Eliakim. And God says, I'm going to set him up. He's going to be established there. I'm going to fasten him as a peg and he will survive. He will last and he'll do well with the position, not like Shebna, who is disregarding the things of God. All right, chapter 23.

Verse 1 is the key verse. It says, So now God shifts focus again. Now we're talking about Tyre, which is a little bit north of the nation of Israel. And he tells us in verses 1 through 7 that Tyre is laid waste. Now Tyre was a major commercial city of the day.

and people would come, ships would come. It was right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and so it was just all kinds of commerce was going on, and so it was an abundantly wealthy city, a wealthy nation, a wealthy people, and everybody around the world at that time loved Tyre because it's where they would get all of, you know, their great products, and all the purple clothing, and all of the, you know, things that they wanted, the things that they enjoyed, they would go through Tyre, and so they made

riches and great wealth by trading with Tyre and then they got all kinds of luxuries as a result. And so as Tyre is laid waste it expresses here in verses 1 through 7 the sorrow from all these surrounding areas Cyprus and Sidon and Tarshish and Egypt. All these places are mourning over the loss of Tyre because they're not able to make the money anymore or enjoy the luxuries from there anymore.

In verses 8 through 14, it tells us that the Lord has purposed this. Verse 9 says, 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 a theme that we see throughout the book of Isaiah. That God has purposed this to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory. Tyre in its strength,

And its great wealth was proud. You could say that the tire was inflated. Puffed up. Sorry, I had to do it. Okay. But the theme that we see throughout Isaiah, starting in Isaiah chapter 2, is that all pride will be judged. And all who exalt themselves will be cast down. We saw Shebna. He's exalting himself.

Setting himself up with a good position, even a good funeral, but he will be cast down. Tyre lifted itself up, trusted in itself, confidence in itself, but this pride will be judged. All who lift themselves up shall be cast down. God will judge pride. And so the Lord has purposed it. And then verses 15 through 18, we see that Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years.

Now, Tyre has an interesting history because Assyria came against Tyre. Babylon came against Tyre. They weren't able to fully conquer it, but they were able to shut it down for a little bit. They hindered it so it wasn't a successful commercial operation.

place you know for a while for about 70 years and then it began to grow prominent again afterwards it will not ultimately be conquered until alexander the great comes on the scene a little bit later on in history and so they're forgotten for 70 years and they begin to then rise to power once again

And so we've seen all of that fulfilled in history. Here's a quick look at the map of where Tyre is. Again it's up in the northern part or north above Israel and it's right there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And so it was a major port. It was a major commercial center for the world at that time. And that brings us now to chapter 24. Verse 1 is the key verse. It says,

Here we see a new section of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 13 through 23, we saw all these judgments on the surrounding nations, including Israel and Judah. Now in chapters 24 through 27...

We're dealing with primarily future events. The previous chapters we've seen, a lot of those events have been fulfilled or partially fulfilled. But now we're looking toward the future. We're looking at the tribulation and the millennium. And so these are things that are yet to happen and that's what we're going to be considering for the next few chapters.

In verses 1 through 6, it tells us that the Lord makes the earth empty. Now remember in the tribulation period, and we went through this on Sunday mornings in the book of Revelation a couple years ago, and so we saw a lot of detail about the tribulation period and how the wrath of God will be poured out upon the whole earth. It's not going to be, you know, one nation or one section, but the whole earth is going to be experiencing great judgment in this time.

And so this is what is being described here. In verse 5 he says, The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they've transgressed the laws, they've changed the ordinance, they've broken the everlasting covenant. And so God tells us here, it's the whole earth that is affected and the reason why is because of their rebellion against God. They've broken the everlasting covenant. They've transgressed the laws.

And so verse 6, therefore the curse has devoured the earth and those who dwell in it are desolate. Now the tribulation period is going to be the worst thing that this world has ever seen. You think, you know, hurricanes are bad. You think earthquakes are bad. You think the Holocaust was bad. You think all of those things are bad and they are.

But they do not compare to what will be taking place during the tribulation period. And so there's going to be great devastation and desolation to the whole earth. And verses 7 through 13, the merry-hearted sigh. So those who are joyful and making, you know, lots of noise, because of this great wrath, there's not going to be any joyful songs anymore. You won't hear it

I was going to say Miley Cyrus on the radio and then I realized you're going to make fun of me. But then I told you anyway, so you can still make fun of me, whatever. You know, there's not going to be butterfly songs and party songs and, you know, let's have a good time together. There's not going to be that. Because everybody's going to be in mourning as the wrath of God is being poured out upon the earth. It's going to be great destruction and desolation. In verses 14 through 20, it goes on to say that the earth is violently broken.

It's violently broken. The whole earth is going to be shaken and shattered. In verse 20 it tells us, The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy upon it and it will fall and not rise again.

And that's a good description of this tribulation period. As comets are hitting the earth and mountains are cast into the sea. All those things that we looked at in Revelation. And it's just like the earth is like tottering back and forth. Being tossed to and fro under the weight of its sin. Under the weight of rebellion against God.

Verse 18 gives us a clear picture too. He says, In other words, nobody's going to get away with anything or they're not going to escape this judgment that comes from God.

So you're running away, you're trying to get away, but then you fall into the pit. And if by some chance you're able to scramble out of the pit, then you get caught in the next thing, that there's no escape from this judgment that will take place during the tribulation. So again, it's not yet fulfilled. It's something that is yet to come. And then in verses 21 through 23, we see that the Lord will reign.

How does the tribulation period end? That seven years of the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth. How does it end? It ends with the return of Jesus Christ. At the battle of Armageddon. He returns. He sets foot upon the earth. And he establishes his kingdom. To rule and reign here upon the earth for 1,000 years. And that's what we see here. The Lord will reign.

It says in verse 23, And so this also, of course, is not yet fulfilled, but it will be. Jesus will return and he will set up his kingdom here upon the earth.

Well then in chapter 25 we have verse 1 is the key verse. It says, O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you. I will praise your name for you have done wonderful things. Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Here in chapter 25 as well as 26 and 27 as we look at it, these are like praise songs that will be sung and kind of reflect the heart of what's going to be happening while Jesus rules and reigns. And so we mark them as not yet fulfilled because it's still looking forward. Now some of these, our hearts kind of, you know, like, oh wow, that's a great line. That's a good thing to remember for us as believers. We can understand, you know, there's a spiritual truth for us in Christ and

as he rules and reigns in us, we get to experience some of these things right now. But ultimately, this is talking about, you know, what's going to be happening physically, literally upon the earth when Christ rules and reigns.

And so he says in verses 1 through 5, O Lord my God, I will exalt you. And so during that time, the Lord will be exalted and the nation of Israel will exalt God at that time. In verses 6 through 8, it tells us that he will swallow up death forever. Forever.

Verse 8 tells us, He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth for the Lord has spoken. It struck me as I looked at that verse how parallel it is to Revelation chapter 21 verse 4. Revelation 21 verse 4 says, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Well that's included there in verse 8 here Isaiah 25. There will be no more death.

nor sorrow, nor crying. That's included. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. It's like Isaiah, the Apostle John, and Revelation. They're talking about the same thing. That time when Jesus rules and reigns upon the earth. Then in verses 9 through 12, it says, we waited for him. He will save us.

Verse 9. I think this is where we get that song from. I don't know. We haven't sung that song in a while. But remember that. Oh, oh, oh, oh. This is our God. It's right here. Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him. And He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

So again, this is going to be sung by Israel as a nation, as a whole. The people will be saying, we've waited for the Lord. They turn to the Lord in the tribulation period. And so when he rules and reigns, they say, this is the one we've been waiting for. This is the one we've been hoping in and seeking shelter in. He is our God. And so they will have a complete and total turn to the Lord in that time. Chapter 26, verse 1.

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. So the song continues on. This is the song that will be sung. Trust in the Lord forever. Again, the idea here is during that time in the millennium when Jesus rules and reigns, the people as a whole will have turned to the Lord. And so they will as a whole sing, trust in the Lord forever. Trust in him.

Verse 5, for he brings down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low to the ground. He brings it down to the dust. They got to watch Jesus return, bring judgment upon all those who were lifted up and exalted as he established his kingdom. And that's what they're testifying of here. He brings down those who dwell on high. So trust in the Lord.

And then of course verse 3 is that classic verse that we like to remember. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for Yah the Lord is everlasting strength. So again we see this as not yet fulfilled in that the nation of Israel is not yet seeing this. But they will. But you and I get to sing this. This rings true in our hearts because well when he reigns in us

Then we can experience this kind of peace. As we trust in the Lord. He keeps us in perfect peace. Jesus told his disciples. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives. Paul tells us as we lay all the worries and anxieties on our heart. We give it over to God. That the peace of God which passes understanding. Will guard our hearts and minds. This peace from trusting in the Lord.

It's a song that's going to be sung in that day, but it's a song that you can sing today by trusting in the Lord right now because of what Christ did for us upon the cross. Verses 7 through 11, he tells us that the way of the just is uprightness. And during this time, as Christ rules and reigns, it's going to be a time of seeking the Lord where people are going to be walking uprightly. They're going to be doing what's right. They're not going to be rebelling against God during the millennium.

In verses 12 through 19, he says, you will establish peace for us. An everlasting life, he goes on to talk about, for those who trust in the Lord. There's going to be resurrection. In verse 19, he says, your dead shall live. There's going to be great resurrection. Awaken, seeing you who dwell in the dust. For your due is like the due of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. There's going to be a time of new life and resurrection, and Christ will rule and reign. Again, this is not yet fulfilled.

And then he says, hide yourself until the indignation is passed in verses 20 and 21. So he kind of backs up a little bit. So he's talking about the millennium, the glorious things as Christ rules and reigns. And then he says, okay, now hide yourself for that time of indignation. Going back to and talking about the tribulation period, which is the time when the wrath of God or the indignation of God is poured out upon the earth. Now for you and I as believers today, we look forward to the rapture of the church.

And before the tribulation takes place, the rapture of the church takes place.

And so we'll be caught up. We'll be out of here. We'll be forever with the Lord at that time. But the nation of Israel that does not believe in Jesus right now, they will go into the tribulation past the rapture because they don't believe right now. But in the midst of the tribulation, they will turn to the Lord. They'll realize he is the Messiah and they will turn to him. And then here it says, hide yourself. And they will be hidden and protected in the midst of the tribulation.

In the midst of the tribulation. So God's going to bring Israel through the tribulation period. The church is going to catch up before the tribulation period. But Israel will be brought through the tribulation as the wrath of God is being poured out upon the earth. Well that brings us now to chapter 27.

Verse 13 is the key verse for chapter 27. It says, In verses 1 through 6, we see the promise that Israel shall blossom.

Israel is going to be blessed. Again, this is now looking at the time when the Lord will establish his kingdom upon the earth. He says in verse 4, who would set briars against me in battle? Who would dare to come against God?

The Lord Jesus Christ in battle. He says, I'll just break right through. There's nothing that you can do. Even if you gather together at the battle of Armageddon and turn your weapons against me, I'm just going to break right through. None of your weapons, none of your defenses can defeat the purposes of God. And so he's going to judge and he's going to establish Israel. Israel is going to blossom and be blessed. And he tells us in verses 7 through 11 that the iniquity of Jacob will be covered.

He's going to deal with their iniquity by bringing them through this time of wrath and judgment. And so this judgment deals with the iniquity of the people so that

He's able to then restore them afterwards because their iniquity has been covered or dealt with. In verses 12 through 13, he says, you will be gathered. And that's where verse 13 comes in. So in that day, he's going to blow the trumpet and they're going to come. He's going to gather his people from all over where they've been scattered and spread out as they hide and

From the wrath of God. And hide from the wrath of the Antichrist. During the tribulation period. And then the Lord is going to bring them back. As he establishes his kingdom there. In Jerusalem. Well we finish it up this evening with chapter 28. And this begins a new section of the prophet Isaiah. This is now primarily for the next few chapters. Going to be pronouncement of woes. So we've been looking at the future. And the tribulation. The millennium. Some glorious things yet to come. But.

Now we're going back to, let's talk about, you know, what's happening in Israel, what's happening in Judah, and the woe, the sorrow, the judgment that is being brought upon them. So verses 1 through 4, he says, woe to the drunkards of Ephraim. Now Ephraim was the capital of the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom. So Israel at one time, one nation, it was split. Israel became the north.

Judah was the south and the northern kingdom, Israel, which was always in rebellion against God, Ephraim was kind of the predominant tribe of Israel that made up the northern kingdom. And so it's often referred to as Ephraim.

And so in verse 1 it describes her glorious beauty as a fading flower. At one time she was glorious but Ephraim, the northern kingdom, is now fading and is going to be destroyed. So woe to the drunkards of Ephraim. In verses 5 through 8 we see that the priest and prophet have erred through intoxicating drink. So

As we saw earlier, you know, the people were like, now we're going to die anyways. Might as well eat, drink and be merry because we're going to die tomorrow. And we see this was not just the mind of the people, but this was even the mind of the priests and the prophets of that nation. So they're just giving themselves over to God.

This indulgence of intoxicating drink. So much so, the verse 8 says, for all tables are full of vomit and filth, no place is clean. So they've just completely gone into rebellion against God and just trying to, you know, pretend like tomorrow isn't happening and just...

Now, throughout Scripture, of course, we see that drunkenness is forbidden. And that's something that we need to pay attention to. But here, even the priests and the prophet, even the leaders of the nation have turned to this drunkenness.

And it's a part of the woe that's pronounced upon them because they're not leading the people in the things of God. And so in verses 9 through 15, we see this famous line, precept upon precept.

Now this was the people, the priests and the prophets of Israel saying to Isaiah, saying to the Lord, like why are you telling us these things? They're kind of mocking as they talk about and they use this phrase precept upon precept. They're basically saying like what you're telling us is like elementary school stuff. Like hey, we're so much wiser than that. We know so much more. We're so much better than that. We don't need you to tell us, you know, the basics of what it means to follow God.

But that's what they needed. But they were thinking, hey, we don't need to hear precept upon precept, you know, line upon line. We don't need to pay attention to that. That's not stuff that's going to help us. We know much better already. We don't have to go back to those things. And so they're kind of mocking Isaiah and they're mocking the Lord as they say this precept upon precept. But then God goes on to say, but that's how the word is brought to you, precept upon precept.

And so I want to come back to that thought in just a moment. But let's finish up. Verses 16 through 22 says,

He says, I lay a stone in Zion. And so he's going to be establishing just like he said he would. And then he says in verses 23 through 29, give ear to my voice. And so even though they're ignoring and disregarding and involved in drunkenness, God's calling them back and saying, no, look, I really am establishing a stone in Zion. I'm bringing salvation. You need to turn and get right. You need to listen to me. Hear my voice. God was calling out to them, but they would not listen.

Because they thought, ah, that's foolishness. That's just, you don't need to give us such a simple message. Look at verse 13 with me and I want to finish with this thought. It says,

They were mocking and saying, yeah, that's like, you know, so simple. It's so basic. And sometimes we can kind of have that attitude as well. You know, it's like someone comes with a great problem in their life. And it's not that it's a little problem. It's a big problem. But then we say, okay, well, what have you been reading, you know, in your devotional time? And they're like, no, no, I don't need time. That's like simple stuff. I need...

I need some answers with the problem that I'm facing, not like, you know, what have I been reading the Bible and praying? I mean, that's just basic stuff. But that's what we need. From the youngest of us in the Lord to the oldest of us in the Lord. You know what we need? We need time with the Lord. We need precept upon precept and line upon line.

As Peter tells us to desire the milk of the word. And sometimes all we want is, you know, some technical details or, you know, some specific word from the Lord to tell us exactly what he wants us to do. But if we're missing this thing, the precept upon precept, the line upon line, we're missing out. And that's the way that God speaks to us.

And that's why it's so important. Why do you think that we are, you know, making such a big emphasis and taking three years on Wednesday evenings to go through the Bible and encouraging you, hey, read with us. Here's a reading schedule so that you can read day by day because that's how God speaks. That's what we need. We need precept upon precept and line upon line and here a little and there a little.

Many times the word of God is likened to food in the Bible. Remember in Hebrews chapter 5, he talks about milk versus solid food. And I think that's an interesting picture to kind of consider what he's saying here, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. Because you and I are designed, our bodies are designed in such a way that we cannot consume all the food that we need for the week in one day.

Right? I'm pretty sure you don't do that, right? You don't just eat on Sunday so that you don't have to eat the rest of the week. Anybody do that? Have you tried that? Don't try that. You know, that's not how we're made. How are we made? Well, no. We're made to eat a little bit throughout the day, every day. That's how we're designed. That's how our body functions. It's here a little, there a little with actual food. And that is an appropriate picture for the Word of God.

That's why, you know, when a Christian only opens up the Bible or considers the things of God on Sunday mornings or even Sundays and Wednesdays, hey, you think I'm really, you know, doing awesome because I come on Wednesdays. And great, applaud you for it. I wouldn't discourage you from it. However, you can't just eat two days a week either. It's got to be consistent. A little bit here, a little bit there. You need to be in and out of the Word of God all week long.

hearing it, reading it, praying through it, meditating on it. That's what we need. Precept upon precept. And when you come with a difficult problem and you need some counseling, you need some direction, this is where we're going to direct you. This is where you're going to hear from the Lord. This is how God speaks. Line upon line, precept upon precept. And so I want to encourage you this evening to be faithful regularly, daily, throughout the day. Maybe even link it to your actual eating habits.

As often as you eat, consider the Word of God and meditate on the Word of God. As often as you eat, be involved in the Word of God. Read it. Line upon line. Verse by verse. Chapter by chapter. Read it. Pray it. Meditate on it. Spend time with God. Ask God about it. Talk to God about it. And if you meditate on His Word, if you delight in His Word, Psalm 1 tells us, you'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You'll not wither.

But you'll produce fruit in the appropriate season. If you want to be fruitful, you want to be blessed, the Bible makes it very clear. Line upon line, precept upon precept. Delight in the Word of God. Meditate in the Word of God. Read the Word of God. Every day, throughout the day, and you'll be blessed. If you mock and you say, ah, line upon line, I used to have a co-worker who told me, I can tell you're pretty kind of new to the Christian faith because you still read your Bible.

He mocked it. Line upon line, precept upon precept. That's, you know, for new believers. You know, we don't really need to do that. No, no, no. Listen, this is the greatest need that we have. Read the word of God. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would help us to, again, to understand our need of you. Lord, give us a sense. Remind us of how much we need you.

Lord, that we might pursue you with all of our heart. That we might dive into your word to seek you out. To read line upon line and precept upon precept. And not just all in one sitting, but you want us to do it tomorrow and then tomorrow afternoon and then tomorrow evening.

And then Friday, you want us to get into the Word of God again and spend time with you and hear from you. And then Friday afternoon, you want us to connect with you once again. And then Friday evening again, you want us to spend time with you and consider your Word and meditate on it day and night. And Lord, I pray that you would give us a great thirst for your Word that we would be meditating on your Word day and night, delighting in it. And God, as we do, I pray that you would be faithful to your Word and establish us as a tree of

planted next to the water. Lord, that we would be fruitful, that we would be established, that we would not wither, but that we would have everything that we need because we're in constant contact with you. And so, Lord, help us to not neglect you and to not neglect your word, but help us to give it the right priority in our lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.