Isaiah, Chapters 31-32
Isaiah 32:15-20 · Vern Peterman · Jul 30, 2006
Isaiah, No. 29
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262357356753

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We are certainly privileged this morning to behold the Lord through his word and to be transformed as we do so. We're actually, although Gene read Isaiah 32, 15 through 20, we're actually going to be looking first at another part of the passage, but we'll get there. Next week, we're going to be doing what's called the Explorer's Report. You'll have to find out next week what that means. Anyway, we'll get there. Now, what we're going to do here is we're going to take a look at these two chapters, Isaiah 31 and Isaiah 32, as kind of bookends, and we're going to start off with the first three verses of Isaiah 31, and then finish off with verses 15 through 20 of Isaiah 32. And as we do typically, we will be looking at a summary of those two chapters first.

Isaiah 31 is a warning, carrying on what we looked at previously, a warning to Israel not to look to Egypt for help with this current threat that's coming from Assyria. Assyria was at that time a massively powerful empire that had a great many of the smaller nations and even larger nations of that time, shaking in fear and very concerned.

And so the people of Judah were saying, go get some help from Egypt. The Lord was saying, no, no, no, not supposed to do that. We'll see why that doesn't make sense. Don't look to Egypt for solutions to your military problem, because you don't ultimately have a military problem. That's what he's laying out here. Here's Israel and Judah. Israel is a northern kingdom as things broke apart after the reign of Solomon, and Judah the southern kingdom. We had Egypt on one side and to the south, on the other side and to the north.

Assyria. Assyria was the threat. They were prone to look to Egypt as the help, the solution. And so, as we saw last week, Judah was preparing to send some envoys to Egypt to try to buy some help. Hey, if we give you this and this and this, will you come help us and fight for us? That's what they were looking to do.

In chapter 32, he describes a clear and certain hope. Rather than looking to Egypt, you need to put your hope in the Lord and look And that's what Isaiah 32 is about. Look at how it's going to turn out, if you trust me. In the end, this is how it's going to turn out, I'm going to tell you. That's what he laid out here. Either way, whether you look at chapter 31 or 32, Isaiah was calling upon the people of Israel to turn to and to trust the Lord. That was their problem to begin with. That was why they were having trouble and feeling threatened by the Assyrians. They were not looking to the Lord. Isaiah was saying, look, look to the Lord, not to Egypt.

One of the points that we make, and we'll underscore again today, is Scripture repeatedly comes back to three people groups. You have the Gentiles, who are an earthly ethnic distinction, starting from Adam, and then Israel. This is originally from Abraham and then through the line of Jacob. Again, an earthly ethnic distinction. And then finally, the church begun from the day of Pentecost and continuing to the day of the rapture. A heavenly people, not distinguished between Jew and Gentile.

This is a message of Galatians 3.28.

This morning's passage as we look at Isaiah 32, 15 through 20, that's kind of the second passage we're looking at here, looks to a time when those three groups will focus upon Jesus Christ. Isaiah is going to be principally talking to Israel. So as we go through the passage, keep in mind that's who he's talking about. We are going to be looking in the New Testament to see how does that relate to us who are in the church now. Because it's not going to be a separate time. You and I, if you're a believer here this morning, you and I will be there. We will be seeing exactly what Isaiah describes. We will be there in resurrected bodies, accompanying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Alright, so when are we talking about? Again, we've got to get into the Holly Hills Bible Church time machine. To do that, We look at the first chart there. By the way, if you're tracking with us for the first time, this is page one of your handout. So Isaiah 31, the first three verses there, is right in Isaiah's own time. It is the issue right before them.

Isaiah is telling the people of Israel living right then, you must depend upon the Lord, not upon Egypt or anybody or anything else. That's his message in chapter 31. We'll be looking at those first few verses. In chapter 32, Isaiah is jumping ahead in verses 15 through 18, and then verse 20, into this time when the Lord will reign upon the earth for a thousand years.

This is the time again. You and I will be there as believers. Those who are in the church in resurrected bodies. We will see this. So this is not irrelevant. It's your future described. Only the description is centered upon Israel. But you will witness it. And you will be there with the Lord Jesus Christ. With a body like His. You are, to give you some orientation, about here. You can move that hand up and down a little bit if you like. That's alright. But we're right about in there. Okay?

Now, let's look at the Isaiah 31 passage, which ends up being the first slide on your handout. This is the beginning of the warning, don't go to Egypt, and it starts off, woe to those who go down to Egypt. Alright, we'll be stepping through it verse by verse. And that's what you have in your handout. He's going to be warning about getting horses. I want you to know Isaiah had nothing against a beautiful horse. That's not his point, okay? Isaiah likes horses, right? So if you like horses, don't feel offended. That's not the issue.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on. See the difference there? They rely on the horses and trust in chariots because there are many, and in horsemen because they're very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord.

All right, now let the horse fly by here. We want to take a minute to talk about Hebrew poetry patterns. We've mentioned this off and on since we started, but I don't want to assume that everyone was there when we first talked about it. So let's take a brief review. Here's a Hebrew poetry pattern out of Isaiah 48. In Hebrew writing, they didn't care if sounds rhymed. You and I like to sing songs and to repeat poetry where the sounds rhyme. If it doesn't rhyme, it sounds very odd to us and that's probably an understatement. It sounds harsh, doesn't fit right. Roses are red and violets are green. No, it doesn't work. So, restatement. Why? It rhymes meanings, not sounds. So that's the first thing we're going to look for.

Notice, listen to me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called. Jacob and Israel are one and the same. Two names for the same. So my hand founded the earth, my right hand spread out the heavens. Restatement. The other thing is there is a tendency in Hebrew poetry to do like we do in English. If we want to say everything, we'll say A to Z. The statement here, the first and the last, which is also repeated in the book of Revelation more than once. Jesus says, I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. That's like English A to Z. So you have that pattern. Another one is two halves make the whole. In the beginning, God created everything, right? No. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the two physical halves making up the whole. All right?

And then one more, repetition. I am, I am, I am. So those are some key Hebrew poetry patterns. Let's take a look here because it's relevant here. Here, woe to those who, and then we have four lines that have similar restatement value, all right? And then, but they do not, and then two lines follow that. Woe to those who, and so here is the statement of the positive thing, woe to those who do this, and then next is the negation, those who don't do that, who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, trust in chariots, and then here is again a pattern of repetition, because they are many, because they are strong, and then they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord.

So we have a question here. What's so awful about going to Egypt for help? Have you ever gone for help and felt, oh no, the Lord doesn't want me to do this? What's so awful about going to Egypt for help? Is it a bad thing to go for help? Somebody gets hurt and you need some help, you say, no, the Lord doesn't want me to do that. Is that what you're supposed to do?

Not so much, huh? No, but they do not. It's what they don't do. They don't look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the Lord. There is the problem. They don't look to the Lord. That's the problem. The problem is not that they're looking for help primarily. The problem is that they're doing it as a replacement for looking to the Lord and depending upon Him. Important to remember, Israel was blessed or cursed by God in earthly ways.

We'll repeatedly go to and reference Deuteronomy chapter 28. The first 14 verses... I don't have 14 fingers so I won't hold up that many. The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 spell out the blessings. The remaining verses, 15 through 68, spell out the curses.

It's all earthly. Does that mean that Israel was unspiritual? No. The blessings and curses were earthly. but their spiritual dependence still had to be on the Lord. It doesn't mean they're unspiritual. It means that for them, their blessings and curses were earthly. They still were called upon to depend upon the Lord. Israel's temptations therefore presented themselves in earthly ways. Going down to Egypt, it isn't like the Lord's going to be really upset if any one of us decides to take a trip to Egypt. That's not going to bother the Lord, and that's not the issue. It is for them a matter of where is your dependence? Where are you putting your reliance? On whom are you relying? That's the issue.

We who are in the church, who are of a people of heavenly citizenship, we have citizenship and blessings and seating in the heavenlies. That's where it's at for us. Our temptation is to rely on everything else and anything else for the believers. Any resources other than the Lord.

One of the points we make here, and this is applicable specifically to the church, is we died in relationship to. It is one of the reasons why for us as believers, that's the question. We died in relationship to, we died to the sin nature and to the world when we were identified with Christ and his death. The access is still there, but the basis for relying on the sin nature and the world is no more.

It's been cut off. Let's make a quick point of it here. As unbelievers, The unbeliever is joined to the sin nature, the flesh, and the world. They are joined to it and separate from Christ. At the point of belief, at that point, at the point of faith, the believer is then separated from the sin nature and joined to Christ. The sin nature is not eliminated and eradicated, but put off, separated. It's a matter of separation that takes place there, and it's important to make that distinction. When the old man was crucified, I died in relationship to the flesh, the law, and the world.

My relationship to those things has been ended by separation. The sin nature and the world are going to try to sell you something. Ever feel sold? Ever feel ripped off because you've been sold on something? The world and the sin nature will try to sell us on stuff. Ever been sold on stuff?

It comes across the TV screen several times an hour, maybe several times a minute. Activity. If I just do this thing again, matter of fact, the word addiction is if I do this thing again and again and again and again, right? That will solve my problem. That'll be the fix.

Or religion. Religion that I come up with. Religion that I concoct. That's what the world and the sin nature will try to sell us on. Oh, if I just do this and this and this, I've got to go to church. I've got to do these things. I've got to not do this and this and this. That's the world and the sin nature. They want a dependence on these things, the stuff, the activity, the religion.

That's what we're being sold by the world and the sin nature. But it's not even as good as trying to sell ice cubes to Eskimos. It's not even that good. Why? Because rather than being rather neutral and foolish, those are replacements for intimate fellowship, and dependence upon Christ. That's what's truly needed. That is what the Lord has made us for. That is why we've been identified with Christ. For that intimacy, for that fellowship, for the Lord's eternal purpose.

Alright, let's take a look here at verse 2. Yet he also, this is the Lord, is wise and will bring disaster, and does not retract his words, but will arise against the house of evildoers and against the help of the workers of iniquity. Now here we have another Hebrew poetry pattern. We call him Isaiah Hippie, if you want to use an acronym there. Yet he also, that is, this is the one referred to in the prior verse, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord, is wise and will bring disaster. Wait a minute, he's wise and will bring disaster?

Yeah. Why? He won't retract his words. He told them already, this is what I'm going to do. But will arise, and it's arise against twice. Here's the Hebrew poetry pattern. Against the house of evildoers, That's Judah. Those are the ones who are evil from the start, and that's why they're having the threat from Assyria. And, against the help of the workers of iniquity, who are they? Egypt.

Those are the help that you're trying to hire. You're trying to get this help because you're not obeying and trusting me, the Lord said. That is exactly what he said he'd do. Deuteronomy 28. He said, I will curse or I will bless depending on Who do you trust? If it's me, I will bless. Earthly ways. If you do not depend upon me, but depend upon anyone else, Egypt included, then you will be cursed. That's the message to the Jews.

You see, some things just aren't a good idea at all. It's important for us to recognize that. Some things are just simply not a good idea. You've got to begin to see that from the outset. In the same way that what this penguin is about to do with the symbols is not a good idea, it is not a good idea at all for Israel to go down to Egypt for help. Right at the outset. Verse 3, Now the Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses are flesh and not spirit.

So the Lord will stretch out his hand, and he who helps will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and all of them will come to an end together. Doesn't sound like a good outcome, does it? The Lord is saying, don't go this route. It will not work. What you think is a help is no help at all, and all you will do is pull them down with you.

So here we have another one of these Hebrew poetry patterns. And now the Egyptians are men and not God. He's making the spiritual distinction, isn't he? Although the Jews were blessed or cursed in physical ways, in earthly ways, the choice for them was still spiritual. He's trying to get them to get that point. If you go to the Egyptians for help, you've got to recognize that they are men. The Hebrew word for men?

Adams. They're Adams. What did Adam do there in the garden? It was a big oops. You're hiring a bunch of oopses. It's not going to help. These are Adams, and not God. The word he uses for God here is the word El, and it means this is the most highly exalted one. So, do you want to hire a bunch of Adams, or do you want to trust in the God, the one that Isaiah saw in chapter 6, that we saw here in holy, holy, holy. Which one are you going to trust? Their horses are flesh and not spirit.

They may look powerful, but they are not the answer, no matter how many you have. So the Lord will stretch out his hand, and he who helps will stumble. The Egyptians are the helpers. They will stumble. They will not do well through this. He who is helped will fall. Judah will fall. The helper and the helped will both fall. It is not going to work. Your plan to depend upon earthly resources will fail. Count on it. All of them will come to an end together. He summarizes it. The whole bunch, it is not going to work.

So in the end, what happened? In the end, what did they decide to do? How did they choose? So did Judah rely on Egypt and get overwhelmed by the Assyrians anyway? Is that what happened? Did the leaders of Judah listen to Isaiah's warnings and turn to the Lord? How did it turn out? Did God show himself faithful and defend Judah's people and their leaders in very impressive and miraculous ways? Hang on, you'll find out soon enough. You'll have to wait a few weeks though.

We'll get there. We want to look at the next part here, Isaiah chapter 32, stepping ahead into this time in verses 15 through 20 that is yet future, even for us now. Okay? Alright, so just so we keep the time frame, we've jumped ahead from Isaiah's day where the issue was, are you going to trust in Egypt or the Lord? Now we're looking to a time ahead, a time yet to come, a time yet future for us. We're here. And it will make a quick glance at the tribulation period, but most of it will address that time after that, where the Lord will reign for a thousand years on the earth, where you and I will be there in resurrected bodies like His.

We will go through this verse by verse. And one of the things, of course, a lot of you are jumping down to the last verse. And you're looking here, and this is how blessed you will be when you sow beside all waters, who let out freely the ox and donkey. Now, a lot of you, I know, are just chomping at the bit to let your ox and donkey free. I know that. But just hold on, we'll get there. Here's how verse 15 starts out. Until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high. See, the Old Testament prophets declared repeatedly that this aspect of the coming reign of the Messiah will have the Holy Spirit poured out on that is placed in the hearts of all the Jews.

What happened during the time of Christ is Christ would confront them, because as you guys have all your laws, but you're not following them, even though you multiply them with extra laws on top of that, it still doesn't work. You're not following this at all. You're hypocrites.

The Holy Spirit, however, during this coming time will be placed in the heart. The Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is a person who will be placed in the heart of every Jew during that time, and they will, from the heart, follow the Lord, look to the Lord, and know the law by heart, even to the point where Scripture in the Old Testament says, You won't even need to have one teach another.

They will know it. It will be written on their hearts. Isn't that something? They will follow the law from the inside out. They will not be unspiritual as they do this, and they will be blessed in earthly ways. Why? Because they will obey because they have the Holy Spirit placed upon their hearts.

I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, in Isaiah 44.3, that we'll get to in the time ahead here. they will have the law written on their hearts. They will follow it from the heart by the Spirit's enabling.

Zechariah 12 through 14 has been called the Little Apocalypse. It's kind of a short version of the book of Revelation. This early portion of it, which is even quoted in the book of Revelation here, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. and they will look upon me whom they have pierced." How about that? They will look upon me whom they have pierced. They will look to the Lord. Isaiah 53 describes this piercing process in more detail, and as we get there, we'll be kind of hovering over that passage.

But it's quoted in John 19.37 and Revelation 1.7. They will look upon me whom they have pierced.

We won't go into the details of it. I'll leave it for you for reference in your own investigation. But verse 27 in Ezekiel 36, I will put my spirit within you. And what's going to be the result? And cause you to walk in my statutes and you'll be careful to observe my ordinances. This is going to be a wonderful thing for the Jews. It is not true of you and me. The Holy Spirit is put within us for a different purpose.

Here's another one, Ezekiel 39. Again, I'll leave it to you to investigate and read that on your own. Now, the last part of verse 15, the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Isaiah has used this picture before, and we looked at it, as a matter of fact, just a few weeks ago.

There will be incredible fertility. We show on this space photo here, notice that Israel even now has some fertility that the surrounding area doesn't have. This will be a time of incredible fertility, where orders of magnitude, huge leaps in fertility will be the case. Earthly blessings, incredible earthly blessings, and that's what this is about. What is now considered a fertile field, they'll say, oh no, that isn't a fertile field, that's just a forest. Israel will be the ultimate in fertility. It will be massively fertile.

Why? Because they will be blessed all the time. Why? They will have the Holy Spirit within them to obey and look to and trust the Lord all the time. These are the earthly blessings that will come about, but what is amazing is it won't be distracting their attention to look at the blessings. Who are they going to look to? The Lord. Yeah. They'll look to the Lord.

One of the things that's important for us to keep in mind is that because Israel has earthly blessings, it doesn't somehow reduce the way in which they are fulfilling God's eternal purpose. It doesn't reduce the way in which they glorify the Lord. It simply is a different expression than the Lord has given us.

There's to be growth among us in the church as well. Israel's blessings during this rain calls for great fertility in the land and flourishing biological growth, physical growth. God has designed, however, in the church that we should grow spiritually. I'm sorry, this doesn't give you a guarantee that your garden will be really, really great. But what it does mean is the Lord has designed that us in the church do grow spiritually. God's designed that we grow both individually and as a church body. I don't mean that by numbers, I mean that by genuine spiritual growth, not just something you can put a statistic to. That's the Lord's design.

We looked at Colossians 1.28 some time back. That is the design for individual growth and notice that in there the emphasis is upon every believer, everyone, everyone. When we say spiritual growth, there is no believer in this room here this morning that's not included in that design and intent. And spiritual growth for the church body as a whole organism. Notice I didn't say organization. An organism. We are the body of Christ, not the organization of Christ. Now, let's take a look at an example.

Peter was writing to believers in this region in what is now northern Turkey. He wrote 1 Peter to them. He starts off in 1 Peter in the beginning of chapter 2. He says, Like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow. By what? The pure milk of the word. And a word is not simply words on a page. It is through God's Word that we behold the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's not just words on a page. It is not just intellectualism. It's a person, Jesus Christ.

Later in that chapter, 1 Peter 2.24, and then he himself bore his sins on his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. We're seeing in the Romans 6, elective downstairs. This is a kind of a brief summary of that same truth. For by his wounds you were healed.

This comes out of Isaiah 53 5. And look in the next letter which was sent apparently to the same people about three or so years later. but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

The growth is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where the growing takes place. It is not an intellectual process, although there's certainly a challenge to that and things to be learned. It is a spiritual process. It is spiritual growth. That's what counts. That's what matters. because we are in Christ, seated in the heavenlies with him. It's heavenly where our growth is to be. Here's what food feeds spiritual growth and when. One of the things he brought up here in 1 Peter 2. Here is a newborn, but there is food appropriate for growth at every stage. Food appropriate for growth at every stage.

1 Peter 2.24, he just mentioned these first ways in which we were identified with Christ, just summarizing the result. Paul, of course, goes much more into detail as to how that took place. But important for us to recognize, we were identified with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Those are the key things that Peter's focusing on here.

You have likely heard the spiritual, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? Well, I've changed it. I know it's an old, old spiritual that I just wrote, but here's some changes in the words, and I think they're appropriate. So bear with me as I try to sing this here.

And so, I was there when they crucified my Lord. I was there when they crucified my Lord. On this truth God wants for me to reckon, reckon, reckon. I was there when they crucified my Lord. If you can handle it, join with me. I was there when they laid Him in the tomb. I was there when they laid Him in the tomb. Oh, on this truth God wants for me to reckon, reckon, reckon. I was there when they laid Him in the tomb. I was there when the stone was rolled away. I was there when the stone was rolled away. Oh, on this truth God wants for me to reckon, reckon, reckon. I was there when the stone was rolled away.

And we would underscore that this reckoning, that's not a work that you do. It is not a gift. It is not a law. It is a dependence, a faith rest upon the Lord Himself and what He's done. Anyway, hope that is okay with you to change that hymn that way, or spiritual. Verse 16, justice and righteousness. Justice and righteousness have been a recurring theme as Isaiah has been writing here. Justice and righteousness again and again and again, always pointing ahead to this time when the Lord reigns for this thousand year period of time.

It looks back to 2 Samuel 8.15 where it describes David reigning in justice and righteousness. And so here, this will be the son of David, Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, reigning in righteousness on David's throne.

These are eternal and infinite characteristics of God himself. It isn't that the Lord says, hey, let's rule Israel with justice and righteousness. It is a reflection of God's eternal, unchangeable character. It is who He is. That's why the continuous description of Christ's reign upon the earth is justice and righteousness. The justice and righteousness won't be just a passing fad. It is something that is part of the Lord Himself. With Him reigning, that's exactly what you get. Because that's who He is. That is His character. We will be with Him then, watching Him reign in resurrected bodies like His.

Isn't that something? You will see this. Isaiah is not talking about some time that's nice for Israel, but I don't know what it means to me. No, you will be there. And you will be in Him and remain in Him. You will be like Him. And the sin nature won't be a part of the picture for you. Isn't that good?

Verse 17, and the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever. Here's also another Hebrew poetry pattern. I hope you can handle that. And basically what he defines then is peace is quietness and confidence forever. That's peace. As we saw earlier, peace, peace, right? This verse describes how it will be for all the Jews when Christ reigns. quietness and confidence forever, peace. For them, it will be, why is there peace? Hey, Messiah is reigning. What else could there be? For us, it's a different kind of peace though, isn't it? For us in the Church, God has blessed us differently and he has a specific design of that character.

Galatians 5.16.22-24, but the fruit of the Spirit, it is of those walking by the Spirit, is love, joy, and peace, as the third one listed there. Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh. He follows that on there.

Similar to this passage that we saw in Romans 6, 1-11, and 1 Peter 2.24, died to the sin nature. Sin nature didn't die. It died in relationship to a life to God, Peter summarizes it in living reality, and we've touched on it before, alive to righteousness. Why? Because that's God's character. We are separated in position from the flesh or the sin nature. So we underscore that here again. Now, verse 18.

Then my people will live in peaceful habitation and secure dwellings in the undisturbed resting places. This is in a radically sharp contrast to the huge problem with the people we're having in Judah. Imagine, here is this massive invasion of awful people that they're anticipating is going to take place with the Assyrians. And Isaiah is saying, here's a time when you won't even think of that as a problem. there will be incredible earthly peace because of earthly blessings, because of spiritually looking to the Lord. That's the description there for the Jews. Assyria was going to attack soon, and it would be almost like if I were to tell you, we're going to have another 9-11 here in the next two weeks.

I'm not saying that, but I'm just saying that would kind of give you a sense of, oh no, And that's kind of what was happening. They were looking at something ominous about to take place, something that they really didn't want to have happen. And he's saying, look, there's a time when this will never happen. There won't even be a threat of it happening. Not even sort of.

Isaiah was telling them that when the promised king and Messiah reigned, they would always live in this peace and security. Why is this verse, this verse 19, describing bad things in the midst of really good ones? Isaiah is making a brief flashback, as I see it, to this tribulation time right before. And why would he do this? I think the reason is this.

Imagine if you're living in Jerusalem right now, you're an inhabitant of Jerusalem in Isaiah's time. It might not be too different from right now. where being a Jew living in Jerusalem or thereabouts was not a very peaceful place to be. Matter of fact, it was downright threatening. Very difficult.

And so what he's saying is, those Assyrians that you're worried about, God can take care of those no problem. Matter of fact, at this time here, that's exactly what's going to happen. The Assyrians and every other enemy, the Lord's going to wipe them off the map.

It's the seven-year tribulation time that he's making a brief flashback to. The forest in this verse is likely a figurative reference to the enemy armies. Isaiah had used that kind of picture before and appears to be using it again. Almost a hundred years ago in Siberia, a large meteor, it actually didn't even strike the earth, but just came very close, and as you can see from the picture up in the upper left-hand corner, it laid down the forest for about 800 square miles, and that's for a meteor that didn't hit. Everything was laid low. That's kind of the picture that Isaiah is describing. He says, the enemy army, that's no problem. I can lay them low in a flash. The enemy army isn't your issue, Israel. The issue is your dependence upon me. Here's another one that's a little more current to our own times here. Some of you are old enough to remember this. Mount St. Helens eruption, May 18th back in 1980.

This is what happened to the forest nearby. Okay? A real wipeout. That's the kind of comparison that Isaiah is making. The enemy armies will be laid low like a clear-cut forest. Just wiped out. They're not even a slight problem. The guys that you are wringing your hands about, God has no trouble at all with those people. That's not even a concern. They'll be wiped out. No. Instead, Here is this blessing.

He returns into verse 20. How blessed you will be, you who sow beside all waters and who let out freely the ox and the donkey. Now this is the verse I know all you've been chomping at the bit about. You've been just waiting to sow beside all the waters and you've just been waiting to let out freely your ox and donkey. I know that's been in the back of your mind ever since we opened up this passage. But what does this mean really? Firstly, it was looked upon as blessing given the Jews. I could let my ox and donkey out. Why? Because the Assyrians aren't going to take them and eat them. The Assyrians are not going to haul off and steal them.

Secondly, it was a matter of being able to sow crops anywhere you want, right next to the waters where there's plenty of water. Thirdly, the ox and donkey we can let out freely. No predators, no enemy troops. Remember one of the things we looked at in Isaiah before, the lion and the lamb or the wolf and the lamb eating together. So no threat. You can let them out. That's what he's saying. If you let the ox and donkey out, then you don't have to bring food to them and them to food all the time. You can let them out freely. A lot less work. The people of Israel were blessed if they trusted and obeyed the Lord. Deuteronomy 28 again.

When they were blessed, they were blessed in earthly ways like this. When Christ reigns on the earth and the people of Israel all have the Holy Spirit within them, they will all live out the law of Moses from the heart. All of Israel's people will be blessed all the time. For us in the church, God has already blessed us all the time, 100%, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

It's in a person. It's in Him. If Israel behaves according to the law, then they'll be blessed. And they're still waiting for that time to happen. That's the time we just read about. All 613 laws here on one slide. That's the laws that they're going to have on their heart.

And just in case you think I'm lying about all 613 laws, here's a sampling there with a red square. That little red square there, right over here. Here's the top one here, not to eat a worm found in fruit. That's against the Mosaic law. Did you know that? You can't eat that worm. If you look at it, you bite into it, you see a worm, don't eat it. You can't do that. That's against the law. It doesn't matter if it's a little tiny baby worm, you can't eat it.

If Israel behaves according to the law, then they'll be blessed. But in the church, how is it? In the church, we have died to the law, in relationship to the law. And we've already been 100% blessed. Our behavior is to be by Christ's death applied to us and his life through us, passages we've looked at even as of this morning in the electives, and by God's energizing in each one of us. That is how it's supposed to happen for us.

So why do we need to know this? If we don't understand the difference between Israel and the church, there's going to be lots of confusion. We are not going to understand who we are. We're going to be very confused about the way things are supposed to work. We're going to be constantly trying to live according to some crazy, mixed-up situation. We're going to try to be somebody we aren't made to be. It's important that we understand these distinctions, isn't it? God has not called us to live like Israel.

These distinctions here are important ones and ones that we keep coming back to because they're important. God intended each of these three people groups to glorify him in different ways consistent with his eternal purpose. To reveal, declare, and share his glory so that he might be glorified. That's why. Each of these three people groups has a different relationship to Christ.

For the Gentiles, he is king of kings, because there are many kings among the Gentiles, and lord of lords. To the Jews, the people of Israel, he is their king. When Pilate asked the Lord, the Lord said, yes, I am the king of the Jews. For us in the church, however, he is our Lord.

He is not our king. Is he a king? Yes. Is he our king? No. He is our Lord. He is our betrothed bridegroom. We are of his household. It is intimacy with Him that is the Lord's intent, the one with whom we are now seated, the one with whom we share. We've been amazingly given to share His glory.

I have a quote here from Hal. Hal, I didn't know you were going to be here, so I don't intend to embarrass you. This quote here, God desires nothing less from us than active, personal, biblical faith, which is our moment-by-moment total trust, confidence, and rest, and it's object of the person of Christ. This is not a law. This is not, by any means, to be a work. Not the intent.

Rest and its object in the person of Christ, His glory, His essence. His essence is the radiant essence of who He is and His revealed truth to us personally. Not as intellectual fact, but as a person. It is centered upon a person, that person of Jesus Christ.

Intimate walk with Him. That is God's intent. After that, if you want to sow by the water, go ahead. And after that, if you want to let your ox and donkey loose, I don't have a problem with that. But the Lord's intent is that we walk with Him by faith, in intimacy with Him.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank You as we look to Your Word that we see not just words there, far, far beyond any history book or something we can just pack our brains full of. Instead, Lord, we behold You and we thank You for that. That even as Isaiah wrote 2,700 years ago, We can look at it and see you and see the truth that you revealed in fulfillment of your eternal purpose that we glorify you. In Jesus name, Amen.