Well, let us open to Isaiah chapter 11. I'm going to begin in verse 11 tonight. And each week that we spend in Isaiah, we begin to see what's the purpose of God giving these prophecies to Isaiah. We start to understand where he fits in God's plan of redemption. Now, in your Scripture sheet tonight, I've continued to include Some of the Scriptures, 2 Samuel 7, 16, I think we had Genesis 12, 3 last week. I've added Genesis 2, 16 and 17 this week. Because this is the context into which Isaiah comes. We've looked at the kings of Israel and Judah and what that context is. But now we're going to take a look at the wider context tonight. Genesis 2.16, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Well, what happened? They ate from the tree. And they would die. They would die physically, as would all their descendants, and they would die spiritually, meaning they would be separated from God. But death, and this is what we learn from Christ, this is what Christ accomplished, death is not the end of anything. Spiritual death is separation from God. But physical death isn't the end of anything. Look what happens. Genesis 3.15, God's speaking now to the serpent who had tempted Eve. I'll put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head. Her seed shall bruise you on the head. A human being will defeat Satan. You shall bruise him on the heel. It's 2,000 years later almost, before God then makes the next true advance on his plan of redemption, and it's with Abram. Genesis 12.3, he calls him out of Ur of the Chaldees. And he says to him, I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, but then the important covenant, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. The covenant of grace was always for all the families of the earth, for descendants from every one of the 70 branches of the family of Noah. And 2 Samuel 7, 14, as he calls David to the throne, he makes this covenant. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever. So we've got a mankind that's rebelled against God. We've got God declaring a human being, a descendant of Eve, is going to defeat sin, Satan, and evil. Now, we don't know all that at that point. And then we get the covenant that says the blessing will come through a physical descendant of Abraham, but it will come to people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. It's always been that way. It was never only Israel that would be the people of God. Now, Isaiah has basically two messages for Ahaz. If you won't believe, you're not going to stand. You won't last. and you better regard the Lord as holy, him you shall fear and him you shall dread." So, to summarize where Isaiah comes into the picture here with Israel rebelling against God with wicked king after wicked king for 200 years, and with Judah's kings not being entirely righteous, and many of them being wicked, Isaiah comes. Now if Adam had disobeyed God's commandment, which he did, if he refused to submit to God's authority, he would die. God makes his declaration. And I want you to look at what we learn from the book of Hebrews. This is maybe the most important book for understanding God's plan of redemption in all of Scripture. Because in Hebrews, God explains these things. We don't even know who the human author is. Hebrews 4.8, we see this. If Joshua had given them rest, the people of God, he would not have spoken of another day after that. Israel was not a success before God. Now he talks about the priesthood in Hebrews 7.11, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, which God gave Moses on Mount Sinai, what further need was there for another priest to arise? But you see, people were not perfected through the Levitical priesthood. Now Hebrews 8.7, if that first covenant, the covenant with Moses is what kind of covenant? How many parties to that covenant? Two, God and the people. And what was the terms of the covenant with Moses? If you obey me, I will bless you. If you disobey me, I will curse you. Well, they failed that covenant, and we see it here. Hebrews 8, 7, if that first covenant had been faultless, there wouldn't have been any need for a second covenant. And when he said, 813 of Hebrews, a new covenant he has made the first obsolete. That covenant with Moses is obsolete. No one was going to be saved. No one was going to be reconciled to God through that covenant because no one. And Hebrews 9, 8. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place, meaning into God's presence, has not yet been disclosed while that first tabernacle was still standing. Referring to the temple at the time of Isaiah, the tabernacle in the time of Moses. And that tabernacle, verse 9, is a symbol for the present time. And accordingly, When they brought to the tabernacle or the temple these animal sacrifices, and read the words, both gifts and sacrifices were offered which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience. The people of Israel and Judah did not know or did not understand these things at that time. But the thing is, all these things were nonetheless true. Only perfect obedience to God Or faith in the one person who could render perfect obedience to God and his work could save anyone. You either had to do it yourself or you had to trust in the one who could do it. No one could render perfect obedience to God. And so Isaiah, now we're another It's another 1,500 years after the covenant with Abraham. And now Isaiah begins to reveal some things about this Savior, to reveal some things about that seed of the woman who was going to crush the head of the serpent. That is what Isaiah brings to God's plan of redemption and to the Scripture. And he began most clearly in chapter 7. Now Isaiah tells them, this is news to them. They don't know that there's going to be Christ. They know that the scepter will not depart from Judah. They should know that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem from Micah, who's writing at the same time as Isaiah. They should also know he'll be a descendant of Abraham. They should also know he'll be a descendant of David. But they don't know this. Isaiah 7, 14. The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. What does Immanuel mean? God with us. What does that say about this child? Either he's going to bring God with him, or he will be God Himself. This is the first hint of the incarnation right here. We have a virgin is going to bear this child. Now should that be considered something that's impossible by the descendants of Abraham? What's the one thing that happened that would make the people who were the descendants of Abraham think maybe this could happen? The birth of Isaac. Isaac was born to a barren couple. Surely, Abraham's son Isaac was told this, and Jacob was told this, and this was passed down. Now it sounds, you know, people, unbelievers read this and say, well, of course, that's impossible, you can't, that wouldn't be possible in the natural realm. Now, 9-1, we get some more information about this Messiah. And again, they didn't have this. This is why Isaiah is so important. There will be no more gloom for her who is in anguish." Who? The people in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, Galilee of the Gentiles. Already we're talking about the Gentiles and the Savior coming to the Gentiles, the people who walk in darkness. Gentiles will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on him. And then Isaiah says this in verse 6 of chapter 9. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. What kind of person, what office would a person hold where the government rested on his shoulders? A king. And his name will be called Here comes hint number two of the Incarnation. His name will be called, wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. We're going to call this child Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. So in chapter nine then, Isaiah reminded Judah, the southern kingdom, the only one that's left at that point of the tribes of Israel, He reminded them of the wickedness of the other ten tribes and of God's judgment on them about the consequences of Israel's sin. And it would be the end of that kingdom. Israel, remember, is the ten northern tribes. Judah is the one tribe that's left, and it's the tribe through which the Messiah will come. In 1 Kings 11.36, the Lord says, But to His Son I will give one tribe. that my servant David may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for myself to put my name." Why would God want David to always have a lamp before him in Jerusalem? Why was that important to God's plan of redemption? Because the Messiah hadn't come yet. This tribe has to live on until the Messiah comes. And in chapter 11, we saw after Isaiah speaking in chapter 10 about using Assyria in judgment against both Israel and Judah, and then God judging Assyria. Chapter 11, Isaiah returned to the theme of God's promise of a messianic hope. This is the third time now he's going to start talking about this Messiah, and now he's going to tell us more about the Messiah. He's telling the people of Judah about the Messiah, about the one promised to Abraham, about the one who God said would come when he was talking in the Garden of Eden, to the serpent, to Eve and to Adam. And when Isaiah talks about this, he's not going to be talking about a Messiah for only Israel, or only Judah. He again, for the third time, will be talking about a Messiah who's coming to the whole world, to people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. So here's this audience in Judah suffering because Assyria has been at war with them, because Israel has been at war with them, because the nation of Syria has come at them, and their king Ahaz has been wicked and has been sinful, and they're under oppression. And Isaiah says that you should trust God, though, because He's made these promises and He's going to keep them. And He's going to tell them some more now about these promises. God will keep and fulfill the covenants He's made with David and with Abraham, and the serpent is going to lose in the end. And there's going to be a remnant among the physical descendants of Abraham among God's eternal people, among whom he will, and please hear this, dwell for all eternity. There's going to be people who are going to dwell with God, with God in our midst for all eternity. There's going to be all those who have perfectly obeyed the law of God every second of their lives. And then there's going to be those who recognize that they didn't obey God and who look to Christ and trusted in His perfect obedience and in His offering of Himself on the cross as the atonement for their sins. That's who's going to be there. That first group is going to be pretty small. Only Christ. God's going to keep that promise. And we see this glorious future, this righteous kingdom in contrast to the wicked kingdoms of Israel and Judah and Assyria and all of those nations. And they're marked by what? Pride, arrogance, unfaithfulness. So chapter 11, just briefly by way of review, then a shoot will spring from the stem or stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. Who is Jesse? David's father. And the reference to a shoot from Jesse, he doesn't say a shoot from the stem of David here. Probably because this shoot is just not another king in David's line. This is another David. Remember all those times when God says my servant David in the scriptures in the Old Testament? Well, sometimes he's talking about David, but oftentimes he's talking about Christ. And this leads us to that. He's a shoot from Jesse. And to call this coming king the root of Jesse, which Isaiah will do in verse 10, why would he call this coming king the root of Jesse? If he's the shoot of Jesse, how can he be the root of Jesse? Another hint of what? The incarnation. Once again we see another one of these hints about the incarnation. Now certainly they didn't grasp it. And we learn more about this shoot, this little shoot coming up out of what had become a barren forest. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. These are some new things we're now learning about the Christ who's going to come. The wisdom, strength, and spirit of God will empower this king. In a way, it hadn't empowered any king before. And this, of course, again, can only describe Jesus Christ. And this is going to be a recurring theme, this idea of the Spirit of the Lord upon him. Remember that passage, and we looked at it last week, and I put part of it in the Scripture sheet. Look at Isaiah 61.1. which says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. Well, that's not Isaiah. He's writing in the first person, but that's not who he's talking about. And he continues, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners. Now, that wasn't talking about Isaiah. Isaiah wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But there was a man in Nazareth, in Galilee, who walked into the synagogue, was handed the writings of Isaiah, picked them up, and read that passage. And look what he then said. He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, he began to say to them, Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. These words apply to Christ. What an amazing day that must have been. I said that last week probably too, but what an amazing day. What an amazing moment when Christ read the prophecy about himself And then we learn these things. He will delight in the fear of the Lord. Verse 3. He won't judge by what his eyes see. He won't make decisions by what he just hears. He will judge with righteousness. He'll judge the poor with righteousness. He will decide with fairness for the afflicted. Righteousness will be the belt about his loins. Faithfulness the belt about his waist. These are gifts of the Spirit. And they will enable the Messiah to govern very differently from, say, Ahaz. And when a king delights in the fear of the Lord, that means in his relationship with God, he has a sense of moral direction that is godly. Well then, he told us about the animals in the new heavens and new earth. And verses 6 through 9 speak of this dramatic change in the created order. They speak of the curse of Eden removed, a new world that's without killing and violence, the wolf lying down with the lamb. What a great passage this is. The calf and the young lion and the fat one together. In the heavenly Mount Zion. Now Isaiah is telling us about the end. It'll come down from heaven, Revelation 21, and fill the whole heaven and the whole earth, the whole new heavens and new earth. And we see the earth full of the knowledge of the Lord, His image and His glory shining brightly. We saw a sunset. We were walking, and was it last night or the night before? Anybody see this? It was all pink in the sky and powder blue. It was just the most beautiful thing. And we're walking down and look up and there it is. And I'm thinking, you know, if we got caught up into that, that wouldn't be scary at all. That would be really nice. And it would. And, you know, when Christ comes back, it's not going to be scary even a little bit for those who are trusting in Him and waiting for Him. Now if you're not, that's going to be a frightful moment. Those angels and the flaming fire are going to be a frightening thing. But it's just such a beautiful thing. And I know it's just not one one-millionth of the glory that is going to come with Christ when He returns. All right, verse 10. Then, in that day, The nations, here's the Gentiles, when you see nations, you think Gentiles. Same word, nations, Gentiles. Will resort to the root of Jesse. Calls him the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples. That plural peoples is the nations again. His resting place will be glorious. The root of Jesse is one who was before Jesse. And here we have another hint of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God. It's He who's going to be the banner who will draw all men to Himself, John 12, 32, when He goes to the cross. And here we again see, and I think this is missed, in a very large way in the church. The Gentiles are and always have been among the people of God. We see Messiah as the light. The Gentiles are not, we're not some afterthought here. When God said to Abraham, come out of this land and go to a land I'll show you and in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. He's talking about us. And we see this prophecy about the Gentiles. And Isaiah, a Jewish man, is making this clear. Messiah is the light. All the nations coming to him, here in verse 10. And Paul confirms this. Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees. of the tribe of Benjamin. He confirms that this is about the Gentiles when he cites this verse and interprets it for us in Romans 15, verse 12. Again, he says, Isaiah says, There shall come the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the Gentiles. In him shall the Gentiles hope. In Romans 15, 12, Paul interpreted the meaning of Isaiah 11, 10 as standing for the truth that Christ came to people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and that people from every nation, tribe, and tongue are in his kingdom. And we must understand that if we are to rightly understand not only the metaphorical verses that follow, but much of prophetic scripture. And here we see it, verse 11, now he's talking about the Gentiles. Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with his hand the remnant of his people. Are his people only Jews? No, his people are people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, who will remain from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, which is Upper Egypt, Cush, which is Ethiopia, Elam, Shinar, which is Babylonia, Hamath, which is to the far north, and from the islands of the sea, which is to the west. He will recover the second time. Now, some see a reference here, and they're correct, certainly, this is a reference back to the Exodus from Egypt. That's the first recovery, deliverance of what were God's people. But situated between verses 10 and 12, both of which speak of the Gentiles, this is not a reference to just another deliverance of the Jewish people. The deliverance from Egypt was not a foreshadowing of the release from captivity in Babylon, as some think, The deliverance from Egypt was a foreshadowing of deliverance from sin and death through faith in Christ. That's the big deliverance that brings the blessing promised to Abraham. His people are from all nations. So we have this reference back to the Exodus, which prefigures God, Jesus coming down and delivering us from our bondage to sin and Satan. And we see again a remnant, the remnant of his people. Look, everybody is not saved. There is no universal salvation in scripture. Salvation is something the Lord does. It's a remnant that's rescued. And there are sheep and there are goats. There are sheep and there are goats. There's God's kingdom, there's outer darkness, a lake of fire, and the remnant. It's important we understand this. The remnant is a unified body of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11 through 22. It's important enough, I didn't put it in your scripture sheet, but let's turn there and again read this. because this too is among the passages that gets lost sight of in the modern church. Ephesians 2.11, Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, remember there's conflict and separation between Jews and Gentiles, even Jewish and Gentile Christians for a time in the early days of the church, but Paul corrects them. Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, as the Gentiles were, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off, have been brought near. How? By the blood of Christ. He himself is our peace, who made both groups into one. One. One group. Jewish and Gentile Christians, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments, the sacrifices, the dietary laws, so that he himself might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity." There is no separation. between Jew and Gentile believer. We need to understand that as we're looking through this and working our way through. So the remnant will include Assyrians. It will include Egyptians, all enemies of Israel in those days. The covenant relationship will include Ethiopians and Babylonians and Assyrians as God's people and even people like us. And what's only foreshadowed here comes into its full light when Jesus says to his disciples, one more thing before I go back to the Father. Go into every nation, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. He didn't send them just to Jerusalem. He said, start here. Start, then go to Judea, then go to Samaria, and then go into all the world. Verse 12, He will lift up a standard for the nations, again Gentiles, and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah into one body, as Paul wrote in Ephesians, from where? From the four corners of the earth. And in this verse, verse 12, Isaiah brings the saved from Israel, Judah, and every nation together. And then, He speaks to the people of Judah, concerning their conflict with their relatives in the northern kingdom. Solomon had the kingdom torn away from him because of his idolatry and immorality, and instead of his son reigning over all twelve tribes, one of his generals, one of his military guys, Yerobam, becomes the king of the ten northern tribes, not a descendant of David or Solomon. Rechabam rules over Judah. And what happens? That was about 950, now it's 735, 220 years of constant conflict and war between Judah and the other ten tribes. Constant conflict. But look what happens when the Messiah eventually brings everybody together. Verse 13, then the jealousy of Ephraim, that means Israel, the ten northern tribes, will depart. Those who harass Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. This speaks not only of an absence of jealousy and conflict, but of a true unity. And we started to talk about this last week. One of the most incredible things about heaven is no one will have the slightest bit of hostility in them toward anyone else. And not only that, you'll be able to look across the room, city, country, and there won't be anybody over there with any hostility. There will be zero hostility in anyone's heart in the New Jerusalem. And so certainly the hostilities that have existed between Israel and Judah since the days that the kingdom was taken from Solomon will be gone. And look, this verse is not talking about a reunification of Ephraim and Judah into a new nation. This is not a reestablishment of any nation. It's an end of national identities in opposition to and conflict with one another. We won't say we're Baptists and you're Presbyterians and you're this. There won't be any of that. There will be nothing in the New Jerusalem that divides or separates or categorized as Christians in any way. There will be some rewards. Some will be rewarded greater, and those who receive lesser rewards will not, even for a little bit, begrudge those who have greater rewards. That's what Jesus told his disciples back in Matthew 19, I believe. It'll be amazing. It's worth giving your life to Christ and surrendering your life to Him now. And the alternative is far worse than anything you could possibly imagine in this life. For one thing, you'll be looking up there and seeing it, most likely. Verse 14, they will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. Please hear what I'm about to say. This does not mean that God's plan is for a reunited and peaceful Israel to go to war with the world. This verse is continuing the metaphor of gathering all the people of God. It's not a prediction of future earthly events. Isaiah is not predicting war. What's he promising? He's promising peace. An end of hostilities for all those who trust in God. The end result of Christ's victory is peace. And that's what Isaiah is talking to here. And the force that will defeat wickedness in this world is what? It's yes, it's Jesus, but through what? The gospel. The gospel. Jesus died for your sins. That's the force that is going to bring people to him. The gospel. The warfare when Messiah comes will be, always was, and is right now spiritual. Our warfare is spiritual. That's what's pictured here in what are metaphorical terms. Now, I've got to address a couple things here. Some interpret this passage, and passages like what we have in Revelation 16, 16, 17, 14, and 19, verses 14 through 20, as standing for the idea that Jesus is going to return on an actual horse, flying through the air, in an actual war where he and his angels will kill people with swords. You can turn on your TV just about any Sunday morning and hear somebody saying this. These take the view that verses 11 and 12 refer not to the restoration of the people of God to himself, but to the restoration, in part anyway, of the Jews to the land of Canaan in 1948, and the creation of a new state of Israel. They further would say that what happened in 1948 is a signal for what's going to happen in the future, this war with Christ and swords. And they say that we have to interpret the Bible literally and claim those to be literal interpretations. Now, there's some problems with these so-called literal interpretations. One of them is they're very selective about what they take literally and what they don't. For example, all of these nations are already gone from the face of the earth. Ammon's gone. Edom's gone. What were the other ones here? Philistines are gone. Moab's gone. It's a historical fact that this did happen, where there was war with these nations. It happened in the time of the Maccabees, 175 to 142 BC. Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the Seleucid ruler, came in And they had to battle him as well. But any belief that this has any reference to the 21st century or later can't be correct because none of these nations any longer exist. And look, we have in the world Christian fortune tellers. Well, here's what Hal Lindsey did. And he is the one most responsible for spreading this kind of idea of Armageddon. When you hear Armageddon, you think, man, there's going to be angels dropping down out of heaven and sword fighting. Sword fighting. With people on it, with the wicked on earth. So he said, I'm a prophet, and what's going to happen is Jesus is going to return in this generation, and this generation in Matthew 24 refers to the time beginning in 1948. So he said Christ is returning in 1988. And Christ didn't return, and he said he had miscalculated, and he means 1989. And we're still sitting here waiting, and we've had at least another 300 books claiming Christ is going to return on this date or that date. Christ still hasn't returned. Hal Lindsey's still on TV once every week, teaching about prophecy, interpreting prophecy for us, and yet nothing he's ever predicted has ever come true. These Christian fortune tellers you need to be wary of. Many of them, most of them, are determined to find some war fought with Christ involved in the war. And they fail to recognize that they're taking part of something literally and fighting a war against nations that don't exist. And let me just ask this, why in the future, if we're to take these things literally, which is the claim, We have all the modern weapons of war removed from this battle. No one would do that. And so, when you hear somebody saying they're taking prophecy literally, please be careful. Because what inevitably happens is some things are taken literally while some other things are kind of shoved to the side and are not taken literally. The truth is that all prophecy includes some symbolic language. And there isn't one of us who has a perfect understanding of it. And the people that we need to be careful of are those who claim they do. Now, there is warfare though. And look at what the Holy Spirit tells us about the warfare that's actually going on. Ephesians 6, 12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness. These are spirits, they're demons in the heavenly places. Therefore, here's how you fight the war. Take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm. This is why when trials and tribulations come, this is how we fight the war. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with the truth. We must know the truth and believe in the truth. That's why we meet twice a week. to have the truth reinforced and taught to us. Second, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. That's Christ. Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, be about the business of sharing this message, not just sitting on it. These things are our weapons against the spiritual warfare. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. That's symbolic language there, folks. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This is the warfare, and these are our armaments." The warfare of the people of God is spiritual. And in this passage in Ephesians, you see those capital letters there? You know who Paul happens to be quoting? He's quoting from or alluding to passages in Isaiah 11.5, Isaiah 49, and Isaiah 59. Don't fall in love with the spectacular. Fall in love with God. Fall in love with Christ. One other thing. It's true, many passages in the Prophets refer to a restoration of Israel. And taken literally, all these passages seem to predict that ethnic Israel will once again be gathered in the land of Canaan and enjoy a time of blessing and prosperity. Taken literally. Since these have not yet been fulfilled, some expect their fulfillment during a when? A millennial age. Now look, this is unlikely, and I'm going to show you, I want to just tell you four reasons why. Romans 9, 6, 8. Not in your scripture sheet. I couldn't get them, fit them all in this week. Not all who are of Israel, physical Israel, are the true Israel. Romans 9, 6, 8. Galatians 3, 7, and 25. Those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham. Galatians 3, 28 and 29. There's no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Also, you see that in Romans 10, 12. That's first. The true sons of Abraham, the true Israel, are those of faith. Second, as we saw two weeks ago, Jesus spoke of two ages, not three, and he did so on several occasions. The present age and the age to come. And in Matthew 13 and 25, Jesus clearly states that the eternal age begins on the day that is the end of the present age. Both places, Matthew 13 and the parable of the wheat and the tares. And the end of the present age, Jesus says, there is the day of judgment. He also says it in Matthew 25, beginning in verse 31. On that day, the eternal age begins. Paul also wrote of two ages, the present evil age and the age to come, and that Jesus reigns in both ages. So I want us to just understand that Isaiah is not talking about something in between. He's talking about the end of the age and what happens. There are those who think there are several, multiple resurrections, but look at John 5.28. Do not marvel at this, Jesus is speaking, for an hour is coming. Now we're going to be literal, an hour in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth. Now you say, well, is that just righteous or, well, let's read on. They'll all come forth, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Who all is raised in that hour? Everyone. No symbols. So the only reason to find two resurrections would be to try to squeeze a thousand years between these two. The point is this, Isaiah has been prophesying of the New Jerusalem throughout this book. In chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, he began to present this picture of the New Jerusalem. Not talking about a literal restoration of the kingdom of Israel and Canaan, that like the, remember we read about the tabernacle and the priesthood, they were only shadows. Remember, the covenant promise to Abraham was not that only his physical descendants would be blessed, but that through his seed, people from every nation would be blessed. Verse 15, And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and he will wave his hand over the river with a scorching wind, and he will strike it into seven streams and make men walk over dry shards. So the focus now turns from the action to the actor, God Himself. And this victory and the establishment of this kingdom comes about by divine action. The Lord will utterly destroy. He will wave His hand over the river with His scorching wind. Tongue in the Sea of Egypt is a reference to the Red Sea, most likely. And as he dried up the Red Sea, the Lord will remove every obstacle to his coming kingdom. His kingdom is coming. It's already been inaugurated. The river here refers to the Euphrates. It was just called the river in those days. And it speaks to the worldwide nature of the kingdom. The seven symbolically refers to the complete work of God. These are pictures of the complete defeat of any natural or human force that might try to stand in the way of God's plans. See, in the Exodus from Egypt, God used this strong east wind, that's why we kind of see that term there, so that his people could walk across. And this mighty wind here is a metaphor for the divine work of God, who will defeat, as he told Eve and the serpent in the garden, sin, death, Satan, and all evil. It isn't that we just get to escape the evil, the evil is going to end. Prophets communicating to his audience that God's power is unlimited. There'll be a highway, verse 16, from Assyria for the remnant of his people who will be left just as there was for Israel on the day that they came out of the land of Egypt. You see how important that deliverance from Egypt is as a picture of the salvation of God's people. That's what it's doing there. That's why he did it that way, to leave us with that picture And he says it's from Assyria this time. This is more than just the Jews. Now the remnant is worldwide. Well, chapter is just six verses. It's two short psalms. Both are expressions of thanks for God's deliverance. First one comes from Exodus 15 to the song of Moses, which I put in your scripture sheet. And so on this day, he says, then you will say, I will give thanks to you, O Lord. For although you were angry with me, your anger is turned away, and you comfort me." Now, do you remember what God kept saying back in chapter 9 through 10-4? His anger is not turned away. Chapter 9, it just wasn't turned away, but one day it will be. The last thing that's going to happen The last expression of His wrath will be the casting of the goats, Satan and all who followed Him, into the lake of fire. That will be the concluding act of the outpouring of God's wrath, of His anger. For them it will last for all eternity. For His sheep, though, His wrath was turned away. Where? On the cross. For His sheep, His wrath was poured out on this child of the Virgin, on this Spirit-filled Son of God. And this is a work He did. You know, it's not something we did or could do. Our reconciliation with God isn't based so much on our willingness to have Him, but on His willingness to have us. And yet we must cry out to Him for forgiveness. Isaiah is talking, folks, about a time when sin and its effects are completely eradicated. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song and has become my salvation. Look at Exodus 15 too. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. He's singing the song of Moses when he thinks about the ultimate deliverance. the day Christ returns for his people. People of God will see God as the loving, gracious, merciful God that he is. And he says, therefore, you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation. What do we see in Revelation? They will never thirst. What did Jesus say? We've got it across our website. Come to me, you who are thirsty. in that day. And I would say to you folks, if you're ever down, pick up Isaiah and read this little psalm. Especially 12.2, I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord God is my strength and song. He's my salvation. Verse four, in that day you will say, give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the people, make them remember that his name is exalted. The words of Psalm 96, and other psalms, but this is Psalm 96. He says, in that day you will say, we're going to be singing these psalms, it looks like, in the New Jerusalem. And finally, praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things. Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion. That's all the people of God. For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Inhabitant of Zion is his church and here we see the new covenant God in the midst of his people fulfilled for all eternity. Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Shout for joy. Jesus prayed for us. Now I come to you. These things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy full in themselves. Here we have Isaiah bursting into this song of praise as he meditates on the glorious victory of God. And I hope we respond the same way to it. I encourage you to put a bookmark in this little chapter and go to it whenever you feel the need. And this song of praise concludes this first section of Isaiah, 12 chapters. And it concludes with, you know, we've been through an awful lot of wars, haven't we, with Syria and Israel and Ratzin and all of these guys. It concludes with the message of hope and assurance in the victory of God. My Lord, we're so blessed to know this truth. We're so blessed that you've given us this truth. We're so blessed that you've unfolded all of this for us from the garden, through Abraham, through David, and through your servant Isaiah, and through Christ. In the old days, you spoke through the prophets, but now you've spoken through your son. And we know, Lord, that he is also right now our Great High Priest, and he's a priest who offered himself to pay for our wickedness and disobedience to you. We pray you'll make us effective witnesses of your gospel, Lord. In Christ's name, amen.