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feast: Shouting Gleanings and Singing Olives (Part Two)

Charles Whitaker (1944-2021)
Given 08-Oct-20; Sermon #FT20-06; 82 minutes

Description: (show)

Please turn to Isaiah 25. The Sabbath before the Feast of Trumpets, I focused on Isaiah 24, the first of four chapters which make up what can commentators call Isaiah's Apocalypse. And since a number of you were not present on that particular occasion, I do need to offer at least a bit of a review before the sequel today where we will focus on Isaiah 25 and Isaiah 26.

Commentators agree that the prophecies contained in Isaiah 24 through 27 bear rhetorical and thematic similarities to the book of Revelation and hence the moniker Isaiah's Apocalypse. Isaiah's Apocalypse focuses on the world as a whole, on the Day of the Lord and its aftermath. And therein lies its thematic similarity to the book of Revelation, the Apocalypse as it is called, which also focuses on the Lord's day, as it says in Revelation 1:10, and it focuses on the earth at large during that particular time rather than on one particular nation. And so much of the book of Isaiah focuses just on one nation.

But in Revelation there is but one reference to Egypt, there is none to Syria, none to Assyria, none to Moab, none to the Amorites, of the Canaanites, or anything like that. And the only exception in the book of Revelation basically is Babylon, and of course it figures prominently, especially in chapters 17 and chapter 18. Further, most of us understand that Babylon in the book of Revelation refers not to a city and not even to a nation rather, but to a whole civilization, to a way of life based on the rejection of God's law; and likewise God in Isaiah's Apocalypse makes it plain that the city that He will destroy during the Day of the Lord is what I called (in the last time I spoke) the world-city.

Let us take a look then at Isaiah 25 where he describes that situation, that city.

Isaiah 25:2-3 For You have made a city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore the strong people will glorify You; the city of the terrible nations will fear You.

Here, God considers those nations which come up against His people, those terrible, those ruthless nations, you see, collectively to be "the city." Please turn then to Isaiah 24 and we were briefly revisit it just by way of review. One chapter earlier. We are focused on verses 13 through 16.

Isaiah 24:13-16 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, it shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voices, and they shall sing; for the majesty of the Lord they shall cry aloud from the sea. Therefore glorify the Lord in the dawning light, the name of the Lord God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: "Glory to the righteous!" But I said, "I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously."

In the time of the dire events that transpired, and they are mentioned there in verses 1 through 12. Where few men are left, it says in verse 6, it says in verse 1 that the earth is empty and waste. It is abandoned and plundered in verse 3, it is desolate in verse 6. Music and mirth having ceased. It says in verse 8 and in verse 10, that the city of confusion is broken down.

You see, in that state of affairs, Almighty God will preserve remnants here, figuratively connected to the harvest practices of leaving olives on the tree after shaking the bulk of them off during the harvest time. And secondly, leaving some grapes attached to the vines during the harvest. In Deuteronomy 24:20-21 (I mentioned it last time), God specifically mentions both olives and grapes in His command that reapers leave something in the field for the disadvantaged and for the disenfranchised.

In the prophetic contexts of Isaiah 17:4-6 and to that passage that we just read in Isaiah 24:13, God speaks of remnants left after the bulk of the Israelites have been killed, have been exiled. That is, after they have been figuratively harvested, they have been cut down. I looked at the remnant as made up of two distinct parts; one part being the church, grapes hanging onto Christ, the Vine, through thick and thin (and of course you can reference John 15:1-8), and the second part being physical Israelites, now part of the olive tree, a few scattered here, a few scattered there (and you can reference of course, in terms of the olive tree, Romans 11).

Two remnants, grapes and olives. Isaiah 24:14-16 describes the members of these remnants singing for the majesty of the Lord, praising Him. God has preserved them, though they are scattered across the face of the earth and they are few in number. From the coastlands of the sea, it says in verse 15, to the ends of the earth they sing glory to the righteous One. Historically, God's people sing and shout in His presence. They did so at Sinai, and we will look at that later on, and they did so at Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem in 31 AD. And they will do so again when He returns to Jerusalem as the great King.

And I pointed out the linkage between God as reigning King in Israel. As reigning King and the singing at His triumphal entry, the people bless God, bless the coming King of Israel. The King of Israel, it makes it plain there. And Zephaniah prophesized that Israel will sing because the king is in their midst. Hold onto that term, in their midst. We will be back there.

When we left Christ in Isaiah 24:23, gloriously reigning in Jerusalem and in Zion, His brilliance disgracing the moon, shaming the sun, dazzling. The chapter closes with Him seated before the elders or as it says, the ancient ones who might be the patriarchs of old, they might be the 24 elders, or perhaps they are the disciples seated, enthroned and judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

With that, brethren, let us move on into some new territory and take a look at Isaiah 25. This is going to be home base for a few minutes. Thematically, there are two powerful links between Isaiah 24 (which we just talked about) and the remaining chapters of Isaiah's Apocalypse. One of those links is the worldwide scope of God's work, of Christ's work, both before and after His return. Christ performs a worldwide work during the Day of the Lord, that is, the year before His return, the year culminating in His return in power and great glory. And that work is the main topic of chapter 24. But Christ also continues performing a worldwide work after He returns during the Millennium, and of course, the White throne period afterwards. And that work is the principal topic of chapters 25, 26, and 27.

Now the second link is quite different. It is Zion. That word Zion is so important and it is just the opposite of worldwide. It is rather a particular geographic point on the face of the earth, but it is a pivotal point indeed. I mentioned earlier how how Isaiah 24 concludes with Christ reigning, as it says there, on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. The juxtaposition of the two, Zion and Jerusalem, is important. Christ does not rule from the Zion which is in Utah or any other place that anybody might fancy. No, He rules in Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem He rules the earth. We will see that Isaiah 25 thrice makes reference to "on this mountain" to in this mountain," which is a reference to Mount Zion. And indeed, Isaiah's Apocalypse concludes in Isaiah 27:13, "the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem" is reigning. That is how the apocalypse actually closes.

Jerusalem is key to Isaiah's Apocalypse. Just as John calls it in Revelation 21:10, he calls Jerusalem the Holy City, the Holy Jerusalem. Both cities are key in Revelation and in Isaiah's Apocalypse.

Now, in spite of these two very strong linkages, Isaiah 25 remains quite different from Isaiah 24 and as I read the first two verses in Isaiah 25 again, please listen to the difference in tone, to the difference in tenor from the previous chapter.

Isaiah 25:1-2 O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for you have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For you have made the city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

Chapter 25 is not an extended prophecy about what God will do, but rather it is a quiet, it is a studied recitation of the wonderful works that He has done. The writer praises God for His faithfulness and His truth, as it says in verse 1, and the reference to the destroyed city as something that will never be rebuilt (and that is at the end of the second verse) is more of a reflection on the thoroughness of God's judgment on the comprehensiveness of His salvation that He has just wrought. It is more of that reflection than it is a prophecy.

One major dissimilarity between the book of Revelation and Isaiah's Apocalypse is just this: The book of Revelation lacks extended sections of praise for what God has done. Long sections of thanksgiving, and in fact, in the New King James version, the word praise, the word thanksgiving, both of those words appear only once in the book of Revelation. Consider the only reference to thanksgiving in the book of Revelation and it is where angels said, not men, not people, but angels.

Revelation 7:12 "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

There are other examples of giving glory and giving praise and thanksgiving to God in the book of Revelation, of course there are, but they are usually quite short for the model. There is prophecy interspersed with occasional praise. However, Isaiah's Apocalypse, especially in these last three chapters, is just the opposite. It is praise interspersed with occasional prophecy. Isaiah 25—27 is in fact an extended poem of praise to God, interspersed with major prophetic statements.

Speaking in terms of the big picture, what is the effect of that kind of format in Isaiah's Apocalypse? When we consider the praise and the prophecy as a package in the apocalypse, we come away with the feeling that the prophet is saying, "Let's praise God for what He has done for us, while at the same time, we look forward to the great things that He will do for us in the next 1,000 years and beyond." That is the spirit, which at least to my reading, breathes in the last three chapters of Isaiah's Apocalypse. And a good example of this underlining tenor, this underlining tone of Isaiah's Apocalypse might be the next couple of verses.

Isaiah 25:4 For you have been [I want you to notice the tense there] a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Now, the noun wall there is reminiscent of the prophet Ezekiel's use of of the untempered mortar metaphor. You remember it very well. It is in Ezekiel 13 and there is also mention of it in Ezekiel 22. But, you see, God's wall is not made with untempered mortar, but it will stand in the end and will protect people when He builds a wall around his people.

In Isaiah 25:4 the prophet recognizes God's strength and His commitment to protect. You see, he has experienced both. But at verse 5, the narrative shifts from history, it shifts from what God has done, and it turns to prophecy, what He will do. The prophet here refers to the ongoing work of Christ, the work that He will do in other parts of the world, among the Gentiles. Take a look at that as we notice the verb change here.

Isaiah 25:5 You will reduce the noise of the aliens, as heat in a dry place; as heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be diminished.

The prophecy that the godless will change their tune, if you will allow me to put it that way, can be understood has emphasis: You can count on it. God will make the godless eventually sing a different song.

Verse 5 stresses that Christ's work is not complete upon His return, you see, but that His work is ongoing. His return only sets the stage for future accomplishment—His future accomplishment. We will not turn to Isaiah 62 but there, and it is all about the restored Jerusalem, it is all about Zion, and it makes it clear that when Christ's feet touch the Mount of Olives, His work of reconciling all of creation will have only begun.

Isaiah 62:11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth [and I do believe that "the end of the earth" there is a reference, a geographical reference, referring to geography, not to to the last time. It is not a temporal reference in Hebrew. This particular idiom can refer to both, but I think it is geographical here.] to the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him.'"

And we know that Christ will first set Himself to the task of regathering Israel to the Promised Land and in time He will work to prepare the world for the great influx, a huge influx of people at the second resurrection. And that work will involve, by the way, Gentiles as God will be resurrecting them all over the face of the earth, and among where the Gentiles live.

In Isaiah 2 it touches upon the thrust of Christ's millennial work and I want you to notice here the opposition of Zion on the one hand, and the world on the other hand.

Isaiah 2:3 [you know it well] For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people.

As Ezekiel 38 and 39 compellingly indicate all of this is not going to come easily. But gradually, over the decades, the strident song of the terrible ones will turn to the sacrifice of praise to God, as we read in Hebrews 13:15. As more and more people, they are going to be individually called, you see, by God, whether they are Gentile, whether the Israelites as they come under the New Covenant, and they make sanctification their major priority in their lives.

Please turn back to Isaiah 25, and we will take a look at verses six and seven, where two of the chapter's three references to that term that I mentioned before—on this mountain or in this mountain—appear. That is the same mountain where Christ is enthroned before His elders at the very end of chapter 24, verse 23. The thrust of these verses is not what Christ has just accomplished through His return through the Day of the Lord, but rather the work that He will do that is before Him upon His return, a work involving the Gentiles living all around the world. But it is a work which is initialized and it is a work which is controlled and supervised by Christ in Zion.

Isaiah 25:6-8 And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. He will destroy on this mountain [the second use] the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. And He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth.

Here is the confluence, brethren, the emerging in fact of the two themes that I talked about earlier. One, the theme of ubiquity, or if I can use the term worldwideness, and I can coin that term if you will permit me to do so. It is the convergence of the theme of worldwideness with the theme of Zion as the focal point. The world becomes the stage, Zion becomes the director's chair. Just as in Isaiah 24 during the day of the Lord, all the earth faces God's wrath.

Now in the regeneration, all the earth looks forward to the healing which can only come from God. Christ's work of reconciliation continues to emanate from Israel, but it becomes gradually worldwide in scope. And New Covenant Israel comes to play an increasingly important role in the outworking of that work and the performance of that work among the Gentiles, as Israel becomes exactly what God wanted Israel to be in the first place: to be a witness, to be an example, to be a light to the Gentiles.

Reading through Chapter 25, as you just read it, you know, time becomes a blur at times. It just comes, it moves very fast as if it really did not matter. And of course it does. Of course it does very much. But notice how fast the prophet moves through time and how far into the future he eventually sees. He starts out in verse 2 praising God for destroying the city of the terrible ones. Now, that is of course the system that we call Babylon.

But by verse 8, he has leaped whole centuries. He has leaped all the way to the point where God will swallow up death evermore, swallow it up forever. And that is certainly a reference to the end. I will not ask you to turn there, but Paul, writing in,

I Corinthians 15:22-26 [talking about this particular time of the end] He says, "For an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom of God to the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy which will be destroyed is death.

By Isaiah 25:8 the prophet has bounded through time all the way to the time that God will wipe tears from all faces, as he says there. And of course it is reflected in another slightly different way at the end of the Book in Revelation 21:4, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

Remember that there were three appearances of that term "on this mountain" "in this mountain" in Isaiah 25. Let us take a look at the third one. It is in verse 10.

Isaiah 25:10 For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, and Moab shall be trampled down under Him.

Now here the setting is still different and it is not the end time as we know it, you know, not the end of time. It is not when God is ready to create the New Heaven and a New Earth. It is still about 1,100 years earlier than that, around the start of the Millennium, when Christ takes care of some unfinished business concerning Moab. In this case, in Zion Christ settles in to begin His rule of the earth from Jerusalem in their midst, as it says. I did not read verse 11, but I will go ahead and point out to you that there the prophet uses the formula "in their midst" to refer to the Christ and to the fact that Christ is on the earth. He has returned to the earth, He is in Jerusalem, He is reigning, He is King.

It is not that the prophet is incoherent at all. He just does not see time in a linear way like we are prone to do. Under God's inspiration, he comes to look at time like God does. He skips centuries. He zips forward in time, backward in time, and that makes perfect sense, for the King of kings, the Lord of lords is is not time bound as we are. The point that Isaiah is trying to make is simply this: whatever time frame we happen to consider, Christ is leading a worldwide work from His base of operations in Zion.

Now, I want to add here reading Isaiah's Apocalypse, just reading it from beginning to end, those chapters, I could not stop my mind from wandering to a passage that we all know so well and we know it so well that you do not need to turn to it. But it is in Psalm 74.

Psalm 74:12 For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

And that is what Christ has done in the past. It is what He is doing now and it is what He will continue to do: work salvation.

Please turn to Isaiah 26. We will begin talking for a little bit about Isaiah 26. Remember how in Isaiah 24:16 (I read it earlier), that God asserts that members of the remnant hear songs from the ends of the earth. Well, what were the words of those songs, those songs that they sing when Christ returns? Well, I submit to you that Isaiah 26 contains, in essence, the words of the song the remnant will sing and most specifically those individuals who are in Jerusalem or who are, you know, right around the surroundings of Jerusalem. Notice what it says:

Isaiah 26:1-4 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah [specifically this is the land of Judah]: "We have a strong city [that is another reference to Jerusalem]; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust the Lord forever, for YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."

Now that term "everlasting strength" here is literally the "Rock of ages" and we are going to dwell on verse 4 just a little bit, because in it there are at least three elements which thematically link it to the Song of Moses which of course you know to be another song of praise to God.

So please turn to Exodus 15, that's the song of Moses. And as you do so, I'm going to mention what those three linkages are from. From verse from verse four, Isaiah 26 verse four. The first linkage is ya, Y A ages. It's spelling it's mentioned there in verse four, it is the name of God linked to salvation and to deliverance. And at first appears in Exodus 15 verse two. Okay, and that's near near, very near the beginning of the song of Moses. I will not ask you to turn there, but another song of praise. A great song of praise to God which is located at Isaiah 12. It makes very, very plain this linkage between ya and Salvation deliverance. I'll just read Isaiah 12 verse two, behold God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid for Ya. The eternal is my strength and song and he has become my salvation. The word become, there has the force of manifest or visible Salvation is now you see no longer a matter of faith, something that is unseen. Something that we look forward to. Something that we hope for. But rather now we have experienced God's salvation. We have as it were witnessed it with our own eyes. And so we praise Yah. The God of our deliverance and of our salvation. The second link is the word forever. That also appears in Isaiah 26 verse four and that Hebrew word first appears in Isaiah 15 verse 18. Okay. And that's at the conclusion of the song of Moses. And the third point is related to it. It's a little bit more involved. But I'll go ahead and give you that the Hebrew words underlying forever and ever lasting. Now, both of those words you'll recognize. If you take a look at Isaiah 25 verse four, the Hebrew words for them are discrete words. The two separate words, different words and if you put them in a pot altogether and add them up, they will appear about 300 times separately in the Old Testament. But they appear together. That is in the same context. They appear in the same verse 18 times. Okay. In God's word and the combination is usually, it's not always, but it's usually translated forever and ever. And as you see, the word ever and ever, in English, it's the same word ever. But in in Hebrew, it's two different words most of the time And that's just the way it works importantly. The combination of those two words first appears in, well, you may have guessed it Exodus 15 verse 18, maybe at the age of 76. I'm becoming easily entertained. Uh this is the kind of thing that really interests me when I catch a whole, when I catch this kind of thing. All three points. All of these three points suggest an essential connection between gods. Gods Would the song that they sing? You see after they cross the Red sea, the song of Moses and the song that his people will sing. That the remnant will will sing that we will sing upon Christ's return. Let's flesh out that a little bit. We'll start at the top. Exodus 15 verses one and 2 then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the eternal and spoke saying I will sing to the eternal for he has triumphed gloriously. Hold on to that word triumph. I'm going to mention a couple more times. He keeps popping up because it's important Christ is triumphing as king, the horse and his rider. He has thrown into the sea verse to their eternal. And that word there is yeah, spelled Yh and it's the first of 49 uses in the in the Old Testament. 49 is for those of you who have trouble with this kind of thing. Seven by seven times seven. Okay, your is my strength and song and has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him my father's God and I will exalt him Now. There is a lot of history in this song going all the way back to the patriarchs and that's probably what's referred to there and the word father. But the history focuses on God's recent destruction. You see of the of the Egyptian army in the sea there. And so we are going to bypass much of that history. Let's skip down to verse 11 and 12. Who is like you o eternal among the gods, Who is like you glorious and holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. I want you to hold on brethren to those pleures, their praises and wonders, Okay, we are going to come back to it. You stretch out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. At verse 13, the commemoration of God's defeat of Egypt ends And prophecy begins. But I want you to pay very close attention to the verb tenses as we look at verse 13 Exodus 1513. You and your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them through your strength to your holy habitation. My brethren Moses in saying this must have been looking forward for the people singing this song. We're not yet in God's holy habitation And they really were not even close to it. They were still in Sinai and they were not there actually at Sinai, they were not even there, the giving of the of the 10 commandments at that particular moment. Indeed, the Tabernacle had not been built. They were in the wilderness. We will not turn to to Psalm 78 verse 54. But there there is a definition of Mount Zion and it defines it as God's Holy habitation. Canaan, you see is his land and the people were not there yet. They had not reached Canaan. They had not reached Mount Zion And further the events in verses 14 and 15 have not yet taken place. And they have not indeed taken place to this very day. Let's take a look there. And as I do so notice the change intensive Exodus 15 verse 14. For the people will hear and be afraid so will take hold of the inhabitants of Felicia. Then the chiefs of Eden will be dismayed. The mighty men of moab trembling will take hold of them all. The inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. And point of fact, brethren history shows as presented there in the scriptures, it shows that the Canaanites and the people of Phyllis tria did not just melt away when Egypt when when Israel entered the land. Now, Joshua did experience some some very real successes in driving them out. But for instance, the Philistines were a huge thorn in the flesh, in Israel's flesh at least until the time of David. Especially through the time you see of the, of the judges, they oppressed. The Israelites over and over and over again. Adam refused to Grant Israelites. The Israelites passage through their territory. They had to bypass it moab through Ble um of course, repeatedly attempted to curse Israel. So, you see, Moses is looking beyond the Israel's journey to Canaan and he's looking even beyond her entry into the promised land and even beyond the work of Joshua. And rather he is looking at a time and looking to a time into a into the future. When those things will happen, Verse 16. Fear and dread will fall on them by the greatness of your arm. They will be as still as a stone till your people pass over or eternal, till the people pass over whom you have purchased, whom you have redeemed. And that word redeemed is constantly used in reference to the re gathering of Israel under Christ. They are redeemed and the Hebrew repeats that Passover there noticed uh it's very similar to Babylon is fallen, is fallen, which appears first. By the way, if you want to know it's Isaiah 21 verse nine is the first use of that term. Babylon is fallen is fallen. And of course, you know that it's repeated in Revelation 14 verse eight, Israel's enemies were not still as a stone. The first time the people passed over it during the time of Moses, during the time of Joshua. They characteristically kicked. You see the people did in those lands, they plotted, they rebelled, they oppressed Moses is speaking prophetically of a second time of a second exodus. A second passing over when Christ re gathers, Israel successfully redeeming them from the lands of their slavery and planting them in peace in the land of promise. And about this Moses is explicit, Take a look at verse 17. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance in the place eternal or eternal. That you have made for your own dwelling. The sanctuary o Lord which your hands have established. Well, the final verse of the song which is verse 18 is kind of a one liner. It's a clincher. The eternal will reign forever and ever notices stress on rain. And again the Hebrew words underline those two words forever and ever first appear right here and those are the same two words that appear in Isaiah 26 verse four translated. They're a bit differently translated with the word forever and everlasting now as an incidental point. But I think it's certainly worth mentioning here. I'm just going to spend a moment mentioning it the last occasion of the combination of those two words. The last occasion of it. Those words are usually rendered forever and ever. That's a micro four verse seven micro 47. And there it's translated a little bit differently. It's translated from now on. Even forever. Or sometimes you see it from henceforth even forever. Now. What is really interesting to me is that Micro four verse seven and Exodus 15 verse eight. You see these are our bookings. It's the first and the last appearances of these combinations with their lookalikes. They're exactly the same. Almost exactly the same. And here is the last part of Micah four verse seven. So the eternal will right over them in Mount Zion from now and forever. The immediate context. By the way in that particular passage is Christ's efforts to re gather Israel upon his return. Okay, let's briefly recapitulate then as we kind of put this whole thing together First, Isaias apocalypse covers two main topics. God's deliverance of remnants of people during the destruction of a worldwide civilization based on Satan's way of life. Now, we generally turn that term, that period of destruction the day of vengeance, The day of the law, the day of the year of the Lord's vengeance, things like that. And we call the civilization Babylon. It's the worldwide city filled with the terrible ones that I mentioned in Isaiah 25 12 and three second Isaias apocalypse is about the work of reconciliation that Christ the king performs during the millennium and beyond. And likewise, the book of exodus covers two main topics. The first part of the book deals with God's deliverance of a people during the destruction during his destruction. In judgment of the most powerful nation in its day. Egypt in fact, the word exodus means, you know the way out the path out. It refers to deliverance. It refers to you see a place of safety, a place of escape noted note that Egypt just like Babylon is characterized by abject ideology and in fact in excess. It makes the point that God is judging the gods of Egypt, the fake gods of Egypt. The second part of the book of exodus deals with God's creation of a theocracy, a kingdom whose king is God. The book describes the people of that kingdom, it describes its king. It describes in great detail its laws and to some extent to a lesser extent its land Exodus 15 is the pivot point. The narrative up to that point is of God's delivering his people from slavery, destroying the fortress of sin in its days in Israel Egypt and the rest of the book describes the government of God over the peoples of Israel in terms of a compact or we call it a covenant. The translator Everette Fox comments regarding the song of Moses that it and I'm quoting here goes far beyond the celebration of a single military victory. The song constitutes the founding of a theocratic people. Unquote that is Exodus 15 verse 18 most specifically tells of the founding of nothing less than an iteration of the government of God recognizing the importance of this song, Kyle and dale ish go even further and despite some overstatement there comments deserve quotation and this is from page 353 Volume one of the commentary on the Old Testament. The song commemorates and I'm quoting here. The fact of the congregation of Israel's exaltation into the nation of God by the glorious deliverance from the slave house of Egypt, Jehovah had practically. Now we do not use the word practically this way very much anymore. But it's an old use and it it means that God had effectively he had in practice. He had in point of fact that Jehovah had practically, he had really uh exalted the seed of Abraham into his own nation. I continue and hence not only does the keynote of the song of Moses resound through all Israel songs in praise to the glorious works of Jehovah for the good of his people. But the song of Moses will also be sung along with the song of the lamb by the conquerors who stand on the sea of glass and have gained the victory over the beast and his image unquote in that song, God announces that he is the people's salvation and that he is their king who will reign forever and ever. Likewise in Isaiah 2026 they are the remnants, praise ya for delivering his people and for the promise that he will continue to lead them to bless them as their king without cessation. Now, there are similarities between the historical account of the fall of Egypt and of course the prophecy fall of Jerusalem. The season of the year being one of them, the six months apart. There are other differences, The plagues did not last for for a year for instance, and yet they remain a type of the day of the Lord when he punishes evildoers in the topology. You see the, the children of Israel and the mixed multitude form to remnants which God frees from slavery. The song of Moses celebrates their deliverance at the hand of their almighty God. And it becomes clear then brethren that, that God's deliverance of a remnant followed by their shouting followed by their praising him as their king is a pattern and that appears several times in the scriptures. You know, we just looked at one the singing of the people at the destruction of the armies of Egypt the singing and the shouting that accompanied Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem as king. Or again the shouting of the Jews at the elevation of Mordecai and their deliverance in the days of Esther I did not mention that here we, I did mention when I spoke last time and you'll find that reference to Esther eight verses 15 through 17 Esther eight 15 to 17, Please turn to Isaiah 42. I'm going to address here another aspect of the remnants song in Isaiah 26 although the prophet mentions Israel here, the spotlight is on the Gentiles. It's mentioned in Isaiah 42 1. It's also they also mentioned in verse six, Christ will bring justice to them. He will be a light to them and we are going to read however, versus 10 and 12, 10 to 12, Isaiah 42 verse 10, Sing to the eternal a new song and his praise from the ends of the earth, you go down to the sea and all that is in it, you coast lands and you inhabitants of them, let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice. The villages of that cater inhabits, let the inhabitants of Selah sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the eternal and declare his praise in the coast lands. Now the formula new song which appears there, it appears about nine times in God's word and in various contexts and I submit to you brethren that in context like we are dealing with today where God's people are praising him after he has delivered them from from some major difficulty. The song that they sing is always a new song. The children of Israel had never sung the song of Moses before because you see in Egypt, all that they had known was groaning and you can find a reference to that in exodus two versus 23 24. The same can be said of the Jews in Esther's time they had known they were in great danger and as true of the singing disciples. In 31 a. d. when Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem though the words and indeed the language itself may be different at different times in history. The sentiment is always the same and as such, it's always an old song. But the people who sing it, the particular singers at any given time in history have never sung it before. It's new to them. And the situation is analogous to the old command and the new command that we find in the scriptures. I'm not going to ask that you turn to the scriptures, I'm going going to go rather quickly through them. Uh but in John 13 verse 34 Christus search and I quote a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as as I have loved you, that you love one another, unquote. But this is really just a restatement of the second great commandment and that's stated in Matthew 22 verse 39. Now, quote that one and the second command is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But rather than that is a very old commandment. Indeed, it is a restatement. Uh its first state, I should say in the Pentateuch, in the formation of the theocracy. Indeed in the holiness code. And you will find it at Leviticus 19 verse 18, I'll just read Leviticus 19 verse 18, you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the eternal at first John to the Apostle John provides commentary on Christ's new commandment. I'm taking a look at first, John two verses seven and eight and I'm reading it from the English standard version. The English standard Bible, beloved I am writing, you know, new commandment, but an old commandment that you have from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard at the same time. It is a new commandment that I am writing you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shiny. Now the darkness is in process of passing away brethren passing away from the people to whom John writes. And hence it is a new commandment to them. Johnny elaborates very briefly on this in his second letter. Over a page or two and second, John two verse five. And I'm again reading from the English standard Bible. And now I write you second John 25. And now I ask you, Dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning that we love one another. You see the old commandment and the new commandment are in fact the same. Well the ancients like righteous Noah, where they kept the commandments, Genesis 26 verse five tells us that Abraham kept the commandments. The commandments are that old and in fact much older than that. But the point is, they were new to them. In the case of Abraham for instance, God's laws were not the laws that he followed in when he was a young man when he was a boy or a young man, he came out of that, that lifestyle, he left them and he was taught by God what were to him, new commandments. They were of course very old. He may have also learned them from Shem that's that's been been discussed. And it's that way with many of us too. Okay, those of us who are first generation Christians did not obey. Perhaps we did not even know about, you know, the Sabbath commandment as old as it is and it is old when when God taught it to us, when we first started to to obey it, it was new to us. It was very different to us too, of course. And so also for most of those who are rising, who are going to be rising in the second Resurrection, it's going to be a new commandment to them. Well, by analogy, the same thing is true of the old song and the new song. It is ancient, but it is sung repeatedly in history with new singers and hints. It is a new song each time. And I think brethren that that's why the pronoun praises and wonders are both plural. Remember I call those out to you when we were reading there in the song of Moses. It's in Exodus 15 verses 11. I'll just go ahead and read it to you. Don't have to turn back their Exodus 15 11. Who is like you o eternal among the gods, who is like you glorious and holiness, fearful in praises doing wonders. The song of Moses is specifically about God's single action of delivering Israel from the destruction of Egypt and freeing them from slavery, you see, but Moses under God's inspiration is fully aware that he is writing a song with wider application and the point that he uses the plural praises and wonders indicates that he is very much aware of that he's writing a song that will be relevant to God's people over the centuries as they sing praises to the king, having witnessed the various wonders that he has performed for them in their respective circumstances. With that, let's go back to Isaiah 26 pick up the concluding stanza of the remnant song. And I'm going to read here from the revised standard version. I think it does a pretty good job with the tense is the verb tenses Isaiah 26 verse five, revised standard version for he has brought low the inhabitants of the height. The lofty city, he lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. And I'm going to interject here that the Hebrew repeats here. The verb lays low um just just again, very similar to to what he did and with, you know, the the term Babylon is fallen is fallen. And we saw this earlier as a rhetorical device in Exodus 15 15, which until your people pass over till the people pass over and in this case, you see it stresses the finality of God's judgment that the city God's judgment is bringing to an end the city of the terrible ones will continue then with the last verse of the song in verse six. The foot tramples on it, the feet of the poor. The steps of the needy. The songwriter distinguishes between the city of God and that was mentioned in verse one. He's just, he's talking about the city of God and he's contrasting it with the doomed city of man and the tenses present, the tenses present perfect indicating that the work of God is in process and in a spiritual sense, such sense, the work of destroying the city will continue through the millennium and it will continue beyond the millennium. Yes, I understand that governmentally the city will be destroyed of course when Christ comes, but it will continue as more and more people having been called turn in repentance and they turn to the put them there, they become under the New Covenant. They shunned their old way of life and in effect you see they are trampling the evil lifestyle of the city. They are trampling the city down and the ones doing so would be the poor in spirit and they are mentioned here, they are also mentioned by Christ, the same poor in spirit that he mentions Matthew five verse three the beatitudes. The Sermon on the Mountain. Okay, brethren, I do want to say that it is not easy as we go on to find a unified thread of thought in verses seven through through verse 15 and I fancy to them for them to consider to to be in fact three vignettes as it were just snatches of thought by three different individuals in the millennium. These vignettes illustrate lessons learned by people living in in the new iteration of God's government living under Christ. And so we are going to take a look at those three vignettes just very quickly and incidentally, I will say just to clear things up. They may not be contemporaries. Uh some of them may be be living at the beginning of the millennium eye. In one case one of them is living at the end. I think that at least so let's take a look at vignette number one and I call it telling the end from the beginning, telling the end from the beginning, Vignette number one, Isaiah 26 vs 7- nine. The way of the justice of brightness. Almost upright. You weigh the path of the just yes in the way of your judgments o eternal We have waited for you. The desire of our soul is for your name and for the remembrance of you. When my with my soul, I have desired you in the night and the word night, there may not just refer to night, but it may may refer to the time of Jacob's trouble when Christ prefer to to the the night when no one can work. Yes by my spirit within me, I will seek you early and when for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Now, the individual who imagined who imaged this vignette was probably a lot live at Christ's return. He was not somebody who was born later on into into the millennium. And I think that I get that feeling because that he just recently arrived in Jerusalem. He was an individual re gathered to to the to the Land of Promise from his land of captivity. Re gathered by Christ's activity. The Christian standard Bible renders verse to the path of the righteous is level you clear a straight path for the righteous. He remembers how Christ gently shepherded him back to the Land of Promise regarding his work of re gathering. His people. Christ says that he will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. And you'll find that in Isaiah 42 verse 16. So, this particular person probably has just recently arrived in Jerusalem, having been re gathered there the first thing yet, then serves as a window into the spirit of 11, repentant one who like Simeon faithfully and patiently waited for the consolation of Israel. As you read in Luke two verse 25 reflecting at night on God's name. He understands that the end result of God's judgments on the earth judgments on Israel as painful as they were as they transpired, will eventually be. That some people will learn righteousness, they will learn God's way of life, What this person reflects incidentally is the psalms, If he quotes a number of these in verse eight, I will not reference any, except I just will reference in Psalm 102 verse 12. But you o eternal shall endure forever. And the remembrance of your name to all generations, unquote and one reflecting on the eternity of God's name will have eyes of faith. He will have the security to see the end from the beginning, just as God does. You see? Okay, and you'll find that term in from the beginning in Isaiah 46, verse 10 by the way, and this individual comes to share God's perspective on time. He shares his perspective of pain and distress as ultimately beneficial, even curative Second vignette, the incorrigibly Wicked. You want to say the incurably wicked, I guess so. The the incorrigibly wicked. That's the second vignette, Isaiah 26 verses 10 and 11, Isaiah 26 verse 10. I'm reading from the revised standard version. If favor, that's grace. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness in the land of a brightness. He deals perversely and does not see the majesty of the eternal o eternal, your hand is lifted up, but they see it not let them see your zeal for your people and be ashamed, Let the fire of your adversaries consume them. Not everyone, you see, not everyone is going to learn righteousness. I said, some people would, but some people will not this person is impressed with the recalcitrance, he's impressed with the encourage ability of the wicked and perhaps he has experienced some of the extreme treachery that I spoke of last time. You know, it's mentioned there in Isaiah 24 verse 16. Some people simply will not repent even when they experienced the overwhelming judgements of God all around them and then when they experience the fruits of his mercy every day, perhaps for year after year after year in the millennium, but they were still not repent. And this reality brings to mind a an event which is going to take place later in time, not at the beginning of the millennium, but at the end of it. And that's the rebellion under Satan and you can read about that. We will not turn there in Revelation 20 versus seven through 10. How successful Satan will be as he, you know, once he gains released from the bottomless pit in gathering rebels to fight against God. If he found a ready audience in Adam and Eve, just a quick audience at the beginning, how much more pliable will he find the audience at the end and apparently no time at all, he is able to convince any number of people to rebel. These people were ones who apparently, if you're, I think if you allow this term, they apparently just played church for who knows how long in the millennium, decades, perhaps decades. They just played church. They just went along. They were not overtly rebellious over those years and that's perhaps because they remember the fate of magog and her allies centuries before. And that's related in Ezekiel 28 and 29. These people nevertheless shafe at God's authority. They perhaps feel repressed, repressed by it. Oh, they are such victims, aren't they? At any rate, they remain unconverted. Perhaps analogous to what we can consider tears. You see those who are among us, but not really of us though having lived in peace, lived in prosperity for years, they remain corner. It's like some of the Corinthians in the in the church remember they were Colonel, they remained Colonel and they quickly fall for Satan's deceptions and as a result, they experienced the consuming fire of God's wrath because they never really feared God. And Christ maybe speaking of these intractable people when he says in some of the very last words of his that appear in the scriptures, this is in Revelation 22 verse 11, he's speaking, I'm reading from the contemporary English version, Revelation 22: verse 11. Evil people will keep on being evil and everyone who is dirty minded will still be dirty minded, but good people will keep on doing right and God's people will always be holy. The person imaging this second Vignette realizes that some people will not learn righteousness, even when in a righteous environment, even when around many Godly people, even when governed by the very King of Righteousness himself. Grace simply does them no good at all. It seems in the long run. One millennial event might trigger this particular vignette. Well, maybe the person is reflecting on the failure of some nations to send delegates to the Feast of Tabernacles. Or perhaps maybe this particular person is not one who's alive at the beginning of the millennium, but is alive at its end. And he is reflecting on on the speed with which Satan deceives the wicked Vignette. No. three God accomplishes our achievements. I call it God accomplishes our achievements. Isaiah 26 verses 12 and 14, 12 through 14. I'm reading from the contemporary English version, Isaiah 26 12. You will give us peace eternal because everything we have done was by your power. Others have ruled over us besides you or God, But we obey you only. Those enemies are now dead and can never live again. You have punished them. They are destroyed completely forgotten. This person obviously experienced slavery and perhaps having a number of of masters there at the, during the time of Jacob's trouble. But through it all, he recognized that God was in control, that he was the one who deserved honor and glory. If there is a single thread of all these vignettes, it is probably stated in verse 12. This perhaps it was the voice that puts it this way in the paraphrase called the voice. In fact, everything we have accomplished has come from you. The international standard version has it this way for you have indeed accomplished all our achievements for us. I like that very much for you have indeed accomplished all of our achievements for us. The Apostle Paul broached this important concept when he asked the Corinthians, what have you that you did not receive? And you'll find that in the revised standard version, it's first Corinthians 47. You know it very well. The person framing this third vignette in humility indicates his understanding that what work he accomplished he accomplished by the power of God. His accomplishments were God's achievements. Isaiah 26, verses 16 through 21. It seems to me that these form a a postscript to a letter or we could say and afterwards of a book, a coda to a piece of music. More than simply a summary more than a recapitulation. They add information information in the form of vitally important council. And as I wind down, let's take a look. Isaiah 26 versus 16 through 19 Lord in trouble. They have visited you. They have they poured out a prayer when when your chastening was upon them. As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs when she is when she draws near the time of her delivery. So we have been in your sight or eternal. We have been with child. We have been in pain. We have as it were brought forth. Wind. We have not accomplished, or we have not achieved or accomplished any deliverance in the earth. Nor have we not have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Your dead shall live together with my dead body. They shall arise awake and sing. You who dwell in the dust for your dew is like the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead. The pronoun day in verse 16 certainly refers to God's people and the noun prayer. There is not the usual word for prayer, it's not the word that appears most often for prayer, but in fact it is a noun which refers to the quiet, very quiet incantations, the chance of pagans, very interesting word that it would appear here, the best meaning in this particular context. Maybe a whispered prayer. You see God's people in this time, in the time of the day of the Lord will perhaps have to whisper their prayers probably because the atheistic forces which are ruling the world at that time were actually outlaw prayer and rather the brethren, there are modern and there are ancient presidents that that will happen already, that a team of deconstructionists, the United States Supreme Court has banned the prayer in the public schools and other public public venues. They've already done this and it's only a matter of time before Daniel's fourth Beast and that's the one that tramples everything under its feet. It tramples traditions that tramples, statues, it tramples history, it tramples everything under its feet and it was only a matter of time before it will trample prayer under its feet and all religious practices under its feet, baptism circumcision singing. It would be perhaps probably very, very difficult for God's people to sink. And we already have intimations of this beginning now and people will not in God's church be able to sing no wonder they will be so glad and so happy, so ecstatically singing upon his return. There is also an ancient example of this and that is the example of Daniel who found himself very late in his life arrested for praying. You can read it and I Daniel six, I believe it is a wonderful, wonderful chapter and he's arrested for praying and he ends up in the lion's den. What's very interesting about that brethren? It happens after it happens after the fall of Babylon. And when we were under a new iteration of Babylon at that time, 11 that's an inferior 11 of the Rome needs and Persians that deserves a lot of studies. Very, very interesting. Not going to be able to go into it. The metaphor of the pregnant woman seems to me to expand the meaning to include God's people whoever they are and wherever they may be in time and in space. You see chapter 26 10 is not just for God's people at the end of time, although it is for them. But it is for God's people throughout time. Kale and Kyle and dale ish point point out that the metaphor is one of waiting and, and expectation. Okay. And in this particular application in this passage, the pregnancy, you see was a species of what's called Sudoku basis. You know, that is it, it's a, a phantom, a false pregnancy. Ones that that produces no fruit whatsoever, only disappointment. And I suspect that God's people throughout the centuries have always thought that Christ was coming soon. They just knew that he was coming in their lifetimes, but he did not. And many of us have experienced a depression like that in the 1970s. And some of us remember it. Some of those people who stood up, you know, after having been in, you know what 40 and 50 years, 30 years uh, in the church. And I suspect that God's people have always felt this way verse 18 expresses that disappointment. A child of the, of the light. You see, brother may experience discouragement. He may be frustrated at the evil inhabitants of the world. That they just seem to continue. They seem to continue. They seem to continue. They do not stop, they get worse and they get worse and they get worse. Century after century after century. One of the people way back when, and, you know, in the illuminati, in the days of the illuminati and the 17 hundreds, 16 hundreds, 18 hundreds today, they still continue. They do not stop. They just keep going on and on God's people preach and they pray and they teach, but it's as if they accomplish nothing. The inhabitants of the world have not fallen. As it says in verse 18, we mistakenly might come to feel that Christ delays is coming as asking us that Revelation six was 10 there. How long or eternal holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Well, verse 19 provides God's perspective in this matter, his solution to our impatience and to our frustration, the coming king usually has the keys of Hades and the keys of death. You will find that in Revelation 1 18, in what surely is a clear Old Testament reference to the first Revelation. God assures his people throughout the ages that the dead shall live awake and sing, he says, as he assures him that and as he assures us that your dead shall live awake and sing, he says, the earth shall cast out her dead. And in saying this God distinguishes between his own people and their oppressors. Those who enslaved Israel and those who are mentioned up there in verse 14, they will not live to see his day. Well, brethren, in light of all of this, then what should we do? We who are on the cusp of the coming of this consolation of Israel that is coming. This new iteration of the government of God, but it's just not quite here yet. Where God provides an important answer. Isaiah 26 We'll take a look at the last 22 verses verse 2021. Come my people into your chambers and shut your doors behind you, hide yourself as it were for a little moment until the indignation is passed. And for behold, the eternal comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain. We're keen in on such phrases as until the indignation has passed or the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth. We often apply this this particular passage to the in time. Okay, Most specifically to the day of the Lord and I think we are quite right in doing that. But rather God maybe providing instruction for all of his people throughout all of history, shut the door behind you and stay put that is stay in the house as the children of Israel did on the night of the Passover and you'll read about that in Exodus 12 verse 22. And I do recommend that you you take a look see at Mr. John writing about sermonette on the topic, I think it's called stay in the house. It was delivered in 1998 Noah found safety in the ark in the midst of vast devastation. God having closed the door behind him, the children of Israel in the midst of a dying Egypt, found safety in their homes and the children uh the Israel of God. Today in decadent Babylon find safety in God's church, Paul wrote in Chester and Colossians three verse three, We will not turn there for lack of time, but in Colossians three verse three, he wrote that the lives of God's people are hidden with Christ in God brethren. How can anyone experience more safety? How can anyone find more security than when hidden with Christ in God? The Apostle continues in verse four, he says, when Christ, who is our life appears, then you shall also appear with him in glory. The little moment that referenced there in Isaiah 26 verse 20. It may be referring to the brief period, relatively brief period of Christ's anger of God's anger in the day of the Lord, the year of his wrath. But it may also refer brethren to the times of our converted lives, maybe 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. But it's always short in terms of the scheme of things. While you remain alive, God councils do not ever leave the church of God, he never leaves us. We must not leave him. God assures us in the final verse that he will eventually rouse himself to action, that he will leave his place in heaven and take vengeance on all evil doers all over the face of the earth, the earth, he assures us will no longer cover her slain God will resurrect those who have been beheaded for the witness to Christ and for for the word of God, as it says in Revelation 20 verse four brethren. Let us patiently let us patiently endure until that day hiding in Christ.

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The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God.