34-Isaiah 43 – Jeremiah 6
Aug. 15, 2009
We will begin our study this week in the Book of Isaiah in Chapter 43. Last week as we looked at Isaiah we saw how he became a prophet of God and the words he spoke to the people of Judah and Israel. Many times Isaiah spoke prophetically about the future and our Lord Jesus Christ. We will continue now this week in Chapter 43. Isaiah wrote of God’s promise to His people in this chapter of his book. He revealed in verse 1 “But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” He promised to be their protection and that the people were honored and precious in His sight. He called Israel His witness in verse 10-13 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. “I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?” As the Father called Israel to be His witness in Isaiah, Jesus has called us to be His witness today. This is shown in the Great Commission in the Gospel of Mathew 28:18-20 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Even though Isaiah spoke that the people of Judah would be taken in exile to Babylon, he revealed that in the future Babylon would also be destroyed. In the end of the chapter Isaiah reminded the people of their shortcomings towards the Lord. In Chapter 44 Isaiah told Israel of the blessings they had been promised by the Lord. A promise of the Holy Spirit was given in verse 3 “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants” Isaiah also gives us a declaration from God in verse 6-8 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’” He then spoke against idols and reminded the people that the Lord is Israel’s Redeemer and the only one who can forgive their sin. At the end of the chapter Isaiah gave a prediction about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple after Judah’s captivity. This describes how the Lord would use a heathen king named Cyrus to defeat Babylon and allow the Jews to repopulate Jerusalem. During Isaiah’s time the Babylonian captivity was in the future and Cyrus, the king of Persia, was not yet even born! Then in Chapter 45 God revealed to His people that He is sovereign and will use Cyrus to do His will. God asserted His place in verse 5-6 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other” The Lord also spoke to all mankind in verse 22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” He also told us what will happen to all men in the end in verse 23 “I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” In Chapter 46 the Lord contrasted Himself with the idols of Babylon. He said that idols are carried about but are inert and cannot deliver anyone. The Lord said that He is unchanging and that there is no one else like Him. He said that only He could bring about their deliverance. In Chapter 47 Isaiah changed from speaking God’s words to the people of Judah. Here he spoke to the people of Babylon. He revealed to them that they would experience success and prosperity only because God was going to use them to punish His disobedient people, Israel. Isaiah told them that because they would not show mercy to His captive people He would remove them from power. Isaiah then returned to tell God’s words to Israel. In Chapter 48 they are reminded of their stiff-necked ways. In verse 9-11 God said “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.” There was nothing Israel had done to deserve God’s favor, and their testing and refining were not over yet! At the end of the chapter the Lord again promises to deliver Israel. Although the Lord looks back in verse 17-19 at what could have been. “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. “Your descendants would have been like the sand, and your offspring like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.” In Chapter 49 Isaiah wrote as the Messiah speaking to all people. In the first verse the islands and the people from afar are told to listen. This refers to the people of the gentile nations that would one day mane up His church. God’s people Israel had rejected Him and served other gods. The Lord in His plan had a way for all men to be saved through His Servant Jesus. In verse 2 the text said that “He has made My mouth like a sharp sword” Compare this to the text of the Book of Revelation 1:16 which is the description of the appearance of Jesus to John on the Island of Patmos where he had been exiled. “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.” At the end of the chapter He promises the Jewish people that their nation will be restored and all nations will bow to them in the end. The Lord will never forget His chosen people. Then in Chapter 50, God told His people that He had never given them up. There is no divorce papers or a bill of sale causing their separation from Him. The suffering of His people was only temporary to punish their disobedience. Verse 6 prophetically describes the punishment Jesus would endure before He was taken to the cross. “I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.” Jesus did not fight back, but submitted willfully to the pain so that we could be forgiven. Jesus could withstand the pain because He placed His trust in His Father. The text in verse 10 is an invitation to the lost for salvation. “Who is among you that fears the Lord that obeys the voice of His servant that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” Isaiah exhorts Israel in Chapter 51 to remember where you came from. They had received the promise of God’s favor through His covenant with Abraham. The people will be restored to their former glory in the future. Then in Chapter 52 the people are told of the glory of that restoration. In verse 7 the Lord told us how He views those that spread His message throughout the world. “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Chapter 52:13 through Chapter 53:12 show us a clear picture of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and what the event accomplished for us as believers. Chapter 52:14 is an indication of the inhuman torture our Savior endured at the hands of men. “So His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.” Then in Chapter 53:4-6 the text explains to us reason for His death. “Surely our grief’s He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Many of us have no idea what Jesus did as a substitute for what we all deserve for our sin. The events described in this chapter of Isaiah prophetically describe the events of the crucifixion over seven hundred years before they actually took place. In Chapter 54 attention is now back on Israel. Isaiah equates them as a barren woman while they have been in exile. He goes on and tells them to shout for joy because the Lord is going to restore them to prosperity. In verse 7-8 the Lord told Israel that their rejection by Him is only temporary. “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving-kindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the Lord your Redeemer.” A strong promise is given to God’s people in verse 17. “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.” In Chapter 55 the Lord offers everyone His free gift of salvation. In the beginning of verse 3 God told us what we must do. “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live” Verse 8-11 describe some very important truths about the Living God that we all need to keep in mind when we want to question Him. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, or are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Chapter 56 told of the rewards for obedience to the Lord. Then in Chapter 57 Isaiah wrote of the Lord’s rebuke to the evil leaders of the day. In the first part of the chapter Isaiah lists the characteristics and works of the evil men. He let them know that they were experiencing what they wanted today, but in the future their idols would not save them from what is to come. In verse 21 the text reads. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” The Lord spoke through Isaiah in Chapter 58 when the people asked why their fasting had not given them results. The Lord said they did not fast with a proper heart and were not observing My ways. The words in verse 7 are similar to the words used by Jesus when He spoke of the judgement of the gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew 25:35-40. Isaiah 58:7 reads “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” Matthew 25:42-43 “for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.” The people were also told of their abuse of the Sabbath day at the end of the chapter. In Chapter 59 Isaiah told the people why God has separated Himself from them. This is revealed in verse 1-2 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” The people had become violent and evil and as the text reads in verse 8 “They do not know the way of peace” Isaiah confesses to the Lord for the people in the middle of the chapter. When God said there was no man in Israel to intercede for them He took it upon Himself to send His Servant to intercede for the people. Paul used the words of Isaiah Chapter 59:17a when he wrote about the armor of God in the Book of Ephesians at the end of chapter 6. Isaiah 59:17a reads “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head” Chapter 60 records the future millennial kingdom of Jesus at the end of this world. The Jewish people and Zion will be glorified and assume their position as the center of the world in culture and government. The Lord will be on the throne and all the nations of the Earth will bring their wealth to Jerusalem. This will be a time of peace on the Earth. During the thousand year reign of Jesus the world will be a very different place. An example of this difference is shown in verse 19-20 “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory.“Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over.” Chapter 61 has the words of the coming Messiah. Jesus spoke the words of verse 1-2 in the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath when He began His public ministry. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” This is recorded in the Gospel of Luke 4:18-19. Jesus was the fulfillment of these scriptures and described what He had come to do. Isaiah wrote of his joy for what the words of this promise meant to him and the people. When the Lord returns and the restoration of Israel is complete it was written in Chapter 62 that Jerusalem and Zion will receive a new name from the Lord. The Jewish people will no longer be called “Forsaken” and the land would not be known as “Desolate”. The people will then be called “My delight is in her” and the land will be called “Married”. The Lord has redeemed His people and will protect them as a husband does his wife. In Chapter 63 Isaiah wrote of the Lord’s wrath poured out on the nations of the Earth. He would have vengeance in the end for their sin and disbelief. He will remember His people and His promise of long ago from the days of Moses. The people will then call the Lord Father and understand. Chapter 64 is a prayer for mercy by the people of Israel. They finally reveal what their works meant to God in verse 6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” The people give up their prideful ways and repent in verse 8 “But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.” God then addresses His rebellious people in Chapter 65. He told them what they had done and how they had rebelled and turned against Him. He promises in the end of the chapter that He will make a new Heaven and new Earth for His people that believe in the end. In Chapter 66, to end the Book of Isaiah, the Lord declares His home is Heaven in verse 1-2 “Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? “For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” He will provide for His servants and judge the wicked. He said in verse 18“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.” The Book of Isaiah ends with a promise to the men He will make His priests in verse 22-24 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. “And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” This ends the Book of Isaiah. We will now begin the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the leading prophet of God to the people of Judah between the years 627 BC through 570 BC. He spoke to God’s people from the reign of Josiah and his reforms to the middle of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. Throughout his book he warned of the coming exile, and then after he warned the people to obey their new masters so they would not be destroyed. Chapter 1 covers the call of Jeremiah to become a prophet. God’s word came to him during the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah over Judah. God spoke to him in verse 5-10 these words. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah then had a vision of an almond rod and a boiling pot that represented the Lord looking on His people and the trouble that was to come. In Chapter 2 Jeremiah went to Jerusalem and spoke against the people for turning away from their God and serving other gods they had made. He told the people in verse 22 “Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord God.” The Lord will reject the people that have turned away from Him. In Chapter 3 God compares Israel to a faithless wife. Even though King Josiah instituted reforms the people did not change in their heart. God gave the people a chance to repent in verse 11-14 “And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord. ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” Jeremiah spoke of the threat of invasion in Chapter 4. If the people of Judah do not change, the Lord will bring on them an “evil from the north”. In the end of the chapter Jeremiah laments the destruction of Judah for their unbelief. In verse 22 the Lord said “For My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children and have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, but to do good they do not know.”
In Chapter 5 Jeremiah spoke on how far the people have strayed from following the Lord. In verse 11-13 the Lord told the truth about His people and what they had become “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord. They have lied about the Lord and said, “Not He; misfortune will not come on us, and we will not see sword or famine. “The prophets are as wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!” Then in verse 15 God told Judah what He would do. “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. “It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.”
Jeremiah warns the people in Jerusalem, in Chapter 6, of the coming destruction of the city, and told them to flee for safety. Because of their unbelief and disobedience the Lord reveals in verse 21 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, fathers and sons together; neighbor and friend will perish.” Jeremiah also told the people that the Lord had compared them with ore that was supposed to contain metal, and that Jeremiah would be the one to act as the surveyor of the people. This was revealed in verse 27-30 “I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, that you may know and assay their way.” All of them are stubbornly rebellious, going about as a talebearer. They are bronze and iron; they, all of them, are corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, but the wicked are not separated. They call them rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.” This ends our study for this week. Next week we will continue in the Book of Jeremiah.