Isaiah 46-48

Introduction

Today we’re in Isaiah chapters 46, 7, and 8. Robert’s gone today. He’s up in Wisconsin, but unless he gets snowed in, he’ll be back on Wednesday. And he’ll be teaching the next three sessions.

Let’s look over the questions on page 109 in your lesson book, just by way of review. Robert’s first question is an interesting question. Who does the Lord, the King of Israel, say that He is? First and last. No one decides. Okay. And the Lord of Hosts. You can answer that and also the rock. You caught that in verse 8, right? The rock. This morning we sang unto the O Lord. And talks about the rock in that song. So there’s a number of phrases used to end the passage in those two verses, those two chapters that God uses to describe himself. So it’s kind of an open-ended question. There could be lots of answers there. How does Isaiah describe those who make graven images?

They’re futile. They won’t profit. They’re no profit there. Useless. Useless. Futile. No profit. That’s right. What do men do with the wood from the trees? They make fires, they make bread.

And the same thing. Okay. Yeah. That’s worthless. I’m going to burn it. This half I’m going to bow down to. It doesn’t make much sense. And then they’re worshiped. Yeah. Um, and why does he not say that he’s burned part of the tree in the fire and made an abomination with the rest? Why doesn’t he see that? It seems so obvious. They did not know nor understood deceived heart. Deceived a deceived heart. Okay, they’ve been deceived. And Kathy, you had something heart, and sometimes you just can’t see the lie that you by yourself. Okay, in verse 18, it says, He has shut their eyes and their hearts. And I think that’s kind of where he was going with the question. Uh, but they are deceived, but it’s by their own choice.

God has allowed them to believe this lie. I don’t think that’s saying that God has kept them from seeing the truth. They have chosen their way and God has allowed them to do that. In contrast to idols, who was God from verse 24 and on? The first and all that’s creator of the heavens and the earth. Okay, the creator. The idols didn’t create anything. But who is the God? The only true God? He’s the one that made everything. And why does the Lord call Cyrus his anointed? In chapter uh 45, verse 1. He called him by name before he was born. Okay, but why did he call him his anointed? He does God’s work. He was chosen to fulfill God’s will. Okay, he was chosen, that’s the key.

When a person is chosen by God, he is said to be anointed. That was literally the case with the kings. When the king was chosen, he was announced in the eyes of the people to be the chosen one by being anointed with oil. So the anointed one is the one given a task by God. And why had God called Cyrus by name? It’s kind of an interesting thing. In advance, he told him by name. Why? So all of us would know that he called him.

It was God’s choice that Cyrus come forth, not Cyrus’s choice. Okay. In verse 4 of chapter 45, he says, for Jacob’s sake. In other words, he’s providing evidence to Jacob, and of course to us as well. But the primary evidence that he knows what will happen, and not just that he is great at understanding what will happen, but I believe he controls things to make this happen. Which shows he is in control and the only one who is in control. How would Israel be saved? Verse 17. Everlasting salvation. Everlasting salvation by the Lord. By the Lord’s hand. What would be the attitude of those incensed against the Lord? A shame. Yeah, that will come to nothing.

Where in the New Testament is the idea of 4523 found, and to whom is it applied? In 4523, talks about all men bowing the knee. Romans 14. Romans 14 11. And what’s what’s the context? What’s he talking about? That is the time of Christ when every knee will bow. And tongues will speak. Tongues will cease. Tongues will speak the truth. Okay. In the context, he’s talking about judging one another unrighteously. And really, we are not our own servants, but we’re God’s servants. And so he is the judge. And at his knee, every everyone shall bow. And that’s the focus of that verse is that he is the judge. And that we stand before him to be judged, not before each other to be judged. What will be the attitude of those who’ve never bade obeyed in this life of that time?

1. Dead Idols and the Living God

Same thing as those that bow down to idols. Be ashamed. Okay, so let’s move on into chapter 46. Chapter 46. Dead idols and the living God. Just as a quick review of where we’ve been, in chapter 40, we talked about comfort ye my people, prepare the way of the Lord, a voice crying in the wilderness. And that was because God was bringing deliverance. In chapter 41, there’s this call to judgment. In other words, state your case. You say your just claim has been overlooked. State your case. And then in that light, he says, Look, I will provide deliverance. I have not overlooked anything. The idols can’t do anything. And I have plans. I have plans to deliver my people under the servant, the Messiah. And it’s a great time of deliverance, but you know what?

I also have a more near-term deliverance. You will be to redeem from Babylon, even though you’re going to go there for captivity. God will redeem you. And Jacob’s response in judgment. So he does these great looks at future glory. And then he talks about the idols. There’s no other God, idols are worthless. God will do what no idol can do, predict the future. And of course, verse 4 chapter 45, he really made that specific by naming Cyrus by name.

And that Cyrus would free Jacob from Babylon. And he would call those of Jacob scattered among the nations to him. Can any idol do that? The answer is absolutely not. Never happened. Well, we get to chapter 46, and it opens with Bel and Nebo. You know, picture of Bel and Nebo. Bel bowing down and Nebo stoops. Well, who are Bel and Nebo? We talked about when Cyrus came in to take over Babylon and to release the captives, that he said that he did so at the call of the Babylon’s Babylon’s god, Marduk. Well, who is Marduk? Well, it’s properly Bel Marduk. Baal, B-A-A-L, or Baal, as some pronounce it, is a Semitic word signifying the Lord, master, owner, keeper, husband. And many countries had their own Baal, their own master.

They might have called it by a different name, but that’s their God. In Babylon, the word Bel B-E-L has the same meaning as the Semitic V-A-A-L, simply meaning Lord Master. And so in Babylon, Marduk reigns supreme. He is normally referred to as Bel, which means Lord. So when we talk about Bel in Babylon, that’s the same as Marduk, Bel Mardoch. One of the interesting things about Bel is that when you see pictures of him drawn, like this one on the left taken from Wikipedia, you’ll see Bel and his pet dragon. That’s the way he’s often pictured. And so when you see some of the tiles from Babylon, you’ll see this creature as a common logo used to represent Babylon, and that’s the dragon. And interestingly enough, if you go to the Apocrypha and read the Apocrypha, you’ll find a book called Bell and the Dragon.

Why? Well, those were the gods that were worshipped. The dragon was worshipped just like Bell was. And when you read this, what you’ll see is the traditional Hebrew reaction when these events that God is talking about here in Isaiah actually happened. And so this rendition, although it’s part of the apocrypha, that’s not part of the traditional canon of the Bible, is Jewish writings from the general time period. And so it talks about how Daniel refused to worship Bell, and Cyrus asked him, why not? He says, I worship only the true God. Bel is an idol and he’s worthless.

We’re going to have a test. And of course, the test is every day was supplied to the idol a certain amount of food. And he consumed it, and everybody knew that he was active and living because he consumed all this food. And so Daniel has the king sealed the room, and just before he seals the room, he sprinkles ashes on the floor, find find dust ashes. And so in the morning, when they come in, they see all the footprints of the men and the women and the children that consume the food. And so the king had primary evidence that this isn’t the idol doing it, this is people deceiving you. And likewise, a similar thing with the dragon, and uh therefore they were uh they were shown to be false.

So it’s an interesting story. I urge you to get a copy of the apocrypha. You can read that on the web if you want. You don’t have to buy anything, but it’s an interesting uh rendition. Bell and the dragon, and then Nebuchadnezzar, which is Nabu and other trans other texts. Uh while Marduk became Babylon’s main deity, Nabu resided in nearby Borsipa. He was first called the scribe and minister of Marduk, later assimilated as Marvek’s beloved son. He’s mentioned in Isaiah 46, 1, and these are all quotes from Wikipedia. And there’s a statue of Nabu from Kullah erected during the reign of the Assyrian king as a drawing of the statue that’s actually in uh the British Museum. So uh these are the two uh chief deities.

Uh and he he’s got a wonderful picture here of look at this. Bell bow downs and Nebo stoops. That is, they’re not victorious, it’s like they’re stooped over going into captivity because they have failed to deliver their people. And so look at this. Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. So as a conquering nation, you might expect them to take the idols and carry them off. Perhaps they did. I don’t know that we have any historical records of that. It’s interesting that uh just uh uh 60 or 70 years earlier than this, uh, we do have a historical record of Bel actually being captive, uh led captive by Elam. And it was a big deal when he was brought back from captivity, and so, yes, he’s been carried off in carts before.

And so here you see this picture of these idols, great big massive statues laying down on carts, and they’re just really heavy. They’re made of stone. Uh, and brass, they’re heavy, and the carts are heavily laden, they’re a burden to the weary beasts. They stoop and they bow down together, going into captivity. They could not deliver the burden. That is, these idols could not deliver their country, but they themselves have gone into captivity. And then God changes the picture and says, Look, the idols are a burden to their people, but look at your God. Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by me from birth. You’re not carrying your God. Your God is carrying you.

What a contrast. And I’ve been doing that from birth. Who have carried from the womb even to your old age, I am he, even to gray hairs I will carry you. From womb to tomb, we might say, God is carrying his people. I have made and I will bear, even I will carry, and I will deliver you. So tremendous contrast in pictures. And so he gets to verse 5, and he says, To whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we shall be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, they weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, he makes it a god. They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship, they bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands from its place, it shall not move.

Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer, nor save him out of trouble. So this is the picture of the idols being worshipped. Remember this and show yourselves men. Recall to mind, O you transgressors, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand. Is this the first time God has called the end from the beginning? Is this a new thing? No, it’s not, is it? He called him out of Egypt and the uh heart of the Red Sea. He didn’t tell them in advance, perhaps that that was going to happen.

But he told them, I will give you the land, and he did. He said, When you go into it, I will bring victory, and he did. There were several cases in which more people were killed because of God’s actions than because of the Israelites. Great hell storms and other things. Um he told them, Go march around the city of Jericho, and it the walls will fall. And it happened. Over and over again, we see this pattern of God provides witness for his people and evidence that I control things. I am the creator, and when I say something, it will come to pass. And so he calls them to mind. Remember the former things of old. In other words, this isn’t something new, I’m telling you. But I have always declared the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

And I think that’s key when he says, My counsel shall stand. Not that he can just predict the future really well, but his counsel, his judgments, his control will stand. Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from a far country, again he’s talking of Cyrus. Indeed, I have spoken it, and I will also bring it to pass. I have also purposed it, I will do it. And you see there the judgment, the council that he’s talking about, not just predicting what will happen, but he will do it. Listen to me, you stubborn hearted, who are far from righteousness. I will bring my righteousness near, it shall not be far off. My salvation shall not linger, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

2. Babylon Brought Low

Then you see the decision there is irrevocable. It cannot be changed. And so when he talks about uh prepare the way, level the mountains, fill in the valleys, make way, because God’s going to come through. Those mountains you could look at them as obstacles. As valleys you can look at them as pitfalls. None of them will matter. It will all be level because God’s counsel will stand and he will accomplish what he said he’s going to do. In contrast, um, first part, Bell and Nebo could not deliver. Jehovah carried his people. Who can compare with me? And then he talks in chapter 47 about Babylon being brought low. Come sit and come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

City might be pictured or personified as a queen on a throne, delicate with finery. And God says, You sin in the dust. You will no longer be queen. You take the millstone and grind meal, you be like a common laborer. And so remove your veil, take off your skirt, that is not to be naked, necessarily, completely naked, but do not hinder yourself with the clothing would prevent you from laboring like a common laborer. Uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness will be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will not arbitrate with a man. In other words, this wasn’t a matter that was under mediation. No, this decision’s been made.

And there no man can arbitrate on this. As for your our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel, sit in silence and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called the lady of kingdoms. I was angry with my people, and I have profaned my inheritance. What does that mean to profane the inheritance? What does it mean to profane something?

Pardon? It means nothing.

Okay, it its value is diminished. And really, if you look up the word, it means to make common, and to be common is to have no value. And so he says, I allowed Israel, my inheritance, to be treated in a common manner. That is just like every other nation. Why did they go into captivity? Because I allowed it. And so I profane my inheritance, and I gave them into your hand. You showed no mercy. On the elderly, you laid your yoke very heavily, and you said, I shall be a lady forever, so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of these.

What does that remind you of? I am and no one beside me. God said that. Well, that was that’s God’s position, right? He said that about himself. And so Babylon is pictured as saying, essentially claiming that they are like God. Remember back in chapter 14 when he spoke about Babylon? Arrogance. Yeah, he used to talk about arrogance. Chapter 14 is where we get that the phrase, at least in the King James Bible of Lucifer, and how he said concerning Lucifer, the term Lucifer really means day star, wasn’t talking about Satan, he was talking about the king of Babylon. He pictures him in chapter 14 and verse 14 as saying, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. And when you say I am and there is no other, that’s the same thing as claiming deity.

In a day, the loss of children and widowhood, they shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries for the great abundance of your enchantments. Now, if you looked ahead at the uh the questions for this lesson, uh, research question was where is Isaiah chapter 47 and verse 8 quoted in the New Testament and to whom is it applied? Did anybody look at that yet? Revelation 18. So look over there with me, Revelation 18. Revelation 18 talks about the fall of Babylon, but we know that Babylon fell many years ago. As Robert says, the message of a fool. Everybody knows Babylon’s already fallen. But we understand that as Daniel saw the statue with Babylon at his head and Rome as his feet, that Babylon could be used to represent Rome.

And so you see very similar language here.

In verse 2, he talks about Babylon as the greatest fallen, has fallen. In verse 7, in the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously in the same measure, gave her torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, I sit as queen and am no widow and will see no sorrow. Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. Well, you think about in history what happened. Babylon was oppressing God’s people. They had taken them to captivity, they were using them as slaves, and they were judged for that. Well, what did Rome do? Well, as Christianity was born, Jesus was born and created his church, Rome began to oppress it.

Christians were put to death in the arena. They were burned as torches in the emperor’s gardens. What happens when you oppress God’s people? God judges you. And so the same judgments that were said about Babylon are said about Rome, and appropriately so, because they were in a similar position. And just as Babylon said, I said as a queen, I am no, then there is no other. Rome felt the same way. The whole world is my empire. I am, and there is no other. And so the sun’s similar statements. It was a good picture that Rome was very much the same as Babylon. Look in verse 10. He says, For you have trusted, or I’m sorry. Verse 9. These two things shall come to you in a moment, in a day, the loss of children and widowhood, they shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great abundance of your enchantments.

3. Let the Astrologers Stand Up and Save You

Why does he talk about sorceries and enchantments? Because that’s in what Babylon trusted. Babylon had their wise men. They had their sorceries. That’s what they trusted in. And God says, These things will happen because you trusted in these things. For you have trusted in your wickedness, you have said, No one sees me, your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you, and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is no one else beside me. Therefore, evil shall come upon you, and you shall not know from whence it arises. Trouble shall fall upon you, and you shall not be able to put it off. Desolation shall come upon you suddenly, with which you shall not know. And really in verse uh 12, he begins a really a taunt.

Uh this is God’s taunt. Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you’ll be able to profit. Perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counselors. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from these things that will come upon you. Do you think God is seriously saying? Let them come forward. Maybe they’ll help you. Maybe they’ll profit you. No, it’s a taunt, isn’t it? A bit of irony in there, I think. But it tells you something about how God feels about astrology, stargazing, monthly prognosticators. Is God pleased with these things? Now I know that there are some Christians that read their horoscope.

I can tell you that as a teenager I read my horoscope. And as a young man, I read horoscope, and I knew that it was nothing to it. And I saw uh said, like many did, that it’s entertainment. I’m entertained by this. But when I read about how God feels about these things, I could no longer even read it. Because for me to be entertained by what God says is an abomination to him just is incongruous with the lifestyle that God has called me to live. Don’t think we should be entertained by the things that God hates. And these are some of the things that he hates. From these things that shall come upon you, behold, they shall be as stubble in verse 14. And the fire shall burn them, and they shall deliver themselves, they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.

Think about that picture. Jesus said, I am the vine. Vine is growth and life. Remain in me, and you have life. The idols, the astrology, the stargazers, all these things, they’re like stubble. What’s stubble? Something that appears to once have had life, but are useless, dried up, dead, nothing. Their only value is to be burned in the fire. And we all know that you cannot even be warmed by the thorns and stubble. They go like that. They have no value. And that’s what he’s saying. It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before. The thorns won’t even warm you. They just burn up, and that’s it. Thus they shall be to you with whom you’ve labored. In other words, this is what you’ve trusted in all your life.

4. Hypocrites Who Call on the Lord

This is what you valued. And what is it? It’s something of no value. In other words, you’ve lived your life in vain. You’ve wasted it. And so they shall be to you with whom you’ve labored, your merchants from merchants from your youth. They will wander each to his quarter, and no one will save you. They’ll just be wandering around. And so we get to chapter 48. And he says, Hypocrites. Well, he calls them hypocrites. He says, Hear now, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth the wellsprings of eating, who swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness. In other words, this these are hypocrites, those that call on the name of the Lord, but not in truth and not in righteousness.

It reminds me of John the Baptist and the crowds coming to him and calling them Brita vipers and hypocrites, and he says, just because you you’re from Abraham, God could raise sons of Abraham from these stones. He’s not going to save you just because of your lineage. Good point. Good point. And of course, we can do the same thing today. We can come to church and we can be on the rolls of the church. In name, be a Christian. But when we live our lives, we can deny God and the way we live our lives. And we would be in the same position here. For they call themselves after the holy city, and they lean on the God of Israel. The Lord of hosts is his name.

I have declared, and this is God turns and says, I have declared the former things from the beginning. They went forth from my mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did it, and it came to pass, because I knew that you were obstinate. Your neck was an iron sinu and your brow bronze. Even from the beginning I have declared it to you. Before it came to pass I proclaimed it, lest you should say, My idol has done it. And that’s what they would do, wouldn’t it? When God does great works, there are some people that do not attribute it to him. They turn and say, Oh, that’s just nature, or they’ll turn and say, Oh, that was just luck, or that was good fortune.

I mean, they’ll find an excuse. And God says, No, I told you this in the beginning, and I documented it because I knew you were obstinate, and I knew you would claim your idol did it, but now you can’t, because I’ve given you the evidence up front. You’ve seen, you’ve heard all this, verse six, and will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things that you did not know. They are created now and not from the beginning, and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, Of course I knew them. Surely you did hear, surely you did not know. I’m sorry, surely you did not hear, you did not know. Surely from long ago your ear was not opened, for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.

For my name’s sake I will defer my anger. And for my praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, or I’ve tested you in the furnace of affliction for my own sake, for my own sake I will do it. For how should my name be profaned? And I will not give my glory to another. You see the contrast here. He had called them in these earlier chapters and said, You are my witnesses. But now he says, And I knew that you would be stubborn and obstinate witnesses, and that lest I gave you positive proof, you would claim your idol did it. He said, But now I’ve taken that away, because I have called you to witness.

This is something new. Never been seen, never been heard. And when it happens, you’re my witnesses, that it could not have been your idols. And I did this not for your sake, but for my sake. For how shall my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another. We’ve seen that statement before. Deuteronomy 32, 26, he said that as well. Verse 12 Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my call. I am he, I am the first, I am also the last. Indeed, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand is stretched out the heavens. When I call to them, they shall stand up together. You notice the change.

Listen to me, O Jacob, calling them to account. All of you assemble together and hear. Who among them has declared these things? The answer is none. It’s a rhetorical question. The Lord loves him, that is Jacob. He shall do his pleasure, or Cyrus, I believe, he’s saying, for he shall do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I even I have spoken. Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper. Come near to me and hear this. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was I was there, and now the Lord God and his Spirit have sent me. I believe that’s Isaiah speaking at that point. And then he says, Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God who teaches you to prophet.

5. The Lord Who Teaches You to Profit

You know, it’s interesting. If you kind of stop there, and you go back and you look, in chapter 44 and verse 9, those who make a grave and image, all of them are useless, and their precious things shall not profit. He’s had a background theme of profit all through this. In chapter 45, in defense to Jacob, he said, I did not say to the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. To seek in vain is to seek without profit. So God is saying, I called you to seek me, and you will profit if you seek me. And so there’s a taunt to Babylon. Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries. Perhaps you will be able to profit. And the answer is clearly no, idols do not profit.

An encouragement to Jacob here, I am the Lord who teaches you to profit. That’s something that should be in the forefront. As Christians, we should be asking ourselves the question does the way of the Lord profit me? If it doesn’t, why am I a Christian? And I think there are some Christians that feel that Christianity is a duty, and they don’t think about the prophet. Why do you go to church? Well, that’s what God told me to do. Why do you do this? Well, that’s what God told me to do. And that’s my duty. And they fail to see that God calls us to serve him, not just out of duty, but out of profit. And if Christian life doesn’t profit us, our lives are in vain.

Does it profit us? I believe it does. And I believe we need to open our eyes and see that. And when we see the prophet, I think this temptation of sin is muted. Why would I be just destructive like that? I mean, you look around at the world, and what does God call us to? He calls us to avoid greed. And there are people that are consumed with greed, and they’re slaves to greed, and it destroys their lives. God says, Don’t be full of pride, be humble. And you look around, and there are people that are just consumed with pride, and it destroys their lives. There are so many people involved in self-destructive behavior, and God calls us away from those self-destructive behaviors. Yes, the way of God profits.

Even here, I’m much more in the life after this one. But even here, yes, it profits us. God has called us to profit. Look what he says in verse 18. Uh, starting off in the last half of 17, who leads you by the way you should go. Oh, that you had heeded my commandments. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Here’s what God has in mind for his people. Living in peace. Well, that’s a blessing. I’ve met some people at my workplace that their lives are just full of non-peace. Family arguments, siblings that don’t obey, um struggling with uh you know addictions to cigarettes, addictions to alcohol. I mean, their lives are constant turmoil. Now I believe he’s talking about peace with God, primarily, but peace with God brings a lot of peace in your life.

Your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea, your descendants would have been like the sand, the offspring of your body like the grains of sand. His name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. That is the name of Jacob. Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldees. With a voice of singing, declare and proclaim this. Utter it even to the end of the year. Say, The Lord has redeemed the servant Jacob. They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out. It’s not easy. Look back with me at Ezra chapter 8.

A great challenge for the people as they left Babylon. Starting verse 21. The people have been called together, they had assembled themselves, they had packed, they had gotten all the decrees, all they could, the vessels that they were going to take back, and they’re getting ready to go on the journey. And I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahaba, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road. Think about the travel all the way from Babylon back to Jerusalem. That’s a long journey. There are thieves along the road that they’re going to be facing.

Are they going to go by their own might? Ezra didn’t believe so. And yet at the same time it was fearful. Because they knew the dangers of the road. Should I ask for an escort? Should I ask for what everyone would need? Or would the enemy say, Well, don’t you trust in your God? He says, I was ashamed to request the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy of the Rome. Because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all those who forsake him. So they didn’t just set forth and say, Well, trust in God. They fasted and entreated our God, and he answered our prayer.

It’s a difficult thing. I think we face the same thing in our journeys. Uh, we go forth in life and say, Yes, I believe that God will. God would all uphold me. We may lose our job. We say, Yes, God will uphold us, and we may face trials. We say, Yes, God will uphold us. Do we really trust? Do we pray? And do we fast? Do we fast and pray? These aren’t easy things. But we can divert our eyes because God has not promised us that we will never lose a job. He’s not promised us that we will never face trials. He has promised us that he will always be with us. And that he will provide for our everlasting salvation. So we need to keep a focus on God’s promises and trust in them and humble ourselves before God and prepare for that.

And I believe that’s what God is calling upon them to do here. And he says, and they did not thirst when he led them through the deserts. He says, The same provisions that I made in the wilderness when I brought you to the promised land, I will give to you when you return from Babylon. And I will be with you, I will protect you, I will guide you. And so he did promise those material things to them. This seems like a deceptively easy passage that we’ve just read. Uh I call you to think about Psalm 119.

Conclusion

Psalmist writes about the law of God. He says, unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. Your word is like a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me. And that’s a problem in the world. A lot of people, the world’s uh iniquities have dominion over them. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. That’s where we want to be. And so when you look at Isaiah 46 and you look back at that outline I just gave you, think about your own life. Fill in the blank.

Whatever it is that people around me are trusting in, cannot deliver. I don’t know what you think about uh people trusting, but some things that come to my mind are uh friends. Oh, these things won’t befall me. You know, if I lose my job, I have friends that will support me. You know, if these things happen, I have friends that will support me. Uh you know, friends. People trust in friends. Friends can’t deliver you, but when you stand in judgment before God, I have a great psychologist. You know, he if I have a problem, personal problem, I can go into therapy and they’ll take care of it. People trust in therapists, they really do. They won’t deliver you. Oh, I’m insured about everything. I don’t care what bad thing.

I’ve got insurance for it. I trust in insurance, yeah. People do that. Insurance can’t deliver you. Jobs, pensions, social security, anything you think about, they will not deliver us when we stand before God.

Jehovah carries his people, and that should be our understanding and our trust and reliance upon God that he carries us. What can compare with God? Now I’m not saying you don’t buy insurance and you don’t have friends, those kind of things. But is that what we trust in? Is that ultimately what is so important to us? Who can compare with me? Should I be entertained by astrology? The wisdom of men, transcendental medication, meditation, whatever. Do we compare these things with God? Or do we understand that there is nothing to compare with God? Man is brought low by wickedness and pride, and God has a taunt for those that trust in other things besides him. Let that in which you trusted save you. And so take that to heart.

Whatever it is that you think is most important and that you’re trusting in, will that save me? That’s the question. So let us not be hypocrites. Let us not stand in the doorway of the church and claim to be a Christian and go out and deny him in practice, because we’ll be in the same position that God challenges Jacob about. I gave you evidence it’s irrefutable. Because I knew that you were obstinate and stubborn. Is that us? Things could have gone differently in your life. That’s what God said to Israel to Jacob, isn’t it? He said, Here’s what I had planned for you. I had your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like a mighty stream. I had great plans for you.

Kind of the same thing that Jesus said. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often I wanted you to gather you under my wings like a mother gather or hen gathers his chicks. But you would not. Are we going to be like that? Obstinate, stubborn, refuse to have God in our lives. I think Christians can do that. Those that call themselves Christians that have been baptized and have known the truth, they can deny God in their personal lives and actually cause these things to be said about them. And it’s it would be a great shame if that happens. Well, that’s the lesson. I know we’re a little couple minutes early, but really you see that what’s in this lesson is a kind of a reiteration of themes that we just talked about in the previous lesson as well.

Any thoughts, comments, questions before we go? I’m going to challenge you very quickly with a couple of questions, and then the lesson will be yours. David, I have one comment. Okay. Just thinking about what you’re saying there about where do we put our trust. When we uh are faced with difficulty, whether it be a health problem, a financial problem, a spiritual problem, you know, who do we go to first? Do we go to our friends? Do we go to our doctor or therapist, or do we get down on our knees and pray to our God? It’s a good question. It’s a good question. And the answer I think should be we turn to God first in every situation. Yeah. And I think when we do that, it’s a recognition that we don’t rely upon ourselves or everything else, but we rely upon God.

Now, God has not always promised us good health. We often turn to doctors, and I think that’s necessary. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that’s our first order of trust, and we haven’t placed our souls really in God’s hands first, that is, we live life prepared to die, I think we’re missing out. Joyce. That will help us to stay strong if we do it that way. I think so. I think so. I think people that fear death are much more consumed with worry and fret. Those that are prepared to die, which a Christian should be, we should be living life always prepared to die. Knowing that our eternal salvation is in God’s hands. The worry goes away, the breath goes away. We have peace.

Peace like a river. It’s not just peace with God, it’s peace with many things brought about because of the peace with God. Good points. On the question page 114. What’s the difference between the God of 464 and the God of 467? Real and just wood. Really? I like that. That’s concise. The one who carries versus one who must be carried. Yeah. That’s it. One who must be carried versus the one who carries. Keep that in your picture in your mind that God is the one that carries us. When does the God declare the end? From the beginning. From the beginning. Or you might say from the middle, too. Because he said, I’ve always told you to end from the beginning. And he did that when they began to be a nation.

He gave them the curses and the blessings. And he says, Here’s the way it’s going to go. If you follow me, this is what’s going to happen. If you reject me, here’s what’s going to happen from the beginning. He told them what would happen. But then here in Isaiah, he says, I tell you something new that has not been told from the beginning. But before it happens, I’m telling you. So what will Babylon no longer be called? Tender and delicate. Tender and delicate. Should be like a common laborer. And what did Babylon say to herself in the time of prosperity? I will be queen forever. I will not be a widow. I am, and there is no other besides me. And what was said to a perverted Babylon from verse 10 of chapter 46?

Their wisdom and knowledge, their eyes. Yeah. Isn’t that interesting? Their wisdom and knowledge has perverted them. Interesting. Kind of goes along with the theme, but God has said many times in the in the Old Testament scriptures the knowledge and wisdom of men is nothing compared with the knowledge and wisdom of God. It’s useless, it’s worthless. Man’s ways, uh his steps seem to bring life, but they bring death.

Okay, so Robert will be here on Wednesday morning.