That is my intention this evening. It's basically to cast again that vision that we are all familiar with, the vision that the scriptures themselves cast in regards to that future day when the Lord will return and the city of man will fall and those who have taken refuge in Zion will be saved. They will enter into, if you will, the eternal kingdom of God and know the full joy and satisfaction of knowing God as we were created to do. To this date, we don't. This evening, you don't. You feel it. You experience it. Even now, sitting here. Some of you don't want to be here, for instance. Confessed as much. I'm not going to look anyone in the eyes at this point. There is a day quickly coming though when you will know the joy and satisfaction of your God. So this evening I hope that we once again get a foretaste of that as we hear the message of Isaiah in this long section stretching from chapter 13 to chapter 27. We received, or I don't know, actually, if you picked one of these up or not. I know that we didn't print out enough for everyone, I guess. Is that the case, Ivan? OK, so you received this. This will also maybe possibly be up here. If it's not up here, you have it. It's going to be up there and not up there at points in time. You have it in your email. I'm going to start by just walking us through this section. Each of the divisions, the five divisions of these three cycles, I'm going to walk through them quickly. Really, my intention here is just to show you that it's there, and then we're going to circle back around, and we're going to consider the message of each of these, and then we're going to apply them. That's the goal. So, the first...remember, we actually took up this first division, this first set, two weeks ago. I forget exactly how I framed it, but it's the fall of Babylon, if you remember that message. I'm going to reframe it slightly. Let's just call it the city the man will fall, the city of man will fall. And I don't have time to point out all of the instances of this, but I will point out that city and cities is an incredibly important theme throughout this section. So if you look at chapter 14 verse 21, for instance, at the end of the Babylon taunt, if you will, Babylon is going to fall and God's people will taunt the king of Babylon. And that ends in verse 21 with, prepare slaughter for his sons. Because the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth and fill the face of the world with cities." See, I've been trying to tell everyone that living in the woods is better, and there it is in the scriptures. I'm vindicated. You move into, so if you, we trace that out. I'm not gonna spend any time there. Chapter 13, verse 1 through chapter 14, verse 27. Chapter 21, verses 1 through 10. And chapter 24, verses 1 through 10. In fact, if we have those verses, if you go to the next slide. Maybe we don't. So the first set of, okay. So I'm not, I'm not going to take us through the specific verses then because it'll take too much time. So the, you have that first division. the city of man will fall, and that's followed with the second division. I'll spend a little bit of time here. This is the most difficult one to see. I just read that first set, if you will, in that second division in those three cycles. So we're in chapter 14, verses 28 through 32, and here, we have messengers from the Philistines likely coming at the time of the death of King Ahaz and that's why you have that that marker at the beginning in the year that King Ahaz died only three instances of that in the book that is the book of the Kings here in this first section of Isaiah so it's significant it's telling us this is when this transpired the messengers from the Philistines, likely coming as an envoy to pay their condolences, if you will. Think similar to what David did in 2 Samuel chapter 10, for instance, when he sent messengers. The point, though, of this section is that the Philistines are, for some reason, rejoicing. The rod has been broken. Does the rod refer to Ahaz? Unlikely, though some speculate or some think that that's possible. Maybe more likely, and this would probably be the majority view, the House of David, represented by King Ahaz, has been broken. The House of David has been, at times, the oppressor of the Philistines, if you will. Remember that David actually came to Rule over God's people largely by defeating the Philistines is how he rose to the top more likely although this is a minority view more likely it refers to the Assyrians who have just been referred to in the previous passages and also because When we get down to verse 31 and we hear wail O gate cry out O city melt and fear O Philistia all of you for smoke comes out of the north and It seems to refer to the Mesopotamia area where Assyria or Babylon, either one, that is who is going to rise up yet again. So is this a reference to a specific king who died? For instance, Tiglath-Pilesar, possibly since that would have been, could have been around the same time as King Ahaz. It doesn't really matter. Here's what does matter, is the Philistines are rejoicing in a false freedom. They see the fall of the house of David and the fall of the weakening, at least, of Assyria as a sign that everything is hunky-dory okay in the land of Philistia. But that is not the case. The Lord makes clear that their root will be killed with famine and their remnant will be slain. Remember, that's all that is left of Israel after their judgment. But they are left with a remnant. They are left with a root. The Philistines, not so. No root, no remnant. And then notice the reference once again to a city. Wail, O gate, cry out, O city. Verse 32, what will one answer of the messengers of the nation that is from the Philistines most likely? The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge. So, the Philistines will not stand, but Zion will. If you're looking at the sheet I gave you, you'll read there the message, the night is long, but the day is coming. Why? Well, in this first section, the Philistines are triumphing, gloating, to some extent, over the current condition of Judah and their condition. And the Lord says, don't be fooled, don't be fooled, it will not remain. If you go to the next section, chapter 21, verses 11 and 12, this is why I picked the language of the night is long but the day is coming, the oracle concerning Duma. One is calling to me from Seir, watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night? The watchman says, morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire, come back again. Well, that's clear, right? Actually, with a little bit of help, it does become clear. Mahir points out that this is pointing to a very long night. There's a delay happening here. But the night will finally, at some point, give way to morning. By the way, if you remember two weeks ago, and you probably don't, but this section, this second cycle, is very obscure. The names of the places are obscure. The wording is obscure. The sets themselves are super small and, as you just read, somewhat ambiguous, cryptic even. And the entire section reads that way. It's intentional. We move from super clear in regards to specific nations and their impending end, their imminent demise, if you will, punctuated with messages of hope and then you move into this more cryptic language referring to places that aren't quite as clear and messages that aren't quite as clear to this global message of salvation through judgment. That's the whole thing. But here in chapter 21, we are reminded that the night is long, but the day is coming. What day? Well, if you turn to that last cycle, you find out what day. Verse 21, chapter 24, on that day, the Lord will punish the host of heaven and heaven and the kings of the earth on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit. They will be shut up in prison. And after many days, they will be punished. So, after many days, after that long night, there comes this. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion. And in Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders. The Lord's gonna return to Zion and His rule, and He will rule, if you will, from Zion. So, The night is long, but the day is coming. I'm gonna move through all of the messages. That one, I think, is the most difficult to see, so I actually read each of them, took a little bit more time to try to explain it. Not gonna do so for the rest of them. So I'm gonna give you a verse, because it's fairly clear, and then if you want to see it more clearly, you just have to go back and read it yourself, so that we can move through this quickly and then move on to application. The next set begins in chapter 15, and it really runs all the way through the end of chapter 16. So you have chapters 15 and 16. All I need you to notice in this section is that it's about Moab. You can see that in verse 1. Chapter 15, verse 1, it's about Moab. That's important. Just put a pin in that. Okay, now you can go to chapter 16. This is still about Moab. Moab is going to be destroyed and there's a lamenting going on for what's about to transpire in Moab and so Moab is is Sending an envoy if you will towards Zion and this is what we read in verse 3 give counsel grant justice make your shade like night at the height of noon shelter the outcasts do not reveal the fugitive let the outcasts of Moab Sojourn among you be a shelter to them from the destroyer when the oppressor is no more So, that sounds good. not the destruction of Moab, of course, if you're a Moabite, but that you do have a place to flee, that is Zion. Zion is the hope of the Gentiles. The problem is, verse 6, we have heard of the pride of Moab. How proud is he of his ignorance, his pride, or arrogance, his pride, and his insolence? In his idle boasting, he is not right. This will conclude with Moab not taking refuge in Zion as they ought. So, you do need to go to the end of chapter 16 and pay attention to these words. But now the Lord has spoken, saying, in three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble. Okay? Hang on to these words. I'm gonna move real quick. A hired worker, right? Like the years of a hired worker, the glory of blank, in this case it's Moab, and few, here it's few and feeble, okay? So we're moving to chapter 21, and we're in that third oracle in this second cycle, the oracle concerning Arabia. Again, kind of broad and ambiguous. And what do we find there? We find refugees once again, fugitives that are in this oasis land of Tema. for they have fled from the swords and the drawn swords." So we have more fugitives, refugees who are fleeing the destruction, and it is commanded that the thirsty be brought water and the fugitive be met with bread. And then we read these words in verse 16, "'For thus the Lord said to me, within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, If you were paying attention, you recognize that we just read those words in regards to Moab. The glory of, remember I said blank before is Moab, here it's Kadar, will come, verse 17, and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kadar will be few. It's basically the same message, right? That's because we're in the same set in the second cycle, moving to the third. Chapter 25. So, remember, what's the message of these sets in these cycles? It's Zion is the hope of the Gentiles, but the proud will not enter. So, destruction up to verse 5, and then hope. Zion on this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food a feast of well-aged wine a rich of rich food full of morrow of Aged wine well refined and he will swallow up on this mountain this mountain by the way is Zion The covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all the nations. Hope, this is the Gentiles. Zion is the hope of the Gentiles. Also the remnant, of course, but we'll get there. The Zion is the hope of the Gentiles, but the proud will not enter. Chapter 10, I'm sorry, verse 10, chapter 25, still in chapter 25, still with that message, for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and who do we find not entering? Moab. Right? Moab. Moab shall be trampled down in his place. Why? Well, just skip to the end. Pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. Right? He's pompous. He's prideful. He refused to find refuge in the only place that Gentiles will find refuge, and that is Zion. He will not come in. Therefore, he is cast out. The holy nation will receive the city of God. Chapter 17. I'm just going to explain this. You can glance down, don't get lost reading it, okay? It's an oracle against Damascus, but most of it's about Ephraim. I will read one verse. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus. Remember, they're the ones who teamed up in chapter 7 against Ahaz and the Lord had already proclaimed way back there that they would be destroyed, right? And so, the only other thing I want you to set your eyes on here in this set is, for you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the rock of your refuge. Now we're going to go... to chapter 22, where it's no longer Ephraim to the north, it's Judah to the south. Jerusalem also has misplaced trust. And that was Ephraim's problem, right? They teamed up with Damascus, they put their trust in man, and so they did not look to the hand of their maker. They did not trust their maker. Chapter 22, verse 11, but you did not look to him who did it or see him who planned it long ago. What is it? Well, the destruction that's coming against them. So what did they do? Well, they got very active doing all sorts of things. For instance, they counted the houses and they broke down the houses to fortify the wall. They made a reservoir. They collected the waters into the lower pool. They were very, very active. What they did not do, what they were not actively doing, was looking to the one who had planned it long before. So... You have Ephraim in the first set, you have Judah, Israel, Judah in the second set, Jerusalem, and then you go to chapter 26, and what do you find? And by the way, don't forget the emphasis upon city, and I'm skipping all sorts of them, but if you go through and you read this carefully, there's this emphasis upon the city. How does 26 open up? In that day the song will be sung. This is the final set in this set. In that day the song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. He sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Who is it that is the we here? He was saying we have a strong city. It's that remnant, the remnant from chapter 8. still waiting on the Lord and hoping in Him. Verse eight, in the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you. Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. They're not trusting in Damascus. They're not trusting in their activity. They are looking to the one who has planned it. It's easy enough to see, right? The holy nation will receive the city of God. Who's this holy nation? Well, it's not just the remnant. It's actually all whom the Lord is calling to himself. Yeah, we better get to the last one. The Lord will bring his people back to Zion. The last set. Chapter 19. It's about Egypt. You can see that just looking down at any of the verses right there. It's about Egypt. Egypt's in trouble. That's bad. But then we read this, and there's so much here. We will have to spend more time here at some point, but not this evening. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. That's some pretty crazy language, really, when you think about it. You read everything else that you find in the Bible, everything else that's said about Assyria, everything else that's said about Egypt. Let me just read it again. Israel will be the third, not the first, not the second, the third, with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. whom the Lord of hosts is blessed, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance." By the way, it's Egypt at the set, and I would argue if you read through this, it's of course rife with Exodus language. There's this new exodus we've already seen over and over again in Isaiah that is going to take place, except this time it's not just Israelites being taken out of exile and brought back to the promised land. It's like people from every tongue, tribe, and nation are being taken out of the nations and made into a new holy nation. A new redemption that's global in its effect. It's pretty awesome. Chapter 23, it's about Tyre and Sidon, but let's just focus on Tyre. Again, two cities, wealthy cities. It begins just like Egypt being judged. It begins with the judgment of Tyre, but it ends like this. Remember also that this set is the one that's cryptic, and so I just want you to hear this is not nearly as clear as what we just read in chapter 19. At the end of 70 years, the Lord will visit Tyre and she will return to it. Isn't that striking in and of itself? The Lord's going to visit Tyre. after 70 years, kind of like he promised that the judgment of Israel, Judah, would end after 70 years. So he's going to visit Tyre after 70 years and she will return to her wages, she will be restored, and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. That doesn't sound good. But then, but then we read this. Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord." That's a new status. By the way, wages of prostitution, according to the law, Deuteronomy chapter 23, cannot be brought into the Lord. It can't be brought to the Lord. Wages of prostitution can't become holy to the Lord. Unless there's somehow no longer wages of prostitution, Tyre receives a new status. This expression is the very one used of the high priest in Exodus chapter 28 verse 36. and of the divine sphere, if you will, in Leviticus chapter 27, verses 9 and 10. So the merchandise and her wages will become, if you will, holiness to the Lord. She will also receive a new spirit. It will not be stored up or hoarded. It's almost like she has a change of heart. Greedy Tyre is no longer greedy. Isn't that crazy? New status, new spirit, but also a new allegiance. But her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord. A new allegiance, new status, new spirit, new allegiance. more difficult to see, so slowed down a little bit. We go to the last set and it's not nearly as difficult to see. In that day, the very end of verse 27, or chapter 27, sorry. In that day, from the river Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, the Lord will thresh out the grain and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. And in that day, a great trumpet will sound or will be blown and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain Zion at Jerusalem. There will be gathered once again a new exodus, new exile, global in its effect. All right, so that's chapters 13 through 21. I'm sorry, 13 through 27, 13 through 27. You have the city of man will fall. We considered it two weeks ago, but consider again, what's the point? What's the application for God's people? As they are reminded, as they're sojourning, if you will, whether it's in Judah, pre-exile, in exile, returning from exile, still under the yoke of a foreign force, if you will. It is a constant reminder that we are not to fear man. That at the end of the day, the city of man will fall. that the superpower of the world, whatever it is in our day and age, or our children's day and age, or their children's day and age, or on the line it goes, and so it was for our grandparents and so on and so forth, and for every believer who stretches forward and backwards, at the end of the day, that city, represented by them all, will fall. So we do not fear man, but we fear the Lord, we honor Him as holy. The night is long, but the day is coming. What's the application? obviously are several possible applications, but I think part of the point, the function of this message is don't be deceived by the delay. It's a common theme, by the way. The world's tempted to rejoice at moments when they should not be rejoicing but trembling with fear if they only for a moment understood that they continue to abide below or underneath the wrath of God. The night is long, but the day is coming, and that day will be terrible. So say the Scriptures. Consider the language again in chapter 24. The Lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven, the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit. They'll be shut up in prison. After many days, they will be punished. That sounds a lot like Revelation, does it not? Chapter 21, chapter 20 and 21. So, the night is long, but the day is coming. That day is coming. Zion is the hope of the Gentiles, but the proud will not enter. What's the application? It's simple. Humble yourself and flee the city of man and enter the city of God while there is still time. I mean, some of you, maybe young kiddos, and I know you've caught absolutely nothing of what's been said, or maybe just very little up to this point, but please understand this, if you hear nothing else this evening, there is a day quickly coming when every person, every human being, doesn't matter whether you're one or you're 80, 90, 100, 120. Give an account. Be laid bare. Every thought, word, and deed. And receive their due recompense. There's only one hope of escape. It's Zion. I know that sounds strange to us. I'm just using the language of Isaiah. Why Zion? Well, think Isaiah 59. and the Redeemer will stand on Zion. That's why. Eventually the Lord himself would come and he would work salvation. He would work righteousness. He would actually take upon himself our flesh and blood so that he could fulfill all righteousness and ultimately lay down his life in our stead, shed his blood for us so that we might receive the full forgiveness of our sins and be reconciled to God. be placed in the grave, buried for three days as the scriptures had said, raised or resurrected for our justification, ascended to the right hand of the Father. And so, yes, our hope is in the Redeemer who has indeed stood on Zion and will stand there again. The Holy Nation will receive the city of God, trust in the Lord and look to Him. This is the, I would argue, the creed, if you will, and the call of the remnant of Isaiah. Wait on the Lord and hope in Him. I'm getting ahead of myself just a little bit, but these two are so closely related, I can't help it. We trust in the Lord. He is our refuge. We have, even today, a strong city. Do we not? Are we not actually members, citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem? Saint, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is what the Bible says of you. Your citizenship is actually in heaven. You belong to a strong city. That is a city that's foundation cannot be shaken. Like all these other cities that we're reading about and all these other nations that are considered in the course of these many, many chapters, unlike those cities and unlike those nations, we belong to a city that will never fall. A kingdom that will never be shaken. And we're not there. Right? I know we say that a lot. But, I'm gonna say it again. Our hope is in the return of the King and the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We long for, more than we know, a joy that we have only tasted here. A satisfaction that we have only known in part, and even then fleeting, waxing and waning constantly, fighting to hold on to just a glimpse, just a glimmer of what it will be like to see Him face to face. Yeah, that's why we gather every Sunday and every Wednesday because what the Lord gives us in these gatherings is a foretaste of what we will have when Christ returns. And I know it's tempting to think, are you saying we're just going to be sitting in an auditorium all the time listening to one man speak? Or sing. I know that some of us like to sing, some of us don't like to sing all that much, and some of us don't like others to sing all that much, depending on how you sing and how close you are to us. But it's not this. It's the words that we're singing. It's the truth that we're remembering. We're making the Lord our remembrance. We're remembering His name. We're remembering His work. And again, as I said Sunday, it should soften our hearts. It should do something to make our hearts glad. It should help us to remember, yeah, okay, today sucked. But this is light and momentary. This is not going to last. Like, yeah, the night's really long, but joy comes in the morning. It's right there. And when we gather, when we have these moments, if you're able to pay attention, we get through all the, I know, it was brutal just walking you through all that, and I appreciate you hanging in there. It felt important this morning. It didn't feel important about 10 minutes ago, as important. Like you do, you do, don't you? You do get a little glimpse, a little taste, a little reminder that there is something so much greater just on the horizon. And so what? We hold fast. That's trusting, that's looking to Him. Everything around us can be shaken, whether it's our health or finances or security or, I already said finances, whatever it is, relationships, those things in which we are tempted to find our stability and our joy and our satisfaction, that the Lord strips them away at times. And we're reminded. If he takes it all, we still have everything. Do you believe that tonight, Saint? Do you believe it? Listen, the way that we live matters. If we are people who are constantly grumbling and complaining, constantly claiming to be the victim of this or that, or constantly talking about how we're going to protect our rights, and we're going to protect our stuff, and we're going to, you know, whatever it is that fills your heart and then comes out of your mouth that is anti-gospel, I just want to challenge you this evening to remember that that's not looking to His hand. He, listen, in the passage, in chapters 13 through 27, you realize He's the one who's stripping it away. He's the one who's taking it all. He's the reason that even those who are looking to Him, trusting in Him, some of them will die by the sword. Some of them will be ravished. Most of them will have everything taken from them. And here they are saying, it's all right. We have a strong city. He sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks, opens the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Listen, I know it's hard to wait, It's hard to preach waiting every week, you know? You just feel like constantly saying the same thing, but then you go to another passage, and you're like, well, this is what the passage says, I better preach that. But it's true, right? We have a certain hope, saints. So we have every reason to rejoice, to give thanks, to live to the full now in whatever ways that are most pleasing to our Lord as we make it our aim to please Him in all things. The city of man will fall. Don't be there when it does. By the way, you do understand, I don't mean that spatially, how do you come out of the city of man? Kiddos, look at me. How do you come out of the city of man? You're born there, by the way. Raise your hand if you were born. Okay, good, all right. Yeah, if you were born, you were born into the city of man. There's only one way to come out of the city of man and become registered, if you will, as a citizen of heaven, and it's by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. trusting wholeheartedly that He is the Son of the living God, that He died alone, or died for me alone, if you will, or He died for my sins not alone, but He died for my sins on the cross. He died for my sins on the cross. And that He was raised on the third day, and that He reigns even now from heaven, and that He will return. Trust Him. Hold fast to Him. And on the day when the holy nation receives the city of God and the Lord brings his people back to Zion, we will know the joy for which we were made. All right? Let's pray. Oh, gracious Father, thank you that these words are true, even when we don't believe them. Even when we struggle to hold fast to you in ways that work itself out in our lives, we know that you hold fast to us and that there is a day quickly coming when the city of man will fall, and we will be glad that we have taken refuge in Zion, in our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be glad to receive a city that's foundations will never be shaken, Father, where we will dwell with you forever. Oh, gracious Father, would you give us a greater appetite for that, even this evening, even if only for a moment, would you stir up in us once again that desire to see your Son face to face and to bask in the joy of knowing your love for us for all eternity. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.