Enjoyed this again today, Isaiah chapter 22. Most of the verses in Isaiah that we really like are probably going to come more like Isaiah chapter 53. Now, not all of them. We've seen some wonderful verses already, but this is going to continue in the theme of the burdens that the prophet is bearing, and he's sharing them with us. I found this passage very fascinating once again, but it's not just from reading over it. You have to think about it. I found a word in verse two, thou art full of stirs, a tumultuous city. If you look in your Bible, that's the only time in the Bible that word is there. And I looked it up and I thought, well, when I told Nora this, I didn't plan to say this. There's three concordances. Now, the one that we use all the time is a computer, okay? But there's a strong for the strong, the crudence for the crude, and the youngs for the young. Well, the thing about the Young's concordance is kind of interesting because it breaks up the way the words are. So I went and reached for my Young's concordance and there's a list of words stir in there. and it breaks it up based on different parameters, but one of them tells us the meaning. Stir is cry, crying, or noise. So the city is full of the noise of crying, if you will. Now, if you don't just look into that, because it's not anywhere else in the Bible, If you don't look into that, then you miss the meaning of this. But chapter 22, the burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops, that art full of stirrers, a tumultuous city, a joyous city? Thy slain men are not slain with a sword, nor dead in battle. All thy rulers are fled together. They are bound by the archers. All that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. Therefore said I, lick away from me. I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of trouble and of treading down and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains. And Elam bear the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen and Kier uncovered the shield and it shall come to pass that thy choicest valley shall be full of chariots and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. Now this passage I think is speaking in particular immediately of two different events, and we'll look at the distinctions there this evening, and probably speaks to the forward days that these things are gonna happen once again, but we'll look at this. This is the burden of the valley of vision. Normally, you would get a view from a mountaintop. and this is a burden of the value of the vision. Why would you have the value of vision? Why would vision be in the valley? Well, vision is something you typically get from a high perspective, isn't it? In fact, Jesus looked over Jerusalem from the perspective of the Mount of Olives. Moses looked at the new land from the top of Mount Nebo, but yet this is a valley of vision. Valleys usually indicate sorrow, humiliation, or death. Valleys, remember, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that's not exactly a great place to be walking. It's the valley of the shadow of death, so that even if death is not right there, its presence is felt right there. It's a place of humiliation, sorrow, or death. Jerusalem, in this place seems to be a burden or a misery to the prophets. Since this previews a coming battle and previews coming sorrow, that's why it's appropriate to be in a valley. This is a burden, a prophecy as to a pending attack upon Jerusalem. an attack that is going to come. That's why this is a burden, and I got to thinking about several different perspectives that I want to look at here tonight, but it's an attack upon Jerusalem. The immediate one was Sennacherib. That's one that is very interesting because that's where 185,000 were killed in the night. Remember that? One angel killed 185,000 soldiers in a night, and Sennacherib was turned around because that was Assyria. Israel, when he's talking about Jerusalem, he's talking about Judah. Judah was not carried captive by Assyria, although Assyria tried to attack them. It was Babylon or Chaldea that took them captive, and this passage speaks about those people dying in battle. So I think it probably speaks of both of them, but what I found very interesting was that Sennacherib came against Judah, this is in the 14th year of Hezekiah. Now, I don't know if anyone else is as crazy as I am, but I like to look at what's going on concurrently. For one thing, you know that Isaiah is living at the same time, is concurrent with Hezekiah, good king. Well, this is the 14th year of Hezekiah. How many of you remember how long Hezekiah reigned? He reigned 29 years. He started at 25, reigned 29 years, but what else about the length of his reign? It was extended by 15 years. So how many years of his reign was it that he was sick unto death? Right at the time that Sennacherib attacked them. That's purely looking at the numbers in the Bible. So, I mean, it might be within six months because it's the same year, and so the occasion of all of this is concurrent with the time that He was told that he was going to die, and God gave him 15 more years. All that's very interesting to me, and we'll look at this later. You can look at 2 Chronicles 32, and also 2 Kings 18 and 19. 18 and 19 is Assyria, and 2 Chronicles 32 is a similar passage. But this is the valley of vision. Remember, this is a burden of the valley of vision. You know, what we wanna make sure we remember, and I think we see this ourselves, and we think about it, and I commented on it over and over, just think about it. You read the Bible, what's coming ahead? People say, and I know politically people say America's best days are ahead of them. And from a standpoint of political things, right now I have a little bit of encouragement that way. But I also know this, we don't see mass revivals, do we? We don't see people sorry for their sins, and that's exactly what's going on here. I mean, they're in this city of Jerusalem, which is the city of David. It's the place that God chose to put his name there, and they're being surrounded, and yet there's not the slightest bit of repentance there. And the same thing is true of our country and probably all around the world, although some places are certainly far more enlightened than we are, I think. But this is a burden, so if you're the prophet that speaks these things, they're going to come. What would you be seeing? You would be seeing the horrors of war and death. And remember, I don't think I'm ahead of myself, remember this, Isaiah told the people of Jerusalem, told the king, said, if you'll, but this is a little bit later on, told the king, if you will surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, you'll spare your lives. but they wouldn't surrender. If you run, you'll die. And they ran and they died. So you know what the prophet's gonna be telling them? This is the solution. God's trying to get ahold of your heart. And they wouldn't listen. And I suspect that a whole bunch of this vision, because it is vision and it's a burden, he sees what lies ahead. I don't know about you, but sometimes it'd be interesting to see what's gonna happen tomorrow, but most of the time I think it would be very unhandy. Don't you think? And so this is the valley of vision. Let's pray. Lord, would you bless our time together again today? Lord, it's already been prayed, and I know each and every one's probably prayed about it. Lord, we wanna hear from you in your Bible. Your Bible tells us that Jesus is on every page of scripture because Jesus started it, Moses, and the prophets, which is what we're looking at, and he spoke all the things in the scriptures concerning himself. Lord, help us to be better when we leave this place and when we came in, maybe more determined, maybe our hearts softer, and maybe more determined to try to soften the hearts of those around us. But Lord, in every way, may your will be accomplished tonight in Jesus' name, amen. the valley of vision. You see, first of all, the burden of the valley, a burden, something heavy that you bear, isn't it? The burdening of the valley of vision, what aileth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops, thou art full of stirs. That is full of crying and noise and all of these things. It's an unsettled place. And it goes on and speaks other words like that. all thy rulers are fled together. It is a horrible time that he's looking at. And you know what the first thing you're gonna look at is? It's a city that panic is setting in. Panic is setting in. I know this. I've been in a few places. I'm not normally prone to panic. But I've been in a few places. I said we went down into a cave in North Carolina somewhere, I think it was. And if you go down far enough into the earth, same thing happened when we went into a deserted missile silo in central Washington. When you get down there, you have lights and everything. You turn off the lights, and it's a darkness you never feel on top of the ground. And I could feel a panic coming up in me. And I mean, I knew intellectually, I knew, hey, I've got a flashlight here and all that. But you could feel that panic coming up. That's because you really don't know where to put a foot. You don't know if that next step is gonna be 300 feet deep or not. You don't know that stuff. And it's far better there than it is seeing your loved ones threatened by an assaulting force. And you don't know what's going on. the panic is shown this way, what Elothee, now that thou art holy, gone up to the housetops. They're going to the tops, on top of their roof, that they might have a better vision, a more clear vision. They might see things before it gets there. They might see the timing. How much time do we have? Remember, that's what the watchmen all did in the Old Testament when they fought a battle outside town. They would be watching from the towers to see if that messenger was coming and they'd put the people, not that were myopic, they'd put the people that could see a long ways away. so they could see that someone was coming, and then they'd identify by their gate if they probably were bearing good news or bad news. Remember that? They're going up to the tops of the houses. Some of it might be curiosity. Now, we see when a Sennacherib attacked that Hezekiah apologized for ceasing to give tribute. And they took the gold off the doors in the temple. That just bothers me every time I read that. And they surrendered some of their valuables to try to stave off destruction because physically they knew they were not a match for the Assyrians coming from the north. And not only were they not a match, those were not nice, pleasant people. So they were curious as they're up there. And they, from the top of the houses, they prepared, they wanted to see what preparation they could make. Look at 2 Chronicles 32, 2 Chronicles chapter 32, and remember 2 Chronicles is the last of the books before the return from captivity. which is, in other words, the 70 years are in between. But 2 Chronicles chapter 32, you see them making some preparations. It's kind of interesting to see these things. In 2 Chronicles 32, and I didn't specify each verse, but You remember this. It says in verse one, after these things and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came and entered into Judah and encamped against the fenced cities and thought to win them for himself. Hezekiah saw this. And what did he do? He took counsel, verse three, with his princes, his mighty men, to stop the waters of the fountains. In other words, they figured they were gonna be besieged. So they stopped the fountains. And I saw in another place where they took parts off their homes so they could build up the wall around them and they did everything they could to withstand the siege. Protect their water supply and all of this they made arrows and spears and all of this stuff. And verse 7, be strong and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. Isn't that a great verse? Now who is he speaking to? He took counsel in verse three with mighty men. He set captains of war in verse six. He spoke comfortably to them. And Hezekiah is telling them, be strong and courageous because there are far more with us than with him. Now, later on, he says, when that letter, open letter came to him from Sennacherib that said, just criticized them, made fun of them. He said, yeah, it's true. We don't have a strength against them. But he says, hey, there's more with us than with them. You know what you see from that is that was a rebellious people with a good king. and the good king couldn't spare the rebellious people. Now, yes, it was delayed because the king laid it out before God, and God said in the night, 185,000 soldiers were killed, and God had told him that you'll not have to fight, and the leader, Sennacherib, would go back and be killed by his own people. but they were on top of the roofs and they could determine what preparations to make. But look at the tumult that's below. Thou art full of stirs, a tumultuous city. That's where I was looking for a minute ago, a joyous city. It's tumultuous. That means that there's all kinds of volatile things going on, but it's also a city that rejoices. Now, Whether the rejoicing is those people that are confident that God will deliver them once again, or if it's a memory of the times of joy and rejoicing they had, whatever it might be, it might be children playing because children are children. Even if war goes on around them, I'm fairly certain they just might adjust some things, right? But it's a tumultuous time. That's why this is a burden that he's bearing. That's why it's a burden. You know, we preach on the street. We preach, but we knock on doors and speak to people individually, and we see a collective disinterest in spiritual things. That's exactly the same thing here. Wouldn't you have loved to be able to sit under Isaiah's preaching? I believe he's the one that says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Show my people their sin and the goodness of God. He's bearing a burden. They're surrounded. It looks like it's a hopeless situation. And it's a burden upon him. Well, I'll tell you what, probably he would prefer to see them go into captivity and repent than be spared and continue in evil sin. Now, it doesn't say that. But wouldn't you love to see the folks you pray for repent and come back? No, you prefer not to see them going into a hard time. But boy, it's when you get to the bottom and you have to dig down to go any deeper, that's where some people flat on their back finally look up. and this is a burden he's bearing. They are a joyous people. Maybe they're hopeful that the tribute that Hezekiah gave to Sennacherib would affect his retreat. But they're joyous, but the tumult, certainly it's a place that's unsettled. Certainly it's a place that's unsettled. Thy slain men are not slain with a sword, nor dead in battle. They're slain, but not with swords. We know what goes on there. Famine and pestilence was all around them. And when they're besieged, they can't do their normal routine of cleanliness and all of those things. I mean, what would happen if a city sewer system backed up? Doesn't matter how modern our world is. I read this about the Burj Khalifa. I might have said this before. You know that huge tower in Middle East somewhere? You know what I'm talking about? It's one of those paradises. Come on, someone tell me. Nora, what am I thinking? The Burj Khalifa is this huge tower up there where they made a city in the middle of nowhere. And I read when they made that tower, they didn't have any sewage system. So every morning, the trucks line up to pump out the night's sewage from before, and they take it somewhere and dump it. Now, I read that. I don't know if they've fixed that or not. but a modern building that doesn't have that simple thing, it would kind of make you not want to go to that motel, as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure they were making it cleaner, it wouldn't be marketable, but 3,000 years ago? I know they didn't have city sewer systems and all that, but I also know this, when everything's disrupted and your life's on the line, not everything works the way you're used to it. It's tumultuous. Famine and pestilence was all around them. And that's from the coming siege. There were probably stretches to the siege. This passage probably stretches to the siege under Nebuchadnezzar. Look at Jeremiah 14, 18. Jeremiah 14, 18. And it's fun to look at the parallel passages here. Jeremiah 14, 18. The Bible says, And if I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword. And if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine. Yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. That's exactly depressing, isn't it? Look at chapter 38, verse 2. This is what happens in a siege, whether this is the same siege or not, it's what happens during a siege in Jeremiah 38, verse 2. Thus saith the Lord, he that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword. by the famine, by the pestilence. If you stay in the city, now this one's Babylon's army, that's why I believe it's speaking of both of them, by the famine and by pestilence. But he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live, for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live. Well that's not exactly a great choice, is it? You can stay here in the city and die either by the sword or by famine or pestilence. Get some horrible sickness that robs you of your life or be overrun and killed. Or you can flee and turn yourself into the Chaldeans who are not known as nice people. That's the burden that Isaiah is bearing, isn't it? And of course, that's including with Jeremiah as well, but this probably does stretch all the way to the siege under Nebuchadnezzar, where famine and pestilence were the main causes of death. And verse three, all thy rulers are fled together. Now we know this, that under Nebuchadnezzar, when Nebuchadnezzar overran the city, that the rulers, contrary to the prophet's predictions, the rulers fled the city. And what'd they do when they caught the king? They, I mean, imagine this. When they caught the king and they caught his sons, they exterminated the sons and then blinded the dad. So the last thing he ever saw in this life was the death of his sons. That's because they didn't do what the prophet said. The prophet is saying, and what is that? I know the thoughts that I think toward the thoughts of peace and not of evil to bring the unexpected end. What was that? Jeremiah 32, I think it is, or 33. When you look at the context of that, that is they've refused repentance and they're going into a captivity. And the prophet says, God wants to bless you, but you won't let him. He wants to bring about good things in your life and you won't let him. And so they're going into captivity and God will use the captivity because the Bible says that Nebuchadnezzar was God's servant. Now, isn't that interesting? The Bible also tells us that the Chaldeans were more evil, an evil generation greater than Israel. And God used them to chasten Israel, his people, and then chasten Babylon. You know, God has ways past finding out. His ways are higher than our ways. And we get a glimpse of it here. So they fled. They fled, probably bound, surrounded by archers. They're captured. And everyone who fled. Now, we know this. God turned the Assyrian away. 185,000 died in the night. But Nebuchadnezzar overwhelmed them shortly later. And if you tried to flee, it brought death. If he tried to flee, it brought death. Now God warned of judgment, but spared them under Sennacherib. They hadn't repented. You know what's funny about God? It's just like when David fought Goliath, and when Hezekiah, and I think later on Josiah, laid that letter out before God. Do you know what happened? This was God protecting His name. His name. Isn't it a sad thing that even though now people's language is so much more vulgar, where you wouldn't even want to read it yourself, let alone have it read on the news. I saw some spewing of Hunter Biden. If he's the smartest guy Joe's ever met, I know he was demented. Okay. But the poison that came out of his mouth, it's just vile and filthy and all that. But typically, people just use God's name in vain. And I just like the fact that David had that stone in his sling and he says, you come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God Almighty that you've blasphemed. And I'm gonna take this, I'm gonna take your head off. and exactly did that, he ran toward Goliath. There's everything about David as a soldier you like, isn't there? He ran toward the battle, most likely as a teenager. God, Nebuchadnezzar overwhelmed them. God warned of judgment, but spared them under Sennacherib. The people repented not and were captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Now think about that. God warned them of the judgment. That's maybe while they were on the roof types. That's the first application. And God turned them away. And the leaders of the army of the Assyrians, they never took over Judah. They took over the Northern kingdom. They didn't take over Judah, but they didn't learn their lesson. Hey, they were being surrounded and overwhelmed by Assyria. They had a good king that laid it out before God and God delivered them. And the same prophet's message, other prophets' same message, still didn't change their hearts. You know why your Bible says, keep your heart with all diligence, out of the issues of life? What do you suppose David meant when he says, created me a clean heart, oh God? sin poisons you, doesn't it? Hey, you're a saint and you're born again today, but if you allow sin into your life, it'll, besides all the collateral damage it does, it'll rob you of your joy. Wouldn't you just rather have the joy of the Lord as your strength? Because you can go through some really rough times. in the strength of the Lord. People repented not, were captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Today God warns us in the same way of sin. Our temptation comes from the world, the flesh, the devil, doesn't it? And in the Old Testament, you know, 2 Chronicles 7, 14, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my, you know the passage, repentance, God's favor toward us starts with God's people, repentance. In the New Testament, in 1 Peter 4, 17, judgment must begin at the house of God. And you know, today, People don't want to hear about sin. They don't want to hear about sin. They want to go to church and feel good and have, I guess, what is it, sunflowers and flowers when they walk out. But the day you heard about your sinful condition, you trusted Christ, that was almost all negative except the positive of being saved. but to find out you're a sinner. I saw a post in where someone had like silver dollars only had the different 10 commandments on it. Like this one says, thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not bear false witness. I thought, man, that'd be kind of fun to have, wouldn't it? So here's a coin. It says, you'll not bear false witness. Have you ever lied? Here's one that says, thou shalt not steal. Have you ever stolen? Not much. I mean, that might be kind of an interesting thing. So God warns us of sin. but he deals especially with his people, and he gave so many chances to Judah, to the children of Israel, didn't he? Verse four, therefore said, I look away from me, I will weep bitterly. This is where you see the heart of Isaiah. I really look forward to seeing these prophets. And I don't have that verse, you might find it, but it says that in the, in the millennium will sit down, well it says the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, two different passages, he'll sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Won't be interesting to sit down with them. I don't know if he'll have coffee, it won't be Starbucks probably. But I don't know if you'll have, I don't know what it'll be, but you'll sit down with him and you wonder what heaven will be like. You open your Bible and there are hundreds if not thousands of people you'd love to talk to. Wouldn't you love to talk to the thief on the cross that repented? Wouldn't you love to talk with him? Just think about the people you could spend eternity visiting with. It probably makes us feel kind of insignificant in our day, doesn't it? He speaks of this sorrow and we think of Jeremiah. The Bible tells us that Jesus said to the Pharisees, which of the prophets have you not killed? From the first all the way to the last, which in other words, they probably killed, rejected and killed all the prophets. And yet you have Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. You have Ezekiel who had to bury his wife. You have Isaiah sitting down and weeping for what's coming upon his own people. It's a burden that produces bitter weeping. And what does the Bible tell us? He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. I am certain In my own heart, my heart's not always broken like it should be for the lost out there. And yet there's something about the power you get from prayer and fasting, from weeping for them, and from just all those spiritual things that are a blessing, and you see Isaiah weeping for them. I don't know how much he saw. I suspect he saw more than we see in those scriptures, don't you? I don't have a verse for that, but how much would he see compared to what he wrote down? How much did John see when he wrote down when God told him, okay, you write? How much did he see? Reading about it was not the same thing as experiencing it. Reading about the horrors of war is not the same thing as experiencing it. I can't even imagine experiencing that. I'm glad I don't have to. I mean, I'm glad that I didn't have to experience it. I knew too many people that came back from Vietnam and they were certainly changed and they're still changed. I had a guy that would never talk about it. He worked for the city of Boise and he was a water inspector. And everyone said, hey, he'll never talk about Vietnam. And this was, he had probably not been home a year. And one day at lunch, he came and sat down with us and talked. He took over a machine gun, a BAR I think it was, a light machine gun during the Tet Offensive. That's when the Viet Cong just sent hordes of people after the army. And most of them weren't even armed with anything but knives and sticks and stones. And he sat at a machine gun a whole day. I think it was more than one whole day. Now, they sent everything at him. I don't want to be too explicit. but they would put a hand grenade in children's hands. Can you imagine the one sitting behind that gun? It's no wonder he didn't talk about it. No wonder. Well, reading about it was not the same thing as experiencing about it. Seeing in a vision is not the same thing as experiencing is it? But the burden produces bitter weeping. that are weeping. Zechariah 12, when Israel finally repents, they want to weep by themselves. Zechariah 12, the family, the house of David apart, the family, the house of Nathan apart. In other words, the royal line, the prophetic line, the priestly line, the common line, they all weep by themselves. That's what he's probably weeping about. Rebellion, look at verse four. I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me. In other words, it's a weeping that's not gonna be comforted easily because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. Because of the spoiling, you know what spoiling is. Spoiling is you go and take whatever's of value. You've won. They're slaves, whether they're alive or dead, you can take what you want. but it says the daughter of my people. You know, you can see the suffering that men and the sacrifice men make in war, and it's not a pleasant thing, but think about it when it comes to the daughters. And where did this all come from? Because they would not repent. When the prophets were sent to them, they killed the prophets, rejected the prophets, He wept alone. Rebellion brings spoiling. The most precious suffer when there's spiritual rebellion. Think about if the Lord tarries, and that's from our perspective, not his, 50 years from now, I'll be in heaven, okay? But if we went down the road 50 years, if we could see 50 years ahead, you know, the left is going to continue to destroy our country. We have a reprieve right now maybe, but they're making war in the streets just to make such an upheaval that they hope that's a chance to change the direction. They'll destroy our country and every country in this world. Doesn't that make you weep? Isn't it nice that we have the freedom to gather? Isn't it amazing that people who could gather don't? Isn't it amazing that the promises that you hold precious and dear, the comfort that comes from God, the peace, the completion you get in Jesus, all those things that are precious to you are a mystery to the people out there. It doesn't matter what you say, they don't care. Rebellion brings the spoiling of not just the military, but even the youngest and most vulnerable. And verse five, for it is a day of trouble. Well, I guess so. And of treading down of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains. Well, I don't believe Assyria broke the walls down, but certainly the Chaldeans did. They came in and broke down the walls. I think I said this Sunday, I read a verse, I should have brought it tonight. And it says that if they'd repented, they wouldn't have had to lose their city. That means the temple that Solomon built could still be standing, but they wouldn't repent. I've read the Bible many times, I don't remember writing that verse down. That's why you keep reading your Bible. Treading down, being under the foot of your enemies. Perplexity by the Lord in the Valley of Vision. You know, whether the people are perplexed or God, well, I know God doesn't get perplexed. But don't you wonder why people would trade the misery and the anguish of this world for the peace that comes in Jesus? The peace that comes without understanding, that passes understanding, is not precious to most people. They think their sin is too good. Why would you expect people to think otherwise of sin when people today just don't have time for the grace of God? And people that even name the name of Christ don't do what they know they should do and do what they know they shouldn't. Apart from the grace of God, we're in the same group, aren't we? Perplexity, breaking walls, that's a breach to the walls. That is the confidence you had that you actually built up. They're broken and they cry to the mountains despite warning after warning after warning. They were warned and told they didn't have to go through that. He just wanted them to repent. Think about it. If you minister to anybody, like in your family or anything, the cumulative effect of bad decisions poisons generations to come. That's a sad thing, isn't it? Isn't it funny that kids we bring in on the bus today have never heard of Adam and Eve? Have never heard the stories that you loved hearing in VBS Oh, say 10 or 20 years ago. They've never heard of those things. And this is supposedly a Christian country. Verses six and seven is conquest. Elam bear the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen and Kier uncovered the shield. This is conquest. Elam is the Persians. They were then subject to the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. But remember, it's the Persians, and by the way, Chir is the Medes. They're the ones that overthrew Belshazzar in the book of Daniel. They were biding their time. They built up a kingdom and overthrew Babylon. Verse seven, it shall come to pass that thy choicest valley shall be full of chariots. Well, they weren't their chariots. A chariot was made for the valley. See it in Judges. You see it here in Isaiah. The valleys are gonna be filled with chariots of men and horsemen. And Kier uncovered the shield. They would take special care of their weapons of war as well. The shield would be a very important weapon if you're going out in the field, wouldn't it? So they'd uncover that shield and they'd use that shield. It would be there for their use in war. Overwhelming force. And the children of Israel did everything, everything except turn to the Lord. Hey, they watched and tried to see the rebels coming. They watched to try to be prepared and they rebuilt their walls and they did all these things and they just wouldn't turn to the Lord. They watched as Isaiah wept for them. They listened as Isaiah spoke to them. It could have been plainer. And the judgment still fell, didn't it? I wonder what's going to happen a moment or two after our rapture. There are folks that publish stuff all the time about how the rapture is not in the Bible and all that. You know, the word rapture is not there. But the whole point of it is it's a mystery, isn't it? We'll all be changed in a moment. And we don't have to weep and all the verses if I preached on the rapture today. But it's almost like I wonder how many people really are gonna be missing. Wonder how many churches will be open. Probably most of the people be in every Mormon church. I saw someone put a microphone in front of a woman who's trying to promote Mormonism. Said, listen, I got three minutes to live, what should I do? She had absolutely no answer. Absolutely no answer. Well, we believe that there is an eternal glory. No, no, no. Now I got two minutes. What do I have to do? Lots of people that worship under the guise of religion, their services will be just as full. I don't know how many it's going to be. I'm just glad I'm going to be gone. Aren't you? Aren't you glad you're going to be gone? I also want to take advantage of the opportunity to take others with me. That's what we need. And Isaiah is a far more eloquent preacher than I am, than probably anyone of our day. And he wasn't met with a great deal of success, but one day all Israel is going to be saved. Isn't that a blessing? Let's pray.