Isaiah 54, we're going to look at the whole chapter for a sermon I've entitled, Israel in the Plan of God. I want you to follow along as I read. Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not prevailed. For the sons of the desolate woman will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your dwelling. Spare not. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. Your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities. Fear not, for you will not be put to shame. Neither shall you feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she's rejected. Says your God, for a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting love and kindness, I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. For this is like the days of Noah to me. When I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake. But my loving kindness will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Oh, afflicted ones, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire walls of precious stones. All your sons will be taught of the Lord, and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established. You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear, and from terror for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you, it will not be from me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I myself have created the smith who blows the fires of the coals and brings out the weapon for its work, and I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from me, declares the Lord. I'm sure that most of you have heard that phrase, the shot heard round the world. It comes from the opening line of a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, written to commemorate the Battle of Concord at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. It goes like this, By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmer stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. Well, that same phrase, a shot heard round the world, is one that was used to describe a sermon that was given by John MacArthur in 2007 at his Shepherd's Conference held at his church in Sun Valley, California. The conference, which is hosted by MacArthur, was one that was attended by thousands of pastors, most of whom are Reformed in their theology. And the title of his sermon was really the opening salvo. It was this, Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillennialist. In case you didn't know, pre-millennialists is a person who believes that Jesus comes back before he sets up his kingdom. A kingdom that will be on this earth where he and his resurrected saints will rule from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Now, post-millennialists believe that Christ's kingdom is right now and that the world as a whole will be converted before Jesus returns. An amillennialist agrees with a postmillennialist that the church right now is the kingdom, and it's already arrived, but they don't believe the world will be converted before Christ returns. Now, I have to say, sincere, godly Christians disagree on this issue. And there really is kind of a gentleman's agreement among Reformed pastors that when it comes to end-time events, we should agree to disagree. And so when MacArthur chose to speak on this topic, to several thousand pastors, most of whom did not agree with his position, you can imagine that some were taken by surprise. It reminded me of a movie I saw, and there was a scene in the movie where there was an English ship that came across a French ship. Not friendship, French ship. And they knew they could not outrun or outgun the ship. So thinking quickly, the captain of the English ship hoisted up the French flag, and as they passed, played the French national anthem and had all of his men saluting the French sailors. who smiled and went by. Now here's the emotional effect of that sermon that day. Imagine that very thing had happened and the French are looking at their flag proudly and smiling at the English and all of a sudden the captain says, fire! The sideboards drop and they fire on them point blank. That was the emotional effect of this sermon. It lit up the blogs, so to speak. MacArthur made a number of arguments to support his premillennial understanding in the last days. Four quick ones. He said the Old Testament, specifically Genesis 12, 15, Ezekiel 16, 36, Jeremiah 31, all demand a future for ethnic Israel, the nation of Israel, and a premillennial understanding. Secondly, he said the Jews in Jesus' day all expected that kind of a kingdom, and Jesus did not disabuse them of that idea. Third, Jesus' last words on this earth in Acts chapter 1 were a reference to a future kingdom for ethnic Israel, one that only fits with a premillennial understanding. And fourth, the apostles, as seen in Acts 3, 15, Hebrews 6, and Romans 11, all believed in a future restoration for ethnic Israel that can only make sense in a premillennial perspective. Well, the sermon was the shot that was heard around the world, and it developed into a number of books and articles and responses to it. Now, some people thought that MacArthur was just showing bad taste to preach on that topic in that venue in the first place. Others were not convinced by the way he handled the scripture on this passage. Now, there's one particular statement that John MacArthur made that I think he was right on. And it's this one. If you get Israel right, you will get eschatology, meaning end times events, right. If you don't get Israel right, you will never get eschatology right. Never. Well, today we want to talk about Israel and the plan of God, and we want to do so by looking at this chapter of Isaiah 54, where it speaks of a barren woman rejected by her husband, who will someday be reconciled, and then have a multitude of children. Now, who is this barren woman? What does this passage actually teach and what does it reveal about God and His faithfulness? These are the questions we want to answer as we look at this portion of God's Word this morning. So let's ask for His grace. Our Father in God, this is a difficult text, everyone agrees on that, and it's one that, in my opinion, tells us amazing, amazing things. Lord, it passes over just as a kind of a slight reference, and yet implied in that is just a starburst of your grace and glory. So Father, I pray that you'd open our eyes to see what's in this text, and then rejoice for what it means. For we ask these things now in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I think we can divide this chapter. It's a long chapter, but we're going to do it all in one shot. I think we can divide it into four parts. First, Isaiah speaks of a barren woman and her many children. barren woman, and her many children, and that's found in verses 1 to 3. Secondly, we find a rejected wife and her gracious husband, and that's verses 4 to 10. Rejected wife and a gracious husband. Next, we see a beautiful city and its righteous people, and that's verses 11 to 13. And finally, peace and protection for the servants of the Lord. And that's 14 to 17. Well, barren woman and her many children. You know what the word barren means, don't you? That's not a city or a town that's to the east or wherever of us. When we talk about a tree being barren, barren of fruit, or we're talking about the barren heights of a mountain, what we mean is something that's unproductive, empty, and void. And when applied to a woman, it means a woman who has not and cannot have children. Now, most young women want to have children, but never more than when they find out they can't. You know how it goes, they get married, they don't get pregnant right away, but they're thinking, you know, not to worry, we have plenty of time. Then their friends and their relatives start having their first baby, and then their second, and then their third. Oftentimes that will lead the woman towards anxiety, jealousy, and resentment towards those who have been able to conceive. You know that in the Bible there were a number of women who were faced with this problem, weren't there? Sarah? Rachel, Hannah, and in the New Testament, Elizabeth. And of course, in a Middle Eastern culture where having children is everything, to be barren was thought to be cursed by God. Now here in Isaiah, he is not speaking of a literal woman. Rather, he's using the image of a barren woman and applying it to a group of people. But the million-dollar question is this. Who does this barren woman represent? Do you recall my statement from MacArthur's sermon that if you get Israel right, you'll get eschatology right? Well, it's the same kind of thing here. If we can correctly identify who this barren woman is, we will have the right interpretation of this chapter. If, on the other hand, we get it wrong, we're going to make this passage say something the prophet never intended it to say. Well, who is this barren woman? Well, let's work our way through the text and see if we can find some clues as to who the prophet is talking about. We read in verse 1, meaning had labor pains. "'For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman,' says the Lord." This barren woman is called on to shout for joy. Now, that's kind of strange to me, because I don't know very many women who want to have children who can't, who feel like shouting for joy. I had a sister who wasn't able to have children, and I noticed as she got older, this became more of an obsession with her. I don't think that's unusual. But you know, think about it, that shouting for joy might come if all of a sudden after 30 times of taking a pregnancy test, it actually came back positive this time. Well, that's what's happening here. For though this woman has born no child and has not travailed, meaning gone through labor, yet this barren woman will someday be like the old lady in the shoe who has so many children she doesn't know what to do. But using Middle Eastern imagery, rather than living in a shoe, she's going to have to enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch out your curtain and your dwelling. Spare not lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. You understand the word picture here. J. Purdy Brown went on the road with the first canvas circus tent in 1825. Before that, what they would do is build temporary arenas. Now, the earliest tents could accommodate some 600 people, but later ones used by George F. Bailey, Ringling Brothers, Barnum Bailey, that was their circus, were big enough to hold 2,000 people, and it's quite a feat to put one of those up. They actually did use elephants to draw up the sides on those things. Well, the tent here that this woman is going to use had better be big, because it says in verse 3, "'For you will spread abroad to the right, and to the left, and your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities. Now that should give us a hint as to who this woman and her descendants are. Do you remember when the promise was made to Abraham by God in Genesis chapter 22 after God tested his faith by asking him to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice? Just at the last moment when he was ready to bring the dagger down into Isaac's heart, the angel of the Lord called out from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, "'Here I am,' he replied. "'Do not lay your hand on the boy, "'and do not do anything to him. "'Now I know that you fear God, "'because you have not withheld from me your son, "'your only son.' "'Abraham looked up, and there in the thicket, "'he saw a ram caught by its horns. "'He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it "'as a burnt offering instead for his son. "'So Abraham called the place the Lord will provide, "'and to this day, it said, "'on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'" And of course, Many commentators suggest that that very place is where Jesus was crucified on the cross. The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and not withheld your son, your only son, by the way, you're supposed to catch that ringing, son, your only son, because it comes somewhere else, doesn't it? Because you've done this, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands in the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies. and through your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you obeyed me." Now here's what I'm saying, since the language used here in Isaiah of this barren woman is the same language that's used in the promise made to Abraham, it seems obvious to me this barren woman represents the one who gives birth to the children of Abraham, so to speak. But folks, That brings us a question. You know that Abraham not only has physical children, the Jews are descendants of Abraham, so are the Arabs, by the way, but also has spiritual descendants. That's why we sing, you know, someone said that to me in one of our Sunday, our Bible study. I explained, you know, we sing that song, Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham, and I am one of them, and so are you. So let's all pray. And we were going through this, and all of a sudden they went, hey! Oh, now I get what that song is about. They said I've been singing it for years and never knew it. What it means is that Gentiles, by faith in Christ, also become children and heirs of Abraham. Paul says in Galatians 3, 26-29, For all of you who are baptized into Christ have closed their self with Christ. There's neither Jew, nor Greek, nor slave, nor free. There's neither male, nor female, for all are one in Christ. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. So here's the question, though. This is important. Is this promise, is this prophecy in Isaiah 54, a promise to Israel or to the Church? We'll have to keep going to answer that, but we already have a hint here. Notice the women's children are not only going to possess nations, but they're going to resettle the desolate cities. Now what cities would those be? Is he talking about the cities of America? The Christians will resettle Detroit? There's a scary place. Looks just like downtown Lebanon during the Civil War. Maybe Dayton, Ohio? Are the Russian Christians over the last 20 years resettling Moscow? Is that what it's talking about? It seems to me that the desolate cities that he's talking about are the cities of Israel. Because we've seen again and again that Isaiah promises that there will be a final judgment against Israel which will drive them out of the land one last time and their cities will be left desolate. But the promise here is someday they're going to come back and rehabilitate those cities. Well, let's go on to the next section and see if we can find some more clues. The next thing we see in the text is a rejected wife and her gracious husband. It says in verse 4, Fear not, for you will not be put to shame, and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts. And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth." Now it seems to me that this woman spoken of here, this rejected wife, brought back is the same woman as the person who was the barren woman who had no children. One place she's viewed as a wife, rejected by her husband earlier. She's viewed as a mother without children. But notice, now, she won't have to be afraid because her shame is about to be removed. Her reproach is soon to be forgotten. And here we have another clue, a stronger one, as to who the barren woman is, who will someday have a multitude of children. Look, there's several possibilities, really, too. First of all, the barren woman, some commentators say, is the rejected nation of Israel up until the point that they return from Babylon. So, the barren woman was before that, and the woman who's going to have the multitude is when they came back from Babylon, God re-established them in the cities, and then they had a multitude of children. Well, the problem with that idea is that it really doesn't fit. And here's why I say that. When they came back, they were not a multitude, they were only 50,000. And it's also the case that there's language in here about God would never again be angry with them from that day forward. And yet, what happened? The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Jews were scattered around the world and have been dispersed and persecuted for 2,000 years. So that doesn't fit with the idea that it's talking about just the return of that. Well, how about the idea that it's speaking of the Church? Well, certainly in the New Testament, the church is pictured as the bride of Christ, kind of a wife imagery. But here's the problem with this interpretation. Notice that the woman pictured here is viewed as one who was put away by her husband, as in divorced, for a long time. It says, in the next verse, for the Lord has called you, meaning he's calling him back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she's rejected. Now here's a question, when has God ever forsaken the church? Didn't Jesus himself say, lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age? When was the church ever divorced by Jesus? Doesn't Paul rejoice that for those in Christ, those in the church, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? On the other hand, didn't God himself speak of putting away Israel as his wife because of her spiritual adultery? Isn't that what the book of Hosea is all about? The Northern Kingdom played the spiritual prostitute by worshiping idols. This is really important that you catch this, folks. God sees our unfaithfulness to Him by chasing after the things of the world or false ideas as a form of adultery. People say, I don't know what they're talking about. No, we do know what it's talking about. Anytime you say, yeah, I really choose this over God. That's exactly what's going on. For them, it may have been physical idols. For us, it's going to the mall and looking, if I just bought these things, they would fill me with joy. They haven't for the last 43 years, but the next purchase... If that's your attitude, you need to rent Veggie Tales' Madame Blueberry. Blueberry, whatever her name is. That'll tell you the whole thing, right? But here's the thing. He sent them away 2,700 years ago. He divorced them. And Israel, or the southern kingdom, Judah, he divorced over 2,000 years ago when they rejected the Messiah. said we won't have him as our king, then God in turn rejected them from being his people. And since that time, listen carefully, it's the church, not Israel, who are the people of God. By the way, is this not what the parable of the banquet of the king's son is all about? The original invited guests, come, come, we're going to celebrate this, woo! And they began making excuses one by one. No, I got a farm. No, I got some oxen. I just got married. No, it really doesn't work for me. Sunday's my day to be by myself. And so the king was enraged and sent his servants out to kill him and to burn their city, which is what happened historically to Jerusalem. And then he said, go out into the highways and the byways and find a bunch of hoi poi, the nobodies, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and invite them into the church in Grantsburg there. That's who we are. We're the descendants of people who used to paint their bodies, eat acorns, and worship sticks. And now we're the people of God. Isn't that also what the parable of the rented vineyard was about? It says that the man owned a vineyard, he rented it out to people, he expected the produce, you know, to come back from it, and nothing came. And so he sent servants and said, they beat some, they beat others, they killed some. And so they treated him shamefully. Any pastor who preaches the Word of God knows what that is. And finally the man said, well, I'll send my son, they'll respect him. But when they sent the son, they saw him at a distance and said, ah, there's the heir. If we kill him, we can seize the vineyard and it'll be ours. And Jesus asked them, he said, what do you think the owner of the vineyard will do to those people when he finally comes? And they didn't even get it. They just got sucked right into the story. They said, he'll make sure those wretched men come to a wretched end, and he'll rent out the vineyard to another people or another group who will give them the produce in due season. And right then Jesus sets the hook. He says, have you never read this verse? The stone rejected by the builder, that would be them, became the chief cornerstone, and it was marvelous in our eyes. And then he says this, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation that produces the fruit thereof. Which is exactly what has happened. By the way, real Christians produce fruit. If they don't produce fruit, they're not real Christians. The only problem is, folks, is a lot of commentators, a lot of Christians, By the way, I have to say something. I've got to put something in here. That last parable I gave you, those two parables, they only fit if there's a distinction between the Church and Israel. If Church and Israel are the same, that breaks down. The Church and Israel are two different entities. pronounce judgment on themselves. And that's where we stand today. Israel is now a barren woman. Judaism doesn't produce offspring for the Lord because they're called loami. For you are not my people and I am not your God. That same passage in Hosea, God goes on to promise this. He says, Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sands of the seashore, which cannot be measured. And in the place where it was said, You are not my people, it will be said of them, You are the sons of the living God. I mean, by the way, brief moment? Do you remember the angel the Lord said to God, called out to the Lord of heaven in Zechariah 1? He said, Oh Lord, how long will you have no compassion on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which you've been indignant for these 70 years? Well, we could say today, how long, oh Lord, will it be until you have compassion? It's been 2,000 years. How can you say 2,000 years like a brief moment? Well, let me tell you folks, 2,000 years is a brief moment when compared to forever. I'd like to remind those of you who have lost loved ones, spouses, children, parents, friends who knew Christ. And by the way, how the heart yearns to see them again, to talk to them again, to hold them again. The years pass by and in some sense they seem so long. Sure they do. But what will those long, heart-hurting years seem like when you've been reunited with them for 300,000 years? Or a million years? Or 2.689 trillion years? I had to put that number in there. Wouldn't it seem like it was just for a brief moment? And folks, isn't that true for all the suffering that we go through now? Jesus' eager waiting will be over, and the Lord of hosts will no longer hide his face from his ancient covenant people. But with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your God. For this is like the days of Noah to me when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed, the hills may shake, but my loving kindness will never be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will never be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you." Just as certain as the pledge of the rainbow was, God swears he will never ever be angry with them, but only show them loving kindness from this point on, for he will make a covenant of peace." By the way, that's the new covenant that you and I have entered into already. And the wandering Jew will no longer wander, but come home to his land and his capital. And oh, what a beautiful city it'll be, and that brings us to the point. A beautiful city and a righteous people. In his song, Rocky Mountain High, John Denver had these words. He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he had never been before. He left yesterday behind him. You might say he was born again. You might say he found the key to every door. The survivors of Jacob's descendants, whom the Lord will regather from around the world, will come home to a place they'd never been before, a redeemed Jerusalem. They will leave their yesterdays of unbelief behind them, and now born again, they will find the key that opens every door of blessings, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to how God describes the future of this city to encourage the people. He says, Does anyone know what antimony is? That's what you pay your ex-wife, right? It's the woman who's married to your Uncle Marnie. Auntie Marnie, no. I thought it just meant opposite, like antiphonal. This is what Google is so good for. No, it's a type of crystal metal stone, and so it looks like shiny tinfoil, but it's made out of stone. And they use it for two or three different things, but he says, that's what I'm going to make this photo. Behold, I will set your stones in Antony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Ladies, you know what that is, right? Moreover, I will make your battlement of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire walls of precious stones." Now, Jews historically have been involved in the manufacturing and sale of precious stones. When I was in Israel, I toured a diamond factory. Here, sapphires and rubies and crystal and precious stones will be parts of the very wall of the city. Is this just a word picture? Perhaps. But if there's ever a building project where God ought to go all out, wouldn't you think it would be this one? And of course, some cities are flashy, but they're filled with sin, aren't they? Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Let me tell you something, it's not going to stay in Vegas. It's going to go out to the Judgment Day. Bangkok, a horrid city. Amsterdam, where Calvinism used to be the dominant worldview. But what will really make Jerusalem beautiful in those days won't be her ruby walls or her crystal gates, but her righteous men and her godly women, Jews trusting in Jesus with all their heart and all their mind and all their soul and their strength. For as it says in verse 13, all your sons will be taught of the Lord. and the well-being of your sons will be great. Doesn't that sound like the new covenant that's promised in Jeremiah 31? Listen to what it says. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Notice there's two. The house of Israel, house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them. Same language Isaiah uses. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws within them, and on their hearts I will write it. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They shall not teach again each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more. Isaiah 45, 25, God promised the day it was coming when in the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory. You see, God's plan for Israel originally was that they'd be a light unto the world. So that the nations would be drawn to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A righteous people, godly people, blessed by the Lord, so the nations would be drawn to them. But Paul tells us in Romans chapter 2 that the opposite occurred. He charged the Jews. He said, you boast in the law. Through the breaking of your law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Just as it's written. And listen carefully, folks. I've said this before, but the greatness of their sin culminated, strangely enough, not in crucifying the Messiah, but in rejecting the gospel afterwards. I want to camp here for a second. You want to listen? It is easier for God to forgive somebody for crucifying his son than refusing to believe the gospel about him. And because of it, God took a new people to himself, the church. But folks, this is the problem that a lot of commentators and Christians, here's where they make the mistake. It's true that we have become the inheritors of the promise of Israel, but from that they draw, therefore Israel must be done. It's gone and lost forever. They say, you know, the church has inherited the blessings to the Jews. We're the true children of Abraham. So God has finished with them forever. Israel is a nation. The first statement is true. We are the true children of Abraham. We've become heirs. But the problem is, is the Bible doesn't say that that's the end point. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 10, this is not just the Old Testament, it's the New Testament, we're almost done, stick with me. Paul says this, for I do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, of this mystery, so that you'd be wise in your own estimation. He's talking to Gentiles. If you don't get this right, you're going to be arrogant towards the Jews. And I don't want that to happen. And I can tell you as a person who reads lots of theologians and stuff, that has happened. Okay? He says, I don't want you to be wise in your own estimation. And here's why. That a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be saved, just as it's written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take their sins away. From the standpoint of the gospel, they're enemies for your sake. Jews oppose the gospel today. I was watching one of the best debates I ever saw on abortion. And it was a Christian guy, pro-life, against a woman from the American Civil Liberties Union. And as I was watching, I just kind of looked at her, I said, I will bet any amount of money this woman is Jewish. I looked her up, sure enough. I always find it ironic, some of the greatest promoters of abortion are Jews, considering what happened in the Holocaust. They're enemies of the gospel today. But I want you to hear the next line. But from the standpoint of God's choice, they're beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gift and the calling of God is irrevocable. And by the way, I didn't plan this, but what a tie-in. What was the point with David saying, don't harm my son Absalom? He may be in rebellion against me, but he's my son. That's where Israel is. In rebellion against God, but they're still beloved because of the fathers, and he intends to do something with this nation yet. And He gives His reason. Why? Not because they're special in their own mind, but because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. He can't break them, otherwise it'd be like breaking the covenant that He made with a rainbow. God has to keep His promises. Listen carefully. Israel will finally be redeemed, restored and replanted in her land from which David's son, Jesus the Messiah, will rule over the whole earth. And then Israel will be a blessing to the nations that God always intended, as it says in Zephaniah 3, 19-20. Behold, I'm going to deal with all your oppressors at that time. I will save the lame and gather the outcasts, and I will turn their shame, meaning Israel's, into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time, I will bring you in. Even at that time, I will gather you together. Indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord." Speaking of oppressors, that brings us to the last point. This one goes quickly. Peace and protection for the servants of the Lord. Throughout the history of Israel, they've had nothing but enemies surrounding them, even today. Even today, the very existence of Israel is as precarious as a fiddler on the roof. But not in the future, for God promises, in verse 14, in righteousness you will be established. You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear, and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you, it won't be from me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out the weapons for... In other words, God says, I'm the one who's ultimately behind any kind of destruction. He says, I bring out the weapons for its work, and I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that's formed against you will prosper. Not only physical assaults, but verbal assaults will not be tolerated. Look what it says in verse 16. And every tongue that accuses you in judgment, you will condemn. Think of all the condemnation and the shaming that Christians get all over the world today. Think of how much goes towards the Jew. I'll tell you what, you can find joke after... Almost anything that has to do with Israel or any connection, sometimes things are not connected. You read down, scroll down on the blogs, and within a short time, it's about the Jews taking over the world, they ruin everything, we need to exterminate them, blah, blah, blah. Hitler, you know, too bad he didn't succeed. They won't be making Jewish jokes in those days. By the way, for those who have strains of anti-Semitism, who are Christians, Is there Lord and Irishman? Jerusalem means city of peace. It's hardly ever experienced that, but it will be the city of peace when the Prince of Peace takes up his residence there. Of course, even before Jesus establishes peace in the world, we can experience it in our own lives, whatever our turmoil. The world may shudder and shake, but our lives are in God's hands, and where better for them to be? Of all the promises, blessings to Israel and to us as a church, God says, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from me, declares the Lord. I'm going to give you three things to close up with. They all have to do with why you should marvel. Well, I want you all to be Captain Marvels for a moment. Here's the first one. with these truths here. First of all, you should marvel at the wisdom of God. Paul did as he finished that big section in 9 to 11 in Romans. He said, oh, the unsearchable wisdom of God. God's worked it out. What he did was he called the people who were nobody's made them a nation. And at the point where they started thinking, yeah, it's because we're Jews, that's why we're going to heaven, he turned to the Gentiles. And at the point where the Gentiles say, well, no, Jews, it's all about the church, he's going to turn back to the Jews. And I think the point he's making is it's all by grace and mercy that any of us are saved. This is why self-righteous Christians are a contradiction in terms. To be a Christian, you have to plead no righteousness. and cling to the righteousness of Christ. Marvel at the wisdom of God. Secondly, marvel at the faithfulness of God in remembering and keeping His promises. Because in Christ Jesus, all the promises of God are yes and amen, and this is why you need to memorize these promises and bank your life upon them. Somebody sent me something from my IRA the other day, saying, well, we see some things happening in the market, may make your account worth almost nothing soon. And I thought, okay, well, I should probably check that, but I'm not too concerned, because where I put my treasure, they can't get it. Here's a third thing. Marvel at the expansiveness, big word, expansiveness of God's grace. What do I mean by that? I mean marvel at just how many people God is actually going to save. But hold on, Pastor. Aren't you the one who's always telling us that only a tiny fraction of the world's population is saved today? Yeah, probably less than 5% or thereabouts. And you're not a post-millennial, so you don't believe that the world will be converted before Jesus returns. All right. You guys, I saved the best for the last. Stick with me. I want you all to look back at the first two verses of this chapter. Because I wonder if anyone caught something in the text that I didn't touch on. We've identified who the barren woman is. Who is the barren woman? Israel. But did you catch something that maybe somebody didn't? How many women are mentioned in this chapter? How many? One? I see two. Shout for joy, O barren one, that's one woman, you who have borne no children. Break forth into joyful shouting and cry out loud, you who have not prevailed. For the sons of the desolate woman, that's the same as the barren one, will be more numerous than the sons of the, there's two mentioned in here. Now from what I just told you, if the barren woman is Israel, who would be the woman who's at present married to the Lord? Now I want you to catch something that just stupefies me, and this is the grand finale. Do you see what this passage teaches? It says, the children of the barren woman, Israel, will be more numerous than the children of the married woman. Listen to what it says. What it says is when Jesus returns and Israel is redeemed, the number of descendants from these Jewish survivors who become saved will be more than the total number of all the Christians that were saved from the day of Pentecost until the day that Jesus returns. And that's just one nation. I've had people get offended, bugged, and whatever, but I'm going to say it because I believe the Bible teaches it. This is the shock of the expansiveness of God's grace. Think about it. When the millennium comes, people's life expectancies are going to go back to before the Flood. So, you look really good for 906. I don't know, if people, you know, they were having babies at 150, I suppose you still can have them every nine months. Look at the brood they have. Sandy's groaning. Don't worry, Sandy. Those who are resurrected and either marry or are given a marriage. They don't have children. That's not our concern. Now, here's the thing. Keep in mind also, it tells us in Isaiah, in that day, it'll no longer be that a child lives but a few days and dies. For the youth will die at the age of 100. Anyone who dies before 100, they'll say he's cursed. So people are living into 800, 900 years. Probably most will live through the entire millennium. And the infant mortality rate will go to Zero. Do you know why there's been a population explosion in the last 56 years that has almost nothing to do with fertility rates? It has everything to do with mortality rates, infant mortality rates. So if you started out with X number of people, and almost everybody lives through the whole thing, and everyone's having like really, really, really, really big families, when it's said and done, in my estimation, we'll check on that day, it's gonna be into the hundreds of billions of people who are saved. And he took him outside, and he said, Abraham, look up at the stars. Count them if you can. So shall your descendants be. You want to hear about the expansiveness of God's grace? When it's said and done, there will be far more people, far, far more people saved than lost. So don't get discouraged now. Our job now is to gather in a few from every nation who will inherit the kingdom. But when it's said and done, Jesus who died will be satisfied and heaven and earth will be one. Our Father in God. Israel in the plan of God? Yeah, it's a big part of it, and it's an amazing plan. And only you could have worked out something like this. Father, I pray with all my heart that we would understand these things, that we would marvel at them, and knowing what is coming, we would live our life in accordance now so that we can inherit this kingdom and show ourselves worthy to be the heirs of it. Lord, so much of our sin, all of our sin, is below our dignity as the inheritors of this kingdom. So Father, we pray that we would be thrilled and filled with visions of what you are going to do for us, with us, and through us in the world to come. And Father, what you're going to do through Israel, because the Bible teaches that they will fill the earth with fruit. The conversion of the nations is the privilege of the people of Israel. So Father, bless your people even today. Give us grace, for we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. It's no longer than it normally is, and I thought it was really important. Why don't you stand? We're going to sing a song.