Thursday
Evening Bible Study
February
20, 2020
Introduction
The book of Isaiah is the first book in the section of the Old Testament
that we call the “prophets”.
It is the Old Testament book that has the clearest picture of the coming
Messiah.
The New Testament quotes from Isaiah more than from any other prophet.
John, the forerunner of Christ, began his ministry with a quote from Isaiah
(Mat. 3:3).
Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth from Isaiah (Luke 4:17-21).
Old Bible critics will say that the book of Isaiah is actually two books
written by different authors, with chapters 1-39 as the first book, and
chapters 40-66 as the second.
The two sections are indeed distinct, but they serve different purposes. The
first half is a book of judgment, the second half is one of comfort.
Better, recent scholarship, including the contribution of the Dead Sea
Scrolls affirms that it is a single book written by a single author.
This is not a book that was written all at once, in a single sitting. There
are various sections of the book, and it is the compiling of the writings of a
man over sixty years.
There will be times that the prophetic message is aimed close to Isaiah’s
time.
There will be times when the prophetic message is aimed far in the future.
There will be times when the message has a double effect with both a near and
far prophecy.
Isaiah has contemporaries.
His ministry overlaps the prophets Hosea and Micah.
His ministry lies roughly between 740-700 BC.
He prophesies during the reigns of the Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah –
all kings of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Keep in mind that in Isaiah’s lifetime, Israel has been split into two
different nations.
The northern ten tribes were called “Israel”, or “Ephraim”.
The southern two tribes were called “Judah”
Isaiah lived in the southern nation, and they are the main focus of his
prophecies.
Two concepts we keep in mind as we study prophecy:
We have seen that some prophecies have “double fulfillments” – they may be
fulfilled inside Isaiah’s day, and then again far in the future (like Is. 7:14
– the virgin). When you say “what does that mean?” you may need to realize it
may be more than one thing.
We are also seeing that when it comes to prophecy, sometimes the prophecy
can skip hundreds or thousands of years between one phrase and the next. This
is called “prophetic telescoping”.
We are now in a section that has been flipping around the timeline of the latter
days.
66:1-4 True and False Worship
:1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And
earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
:2 For all those things
My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord.
:1 Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool
(Isaiah 66:1–2a
NLT) —1 This is what the Lord
says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a
temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? 2 My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in
them are mine. I, the Lord, have
spoken!
Lesson
A Big God
In the ancient pagan world, temples were built as places for the gods to
live in.
Solomon realized when he built the temple that God wouldn’t be able to fit
in the temple.
(1 Kings
8:27 NKJV) “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold,
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple
which I have built!
God is bigger than a building.
(Acts 7:47–50 NKJV)
—47 But Solomon built Him a house. 48 “However, the Most High does not
dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 ‘Heaven
is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me?
says the Lord, Or what is the
place of My rest? 50 Has My hand not made all
these things?’
The other day we found a box of Lincoln Logs in our garage. We decided it would be fun to see if Ruthie
was ready to build things with them.
We have had a little trouble building houses that are big enough for some
of her little princess toys. It would be
comical to think that I could fit in one of those houses.
In the original Disney Aladdin movie, there is a short clip that gets close
to capturing this idea…
Yet in Aladdin, the genie isn’t even close to who our God
is.
When Gabriel was explaining to Mary that she would become pregnant even
though she had never had sex, he said,
(Luke 1:37 NKJV) For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Jesus cast out a demon from a boy who the disciples had been unable to cast
out. They ask why…
(Matthew
17:20 NKJV) So Jesus said to them, “Because of your
unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you
will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing
will be impossible for you.
It’s not “faith” that is all powerful, it’s God.
When God revealed to Jeremiah that the nation would one day come back to
their land, after having been taken into captivity, he said,
(Jeremiah
32:17 NKJV) ‘Ah, Lord God!
Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and
outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
I’m not trying to pump you up and promise that God is going to fulfill your
every dream, but I do want us to realize that sometimes our lives are a bit empty
and shallow simply because we’ve concluded that God can’t do something.
We can lack hope because we assume that God can’t solve our problems
either.
:2 …“But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a
contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.
:2 who trembles at My
word
The priestly blessing goes like this:
(Numbers 6:24–26
NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you
and keep you; 25 The Lord make His
face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you
peace.”
Perhaps the idea of God’s “face” and “countenance” being on us is that He
had His eyes on us.
But to whom does God lift up His countenance?
God doesn’t choose to look at the person who is expecting Him to pay
attention just because the person goes to some religious place. Instead, God looks to the person who is:
Poor
poor – ‘aniy – poor,
afflicted, humble, wretched, needy.
It’s the person who recognizes that they need God in their life.
Contrite
contrite – nakeh –
stricken, smitten.
This is the person who is broken over their own failings, who is struck
with their own sin.
Trembles
trembles – chared –
trembling, fearful, afraid
This is the person who has an awe and fear of God’s Word.
The person who takes God’s Word very seriously.
I don’t mean the person who puts their Bible in a glass
case for protection, but the person who reads their Bible and is extremely
careful to do what is written in it.
Lesson
God’s Eyes
It’s not that God doesn’t see
everyone else, but the person He specifically keeps an eye on to bless are
those who are “poor, contrite, and trembles at His word”.
When we allow our hearts to be
puffed up at pride, or when we don’t take God’s word seriously, we are only
hurting ourselves.
Long after Isaiah’s words were
written, Josiah had become king at an early age. Though his dad was a bad king, Josiah grew up
knowing the Lord. When he was 26 years
old, he began a Temple restoration project.
As the workers began to go through the long neglected building, they
discovered a scroll. They discovered the
Law of Moses. They brought the book to
Josiah and he asked that it be read to him.
(2 Chronicles
34:19–21 NKJV) —19 Thus it happened, when the king
heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 20 Then the
king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah,
Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the Lord
for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of
the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because
our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord,
to do according to all that is written in this book.”
Josiah didn’t
stop at tearing his clothes. He ordered
that the entire nation hear the book and began a period of restoration of the
nation back to God.
I wonder what kind of impact
this all had on the nation.
In the days of Ezra the scribe,
the people were back in the land, but had once again backslidden. Ezra was heartbroken…
(Ezra 9:4 NKJV) Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel
assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried
away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.
It’s the same
word used in Isaiah.
We can see this worked out in a
parable Jesus spoke:
(Luke 18:9–14 NKJV)
—9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men
went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You
that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes
of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar
off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast,
saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
The word “merciful”
is actually the word for the “mercy seat”, the place where blood was spilt to
pay for the sins of the nation.
Are you a person God “looks to”?
:3 “He who kills a bull is
as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a
dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s
blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have
chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,
Isaiah is talking about how God views the sacrifices of those who don’t
trust Him.
(Isaiah 66:3 NLT) But those who choose their own ways— delighting in their detestable
sins— will not have their offerings accepted. When such people sacrifice a
bull, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a
lamb, it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog! When they bring an offering of
grain, they might as well offer the blood of a pig. When they burn
frankincense, it’s as if they had blessed an idol.
:4 So will I choose their
delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one
answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And
chose that in which I do not delight.”
:4 So will I choose their delusions
(NASB) So I will choose
their punishments
:4 when I called, no one answered
This is the same accusation God made back in 65:12
(Isaiah
65:12 NKJV) Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you
shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I
spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”
Last week we watched the video clip of Churchill making a call to
Roosevelt, begging him for help against the coming Nazi invasion. Roosevelt wouldn’t help (this was prior to
Pearl Harbor).
Roosevelt might as well have not even answered Churchill’s call.
:4 they did evil before My eyes
Lesson
Choose God’s way
Verse 3 was a list the various sacrifices that people might make who are
coming to the temple to worship the Lord.
But when a sacrifice is made for the wrong reasons, the sacrifice isn’t
something that God likes, instead it becomes something that God hates.
These people wanted their religion to take care of the “god-thing” in their
lives, but they had no intention of really paying attention to what God wanted
them to do. Instead, they wanted to do
things their way.
When you come to God, you need to
come to Him on His terms, not yours.
Some people come to church because
they are feeling guilty over things in their life, and they have this idea that
if they do “religious” things, that it will help them not feel so guilty.
They might put money in the
offering, maybe God will not punish them if they pay money.
Some people will do things like
read their Bible or pray, but only as a way of “appeasing” God.
But they have NO INTENTION of
turning from their sin.
What God wants is for you to
change your ways. God wants you to
repent. He wants you to turn away from
your sin.
66:5-13 Jerusalem’s Vindication
:5 Hear the word of the Lord, You who tremble at His word:
“Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let
the Lord be glorified, That we
may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.”
:5 cast you out for My name’s sake
Isaiah is describing what happens when you take a stand to follow the Lord,
to “tremble at His Word”.
People will try to come against you and stop you.
Even “religious” people who may say things like “Let the Lord be glorified”.
When Saul persecuted the church, he thought he was serving God.
But pay no attention, they will one day be ashamed.
:6 The sound of noise
from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, Who fully repays His enemies!
:7 “Before she was in
labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child.
:8 Who has heard such a
thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one
day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in
labor, She gave birth to her children.
:9 Shall I bring to the
time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?”
says your God.
:7 Before she was in labor, she gave birth
God is painting a picture of a woman giving birth very quickly, even
before labor pains.
:8 shall a nation be born at once?
This may be another example of a “double fulfillment”.
1. It will certainly apply when Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom on
earth.
2. There may have already been a
fulfillment when the modern nation of Israel was born on May 14, 1948.
Israel was “born” from a vote and proclamation from the United Nations.
This is from the movie “Exodus” (1960), the day that the United Nations
vote took place, and the reaction of the people in Israel…
Video: Exodus
(1960) – Israel becomes a nation
:9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?
God doesn’t start a work that He doesn’t intend to finish.
Lesson
God isn’t finished
(Philippians
1:6 NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who
has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus
Christ;
God will finish what He starts.
It’s hard when we want so much for the things that God will begin to
promise us.
For some, we long to be delivered from certain sins that
we struggle against.
For others, God has put a calling for particular ministry
on your heart and it’s easy to get anxious for all the pieces to fall into
place.
Illustration
I remember sensing God’s call to be a pastor when I was
eighteen years old, at a summer camp for high schoolers. My pastor encouraged me to not just expect to
jump straight into ministry, but to take time to be prepared. So I went through college, went through
seminary, and served as a youth pastor in the church. But when I thought I should be hired into
full time ministry, I wasn’t. Instead I
ended up getting a job as a “teller-trainee” at a bank. Hardly the place for someone with my
education and my calling to the ministry!
I remember one day being so frustrated at wanting to serve the Lord, yet
here I was being wasted as a stupid bank teller. And to top it all off, I was asked to go
sweep the bank parking lot because someone had found broken glass there. I remember grumbling as I pushed the broom
about what waste it all was.
It's funny how many times since that day that I’ve had to
do things like “sweep a parking lot”.
Nothing is wasted.
Learn the lessons you need to learn.
God is moving things along.
Don’t be quick to dismiss what seems like a long wait or
detours along the way. Nothing is a
mistake. God’s at work in you.
:10 “Rejoice with
Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with
her, all you who mourn for her;
:11 That you may feed and
be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and
be delighted With the abundance of her glory.”
:12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to
her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you
shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her
knees.
:13 As one whom his
mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in
Jerusalem.”
:13 you shall be comforted in Jerusalem
There are some of us who care deeply about Jerusalem.
Here are some of the things I think about when I think about Jerusalem –
clips from the Western Wall, and the Jewish Quarter.
Video – Jewish Jerusalem Shots
Those of us who care deeply about Israel and the city of Jerusalem will one
day find comfort that God will fulfill all He’s promised for His chosen people.
66:14-27 Judgment
:14 When you see this,
your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of
the Lord shall be known to His
servants, And His indignation to His enemies.
:15 For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His
chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with
flames of fire.
:16 For by fire and by
His sword The Lord will judge all
flesh; And the slain of the Lord
shall be many.
:15 the Lord will come
with fire
Peter also talked about the coming fiery judgment.
(2 Peter 3:10–13
NKJV) —10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with
fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of
which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Knowing the coming judgment of God on the earth ought to move us to live
lives of “holy conduct and godliness”.
We can “hasten” the coming of the Lord by sharing our faith with others and
pointing them to Jesus.
:17 “Those who sanctify
themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol
in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be
consumed together,” says the Lord.
:17 purify themselves, To go to the gardens
Some people will never learn. Instead
of coming to the Lord, they will continue their pagan ways.
66:18-21 The Return
:18 “For I know
their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and
tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
:18 For I know their works and their thoughts
I think this phrase probably belongs in the last verse. The wicked will be punished because God
knows…
Lesson
He knows
God knows what is going on in our lives, even in our minds.
Jesus would remind the churches in Revelation:
(Revelation 2:2 NKJV) “I know your works, your labor…
Illustration
Police in Radnor, Pennsylvania, interrogated a suspect by placing a metal
colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message “He’s lying” was placed in the
copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect
wasn’t telling the truth. Believing the
“lie detector” was working, the suspect confessed.
Illustration
FOX once had a show called “Moment of Truth,” a TV show that wrestled with
whether or not anyone was ever willing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. Contestants were hooked up to a state-of-the-art lie
detector test in order to determine whether or not they were spinning lies
while asked a series of questions. If contestants told the truth, they could win
$500,000.
To add a little drama, the show mixed spouses, significant
others, family members, friends, and co-workers into the audience.
Video: The Moment of Truth
Here are a few of the questions that were asked:
Have you ever lied to get a job?
Do you like your mother-in-law?
Have you ever stolen anything from work?
Would you cheat on your spouse if you knew you could get
away with it?
As one person on the show noted: “This is the first game show where you
already know all the answers!” But despite their foreknowledge, contestants found
the game difficult.
Well God already knows too.
We might find it hard to tell the truth, but God already
knows.
:19 I will set a sign
among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to
Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the
coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they
shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.
:19 I will send to the nations
Think about who will be alive in the Millennium.
We will be there in our glorified bodies.
There will be people who trusted in Jesus during the Tribulation who
actually survived without being beheaded.
They will enter the kingdom in their old bodies.
They will marry and have children, and these children will need to
know the Lord themselves.
This seems to be talking about some kind of missionary activity that will
go on during the Millennial kingdom.
Tarshish – possibly in Spain.
Pul – thought to be Libya in Africa
Lud – ancient Lydia, in modern Turkey
Tubal – northeast modern Turkey
Javan – Greece
:20 Then they shall bring
all your brethren for an offering to the Lord
out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on
camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean
vessel into the house of the Lord.
:21 And I will also take
some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
:20 they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord
Today when we have the privilege of sharing the gospel with a friend and
they accept the Lord into their heart, we might say that we “led them to the
Lord”. In that day, you might literally
lead a person to the Lord!!
66:22-24 Forever
:22 “For as the new
heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and
your name remain.
:22 So shall your descendants and your name remain
God is not finished with the Jews.
Heaven is forever, so are the Jews.
There is an indication too that when we are in heaven, there will
definitely be some things that we remember.
Lesson
Heavenly memories
Sometimes I get the question, “Will we remember anything when we get
to heaven?”
The answer is Yes.
The word “Jew” will not be forgotten.
Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in a glorified form, yet they were
still recognizable to Peter, James, and John (Mat. 17).
There will be things in the New Jerusalem that are carried over from the
old. The gates of the city are named after the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev.
21:12), the foundation stones have the names of the twelve apostles (Rev.
21:14).
(Revelation 21:12 NKJV) Also she had a great and high wall
with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them,
which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
(Revelation 21:14 NKJV) Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
We’ll remember when we’re in heaven, it’s just that memories will no longer
cause us pain. (Rev. 21:4)
(Revelation 21:4 NKJV) And God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There
shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
When we’re in heaven, we’ll understand things perfectly, it will all make
sense, difficult things will no longer cause pain.
(1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT) Now we see things imperfectly, like
puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect
clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know
everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
:23 And it shall come to
pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
:23 New Moon … Sabbath
These are some of the regular “worship” times designated by the Lord for
the Jews.
:24 “And they shall go
forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an
abhorrence to all flesh.”
:24 their worm does not die
Perhaps these are those who rebel at Armageddon.
It could be speaking directly of hell.
The people living in Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day had an actual picture of
this just outside their city. There was
a valley to the south of the city that was used as a trash dump. All the city’s trash was dumped there and
burnt. They would even throw the dead
bodies of criminals there instead of giving them a decent burial. It was known as the valley of Hinnom, or,
Gehenna. But the scene that Isaiah
describes is one that goes on forever.
Lesson
Hell is real
1. Hell is horrible.
It is a place of torment. The New
Testament often calls it a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mat. 8:12)
(Matthew 8:12 NKJV) But the sons of the kingdom will be
cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
2. Hell is forever.
“worm shall not die, neither
shall their fire be quenched”
Some groups (like Jehovah Witnesses) have a teaching called the
“annihilation of the soul”. They teach
something along the lines that those who go to hell will be annihilated and
simply be put out of their misery. I
wish it were so. It isn’t. Hell is forever. You don’t want anyone to go there.
3. Hell was intended for Satan, not you.
(Matthew
25:41 NKJV) “Then He will also say to those on the left
hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels:
Yet if a person refuses to accept God’s offer of eternal
life, they go there too.
4. God doesn’t want you there.
Jesus died on the cross, taking on Himself the penalty for sins that should
have gone to us. If you are willing to
turn from your sins, ask God for His help, and trust in Jesus to pay for your
sins, you will be saved from hell. Open
your heart to Him.
:23 All flesh shall come to worship before Me
Lesson
Made to Worship
I think some people don’t quite “get” what worship is all about.
I’ve had people refer to it as the “song service”. As if it’s just about “singing songs”.
“Worship” is all about drawing near to God.
It’s all about giving Him love and adoration. It’s about giving Him the praise and honor
that He deserves.
Jesus told the woman at the well…
(John 4:23–24 NKJV)
—23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who
worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God made us to worship.
He looks for people who understand that.
Illustration
Deb and I have now been married over 41 years. Through that time we have had our ups and our
down. Yet through it all we both work
pretty hard to cultivate a deep love for each other.
I hear about marriages where there is no real love. I’m sure there are many reasons why that
happens, and I am very sad for those folks.
Our relationship with God is supposed to be like a marriage.
You can “settle” for a “loveless” marriage, or you can
work hard to keep those fires burning.
Jesus wrote to the church in Ephesus,
(Revelation 2:4–5
NKJV) —4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left
your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you
have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly
and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Is there a time when you loved Jesus more than you do now?
What changed? Can
you identify the things that have started to cause you to drift away?
Why don’t you turn around and start working on your
“marriage” with Jesus?