WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.799 This podium is quite a bit shorter than yesterday, isn't it? 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:20.079 Well, thank you, uh Pastors Doug, Micah, um, and honestly, I I don't even the host of you that uh came together to help us pull that conference off yesterday, uh, I'm deeply grateful. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:31.280 Um and I know my colleague Peter uh is as well that um we were able to come and and give those talks and really to quite an eager audience. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.719 So just a great uh time yesterday. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:43.200 And um I know some of you after yesterday's talk, and if you were even in Sunday school, some of you were like, okay, can the textual critic preach? 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:45.840 I'm wise to this. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:47.039 I'm wise to this. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.640 I'm wise to this. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:01:03.840 Um, but I asked Pastor Micah um what I should preach on, and he said, Well, maybe just do something on um on the uh the power of God's word or or something like this, the effectiveness of God's word. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:18.079 I said, Well, I think I'm gonna illustrate that anyway, from no matter what, because here's the textual critic who preaches confidently from God's word, because it is preserved for us, it is secure. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:18.560 Okay. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:25.359 And so I felt like no matter what I preached, I would hopefully model and illustrate that for you here this morning. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:36.159 As someone who wades through differences, uh, again, for breakfast, um uh I am confident that what I'm preaching to you this morning is from God. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:36.879 Okay. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.959 So uh without any further ado, well, okay, I wanted to say one other thing. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:41.920 I want to say one other thing. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:44.000 I knew this was gonna be a rich experience. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.120 I knew it. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.000 Um, I just I I've known Micah for years. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.760 We go all the way back to Louisville. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:52.640 We were fellow church members at a Baptist church there. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:02:00.879 Uh what I didn't know was how much more rich this would be when other friends from Louisville showed up uh last night. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:07.280 And I have just I I'm here to bless you, but I have been so blessed uh by this trip. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:08.719 And so thank you, brother. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:13.360 And and uh you all know who you are uh heckling me in the back probably already. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:18.080 But um, I'm just so grateful uh and blessed to be here. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.960 Well, the sermon is from Isaiah 54. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.319 I have entitled this message Yahweh, the covenant keeping God. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.599 Uh, for those of you who don't know, Yahweh is the personal name of God in the Old Testament. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:39.599 So everywhere I read Lord here uh in small caps is a translation for the divine name Yahweh. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.960 Sorry, it's it's just the Old Testament student in me. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:44.879 I have to use the name Yahweh. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.680 So uh don't be thrown off by that, I hope. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:55.199 Uh I know I have a fellow Yahweh um supporter here in the front row uh in Ethan, so I'm very happy about that. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.319 So feel free to amen every time I use that word. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.639 Okay, Isaiah 54. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.520 This is on page 651 in your pew Bible. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.439 I'm gonna read the whole chapter. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:10.080 Rejoice, childless one who did not give birth. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:15.439 Burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:22.960 For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married woman, says the Lord. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:28.479 Enlarge the sight of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:43.520 Do not hold back, lengthen your ropes and drive your pegs deep, for you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.960 Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:57.759 Don't be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced, for you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:08.240 Indeed, your husband is your maker, his name is Yahweh of armies, and the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.000 He is called the God of the whole earth. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:21.600 For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one's youth when she is rejected, says your God. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:27.759 I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with abundant compassion. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:40.000 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love, says the Lord your Redeemer. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:52.079 For this is like the days of Noah to me, when I swore that the water of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:05:04.560 Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says your compassionate Lord. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:14.399 Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed and not comforted, I will set your stones in black mortar, and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:23.439 I will make your fortifications out of rubies, your gates out of sparkling stones, and all your walls out of precious stones. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.040 Then all your children will be taught by the Lord. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:33.759 Their prosperity will be great, and you will be established on a foundation of righteousness. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:42.959 You will be far from oppression, you will certainly not be afraid, you will be far from terror, it will certainly not come near you. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.240 If anyone attacks you, it is not from me. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:49.199 Whoever attacks you will fall before you. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:06:00.560 Look, I have created the craftsman who blows on the charcoal fire and produces a weapon suitable for its task, and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:07.839 No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:14.800 This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their vindication is from me. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.839 This is Yahweh's declaration. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:26.399 On December 7th, 1941, a date that will forever live in infamy, President Franklin D. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:34.160 Roosevelt said, What happened so uh what happened so that a world leader would make such a statement? 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:36.000 Well, of course, we know the history. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.120 The Japanese were in the midst of negotiations with the U.S. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.879 and on December 7th launched the greatest attack on U.S. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.319 soil without declaration of war or any warning. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:54.800 But what made this attack so awful was the prior treachery that happened between men in suits in civil contexts. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.279 The Japanese had agreed with the U.S. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:03.839 to demilitarize in Southeast Asia and to call off its aggression towards China on November 20th. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:08.079 But they sent their fleet towards Pearl Harbor on November 25th. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:18.399 When they broke their word and trust on November 20th, December 7th was the natural consequence to such betrayal and distrust. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:25.759 But such examples of breaking trust or covenant are not limited to the international scene. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:31.600 We have examples, don't we, of our own domestic politicians breaking their promises many times. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:42.399 When these politicians prove to be unfaithful or unreliable, that is, their yes is not yes and their no is not no, we become more skeptical and cynical of their leadership capabilities. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:53.360 We have experienced, many of us, probably, up close and personally, the brokenness that infidelity or breaking covenant and trust brings. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:08:06.319 Whether we have been divorced ourselves or the children of parents who have been divorced, we have seen the consequences of the sin of distrust and of breaking one's word. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:14.959 All of us have been let down, so to speak, by a friend not following through on what he or she said they would do. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:29.600 In short, the Bible teaches that humanity, apart from Christ and his wonderful redemption, are not truth tellers, and they're not faithful and loyal people who keep their word. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.240 We disappoint. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.000 We are unfaithful to one another and to God. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:42.240 We are weak, our yes is not yes, and our no is not no. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.159 But now enter the gospel of Isaiah. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:54.639 There is a God who is faithful and not like other gods, who are as treacherous as the pagans who worshiped them. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.039 We read that in Deuteronomy 7.9 this morning. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:58.080 I don't know if you guys knew that. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:59.440 That was providential, maybe. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:00.080 I don't know. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:07.039 I mean, but but clearly, Deuteronomy 7.9, a clear declaration that Israel's God is not like other gods. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:15.039 He is not capricious, but rather he is faithful and steadfast, keeping covenant with those who love him. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.600 His name is Yahweh, isn't it? 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:28.080 And our God is in the business of repairing brokenness and redeeming traitors and transforming them into faithful members of his new covenant. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:34.559 In fact, God reveals this plan in the scriptures in many, many passages, so that we can see just how faithful he is. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:39.279 And in one of these passages is what we just read this morning in Isaiah 54. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.279 I don't know if you picked up on this. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.639 I'm just going to scan that from a big picture standpoint. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.879 There are three women in distress in Isaiah 54. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:49.919 Did you catch that? 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:54.159 Three women that are in distress in Isaiah 54. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:01.600 The first one is referred to as the childless one or the barren woman in verses 1 to 3. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:07.519 Then in verses 4 to 10, there's another woman, and we can call her the deserted woman. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.159 She's abandoned, isn't she? 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:19.519 And then in verses 11 to 17, there's another woman whom we could call the afflicted or the storm-tossed woman. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:32.559 In each of these sections of Isaiah 54, God's covenant ensures that each woman will be lifted out of their distress and put into far better estate. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:43.840 These women probably refer, okay, to Abraham, Israel, and Zion or Jerusalem, and the covenants that were made with each. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:59.759 These three sections describe, right, the exponential growth of Abraham's family, God's punishment of old Israel, and the reconstitution of the new Israel under the new covenant when they return from exile. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:04.320 And lastly, the rebuilding of the city of God. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:27.840 Undergirding these unlikely reversals in this passage is our covenant-keeping God, who promises to fulfill his promises to Abraham, Israel, and David by making a new covenant, which will include the nations and transform the people into a covenantally faithful and righteous city of God. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:34.000 So let's let's dive into that first section then, verses one to three of Isaiah 54. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:42.960 In verses one to three, Isaiah addresses the barren woman or this childless woman with otherworldly language. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.360 This is really important to grasp here, right? 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:51.200 This barren woman is instructed to rejoice with three different words, right? 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:59.200 And then instructed to enlarge the place of her tent with all the necessary entailments in verse 2. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:06.799 Now, again, barrenness, right, back then, like today, right, this is not usually a positive characteristic. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.320 It's not a positive trait. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:20.960 Barrenness was a serious economic problem in the ancient world in society where labor-intensive agriculture, right, placed a high demand on finding sufficient helpers. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:25.039 Where descendants, right, are always considered a blessing. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.279 Their lack was a problem. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.639 No one was childless by choice. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:41.759 Indeed, an old ancient Near Eastern myth includes barrenness among other infirmities, such as blindness, crippling, and incontinence. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:42.320 Okay. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.440 Now, given this context, right, I think that's important. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:51.759 It's absolutely astonishing, right, that Isaiah instructs this barren woman to rejoice. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:57.440 Normally, right, this condition would be one that would call for panic, sorrow, shame, and rejection. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:02.159 However, Isaiah is not proclaiming the message of this world, is he? 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:05.360 Why does Isaiah instruct this barren woman to rejoice? 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:07.840 Well, in verse 3, we have our answer, right? 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:17.840 For you will burst out on the right and on the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and they will inhabit deserted cities. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:26.399 Now, this verse could mean, right, that Israel will rise up someday and conquer and subdue the nations by force. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:30.399 But verse one makes this interpretation kind of improbable. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:38.639 In verse 1, the married woman is the Israel of the old covenant, as Isaiah will make plain in verses 4 to 10. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:44.080 So who then is this desolate woman whose children will be far more in number than the married woman? 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:51.039 The desolate woman, the barren woman, appears to be the battered and tattered Israel who returns from exile. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:57.759 It is this desolate woman who comes back more numerous than when she went into exile. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:04.399 From the standpoint of the New Testament, in Galatians 4, the interpretation of Israel's possessing the nations is quite clear. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:10.559 Israel inherits the nations because the nations become part of the family of God. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.679 Not by warfare, as we'll learn much later, right? 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:17.679 But by faith, by the faith of Abraham himself. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:22.639 The chief barren woman in Israel's history, of course, is Abraham's wife Sarah. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:30.559 And the imagery of living intents and the mention of descendants also appear to be allusions to this covenant with Abraham. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:36.960 The language recalls the Abrahamic covenant, whose purpose in part, right, was to bless the nations. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:46.720 According to Genesis 12, 1 to 3, Israel, as the married woman, failed to fulfill the covenant made with Abraham. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:56.559 But the barren woman will miraculously fulfill the covenant by inheriting the nations and including them within the family of God. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:03.840 Just based on these few verses. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:16.399 Some of us have probably thought that Christian identity simply means I believed in Jesus as Lord, and I confessed my sin and rebellion to him, and I'm following him today by believing the same gospel of grace. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.000 And if you're there, amen. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.120 Amen. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:24.080 This is, of course, true, but I think it's a little incomplete. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:35.120 With passages such as Isaiah 54, 1 to 3, I think they teach us that when we trusted in Jesus, we became part of Abraham's family. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:40.240 At that point in time, right, Abraham's story became our story. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:50.080 Abraham's faith, right, credited to him as righteousness before God, became our faith, credited to us as righteousness before God. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:16:01.279 Abraham's mission, though, this is the interesting part, of being a blessing to the nations, Genesis 12, 2 and 3, also has become our mission. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:12.720 Believers in Jesus should seek to be a blessing to the nations by proclaiming the gospel of Christ to them and also by seeking justice and righteousness in all of our relationships. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:22.799 No matter what one's vocation is, Christian, as members of Abraham's family, we should seek to be a blessing to those around us. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:29.200 Their tent, the tent has been widened, enlarged, and we have entered in. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:39.279 And as such, we have become part of that family, which is uh a distinct identity uh that I don't think we always quite grasp. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.519 All right, moving on. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:46.159 Israel, the deserted woman, okay, in verses four through 10. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.720 This is a comp this is kind of a complex section. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.159 There are three little sections. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:58.639 If you have your Bible open, verses four to six is gonna be the section on Israel's husband, okay, a reconstituted marriage. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:05.839 Verses seven to eight rehearses Israel being forsaken, where the exile is explained. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:13.680 And then in verses nine to ten, we come face to face with the permanence of the new covenant with the new Israel. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:20.640 In verses four to ten, Isaiah describes Israel as the deserted woman and her relationship to Yahweh. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:26.720 In verses four to six, Yahweh is called Israel's husband, exhorting her not to fear. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.920 In verses seven to eight, again, the exile is explained. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:32.559 So let's look at verses four to six together. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.279 Isaiah once again addresses a woman in these verses. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.039 Since in Hebrew, all the second persons, right? 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.119 All the you's and yours in this passage, they're all feminine. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.920 Hebrew has gendered pronouns, right? 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:50.079 You can be feminine or masculine. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.880 And in this whole chapter, they're all feminine. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:53.839 Isn't that interesting? 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:54.960 They're all feminine. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.839 They're all addressing a woman. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:05.279 And so here in these texts or in these verses, Yahweh is addressing Israel as his wife. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:10.480 Yahweh is Israel's maker, husband, and redeemer, according to verse 5. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:25.759 These terms in these verses make clear that Isaiah is recalling Israel's relationship with Yahweh, which began, right, when Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt as their redeemer, right? 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.839 By great signs and wonders. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.240 He brings them out of Egypt. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:38.720 And then he brings them through the wilderness and enters into a covenant with them at Mount Sinai, according to Exodus 19 and 20. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.079 Awesome. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.240 Why is that lost on us? 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:49.359 What the text calls signs and wonders, these plagues that we often call them, right? 00:18:49.359 --> 00:19:03.200 The signs and wonders of God on full display, bringing out his bride from Egypt, from the bondage of Egypt, safely through the wilderness, right? 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:11.359 Cared for with manna and quail and led by pillars of fire and smoke. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:18.799 And in Exodus 19, it's not that Yahweh brings him, brings Israel to the mountain. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:19.920 It's fascinating. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.039 We read closely. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.519 Israel is brought to himself. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:25.920 I brought you to myself. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.640 As a husband takes and extends the hand to his bride. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:31.759 Do you see that? 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:37.680 It is a marriage ceremony at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:49.599 Indeed, a marriage metaphor, then, in these verses in Isaiah, is entirely appropriate, since Yahweh entered into a covenant relationship with Israel at that time. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:54.799 The woman in verses four and six is widowed and forsaken. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:03.119 The imagery conjures up a woman in the ancient world who would be filled with shame and would be uncared for in the state of widowhood. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:06.079 She would be pushed to the margins of society. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:13.119 One proverb from ancient Sumer puts it this way: poverty is the widow's lot. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:14.559 Do you see that? 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:20.880 This person in this state is automatically assigned to poverty. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.119 The state of abandonment describes Israel in exile here. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:35.200 According to verse 6, Yahweh called Israel as a forsaken woman and grieved of spirit, and as a woman of youth when spurned. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:42.799 She was impoverished, dejected, and rejected by Yahweh when she went into exile. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.599 It's impossible for us to imagine this, frankly. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:48.720 We can try. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:53.440 I think we have lim I think we have small, maybe micro examples in our own lives. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:05.920 But it's impossible for us to imagine that the God who delivered us out of Egypt, brought us to Mount Sinai, also disciplined us in exile in Babylon. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:10.960 And the reason why that's impossible for us to imagine is because of this next section on the New Covenant. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:16.319 Because the New Covenant doesn't work this way, as we'll see here in a moment. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:23.599 So verses seven to eight, all I want to all I want to highlight here is that the exile is being explained. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.960 Note the glorious contrasts in verses seven and eight. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:35.359 In verse seven, the forsaking of Yahweh is but for a little while. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:41.920 But the compassions with which Yahweh will gather Israel will be great. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:59.680 The opening of verse eight, the streaming or flowing anger of Yahweh as he judges and punishes his people in exile for their idolatry, for their sin, still contains a contrast. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:09.839 For a little while, the text says, Yahweh hid his face from Israel, but with eternal steadfast love, he will have compassion on them. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:14.000 Live in the contrast today, right? 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.000 Let's live in the contrasts. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:19.839 We may experience for a little while the discipline of the Lord, right? 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.119 But he only disciplines those children whom he loves. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:31.519 But for a little while, for his eternal steadfast love, will have compassion on us. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:45.279 The separation here, even with old Israel, is only for a little while, while compared to the eternity of the steadfast love or covenant love with which they will experience when Yahweh brings them back from exile. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:49.039 How can Isaiah be so certain? 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.599 How can Isaiah know these things? 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:59.759 How is he to communicate this permanence, the eternity of this covenant love in the life of God? 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:02.400 What could he possibly point to? 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:11.920 Well, maybe unexpected, but he has another covenant by which to compare this constancy of the new covenant in verses 9 and 10. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.279 He talks about the covenant that God made with Noah and creation. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:22.960 That's just not maybe, it's not predictable in some ways, is it? 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.519 Because we forget, we forget the Bible, don't we? 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.799 We forget key moments in the Bible's uh narrative. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:34.079 But verse 9 says, This is like the days of Noah to me. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:49.359 Just as Yahweh judged the world in the form of a flood, and then promised not to do so again, so Yahweh judged Israel in exile and has sworn not to be angry with her again. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:55.279 In verse 10, he appeals to creation, right? 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:03.039 The cosmic pillars, the mountains, may withdraw, and the hills may totter. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:12.880 But Yahweh's loyal covenant love will not be withdrawn from her, and his covenant of peace will not be shaken. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:21.920 That is, total chaos and upheaval may occur, but the new covenant relationship between Yahweh and his people will be completely stable. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:27.920 This relationship, this covenant is described by the Hebrew word shalom or peace. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:32.880 All will be set right. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:35.920 Everything will be made right. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:44.640 These three women in distress will all be lifted from their low estate to a better estate. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.319 Does that make sense? 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:47.839 This is our God. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:50.240 This is the gospel of Isaiah. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:25:00.160 In order to appreciate this covenant of peace and its comparison with the Noahic covenant, I think it's helpful again to reflect on the history of human rulers. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:05.680 How many times have rulers or governments made promises that they have not kept? 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.880 I mean, from day to day, week to week, year to year. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.839 They can't keep their word for very long. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:21.839 And yet it's absolutely amazing that Yahweh promised not to destroy the earth again with a flood thousands and thousands of years ago. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:26.799 And his commitment to this promise has not wavered or totered. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:30.799 The promises of the new covenant, you see, work similarly. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:35.119 Yahweh has committed to being with his people forever. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:40.640 And in Christ Jesus, this promise is fulfilled and is being fulfilled. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.799 Before ascending into heaven, right? 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:47.920 Christ promised his disciples that he would be with them until the end of the age. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:57.039 As God is faithful to his word, you see, let us be faithful and truthful in all of our dealings with one another. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:01.920 Let us be faithful in the home, in the church, and in the workplace. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:12.240 Let us imitate our God, who has kept his promises to Noah for thousands of years, by just doing what Jesus instructs. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:16.640 Letting our yes be yes and our no be no. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:17.599 Right? 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.480 Anything beyond that is from the evil one, he says, right? 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:28.720 But man, just to get to that point, to speak truth to one another. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:34.160 This brings us to the final point from this text. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:42.160 Zion is rebuilt and safe, according to verses 11 and 17. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:45.519 Now, again, things are getting a bit more obscure here. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.119 There's not an obvious woman in this text, is there? 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:54.160 Like there were in this section, like there was in verses 1 to 3 and verses 4 to 10. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:59.920 But again, we have these feminine pronouns in Hebrew used all the way through. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:04.799 All the you's, all the yours are about Zion. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:10.000 The CSB I noticed puts the word Jerusalem right there in the text. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:13.759 Poor Jerusalem, storm tossed and not comforted. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:18.799 I will set your stones in black mortar and lay your foundations in Lapis Lazuli. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:31.119 This text is about a wretched and poor woman who is now the destroyed city of Zion. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.880 By the way, cities is feminine. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.000 This is not, uh this should not surprise us too much. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:45.200 Uh, we like to speak of America, the beautiful, yes, and how many feminine pronouns are in our patriotic songs about this country. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.279 The ancient Romans referred to the capital city as Mother Rome. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:49.920 Okay. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:58.240 And if you read Psalm 87, Zion is presented as the mother in which the nations are born. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:04.480 Zion was the place where God had established his name and where the temple was built. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:08.400 It was where David set up the capital of God's kingdom. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:17.119 Indeed, Psalm 48, verse 8 sings of Zion as the city of our God, which God will establish forever. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:24.640 Now, some of you are like, but wait, this text is talking about Zion as storm-tossed and not comforted. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.640 How does that work with Psalm 48? 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:32.720 How does that work? 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:42.799 Well, not as straightforwardly as we tend to think, but it does work in God's grand plan of redemption. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:48.000 In our passage this morning, the focus is not on the physical city. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:58.640 In other passages in Isaiah, the focus is also not on the place or the bricks and mortar, but the city's citizens. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.559 Okay, I want to say that again. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:08.240 In our passage, the focus here is not on the place or the bricks and mortar, but the city's citizens. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:15.839 For example, if you have your Bible, turn back to Isaiah chapter 1, verses 26, 21 to 26. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:25.359 In this passage, we're told Zion, the faithful city, had become a harlot. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:35.519 Originally, Isaiah says, Zion was filled with justice and righteousness lodged in her. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:38.799 But now murderers. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:52.720 Only after punishment and exile consumes Zion's dross, Isaiah says, will she be called, quote, the city of righteousness, the faithful city once again. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:58.559 There's a in that short section there, there's a crazy reversal, isn't there? 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:11.200 He is describing her in all of her wretchedness and filth in Isaiah 1, 21 to 23, but by the end she will be called the faithful city and the city of righteousness again. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:17.440 These are not, of course, descriptions of the bricks and the mortar and the and the buildings. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:19.200 I know we're in New York City here. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:26.400 We tend to reduce, right, a city to its skyline and these kinds of things, but that's not what Isaiah cares about. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:35.759 Isaiah cares about the characterizations of the people of the city, the citizens that inhabit her, so to speak. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:41.599 So in verses 11 to 12, Isaiah describes the rebuilding of the city. 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:45.359 Surely it will be the most beautiful city ever seen. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:54.720 All of the precious stones used for the building materials point to the costliness, preciousness, and permanence of the city. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:02.240 I'm gonna have to skip over all the gemstones and things that he mentions, but man, glorious, glorious description. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:11.440 But at the end of verse 12, all of Zion's surrounding wall will be set as stones of delight or precious stones. 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:15.519 Clearly, the city will be beautiful. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.240 But what makes the city beautiful, right? 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:21.839 That's that's what I'm kind of kind of wanting to draw you into here. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:25.839 What makes this city beautiful? 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.839 What makes it stand out? 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:40.000 Uh the end of verse 11 uh or 12 captures this really well when it talks about, yeah, I will make your fortifications uh out of rubies. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:45.920 And the fortifications there are literally suns, according to the footnote in the CSB. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:49.839 These are suns or shields that reflect the sun. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:59.359 They're so bright, okay, that they were that that Isaiah calls them little suns on the on the walls. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:05.920 So they're reflecting this grand beauty and light of the sun. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:11.440 What draws, what or what, what then creates the beauty of this city? 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:18.319 What is what is in it that that causes this effulgence of light to come out? 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:26.880 Again, if it were a physical city like the one we are in right now, right, we might say it's the skyline or some such. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:40.480 But in perhaps a surprising twist in Isaiah 54, I think Isaiah interprets the metaphor of the precious stones in verses 13 and 14. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:48.720 And he tells us the beauty of the new city is found in its newly created and formed citizens. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.960 Look with me again at verse 13. 00:32:50.960 --> 00:33:10.240 Then all your children will be taught by Yahweh that their prosperity or their shalom, their peace, will be great, and you will be established on a foundation of righteousness. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:15.599 That's what's going to make this city beautiful. 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:17.440 But what does it mean? 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:19.119 What does it mean? 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:28.480 It's not the actual precious stones that will make the city beautiful, for the beautiful stones actually symbolize the citizens themselves here. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:39.680 According to Isaiah, God will keep his covenants with Abraham and Israel by creating and forming a new people, the city of truth, the faithful city. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:46.480 And eventually that city, those citizens, will inhabit a new place, according to Isaiah. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:47.759 Right? 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:57.039 Read all the way to the end of the book, 65 and 66, is about a new heavens and a new earth, that only God's people, his servants, will inhabit. 00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:03.519 God is creating the people now for the place later. 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.799 That is what is happening here. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.000 The city of truth. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:13.519 In fact, 1 Peter 2, verses 4 and 5 picks up on the same theme, doesn't it? 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:22.480 When Peter calls the members of Christ's church who are believers, living stones, and he calls Christ Jesus the living stone. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:29.599 God's people are God's building materials for his great city of truth. 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:35.599 Now, at first, maybe the idea of God teaching people is lost on us. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:39.360 What would it mean for Yahweh to teach people? 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:41.119 Have you thought about that? 00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:42.960 It's kind of interesting. 00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:58.400 Then we remember, though, that the one servant, the suffering servant himself, in Isaiah chapter 50, verse 4, he was said to be like the ones whom God taught. 00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:11.679 That is, he was perfectly formed and prepared to do the will of God, even to suffer and die for his people, as Isaiah 53 eventually predicts. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:26.880 That is taught, isn't it? 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:30.559 To know how to sustain the weary with a word. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:36.320 He awakens me each morning, he awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed. 00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:38.320 That is, he's being prepared. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:39.679 Do you see this? 00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:41.920 And then prepared for what? 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:43.519 Well, look at verse 5. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:49.199 The Lord God has o has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, right? 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.639 He's willing, he's ready to do the will of God. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:56.480 I was not rebellious, I did not turn back. 00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:59.760 Man, verse 6 describes some s some trouble, though. 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:10.639 I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard, and I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:13.119 The Lord God will help me. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:21.920 Therefore I have not been humiliated, therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:26.400 The one who vindicates me is near, who will contend with me. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:30.159 Man, that's a glorious passage in its own right. 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:32.559 But what's the point of being taught by God? 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:40.880 You are pre you are formed and prepared to follow God's will, even into great suffering and persecution. 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:42.000 Do you follow that? 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:46.079 Yeah, that's something we need to wrestle with here even as we continue. 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:51.119 Because now we're not talking about the suffering servant in 5413. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:37:09.119 We're talking about God's citizens of God's city being taught by him, which means that we are being perfectly formed and prepared to do his will also, even to suffer and die. 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:12.480 Whatever the Lord has for us. 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:17.119 Now, one thing I want to say, this is the only this is only the beginning, being taught by the Lord. 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:19.440 Look at Isaiah 54, 17. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:23.119 Uh, that's actually on the other page there, yeah. 00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:24.159 652. 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:32.320 In Isaiah 54, 17, the ones Yahweh teaches are explicitly called the servants of Yahweh. 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.400 And this is a title of honor. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:44.800 In verse 17, the city is the final resting place and inheritance for the servants of Yahweh who suffered because of their faithfulness to Yahweh. 00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:50.079 These servants are linked to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. 00:37:50.079 --> 00:38:00.719 As the servant was taught by the Lord, right, as we just read in Isaiah 50, verse 4, so are his servants taught by the Lord, right, in Isaiah 54, 13. 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:13.039 As the one servant suffered afflictions, Isaiah 53, verse 4, so did they in Isaiah 54, 11. 00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:14.880 Do you see this pattern? 00:38:14.880 --> 00:38:15.440 Right? 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:19.360 Something about the student not being greater than his master. 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:20.239 Yes. 00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:24.320 What he underwent, we will undergo. 00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:25.119 Okay? 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:28.159 As he suffered afflictions, so did they. 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:40.960 But as the servant will be vindicated in Isaiah 50, verse 8, and also 53.11, so will the servants be vindicated, right? 00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:47.119 In 54, 17, and their vindication is from me. 00:38:47.119 --> 00:39:00.159 You see, indeed, the many who are formed and taught by Yahweh are called servants of Yahweh, because they follow in the footsteps of the one servant. 00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:04.960 Their heart emulates his heart. 00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:16.159 They suffer as he suffered, and they will also share in his glory, as indeed he has already entered his glory. 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:29.519 In other words, the citizens of the new city of truth will resemble the servant of Yahweh Himself, both inwardly and outwardly. 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:34.400 The new city of truth's beauty is derivative at the end of the day. 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:39.360 The beauty comes as they are as the servants imitate the servant. 00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:47.519 And more and more as the servants imitate the servant, the more beautiful that city will be. 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:51.679 But Isaiah does not even stop there. 00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:58.079 Isaiah was a masterful communicator who really knew how to keep his audience on the hook. 00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:00.719 He does not give his audience everything at one time. 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:02.480 Man, I'd love it if he did. 00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:04.719 That would make my job a whole lot easier. 00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:12.000