Isaiah Chapters 54-55 – John Karmelich
1.
Where does one go after discussing the most important event in human
history? If you weren't around for the
last lessons, Isaiah described in 15 verses, Jesus death and resurrection about
700 years before it occurred. My
question is "now what"? Just
like my theme of all my studies is the idea of "I believe Jesus is God and
died for all my sins, now what?"
This lesson's a great example of that "now what" as it follows
right after describing the most important event in human history.
a)
OK John, we get your now what concept.
The big question is what is Isaiah's "now what" right after He
predicts Jesus death and resurrection?
The answer is, "How will that event affect the history of the
world?" What we're going to read
about in these chapters as well as for the rest of the book is the
"epilogue" of that event and how we as a collective group of saved
people benefit from that event.
b)
To put this another way, what we read in these two chapters is also a set
of predictions on what life will be like with that resurrected Messiah ruling
over our lives. It gives all of us a set
of guidelines on how to live life realizing there is a resurrected man who is
in charge of this world. In other words,
Jesus is in charge, deal with it, and live our life accordingly. That's this lesson in one thought. The rest of this lesson is the details.
2.
Speaking of details, let me go over these two chapters, to show you why
it's worth the trouble for us to learn the details about why Isaiah wrote them.
a)
The first part of Chapter 54 I believe shows us the great growth of the
Christian church as this idea was also predicted long before it occurred. Isaiah uses the concept of a nothing, growing
into something really big. I'd argue
he's describing the quick and fast growth of the Christian church after the
events of the last chapter. Assuming we
know that, why is that such a big deal?
Because 700 years before Jesus came on the scene, Isaiah tells us that
God knows how history unfolds, and those of us who believe that Jesus is God
will be far greater in number than those who believe in the same God but not in
Jesus.
b)
Then we get to what I consider the really important part, "Trusting
in Jesus despite what we're dealing with at the moment." I consider most of the bible text here as a
big delayed gratification speech. One of
the important lessons one learns in life is that if we're wiling to delay an
immediate gratification of what we desire, we usually get far more than if we
let go of that desire and settle for something easier. For example if we're willing to spend time
learning a particular skill, the payoff will usually far greater than if we
only settle for what we can get quickly.
As we all know, success rarely occurs in the first five minutes of
life. We need to take the time to figure
out "the plan" and make the time to execute it, and be willing to be
deal with whatever life throws at us as we still work toward our goals. If one does that one usually becomes more
successful in life and even enjoys it more.
c)
OK John, that's good common sense advice, what does it have to do with
Isaiah here? It is for us to realize,
Jesus is God, He's resurrected, He is in charge of our lives, and we should
make the best decisions we can based on that fact. It's to realize those essential facts for us
Christians is to accept them and plan our lives around it. Yes we could die today or live a long time
longer, and yes we still have to deal with our issues. What God wants is for us to keep in mind is
that His plan for the course of humanity is already occurring. That just means we should be using some of
our time and the gifts He's given us to be a part of that plan and glorify Him
with our lives. To other words, God's in
charge, deal with it and the best use of our life is to be a part of that plan.
d)
OK John Part 2! We get that. Most of us reading this are Christians who in
some way use our lives for His glory.
Why should we study the details of these two chapters? What can we learn that we don't know already? First and foremost it's the reminder that
none of us are wasting our time following Jesus. It's worth the effort and whatever were
called to do for Him will give us far more satisfaction in life than any other
way we can use it.
e)
Let me explain it this way: All of
us want our lives to have meaning. Even
if we're living in a situation that seems hopeless, God wants us to use our
lives for His glory by doing all we can do for Him. Most of us are not called to lead say
millions to Jesus. Most of us are just
called to make a difference in the world around us. We don't get rewarded in heaven based on the
number of people we saved, but strictly on using our lives in order to make a
difference for Jesus based on the gifts we have and the circumstances of our
lives. All I'm saying is Isaiah explains
to us in these chapters how it is we're to live life based on the fact of Jesus
being God and ruling from heaven over our lives at this moment.
3.
The rest of this lesson is in effect the details. We'll get hints of changes on how life will
exist after His Second Coming in these chapters, but most of the text will deal
with how we should be living based on the fact that "Jesus is in charge of
our lives, accept it and deal with it".
That phrase I just put in quotes is my lesson title for this week. My point is we can live life feeling sorry
for how it's turning out or we can realize, Jesus is in charge, I desire to be
a part of His plan for the world and I'd like to use my life for His
glory. If we learn to think that way
daily, the specifics of how we do live out our lives is not as important as the
fact we have chosen to live for Him and make the best decisions we can based on
that decision. If we do that, "we
cannot lose" in life.
a)
Let me give you a specific example and then we'll start the lesson. There's a fairly famous Christian pastor I
quote regularly who's taught bible studies for years, while still having a long
career in the business world. He realized late in life that the biggest
difference he did made in life wasn't the people he hired over the years, or
the successful business he began but seeing the people who he's either taught
simple bible lessons to, or taught at length of some facts about the bible and
seeing them grow in their relationship with Jesus. All that I'm saying is the greatest
difference we make in this life is when we use our lives in some fashion for
His glory. That and that alone makes
life worth living.
b)
That's enough guilt for one introduction.
Time to cover two chapters verse by verse. Let's get started.
4.
Chapter 54, Verse 1: "Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a
child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because
more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a
husband," says the LORD.
a)
To begin, let's
remember where we left off. Isaiah just
finished 15 verses describing Jesus death and resurrection 700 years before it
occurred. The next thing we read here is
about a "barren" (childless) woman singing in joy because she's going
to have lots more children than a married woman. To explain, let me talk about the culture of
Isaiah's day:
i)
For a grown woman
(older teenager in that culture) not to be married and not with children is a
great sign of shame. It wasn't a death
sentence, but such women were looked down upon in that culture. I still remember vividly when one of my
wife's good friends was crying hard that she'd never get married. I remember the day of her letting go of that
desire and go do some missionary work.
She then met a man who's she's married to this day. I also remember the early days when my wife
and I got married and struggled for years to get pregnant. My point is that this image of a desolate
woman is something even I as a man had a good glimpse of seeing.
ii)
OK, if Isaiah jumps from describing the purpose of Jesus in the last
lesson to this image of a barren women having lots of children, who is he
taking about and why is it we should care?
Some commentators think it's describing the nation of Israel in it's
"lowly" state of being in captivity and this is God's way of saying,
"I've still got a wonderful plan for your future, and despite all the
things that you've had to deal with it, and will deal with, I still have plans
to make you a great nation."
iii)
An alternative Christian view is that since Isaiah just described the key
event of all of history (Jesus death and resurrection) the desolate is
describing those of us who believe in Jesus are far greater in number than
those who believe in God but deny that Jesus is God. It's essentially a prediction of the growth
of the church.
b)
Whether Isaiah is referring to Israelites or Christians, the key point is
whoever believes in the passage of the last 15 verses will benefit far more
than those who don't. That's the key point
of this verse. Now let me personalize it
before moving on.
i)
First of all to believe in Jesus does not mean every believer will
automatically have lots of children, so that interpretation can't be
correct. Therefore it must be bigger in
scope than that interpretation. I view
the opening several verses of this chapter as telling us of how our lives will
be enriched by our trust in Jesus.
ii)
Again I think of that man who had a long business career but realized the
greatest difference he made in life was all the people who he helped draw
closer to Jesus in some fashion. Also
remember we don't get a "notch in our bibles" for everyone we
save. Our rewards are not based on the
size of our ministry, but on whether or not we we're loyal to whatever God
called us to do. A person who worked many years to raise up say children to
trust in Jesus may have just a great reward in heaven as a person who's led
multitudes of people to Jesus. What I
like to tell people is what is it one enjoys doing or is "good at"
and find a way to combine that skill to make a difference for God with that
skill. That's the greatest way to live
life out.
iii)
My point here is that anyone of us can have our "spiritual life
enlarged with more children" if we're willing to use our lives for His glory. That's the underlying idea of the first verse
as well as the next several. Speaking of
which:
5.
Verse 2: "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your
tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your
stakes. 3 For you
will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess
nations and settle in their desolate cities.
a)
Imagine for a
moment living by yourself in a tent.
Then you learn another person is going to live there with you. That's the idea of Verse 2. It's a little like a homeowner enlarging a
house to make room for more people. OK
we get that. What does this have to do with me and why is it described at this
point in Isaiah?
i)
First let's
consider the possibilities from the standpoint of the Israelites, who were
Isaiah's original target audience of this book.
It can be describing how God's going to enlarge their borders and the
Israelites will take over desolate cities.
No time in history has ever fit that description, so it must be
something future to them as well as us.
Many see this passage as describing the "end time's" as the
bible tells us that Israel will "win" in the great final war as
described in much of Revelation.
a)
That prediction
is a worldwide war will occurs before Jesus returns "to rule over this
world". Before Jesus returns a lot
of bad things occur. Among the bad
things is that many will be killed and a lot of cities will be desolated.
b)
All I'm saying
here is that Israel will survive as a nation through all of that and even grow
as a nation as they take over desolate cities.
ii)
Let me explain
this concept another way. When God
promised Abraham that his descendants would have the land of Israel, that area
of land promised to him was much greater than the area that exists today. Much of what we call Syria, Jordan and parts
of Iraq will be part of this future Israel, when the Second Coming event
occurs. All of this is a way of saying that the Israel's boundaries will be
larger one day and additional land for them will be part of that event.
iii)
Next let's consider this "enlarged tent" from the standpoint of
the Christian church. Let's be honest
the growth of the church came from a bunch of nobodies to become one of the
largest religions in the world. My point is the great growth of the church
would fit well into Isaiah's model of "expanded believers".
iv)
Finally, think about how we use our life for His glory. The difference we make for Him is never a
waste of a life. We "enlarge that tent" by new believers becoming a
part of that "tent". Again,
it's not just about literal children, but about making that difference for
Jesus. It's the greatest purpose a life
can have.
6.
Verse 4: "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do
not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of
your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is
his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all
the earth.
a)
I stated about
two pages back that for a woman to not have children was considered to be a
sign of great shame in that culture.
Keep in mind that about two centuries after this was written is when the
Israelites were first driven out of their land.
It must have felt like God had abandoned them. Most of us have gone
through times even as believers when we feel abandoned by God. Here is where these verses are a great
reminder to us that God's still there, He's still guiding us and despite all
we're going through, He's still calling the shots and desires to guide our live
for His glory.
b)
There are lots of
tragedies I can't explain. I know of
parents who've lost young children. I
have seen believers die in ways I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. All I know is God is still there guiding us
and allows those things to occur somehow, ultimately for His glory. It may be to strengthen the faith of others
around that event, and it can even used to lead other people to draw closer to
Him. Always remember that God's into
relationships, and He allows things to occur often to encourage people to draw
close to Him to help us deal with the circumstance of the moment.
c)
That tough
thought leads me back to these verses.
It's a reminder of who we're married to in the first place! It's like realizing "we're one of His,
and there's nothing we can do to lose that relationship!" We can't sin enough to lose it. We can't ever be abandoned by Him no matter
what situation we're in. We can't lose
no matter what! That's the underlying
point of these verses.
d)
That leads me to
the last sentence of Verse 5. Notice the
verse states bluntly that the God of the Israelites is also called the
"God of the all the earth".
All I'm saying is the one we do worship is not just a local
"deity" or something people made up, but is the God who rules over
the entire world. We may have accepted
that as fact years ago, but consider it from the perspective of the
Israelites. It's one thing to say, "Our
god is powerful and is capable of doing great things". It's another to say He is the only God who
rules over the universe as we know it.
The "proof is in the pudding", which just means the historical
evidence of what has been accomplished through the Israelites existing to this
day and the growth of the Christian church despite all the persecution is a
great proof that God is the God of all the world and not just of the
Israelites!
e)
All of that leads
back to you and me. The verses remind us
to not feel humiliated due to our circumstances. We may think we're not good enough for God,
or think we won't be rewarded as well as others in this life or the next
one. The point to remember is that God
has never abandoned those of us who trust in Him and never will. There is no reason to ever feel humiliated or
ashamed because no matter what happens to us in this life we win just because
we trust in the God of the Universe and trust that since He's already paid the
complete price for our sins, we're now free to use our lives to make a
difference for Him. If you get that you've jus gotten the purpose
of living and the Gospel message. OK
then, time to move on:
7.
Verse 6: The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife
deserted and distressed in spirit-- a wife who married young, only to be
rejected," says your God.
a)
We've only got a
few more verses left of this "don't feel rejected" speech before
Isaiah goes on to the next topic. With
all of this tragedy talk and "God's still there", it's easy to forget
that Isaiah started this section with "sing out in praise". My point is this section is not any sort of
"Sit there and fell sorry for ourselves" dirge, but a reminder that
God's still there in spite of whatever we're dealing with so we should choose
to be joyful. As the old saying goes, we
only get one shot at this life. We can
choose to be miserable or choose to be full of joy. Being full of joy is a much better way to go
through life than being miserable!
b)
Ask yourself this
question: Would you rather be around someone who's joyful most of the time or
someone who's complaining most of the time? That's why Isaiah's working on our
attitude here in these verses. He's
effectively saying, "Yes I know things look pretty bad at this moment, but
God's still there and has great eternal plans for your life, so be full of joy
despite whatever we're dealing with as God wants to use our lives for His glory
as well as be full of joy as we go through our life!"
c)
That leads me
back to Verse 6. It's a perfect example
of "have faith despite whatever we're dealing with at the
moment." Isaiah uses the illustration
of a deserted wife and a woman who is "down in spirit"
(depressed). We're getting the big
reminder that no mater what is the problem of the moment, how does that compare
to the fact we're eternally forgiven of all our sins and God's still there to
guide us despite those issues and He still wants to use our lives for His
glory? Realizing those facts should give
us a great sense of joy no matter the circumstances we're dealing with and
that's the point of this little lecture.
d)
Meanwhile,
Isaiah's almost done making his point about the same issue:
8.
Verse 7: "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with
deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a
surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting
kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.
a)
Hey John, you just lectured us for a few pages that God never abandons
us. Yet we read here in Verse 7 it
states that God has abandoned you (The Israelites I assume) for a brief moment. What does that mean and why should I
care? So glad you asked.
i)
First abandonment is a reference here to "feeling". It's the idea that we feel like He has
abandoned us. Let's face it, from
Israel's standpoint when they were taken out of that land into captivity, it
must have felt like God abandoned them.
Even many centuries later when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, it must
have felt like He'd abandoned them permanently.
Just as God allowed the Israelites to return to that land in the last
century, so I'm positive He's got a plan for them that's a "separate
deal" than God has fur us Christians.
We need to remember the Jewish nation has a separate beginning and a
separate destiny than the Christian church. That's what the bible teaches. Their destiny is God will rule over the earth
from that land. The Christian destiny is
we rule and reign with Jesus over the world.
What that means is we help enforce His rule over the world! (That's what I suspect.)
ii)
Next, coming back to us, it's normal to feel that God's abandoned us
especially at a time of tragedy. Again,
these verses are here to remind us that He never leaves us even though we may
feel that way at times. I have to admit,
these verses are great ones to memorize and recall at times when such tragedies
strike.
iii)
OK, enough "feeling sorry for ourselves", let's see what Isaiah
says next.
9.
Verse 9: "To me this is like the days of Noah, when I
swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have
sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.
a)
Let's start with the phrase translated "To me". I want to remind you that Isaiah sometimes
writes as if he's taken dictation from God and this is one of those times.
b)
With that said God's saying through Isaiah, that the times when the
Israelites felt like God had abandoned them, He wants them and us to recall
God's promise to Noah. That is the idea
that the whole world will never be covered with a flood again.
c)
Let me pause for a moment to consider a few things. First notice that Isaiah doesn't think of
Noah as a mythical legend but a real person and a real event that
occurred. Now notice that the verse is
saying the flood was not a local event but covered the whole earth. Think about it this way: Since Noah, there has been many a local flood
around the world. There has never been
another worldwide flood. Archeological
evidence exists around the world that supports the idea of a worldwide
flood. At the same time, if you've with
me through Isaiah to date, he's made lots of predictions that are easy to prove
including the details of Jesus death and resurrection in the last chapter. If we trust that, we can trust the
"flood".
d)
The point here is not just to state that Noah's flood was a fact. The point is God stated to Noah that there
will never be a worldwide flood and the rainbow is the symbol associated with
that promise. The idea is "God
hasn't abandoned His people way back then and He's not about to abandon them
now."
e)
Let me explain this idea one more way:
In the last year, I've personal known of a handful of people who were so
depressed about their lives they committed suicide. These weren't close friends, but
acquaintances of mine. In those cases,
they were going through a rough time in their lives. They didn't see a solution
and ended their life. As sad as all that
is, my point is when one is feeling really down, one has to remember that God
is still there, He's still got a plan for our lives and still wants to guide us
despite whatever it is we are facing.
Just as God didn't abandon Noah, just as God has never abandon the
Israelites as a group in their hour of need, so God's still guiding our lives
and wants to guide it for His glory in spite of whatever it is we're facing at
this time.
f)
Consider the second line of this verse: "Now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to
rebuke you again." While it can
apply to many times in Israel's history were they must have felt like God
abandoned them during horrid times of suffering, what I suspect it also means
is just as the complete price for our sins was paid for as stated in the last
chapter of Isaiah, so the logical conclusion is God's "not angry at
us" in the sense that by our trust in Him, we don't have to worry about
sin in the sense that price has already been paid. Yes of course I believe sin is to be avoided,
but not to earn His love, but just to be grateful for what He's done for
us. With that said, let's move on to
Verse 10.
10.
Verse 10: Though the mountains be shaken and the hills
be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of
peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
a)
I admit this is a
tough verse to accept if one is Jewish.
Consider how they've been treated over the millenniums with the
holocaust as only a fairly recent example.
Yet here we read of God saying through Isaiah that mountains and hills
will be removed, yet My unfailing love for all of you won't change". Some commentators think that when Jesus
returns there will be geographical changes based on this verse. That's possible, but I believe the point is
simply that God can't stop loving what He loves despite the tragedies of our
existence.
b)
In effect this
verse ties well to the last lesson. That
lesson focused on Isaiah's prediction of Jesus dying for our sins. The tie-in is since God Himself paid that
price, we never have to worry about God's love for us "growing
cold". Let me put it this way, we
can sin so badly we mess up our rewards in heaven or mess up our life so bad
that we may lose all we got or say go to jail.
However, God can't "un-love" what He loves in the first
place. All that I am saying is this
verse is a great one to take comfort in when one feels abandoned by God or by
anyone else. It's the reminder that no
matter how bad things get in life, we're loved by God and He still wants to
guide the rest of our lives for His glory.
No matter what the situation is we're in at the moment, God can and does
want to use it for His glory.
11.
Verse 11: "O afflicted city, lashed by storms and
not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with
sapphires. 12 I will
make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your
walls of precious stones. 13 All your
sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace.
a)
First logical
question for these verses: They start by
saying, "O(h) afflicted city".
What is Isaiah talking about? In
one sense I'm sure it refers to Jerusalem.
If you've been with me through the book to date, I said many lessons
back that a scholar's nickname for the bible is "A tale of two
cities". As much of the bible
focuses on the history and destiny of the city of Jerusalem and the city of
Babylon of all places. My point is those
two cities represent a life choice of either drawing close to God or drawing
away from Him. All I'm saying here is
that the afflicted city can literally represent Jerusalem, but I think in
context it's focusing on those of us who trust in God to guide our lives. Let me explain that better:
i)
Whatever this
city is, Isaiah's describing it as being built with precious stones. It's describing the city as being full of
valuable stones as described in these verses.
ii)
Think about this
in context of what we've read so far in this lesson. Isaiah has been pounding
the point that God still loves us no matter what because what He loves, He
loves and nothing can change it. If
we've committed our lives to serving Him, we can be confident that we are among
that chosen no matter how we may feel at any given moment in time.
b)
I'd like you to consider the term "precious jewels" as it's
used in the bible. One of the items that the High Priest wore was a
breastplate. On that breastplate were
twelve jewels which represented the 12 tribes of Israel. At the "other end
of the bible", Revelation 18 describes a "New Jerusalem" coming
down from heaven among other things being adored with items we associate with
the "rich and famous" being fine clothing, gold and precious
jewels. All I'm saying is while God
desired the current city of Jerusalem to be the center of worship of Him, there
will also be a "New Jerusalem" when Jesus returns that I believe
represents the church as it returns with Jesus.
Confused? Just realize that
"betting on Jesus" means we'll be a part of a wonderful eternal
future as we return with Jesus to rule and reign with Him over the earth.
c)
If all of that isn't strange enough, Verse 13 isn't any easier to
grasp. That verse essentially is saying
when Jesus returns all our "children" will be taught by Him. So does that mean Jesus will lead a really
big Sunday school class when He returns?
I don't know. I suspect it means
is first of all, when Jesus returns, the nation of Israel will exist as a place
for Jesus to rule from. It also means
that life will go on in the sense that children will still come into this world
at that time. With that said, I don't
know if Jesus Himself will be leading a big bible study or that many will draw
close to Him to learn of Him.
d)
This gets back to my weird theory that when we're resurrected we will
exist in more than three dimensions so that many can draw close to Him. It also supports my theory that we won't be
bored in the next life as we can still draw close to Jesus to learn more about
what it is He desires to tell us about life and how He desires we live. An old Jewish expression is that when the
Messiah comes He will not only explain what the "Torah" (bible) says,
but He will also explain the spaces between the letters. That just means one of
the jobs that the Messiah will have is to explain to us the proper
understanding of His word. Does all that
mean we are among the children who learn from Jesus when He returns? I don't know.
I just know I'd personally like to be there to draw close to Him and
learn what He wants to teach children and all people about what He desires of
us as we live forever.
e)
Enough of the "strange stuff".
Let's move on.
12.
Verse 14: In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will
be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it
will not come near you. 15 If
anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will
surrender to you.
a)
Let's back up to see the big picture here. The last "chapter" spoke of Jesus
death and His resurrection. This chapter
is focusing on how the nation of Israel should benefit from that event. The early verses of this chapter talked about
how Israel will be "enlarged" one day as the number of believers in
Jesus grew around the world. It
benefited Israel as a nation even though they corporately didn't believe in
Jesus, Christianity created a world of those who trust in the God of the
Israelites. Those of us who study the
entire bible have come to realize that the Israelites are still God's chosen
people, and that the church and the nation of Israel have separate beginnings
and separate destinies in the bible.
This chapter gives us clues about the destinies of both groups. The last few verses have given us some hints
as what will life be like when Jesus returns to set up His eternal kingdom.
b)
With that summary completed, these verses are essentially saying to those
Israelites, that when all of this takes place one day, all the things one
normally has to worry about in this life, will no longer be an issue. Jesus is also our protector in this biblical
"utopia".
c)
Pause and think about this future world another way. Apparently when Jesus returns, a world will
still exist for Him to rule over. There
will still be "sinful" people who desire to have power and won't want
Jesus to rule over them. It be logical
to speculate that threats will exist to want to take over the Messiah's power
and rule over this world. All that these verses are saying is when this day
occurs we'll no longer have to fear any threat to change the Messiah's rule
over this world. Coming back to my
speculation about what it is that we Christians do during this time is I
suspect we help "enforce" Jesus rule over the world. All that means is I think we not only get to
enjoy life with Jesus ruling over it, but we will also help enforce His rule,
so that when He rules from Jerusalem, people are free to draw close to Him and
not have to worry about external threats.
d)
Want a shorter version? In the
next life, we won't have to worry about external threats to Jesus rule as none
of those threats will ever win.
e)
If all of this is so wonderful, why hasn't it begun yet? The answer is that God wants many to join in
this "utopia" and is waiting a long time, not forever but just a long
time from our perspective so that many can enjoy drawing close to Him. I'm not suggesting that we go kill ourselves
so we experience this sooner. God wants
us to use the time we have in this life for His glory, and not waste it by
feeling sorry for ourselves. Consider
how short our live is in comparison to an eternity with God being the center of
world where He literally rules from it and over it.
13.
Verse 16: "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans
the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have
created the destroyer to work havoc; 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you
will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants
of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.
a)
Isaiah finishes this "chapter" (no chapter breaks in the
original text), by reminding us that God created all things and allows all
things to exist for His greater purpose.
The point is He knows all things, even all the horrible tragedies that
have existed throughout human history.
b)
Let me use the Holocaust of WWII as an example. At that time, some Jewish people held a
"mock trial" as if to ask does God still exist and still care about
His people. It's asking if God still
exists and why would He allow that tragedy to go on. One positive aspect that came out of that
tragedy is it allowed the Israelites to have a homeland again. Having all those
Jewish people killed reminds us that evil exists and it still desires to
prevent God's plan for the world to occur.
Yes it was horrible. Yes it's a
reminder that God's still there and still working out "the world" for
His glory. Hell is a literal place for
those who refuse to turn their lives over to the God of the Jewish world that
we Christians worship. Just as I'm
convinced some will be rewarded more in heaven than others, I also suspect many
are going to suffer worse than others in hell.
c)
All of that should remind us that when we read these two verses, we
should realize that it is referring to a future day when Jesus rules over the
world when we'll no longer have to fear any weapon against us. So does that mean for example, the Jewish
nation should not have a legitimate fear of enemies wanting to destroy
them? Since no one knows when all of
this "utopia" will begin, we still have to make the best decisions we
can based on what's in front of us and do our best to be a witness for God
knowing that "bad weapons" exist to stop God's plans from occurring
and it's our duty to prevent evil from occurring as much as we can until this
utopia begins.
d)
In the meantime, I've got one more shorter-chapter to cover which
continues this theme of trusting God because He's paid the price for our sins
and what we should be doing before He returns to rule over world.
e)
In effect, "Chapter 55" expands the theme of the benefit of
living under God's rule to show us non-Israelites what is that benefit. All I'm saying is while "Chapter
54" focused on the benefits for the Israelites, realize "Chapter
55" focuses on the benefits for all people!
14.
Chapter 55, Verse 1: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the
waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
a)
The "all
you" phrase in this verse is the first indicator that the scope has
expanded past the Israelites to include all people. If you have any doubts the scope changing
here, Verse 4 is going to make that very clear coming up.
b)
Notice that
whatever "Isaiah's selling" doesn't cost anything. What about the travel cost to get there? There is none. The point is we don't have to travel to
Jerusalem in order for us to get this water, wine and milk. It's back to the basic concept that since God
Himself did pay the complete price for our sins, He alone provides for our
spiritual needs if we'll seek Him for our spiritual needs.
c)
OK, what does the
water, wine and milk represent? Thought
you'd never ask.
i)
Water is a basic
staple of life. It represents cleaning
as well as a basic substance to sustain life.
Most of our bodies are water and we need it to survive. The text isn't saying a day will occur when
we have to travel to Jesus somewhere in order to get free water. It's the idea that He provides life for
us. One of the classic bible stories in
the Gospels is about a Samaritan (foreign) woman who wants to draw water out of
a well. In that story Jesus tells her that He can provide water that will be
enough for a lifetime. That's the same
principal as being taught in this verse.
(That story is told in John Chapter 4.)
ii)
Milk is associated with growth in early life. Babies live off mother's breast milk. In the
early years of development, animal's milk is used to help children grow. All I am saying is that just as milk helps us
physically grow, so Jesus provides what we need in order to grow spiritually.
iii)
Finally we have wine. Throughout
the bible, the word "wine" is associated with a time of joy. I'm not going to get into a debate about
whether or not it's appropriate for Christians to drink alcohol. It's been debated for 2,000 years and I'm not
going to solve it here and now. All I wanted
to say here is that just as wine is associated with joy in the bible, so God
wants us to have joy in life as we use our lives for His glory. Let me define joy as I use it. I think of "happiness" as based on
occurrences in our life at any moment. If
we just get some great news, we may be happy for a given amount of time. Joy is "internal". It's about choosing to be joyful no matter
the circumstances at any given moment.
As I asked earlier, would you rather be around a joyful person or a
depressed person all day? That's why I'd
argue that it is the Christian duty to be joyful as that is how God expects us
to be a witness for Him. Just as the
bible associates wine with joy, so He wants us to be joyful people as we share
His love with the world around us.
d)
The final point here is in effect that all three of these are free for
the asking. If we choose to accept Jesus
as paying the complete price for our sins and choosing to accept that He is in
charge of our lives, we'll have all we need to sustain our lives physically as
well as have a life full of joy despite whatever the circumstances of the
moment.
e)
Meanwhile, Isaiah's getting on a role himself, and I of course,
interrupted that role:
15.
Verse 2: Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on
what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your
soul will delight in the richest of fare.
a)
Translation: Why do we waste our money and our time doing
things that don't give us a sense of satisfaction? I'm not saying for example, we can't go see a
movie or go travel on a vacation. All
I'm saying is after one does those things eventually we'll crave another thing
to want to do and they don't give us a full sense of satisfaction. Again the main point is to understand that
Jesus fulfills all our spiritual needs.
Yes we still have to do what's needed in order to financially survive
and thrive and deal with tough situations as they arrive. All I'm saying is
that "through life", Jesus promises to satisfy the spiritual need we
all have to worship "something" as God will fully satisfy that need.
b)
So what about
other religions? I'd argue that other
religions do satisfy a need within us to worship something. The problem with other religions is that one
must always do more in order to get closer to God. The "top of that ladder" is never
satisfying. While God desires we grow in
faith in Him, we never have to worry about being good enough for God since He
already paid the complete price for our sins and we never have to prove our
worth to Him by our efforts if we believe Jesus is God and paid that price for
our sins. That's what Isaiah's trying to
get across in these verses, the idea that since God paid the price for sins, we
are free to seek Him, to grow spiritual in Him and have a joyful life in our
relationship with Him as well as with other believers. That's the key point of the last two verses.
16.
Verse 3: Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your
soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love
promised to David. 4 See, I
have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
a)
Some scholars read these verses and think that David himself will be
resurrected to rule over Jerusalem under Jesus rule. My response is "could be", but I don't
think that's what Isaiah's trying to communicate to us in these verses. The point is just as God promised to David
that God loved him despite all his faults and mistakes, so God cares for us if
we've committed our lives to serving Him and we can't "blow it if we
tried". As long as we don't deny
Jesus as God for the rest of our lives, we too are part of that eternal
covenant.
b)
Remember how I said that "Chapter 55" expands on God's
blessings from Israel to include all of us who are trusting in Jesus as
God? These verses tell us (that's all
people) that our souls will live forever based on that trust. Just as God took David from a
"nobody" to be a king, so we should trust in God despite our faults
and sins, so we too will be raised up to rule with Him forever. I don't know what we do forever, but I'm
pretty positive it'll never be boring and our joy will never run out. Speaking of joy, we only have nine more
verses to go that include one of my favorites in the whole bible.
17.
Verse 5: Surely you will summon nations you know not, and
nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him
while he is near. 7 Let the
wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD,
and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
a)
Try to visualize from the perspective of 2,700 years ago that God is
telling the Israelites of how other nations will seek you. That had to be tough to understand. Reading this from a perspective of 2,700
years later, it's easy to see how people from all over the world have been drawn
to worship the God that the Israelites worship and believe that one who came
from that small nation is also the God who rules over the world. These verses are a call to all people to seek
that God while we can. Let me explain
that better:
b)
Verse 6 here is the key: It says
that we're to seek Him while we can. I'm positive there is a point a person can
reach in this life where it's too late to turn to God. I don't know when a person reaches that point
and I pray for lots of hearts to be open to His truth. The point is if a person doesn't want God to
rule over their lives, He will give them what they want: A life in eternity
without Him ruling over it. All that I'm
saying is the desire to accept God or reject Him will continue for eternity to
either be with Him or separated from Him.
c)
Then notice that God does not desire any to choose to turn from Him. That's why Verse 7 is literally begging
people to turn to God and He'll forgive us of all our sins, no matter the level
of depth of that sin. My point is there is a "too late", but we never
know when it's too late to turn to Him before we die. If that's true, why don't we wait until the
last minute to accept Jesus? First we
don't know when that last minute occurs.
We could be hit by a car and not get such a chance. Why waste one's life without Him when we
could grow in His love and have joy by serving Him? Yes I know these verses are stating the
basics, but we can't grow in Him unless we have a good understanding of the
basics before we begin to use our lives to make that difference for Him.
18.
Verse 8: "For
My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My
ways," says the Lord. 9 "For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My
thoughts than your thoughts.
a)
Verse 8 is a verse quoted often by pastors and teachers. It's the reminder to us that we do not the
get the privilege of knowing all that God knows. This reminds me of a great quote on this
topic: "Every time I try to think about how big God is, all I do is get a
headache." (David Hocking). To state the obvious a God that's big enough
to fully understand is not a god big enough to worship. (Another quote, don't know the source). All we have to do is think about this verse
logically and it makes sense. Can we
understand how God made the world? Can
we understand how we are resurrected and live forever? Is it possible to even understand how God can
manifest Himself in a way where multitudes can get close to Him? The logical answer is no, which is why these
verses are stating the obvious.
b)
Now the more important question:
Why are these verses right here?
The previous bunch of verses we're telling us to call out to God while
we can. It expressed the idea that we're
able to speak to Him whenever and wherever we want. Remember that this section was written to
everyone. For a lot of people in those
days, a "god" was only to be reached in a temple. Even the Jewish people argued that God is
"met" in the temple, even though they understood the concept that God
is everywhere. That's why it was
necessary for Isaiah to remind us that God's bigger than we can comprehend and
He's able to read our thoughts as well as watch our actions.
c)
Speaking of things that are beyond our ability to comprehend, I present
the next 2 verses:
19.
Verse 10: As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so
that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my
word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
a)
Verse 10 is
another pretty straightforward verse that's pretty easy to understand. Just as it is hard to fully understand the
"water cycle" of the earth, we know that in the long run we don't run
out of it and the rain provides water for the crops that we can eat.
b)
However, that
fact is not Isaiah's main point. It is
that just as the earth's water cycle does it's thing, so God's word will
accomplish what God wants it to accomplish.
c)
By the way, for those of you who've read this far, Verse 11 is one of my
favorites in all of the bible as I literally see it coming true in my
ministry. More on that in a moment.
d)
First, have you ever thought about how did the bible writers know God was
speaking to them? Was there a glow about
their writing? Did they just think it
and write it down? Of course we don't
know. We do know that all the writings
of the bible were tested and they were compared to other writings that were
rejected, even writings that may be legitimate. For example, the difference
between a preacher given a God-inspired sermon and a bible book is that a
consequences of conservative bible scholars accept it as God's word.
e)
If you have doubts about the bible being the word of God, remember the
acronym MAPS. That stands for
Manuscripts, Archeology, Prophecy and Statistics or MAPS for short. Let me just
say the study of any of those fields applied to the evidence that the bible is
God's word, does a great job of supporting it's accuracy. I've discussed a lot in previous lessons
about the fact that Isaiah wrote details about Jesus First Coming long before
it did occur. That's
"prophecy" and just one way of believing the bible's God's word.
f)
Of all things that leads me to discussing my ministry. I don't try to advertise my studies. I just write them, as that's what I believe
God called me to do. I'm sure God's word
"does not return empty" (a paraphrase of Verse 11) because every
month I check my statistics on who reads this and there are people all over the
world who are reading my studies as laid out on my web site. I'm not saying
this to brag, but just to show how these studies are one of many proof's that
teaching and preaching God's word is never a waste of a life. It will always accomplish what God desires it
accomplishes when preached.
g)
I also can't leave this section without quoting Charles Spurgeon. When asked about how the word of God affects
people, (I'm paraphrasing), "How do you control a lion? You just let it loose and it goes where it
wants." That's the point about
God's word. A way we can be sure it is
His word is simply by the way it convicts people of God's truth. Preaching it just helps to put it out to
places and hearts that have never considered specific points that affect our
lives and hopefully draw us closer to Him.
OK, enough about my ministry. We
have two more verses to go:
20.
Verse 12: You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the
field will clap their hands.
a)
I just reread the verses all by themselves and realized that this whole
section is a plea for us to be joyful.
One thing I've grown to accept about Isaiah is that whenever he focuses
on God, the text is generally happy as Isaiah expresses his joy over what God
will do for those of us who trust in Him.
It's usually when Isaiah gets focuses on the sinfulness of a nation or
group that Isaiah tends to focus on the problems we can face in life. In short, we should know after 55 chapters
that Isaiah's happiest when he's focused on the joy of being a part of God's
family.
b)
Which leads me to this second to last verse here. Who's the "you" to stat this
verse? One should always look at the
surrounding verses to figure it out. The
previous set of verses focus on God and what His word will accomplish in this
world. My simple point is that the
"you" refers to God. In this
case, I believe the "You" is focusing on God the Son as He will lead
the world to peace by His rule over it.
Will mountains and hills literally start to sing and tree's clap their
hands? No. I suspect it simply means that the world we
live in will be happy when the God who created it begins to rule over it. It's like nature singing out "Hey, these
people are going to stop messing with us as God Himself will come down from
heaven to start ruling over us Himself."
c)
Because Verse 12 starts with a "You" and the previous verse is
about God Himself telling us that His word accomplishes what it does, I'm
positive the "You" is God and it occurred to me that the
"You" is Jesus as God as He will rule over this world. Jesus is the one who's responsible for giving
us our bible and He intends for us to understand it as He is the one who will
literally rule over our world. That's
what makes Isaiah joyful to write about and hopefully fills us with joy to
realize what God will do in this world.
As I said to start this lesson, the idea is about shooting for delayed
gratification in heaven as that life will be far greater than settling for
whatever this world has to offer. That's
the point here.
21.
Verse 13: Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and
instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for
an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
a)
My loose
translation, instead of settling for the types of things in nature that are
more of a pain to deal with, only the good things will grow. Isaiah lists two types of plants that are not
desirable to put it mildly. The two
"bad trees" are essentially a bunch of thorns. The two good types of trees are not fruit
bearing one's but just ones we associate with height and good growth. Again the point for us is about not settling
for something "easy" that is earned only in this life, but our
willingness not only to trust that Jesus paid the complete price for our sins
and He's coming back to rule over this world.
That's the "ground rules" that we need to live by as we use
our lives to make a difference for Him.
b)
If you get
nothing else out of this lesson, it is simply that our willingness to be
gratified in the next world, that lasts for eternity is much greater than
whatever we would settle for if we only lived for this life. Don't get me wrong we Christians still need
to make the best of the time we have to live here. The key is to find a way to do what we enjoy
doing or have a gift to do so that God may be glorified by that process. If we do that we'll be a winner in both this
life and the one to come.
c)
So what do we do
now? Ask God to help us to use our time
to be willing servant of Him so we can lead others closer to Him for all this
to occur. With that said I'll close in
prayer.
22.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for teaching us the "ground rules" of how the world
works: That is, You've sent your Son to
pay the complete price for our sins and He'll return one day to rule over this
world. Until that day, guide us as we
use the time You have given us so that we do make a difference for You in this
world. Help us to remember that a life
focused on You will bring us far more joy than any and all things we do just
for ourselves in this world. Guide us as
we go make that difference for You. We
ask this in Jesus name, Amen.