Isaiah |
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Isaiah Chapter 40
We jump from a historical account of events in Isaiah's day to the future rebirth of Israel and the people of Jerusalem. Her sin is seen as pardoned after receiving double for all her sins. First of all before those events take place there is a coming interlude. Someone, the Messiah has to come first to pay for her sins and the sins of the whole world.
In the Old Testament the future coming of the Lord is sometimes seen as one event. It is like viewing the tops of two mountains and not seeing the deep valley in between those mountains. This is why some do not receive Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They do not recognize the need for someone dying for sins. They are looking for a triumphant victorious Messiah, not one who teaches repentance, a changed life and a sacrifice for sin. The Second Coming of Christ will fulfill those scriptures which were only partly fulfilled at His first coming. All through the Old Testament it was taught that there was a necessity of sacrifice for sins. Animals were sacrificed to point the way to a permanent sacrifice. The animal sacrifices could not take away the sin of the people though; their sin remained. There was no new birth or change in their hearts. They had no power over sin. I believe they were saved by grace though if they believed the promise given by Moses of a coming savior. They were saved by looking forward to the coming Messiah and trusting in His future sacrifice once and for all. The Law of God that was given to Israel through the prophet Moses, pointed out what sin was and how we all have broken that law and how we all need to be saved from the condemnation of that law. When Jesus Christ came the first time, He came to take our place. He was actually punished for every sin that mankind had done from the beginning of creation. He did not deserve the punishment because He had not broken the Law of God in any point. Since He died undeservingly, His death can count as a sacrifice for our sins because He did not die for His own sins. The punishment for sin is death eternally. He took that death for us in His own body and conquered death when He was resurrected. Now all that accept and believe this can have their sins taken away and they can receive eternal life also. This happened in that valley between the two mountaintops that I described above. This had to happen first. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of all mankind, we would have to die eternally for our own sins. He did not come and save Israel from their enemies and rule and reign 2,000 years ago because He had to come and take care of the sin problem first. Sin cannot inherit the future kingdom of God. If He were to allow that, then sin would continue forever. He does not grant eternal life with a new body that cannot die to someone who still is in sin. The blood of Jesus Christ has to first cover that sin and take the sin away. We then become born again or regenerated by the Spirit of God and can now inherit eternal life. This is the true glory of the Lord. The Lord will come and reign over the earth. Man's rule has failed miserably but since God gave Man dominion over the earth, man has to be the one to rule. All men and woman have failed in this. God has to rule in order for there to be everlasting peace on the earth. That is why Jesus had to become a man. He was the only man born of woman that had not sinned. He was the only man born of woman that was actually the begotten Son of God. Jesus became a man but He was God too. He will be the only one who can rule the earth fairly, justly and without sin. I look forward to that day. He became one of us to take away our sin and to rule the earth. Many have tried but no one could do this before. What a glorious wonderful time it will be.
We are reminded here what our priorities are. The word of God stands forever. Our life and events on the earth will pass away. The Word of God should be the first priority in our life, not something set aside until we get time for it. Through Jesus our Christ we can be resurrected from the dead and live forever in a new body than can never die.
Jerusalem will be His capital. Judah will recognize her God. They will not be outcasts and a hated nation forever. They will discover their true Messiah, Jesus Christ and rejoice in Him. All of us who believe and trust in Him now will partake of this future event. Rejoice when God redeems Israel. True believers in Jesus Christ will be part of that reign. Don't have any part of those who persecute the Jewish people. Avoid it like the plague. God has not given up on Israel. At His coming He will also hand out rewards for the faithful. Evil will not be in His Kingdom. He will comfort the weak and helpless.
He shall feed the flock like a shepherd. The word of God will be taught, the hungry will be fed, the sick will be healed.
This should be our attitude toward God. I shudder when I talk to someone with a lack of the fear of God. Those who take Him lightly and lightly esteem His greatness. He is worthy to be praised. The most intelligent being on the face of the earth is very small compared to our God. Who but God can measure the waters in the hollow of his hand or mete out heaven with a span?
Who has directed or taught the Spirit of God? He is the beginning of wisdom and understanding so no man can attain to His heights or depths of greatness and power. Who are we to exalt ourselves higher than God?
We see great and powerful nations arise in the earth. They get mighty armies and we think that they will last forever but they are nothing. At His Word they fall and crumble and become as dust. Where is Hitler's kingdom today? Where is the power of Stalin? Where is the greatness of Napoleon? The United States will one-day become as nothing if they continue on the path of sin as they are going? Evil nations will not survive. God will eventually bring them to nothing. They will not stand. The only nations that will stand are those who fear God and seek His ways. If Israel had kept their vows to the Lord and kept His laws, no nation on the face of the earth would have been able to remove them. Mighty Babylon would not have overcome them. The only reason Babylon was allowed to take Judah captive was because Judah had departed from following after God. Even righteous men as Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah was not able to stop the invasion. We must pray for the people of the United States to repent and turn from their wickedness. Unless they do I'm afraid that it will crumble. God sees the departure from the faith. He sees the mockery at His word. He sees the forbidding of the Word in the public school systems across the country. He sees that teacher who refuses to allow the 1st grader to pray over a meal. He sees the scoffing of His laws. He sees the abortion mills and the sexual immorality. He sees the teaching of evolution, which denies divine intervention and the creation of the world. He sees those who are encouraging alternative lifestyles to what He created us to be. He sees the teaching of self-esteem and self-exaltation, which denies the need of repentance and change. He sees our pride in ourselves and our own greatness in which we deny Him the right to have any say in what we do or the way we live. The day will come according to the scripture when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the name of the Lord that is now scoffed at.
There is nothing, no nation, no great human being, no wealth; there is nothing that can even begin to compare to God.
Here shows the vanity of making and worshipping idols. Things that are made by human hands cannot save the soul. It is a great insult to our creator when we choose to worship images, statues, popular celebrities, or possessions in place of God.
This is how mankind compares to our Lord.
Oh that we would realize His greatness and how much we really need Him. How much we depend upon Him. How much He deserves our worship and praise. Someone asked me once why some churches spent time praising and worshipping the Lord. He stated that it would be better to go out and do good works to help others. Naturally we should help others so I'm not demeaning that part of what he said but how can we come to the knowledge of the greatness and majesty of our Lord and not praise and worship Him? Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with His presence that if I didn't praise Him, the rocks would literally cry out and do it instead. I would be ashamed to hear the rocks cry out because I failed to praise the Lord. Some believe the reference to the rocks that Jesus mentioned may be the Gentile nations that received Him when Israel rejected Him. Whether this is the case or not we see that now the Gentile nations are starting to depart from Christ and the fear of God may be about to return to the nation of Israel. "The last shall be first and the first last." The time of the Gentiles is drawing to a close. When I say that though, we must always remember that as individuals, it is our choice whether to follow Christ or go the way of the world around us.
Not only does God have all power and strength but will give those that trust in Him the power and strength to go on when the going gets rough.
They that trust, seek and wait upon the Lord shall be renewed with strength. They shall run and not be tired, they shall walk and not faint. I have seen my own father go through things that I know the natural man would have given up on long ago. Things that sometimes I wondered how he could endure such troubles. I talked with him many times and his attitude was praise and worship. He was so thankful to the Lord who saw him through both bad and good times. He was 83 when I first wrote this Isaiah bible study and was still strong in faith and his love for the Lord. He had run a long way and was not weary, he has walked far and has not fainted in spirit. Praise the Lord. (Update: July 2025 - Dad lived to be 95 and departed to be with the Lord in April 2011). His last message to us at a birthday party we gave him when he was 90, was to love one another. - DC
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