A chapter by chapter, verse by verse study of the book of Isaiah.
The Book of Isaiah has 66 Chapters, 39 Chapters on LAW, and the Government of God, 27 Chapters on GRACE, and the Salvation of God.
As we have looked into this first section we have had a key phrase. What has been our Key word or phrase? TRUST IN THE LORD!
As we completed chapter 35 of Isaiah we got into those prophecies of the future kingdom age when Jesus Christ will be reigning over the earth, and how God is going to restore the earth to its former glory as in Eden.
Verse 10 of chapter 35 not only climaxes chapter 35 but also the whole section of Isaiah dealing with God's sovereignty over the nations (Chapters. 13-35).
Chapters 7-12 posed a question: 'Is God Sovereign of the nations?' Can God deliver from an Assyria? Or is He just one more of the gods, waiting to be gobbled up by a bigger god?
In short, can God be trusted? Isaiah has sought to answer that question in four main sections: Chapters. 13-23; God's lordship over each of the nations is asserted. In 24-27; it is shown that God is not merely the reactor to the nations, but is in fact the sovereign Actor on the world's stage. In 28-33; the superiority of God's counsel over that of the merely human leaders is shown. And then in 34-35, the last two chapters show the ultimate results of the two courses of action, with the promise that God can, and will, redeem. He may be trusted.
However, the issue remains: is this merely abstract or can it be concrete reality? Ahaz had proved that the nations cannot be trusted. But what about God? Can His trustworthiness be demonstrated or only asserted? Must His promises for the distant future be clung to blindly or can an earnest of their reality be experienced now?
Now there are several speculations about how God will accomplish this. This becomes a concern to many, when the how or even the why shouldn’t be our main concern, but belief in His Word and that He said it would happen.
In chapter 35 there are references to streams in the desert and how the earth is going to be restored. The deserts will be gone, they will blossom as a rose, and the whole earth will become fertile and productive.
Many Israelis believe that they are fulfilling this even today and they cultivate the Negev desert. They also have looked into plans to bring a water pipe from the Red Sea, or the Mediterranean to fill up the Dead Sea again. The dead sea is currently losing 3 feet a year.
However God works it out, the earth will be beautiful. Chapter 35 was prophetic as it looked ahead to the glorious Kingdom Age. At this point in the book of Isaiah we have had the government of God and His judgement.
When we come to chapter 40 and on we will see the grace of God. It will no longer be judgement but the salvation of God.
Now from 36 through 39 Isaiah takes us out of the prophetic realm and we look at the historic record and we find that this particular area of scripture parallels scripture starting in 2nd Kings 18. Chapter 37 is identical to 2nd Kings 19. So he has copied the historical record of the nations of Israel and Judah. Having prophesied these things he gives the historic background that we may see that God’s word is accurate and true, and what God said would come to pass and did indeed transpire.
These four chapters come between the two major divisions of the book. This Assyrian invasion has been the broad background for much of Isaiah’s prophecy. Now, Isaiah gives us a historical record of what happened during the time he prophesied about.
What is recorded here is a change in the history of the world. This is the point of transfer of power from Assyria to Babylon. And Babylon was the first Great power of the world and designates the beginning of the time of the gentiles.
There is a picture here I want you to see. This is a record of a son of David who was beset by enemies and went to the verge of death yet continued to reign. (Hezekiah) This foreshadows a Son of David who came and was delivered to death and was raised and is coming again to reign. This is historical record is given to us three times in scripture. I already mentioned 2nd Kings 18-19, and we also see it in 2nd Chronicles 29-30. There are great miracles are recorded in this section. One is the death angle slaying 185000 Assyrian solders. Then we see the sun retreat 10 degrees on the dial, and then God heals Hezekiah and extends his life 15 years. All these are incredible miracles.
You will notice this section opens with Assyria and closes with Babylon, and in this section we have two important letters, the first one from the king of Assyria that Hezekiah took directly to God and God delivered His people. The second letter was from the king of Babylon and he flattered Hezekiah and Hezekiah did not take it to the Lord in prayer and that led to the undoing of the southern kingdom, which eventually led to its captivity.
15 сен 2024
