Let us call upon the name of our covenant God in congregational prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, what a wonderful, glorious, and miraculous truth, that all Thy paths are mercy and truth, unto such as keep Thy covenant and Thy testimonies. All Thy paths are mercy and truth, And we thank thee for the wonder of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is that one who has kept thy covenant and thy testimonies, and who has kept thy covenant and thy testimonies even in the receiving to himself our sin, so that he cried in the psalm as the sweet psalmist of Israel, for thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity. For it is great, and indeed great was the iniquity of our Savior, not because he himself had sinned, for all his ways were perfect, and all his activity, and every thought, and every word was pure and true, in all things obeying thee perfectly according to thy law. But his iniquity was great, For he stood under the burden of our sin and guilt, with our sin so really imputed unto him before thy face and by thy righteous judgment, that our Lord himself could call out for the pardon of his iniquity, which was great. And we thank thee that thou hast indeed pardoned his iniquity, which was our iniquities laid upon him, and that Thou hast pardoned him through his own blood, through that perfect sacrifice that exactly answered to Thy righteous judgment, so that in the death of our Lord upon the cross there was a true atonement, a true covering of sins, and that in our Lord's death we have received double, from Thy hand for all our sins, that is, Thou hast given to us a Savior and a Mediator, whose blood exactly answers to every sin we have ever committed. We thank Thee, then, Father, that in the Lord Jesus Christ all our iniquities have been pardoned, and we thank Thee that in the Lord Jesus Christ all Thy paths are mercy and truth unto us. What a wonder, what a tremendous, miraculous wonder of Thy grace that Thou, the living God, shouldest keep covenant with Thy people and show us Thy secret and show us Thy covenant. We pray then also, Father, that Thou will give us the joy and the comfort of this gospel, that Thou will cause us to know our reconciliation unto Thee and Thou wilt cause us to see with our eyes that is the eye of faith, Thy faithfulness to Thy promise and to Thy people. Wilt Thou open our ear to hear the tidings that resound from heaven, which tidings are our salvation through Jesus Christ? We pray that Thou wilt give us Thy Spirit this evening, that we might hear Thy word and be glad. Bless also Thy servant, that he might speak Thy word. We pray that He may come from Canaan with the grapes of Thy grace upon His shoulders and the pomegranates of our salvation in His hands, and may speak unto us, Thus saith the Lord, The land of Canaan is a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord hath said, and He shall give it us. And wilt Thou keep Thy servant from the foolish report of the fearful, that the way of Thy church is a way of giants, and a way of death, and a way of loss, and that therefore we should scatter and save our life. We pray, Father, that the report that we hear may be heaven's report, and Thy own word, and cause that we might receive that report with faith, and that we might hear it by the operation of Thy Spirit, and that we might not be as Israel, who, hearing of the glories of heaven and yet hearing of the impossibility of the way into Canaan, were afraid and sought to flee back into Egypt and to have a home again amongst the leeks and the garlic and the known things and the earthly life that at least was expected. We beseech Thee, Father, that Thou will give us the hearing of faith that we might see all the foes, yea, even the giants of sin, and Satan, and the world, and the false church, and our flesh arrayed against us, and cause us, even seeing the loss, and the suffering, and the narrowness of the way, to say by faith, but this way is good, for this way is Jesus Christ, and what is there for us in all the world but Jesus Christ and his riches? We pray, Father, for thy spirit and for thy gospel, for by thy spirit and word alone can we know and say such things. We pray that thou will remember our elders also and their oversight of the preaching of the gospel this day. Will thou cause them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, that they themselves may be filled with that gospel, that they may understand it, that they may be able to discern it and to discern the lie as well, and then cause them as watchmen on the walls to see to it that no enemy finds his way into the pulpit, but that the preaching of the gospel may be pure. We pray, Father, that Thou will bless our elders also as they bear the slings and the arrows of the foe, as they stand upon their posts, We pray, Father, that Thou wilt strengthen them, for in the end there is no man that can be a watchman, and there is no man who can discern the things of heaven from the things of this earth. But this, too, is a gift of Thy Spirit to our elders, and so, Father, wilt Thou bestow that gift upon them. Remember our deacons, give unto them the joy of their salvation. Will thou cause them to rejoice in its riches and to plumb the depths, the infinite depths of thy mercy. Will thou cause our deacons to overflow in their own hearts with the riches of salvation, that they may go to those who are in need, to those who are poor and blind and naked, and may tell them such things as they have heard in the kingdom, that for all who are poor and blind and naked, there are riches and clothing and sight that are given us from the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Father, that thou will teach all of us through this office of the deacons what we are by nature, that we may not look upon other men and say about them, but we are better and have always been better and always shall be. but that seeing other men may say, and yet I know my heart, so that I know myself as the chief of sinners. We know, Father, that the healthy have no need of the physician, that those who are rich have no need of the king's riches, that those who can see and those who are alive have no need of the balm and eyesalve of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so wilt thou teach us that we are the poor and the blind and the naked, and wilt thou give unto us the riches and eyesalve and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that thou will remember also the school that thou hast given unto us. We stand at the beginning of a new year of education in Pavilion Christian, and we stand as those who simply cannot take in the abundance of thy riches to us. We cannot fathom it. We can see it. We understand what thou hast done and are thankful for it, but it is more than we can then we can understand, for thou hast given unto us a school for the rearing of our covenant seed, even as thou hast given unto us a congregation in which we might assemble and worship each week. And thou hast given these things to those who have no power, who have no might, who have no standing, who have no worthiness of all these things, and yet here they are. We thank Thee, Father, for Thou hast done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Thou hast turned our captivity. Thou hast broken our bands asunder. Thou hast brought us into the land flowing with milk and honey. We pray, Father, that Thou wilt continue to provide for us. We pray that Thou will remember our teachers in the school and strengthen them day by day for their standing in the place of parents We pray also that thou will remember our covenant seed on whose behalf the school has been established. Will thou teach our seed, especially in these days, these last days, when the love of many waxes cold, and when iniquity abounds, and when men think to change times and seasons and laws, in these days when apostasy is rampant so that even those churches that once had a name for being sound and faithful and true have apostatized and traded in the covenant inheritance of the gospel of grace for the pottage of man's empty works. We pray, Father, that thou wilt preserve us in these days, preserve our children and strengthen them We thank thee that thou art the good shepherd, and that thou dost carry the lambs in thine arm, and dost bear them in thy bosom, and dost gently lead those that are with young. Thou remember also all of those who give their lives and their time and themselves for the sake of the school and the covenant education, who do so in ways that might be visible, but many in ways that are not visible. We pray, Father, that Thou will remember us, that Thou will strengthen us, for we are weak. We pray, Father, that thou wilt build our house and that thou wilt keep our city. For except thou dost build the house, they labor in vain that build it. And except thou dost keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. We pray also that thou wilt remember the children of our member. who attend Heritage Christian School, will thou bless them and keep them. We thank thee, Father, that thou art a good shepherd and that thou dost indeed carry the lambs in thine arm and hold them in thy bosom. May this be our comfort and our peace as we bear one another's burdens. We pray that thou will forgive the sins we have committed, washing them away in our Savior's blood. We thank thee for him. Will thou give to us also the fruit of our salvation and a life of godliness. We pray, Father, that we might show forth the power of thy grace as we walk in all the good works which thou hast before ordained that we should walk in. We pray that thou will cause us to be a light in this world, that men may see our good works, which are from thee and are of no account ours, and that they might then glorify thee, our Father in heaven. Will thou hear our prayer, bless our worship, cause it to redound to the glory of thy name and to the comfort of our souls. These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen. We worship the Lord now in the giving of our offerings. The first offering this evening will be for the evangelism fund and the second will be for the school fund. We return to psalter number 415 and sing now stanzas 7 and 8, 7 and 8 of 415. ♪ Yea, the secret of Jehovah ♪ ♪ Cleanseth those who fear his name ♪ With his friends in tender mercy, He his covenant will maintain. With a confidence complete, Toward the Lord my eyes are turning, From the left he'll walk my feet. He will not despise my yearning. Turn thou unto me in mercy, have compassion distressed and lonely, waves of trouble o'er me roll. Clear echoes beset my heart, clear endows in bitterness sense. Thou whom I deliver art, bring me out of my distress. We turn in God's Word tonight to Isaiah 21. Isaiah 21. Our text is verses 11 and 12. We'll begin our reading with that text, those two verses, and then page back and forth to see the context of our text. Isaiah 21, verses 11 and 12. the burden of Duma. He calleth to me out of seer, watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye. Return, come. This text sits in the midst of several burdens to nations round about Israel. If we turn back to chapter 13, we find that immediately prior to this, the Lord had come to that glorious promise to Israel of their great salvation in the day of Jesus Christ. Chapter 12, verse 1, for example, and in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Isaiah had been warning the people of God concerning their sins of idolatry and has given them the great promise of the gospel that Jehovah is merciful to his people in the servant that he will send. which servant is the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, having spoken salvation to his people, God begins in chapter 13 to Isaiah to turn to several of the nations that surrounded Israel and to speak a burden or a revelation or a prophecy against them. And so we have in Isaiah 13, verse 1, the burden of Babylon. That burden continues in chapter 14 until we come to chapter 15, the burden of Moab, now another country surrounding Israel. That continues in chapter 16 and then chapter 17, the burden of Damascus, that capital of the nation of Assyria. That continues in 18 and then we come to chapter 19, the burden of Egypt. That continues through 20, and then we come to our chapter 21, where there are three burdens. First of all, verse 1, the burden of the desert of the sea. Then in verse 11, the burden of Duma. And then in verse 13, the burden upon Arabia. That continues then in chapter 22 with the burden of the Valley of Vision, until chapter 23, the burden of Tyre. In all of these burdens, all of these prophecies that the Lord spoke to these nations surrounding Israel, He spoke of the destruction of those nations for the comfort of His people, because His people were beset by those nations round about. Their situation in the world was perilous and tenuous according to the eye of flesh. But God spoke of the destruction of all of these other nations as the promise to his people, my people, I will save you and I am for you, I will protect you. And then that issues into chapter 24 and the great prophecy that continues for several chapters of the Lord's coming for judgment and in that the salvation of God's people. Our passage lies right in the midst of all of those burdens and is, in fact, the burden of God to Edom. And we'll see how we know that's Edom in a moment. That is the burden of Duma. Because this is the burden of Edom, then, let's turn to the book of Obadiah next, the Old Testament minor prophet Obadiah. who wrote a one-chapter prophecy, and look at a couple of verses that describe the appearance of Edom. In our text, we have the burden of Edom, but Edom, according to the flesh, appeared different than to the eye of faith. She was strong and powerful. In that Old Testament prophet Obadiah, we read this in verse one, the vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom. And now a description of Edom in verses three and four. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, hence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." In the rest of Obadiah, God lists some of the sins of Edom, especially verse 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. Edom was the nation that arose from Esau. And Israel was the nation that arose from Jacob, so that when Edom, at various times throughout her history, would fight against Israel, that was Esau fighting against Jacob. And for their opposition to his people, God would destroy Edom. We turn now back to our text, Isaiah 21. verses 11 and 12, and read the text one more time. Isaiah 21, verses 11 and 12. The burden of Duma. He calleth to me out of seer. Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire ye. Return, come. This is the word of our covenant God. May he bless it to our hearts this evening. Beloved congregation and our Lord Jesus Christ, in the text before us we have the burden of Duma. And that word burden does not mean, as we might first think, some weight of judgment upon Duma, although there certainly is a weight of judgment upon Duma. But that word burden here means a necessary revelation of Jehovah God about Duma, concerning Duma. What we have here is the revelation of Jehovah God himself concerning the events that shall befall this Duma. And that revelation of Jehovah God was absolutely necessary. This revelation of Jehovah could not be silenced. This revelation must be spoken. That's the significance of the word burden. The word burden here just means a revelation, but it's described as a burden because it was a burden laid upon Isaiah. A burden laid upon the watchman. A burden laid upon that prophet. It was a word of the Lord that had to be spoken. And the prophet could only unburden himself of that revelation by speaking that revelation. And by using that word burden, then, God teaches the church, you need to hear this. You, church of Jesus Christ, you need to hear this. So much do you need to hear this, that I laid it as a burden upon my servant Isaiah, so that he had to speak it, he had to unburden himself. by proclaiming this word against Duma. And you must hear this word concerning Duma for your own comfort and your own peace and your own safety and security in the gospel of salvation that I have proclaimed to you. This word then was for Israel's sake. It was a word about Duma, about Edom, but it was a word for the sake of Israel, for Israel's instruction and comfort, which means that this is a word for remnant instruction and comfort this evening as well. Isaiah calls this the burden of Duma or the burden concerning Duma. Duma in the passage is Edom. Edom and Duma are identical. There is some debate about that. There is an attempt by some to try to locate a place called Duma, which investigation always comes up empty and with mere speculation as the result. But in the passage, it's very clear that Duma is not meant to be a different place than Edom, but actually is that nation of Edom and that land of Edom. That's evident in the first place from the fact that a voice cries out of seer. And Seir was that borderland between Israel and Edom to the south of Israel. And that borderland is often referred to as Edom. So that in Seir here, which represented the stronghold of Edom and the place that they dwelt, we have a reference to Edom. And in the second place, we can see that Duma is Edom when you listen to the sound of those two nations, Duma, Edom. What the prophet has done here is make a play on words by rearranging the sounds of Edom to come up with the name Duma. The name Edom, those sounds in that order, those letters in that order means red, like Esau was red. The name Duma means empty and desolate, and a place of utter lack. And there the prophet, by a play on these sounds, taking that first vowel sound, e, or e from Edom, and moving it to the end, Duma, has revealed the spiritual reality of that place called Edom. It is a land of lack and a land of darkness and a land of emptiness. Here in the burden of Duma, we have therefore the burden of Edom. And that means that God is speaking a word to Israel descendant of Jacob, concerting Edom, descendant of Esau. And God is speaking this word against Esau and his descendants for the comfort and the peace of the people of Israel. With that understanding of the opening line, the burden of Duma, we can then see an overview of what's happening in this prophecy of Isaiah. First of all, we have a man crying with his voice out of seer, that stronghold of Edom, that mountain fastness, that city that was synonymous with Edom. We have a man crying out of seer regarding the night. He cries, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? Now, what Isaiah is recounting here is not an event that happened the previous week, let's say, that he is now reporting. What the prophet is doing is telling a prophetic story. He is using the symbolism of a voice crying out of Edom in order to teach what God would have Israel know about Edom. And the prophet in this prophetic proclamation has himself standing as a watchman in Jerusalem, on the walls of Jerusalem, and all the way from Seir comes a voice out of that descendant of Esau saying, watchman, what of the night? And that question of Seir is urgent. It is repeated. There is a desperation in that question. Not merely, Watchman, how goes the night? What of this night? But repeated, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? And the response of the prophet, which shows that this is a prophetic story that the prophet is telling by inspiration of God to teach the spiritual reality of Edom, the response of the prophet is, this is what I see from my perch on the walls of Jerusalem. As I can see far, far away, here is what I see. The morning cometh and the night cometh. And the prophet does not mean by that, first will come a period of morning, and then that will be followed by a period of night. But the prophet means, I see them coming together. The morning is coming, and at the very same time, the night is coming. They are both coming. That's my answer to you in Edom, who ask, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? And that cry of the watchman, that the morning is coming and also at the same time the night is coming, makes a sharp distinction between seer on the one hand and Jerusalem on the other hand. There is something coming to seer, seer who sits in night. But what's coming to seer is not morning. What's coming to seer is more night. But there is also something coming to Jerusalem, which by nature sits in the night. And what is coming to Jerusalem is the morning and the light of salvation. So that here in this prophecy of the prophet regarding Edom, he is teaching the people of God that their salvation surely and certainly comes to them. to God's elect people who are represented there by Jerusalem. The salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ comes and enlightens them. But the prophet also teaches that that salvation comes only to God's elect people in Christ. It does not come to seer. What comes to seer is only darkness, more night. so that Edom remains Duma, the land of perpetual darkness, the land of perpetual emptiness. That word of the prophet, which was a necessary word, which had to be spoken, he had to unburden himself of that word. That word is necessary for the church of Jesus Christ, for the comfort of the church of Jesus Christ, for her comfort that Jehovah God will certainly and truly save his people. And that word comes with a call, which is the application of the gospel that was spoken to us this morning, That word comes with the call, inquire ye, return, come. That is, this morning comes in the preaching of the gospel, and this morning comes only in Jerusalem. There comes no morning to seer, to all the seers of the world. To seer comes only night and more night. but to the church of Jesus Christ, to his elect people gathered as his body and his bride. Inevitably, salvation and blessing and joy and glory is given through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this evening we consider that application of the gospel of our salvation under the theme, The Burden of Seer. of Duma, rather, the burden of Duma. In the first place, consider the coming of morning and night. In the second place, consider Jerusalem and Seir. And in the third place, consider inquiry and return. The burden of Duma, the coming of morning and night, Jerusalem and Seir, and inquiry and return. In the text we have a voice crying from Seir and Seir was that capital city of the nation of Edom. Esau, many years before, had sojourned in this land, and his descendants had driven out the original inhabitants of that land, so that this Seir became the inhabitant of Esau's descendants. And Esau's descendants, grown to a nation, were known as Edom. Seir itself was a beautiful land. It was striking and stunning. It was a land of hills and low mountains, and those hills were all covered over with verdant forests, so that some even speculate the name Seir got its name from the appearance of those lands in all their beauty." Seir means hairy. And those mountains and those hills would have looked like heads covered with hair, with all of those beautiful trees and forests. Perhaps seer, meaning hairy, comes from Esau, who was also red and hairy. But whatever the case, seer was known for its beauty, a land of hills and low mountains and verdant forests. Seer was also known as a tremendous stronghold. Seir was a strong defense. We read of that in Obadiah. We read of that in Obadiah, that Edom dwelt in the clefts of the rock and their habitation was high. What army in the world was going to overthrow Seir when the homes and the city was established upon the top of the rock of Mount Seir? In fact, because of their high dwelling place, Edom was lifted up in pride and said in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Edom imagined itself exalted as high as an eagle, imagined itself exalted as high as the stars. Edom was a stronghold, a mighty nation among those nations of the earth. And Edom was known, it was marked, by its perpetual murderous hatred of their neighbor Jacob, or Israel. Just as Esau had been filled with murderous hatred against his brother Jacob, when Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob and not to Esau, Esau sought in his heart to slay Jacob. And that murder in Esau's heart remained the perpetual murder in Edom's heart through all the years. You can find many passages in scripture that describe this sin of Edom. Whenever some other nation would come to fight against Israel, Edom would be right there. They would be right behind that invading enemy. And they would be saying to that invading enemy, look over there, you missed one there. And look over here, there's a good victim here. Edom was constantly seeking the destruction of Israel in their perpetual murderous hatred of Israel. This was Edom, this mighty nation from all appearances, one of the most beautiful, striking nations of the world. But now we hear a voice come out of Seir and that voice reveals what the true condition of Edom was. The voice came out of Seir and cried, Watchman, what of the night? Which means that spiritually Edom was characterized by night. Edom was not the beautiful, glorious, strong, victorious nation she appeared to the eyes of the world. But the spiritual condition of that Edom was night. Watchmen, what of the night? Watchmen, what of the night?" And the cry of this voice out of Edom indicates the depth of that darkness. First of all, when this voice cries to the watchman, that symbolic language, in Scripture, the watchman was one who would stand on the walls of a city or patrol the walls of the city, and from that vantage point would look out through the watches of the night for any invading foe that sought to creep in and take over the city. You can imagine a soldier as a watchman there, as dusk is falling, taking up his post on the walls. And pretty soon, dusk is complete and it is night, and the night goes on and on, and it gets darker and darker. The night waxes long, so that by the early hours of the morning, the watchman is weary. You sing of that in the Psalms too. I wait for the Lord more than the watchman waiteth for the morning. The watchman's work happened at night. He made his patrols at night so that when this voice from Seir cries out, Watchman, we learn that it's the middle of the night and that it has been a long night for Seir. But then in the second place, we learned that the spiritual condition of Edom is night and darkness because the voice from Seir cries out explicitly regarding the night, Watchman, What of the night? And that question is not some mere conversation piece like, hey, what do you think of this night? How's it going for you this night? But that question is an urgent plea. Is there a lot more night? Are we getting close to morning at least? What of the night? Are we almost finished with this night? Are we going to see the sun dawn soon? There from your perch on the wall, watchman, do you see there on the horizon the sun rising at all? That's the urgent question. Watchman, what of the night? It's been night a long time. It's very dark. It's very weary in this night. That's the spiritual condition of Edom. And that's quite a revelation. because night and darkness represent as symbols the fear and distress and pain and sin that belong to the enemies of Jehovah. You can speak of the night of sin, or the night of death, or the night of suffering. That's the idea of this night. This word, night, brings to our minds all of the judgments of Jehovah. In fact, there are especially two things that this night is meant to represent here for Edom. In the first place, this night represents Edom's sin. That's the darkness of man. The darkness of his fall into sin. The darkness of his nature. The darkness of his iniquity. Jesus says regarding his own coming, that the light shineth into the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. That's the darkness of man. The fallen man who does not see the light and hates that light and will not have that light. It's the darkness of man fallen in Adam, and the darkness of man sinning against the law of God, day by day by day. That was the spiritual condition of Edom. This voice crying out of Seir, acknowledging here it is night, and what of this dark night? You could run through the streets of Seir, you could go through the nation of Edom, and nowhere would you find light. which would represent hope and salvation and righteousness and life. All through the streets of Seir and all through the land of Edom, there was nothing but darkness. It truly was Duma, a land of darkness, a land of emptiness, a land of forsakenness. Watchmen, what of the night? Watchmen, what of the night? There's the sin of Edom. But in the second place, this night, was a symbol of God's judgment upon Edom for her sins. And darkness in Scripture also is a picture of that judgment of Jehovah God. Hell, in fact, is described as the outer darkness by the Lord Jesus Christ so that those who are reprobate will be cast into that outer darkness where the worm never dies, where there is constant pain and suffering, so that there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever. The night represents God's pouring out His curse upon Edom. Pouring out His wrath against their sin. They who rose up against Jacob. They who sought to take down the people of Jehovah, the chosen people of Jehovah. God's wrath is poured out upon them. And that wrath is represented by this night. Watchmen, what of this night? What of this night? Although Edom then appeared to all outward appearances in her beautiful forested hills, and her strongholds in the rock, and her power over her neighbor Jacob, though she appeared to all outward appearances as a glorious grand kingdom, The spiritual condition of Edom was as bad as it could be. Edom was buried in night, buried in her sin, and buried in the judgment of Jehovah God. Watchmen, what of the night? Watchmen, what of the night? And so the question is asked with some desperation. Watchmen, what of the night? The meaning of that question, as far as the symbolism, is this. Is night almost finished? Is the day about to dawn? Do you see the dawn coming, watchman? How much longer is the night? But as far as the spiritual meaning of that question goes, it was this. Are we here in Edom almost free of our sin? Are we almost free of God's judgment? Is there an end to it in sight? Watchman, what of the night of sin? Watchman, what of the night of death? Is that night for us almost finished? And the repetition indicates the excruciating misery that it was to be under that darkness in Edom. There was no joy in Edom. There could be no happiness there. All there could be in Edom was this excruciating waiting for some escape from the night watchman. What of the night watchman? What of the night? To that question, Isaiah, who was a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, gives an answer. The answer is this. The morning cometh. The morning cometh. You ask me about the night. You ask me about darkness. And I tell you, I see the morning. I see it's dawning. The morning cometh. And oh, that morning is glorious. That morning represents light. That morning was all of the joy that comes in the morning. And the Scriptures speak often of that, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Those who have kept a long vigil by the sickbed through the wee hours of the night finally come to the morning when the day dawns, and suddenly the fears and the trouble of the previous night are a little less. There is joy that comes in the morning. Those who have watered their beds with their tears over their sufferings and their trials in the watches of the night, and who have wept copiously because of their sin in the morning, find relief. That morning, that coming of the morning is a symbol in Scripture of relief and life and renewal and happiness finally once again. When the prophet therefore says from the walls of Jerusalem, I see the morning coming, he is saying there is an answer to this sin and this death of people. And the answer to this sin and this death is that the sin will be taken away. There's morning coming. There's light coming. And light in Scripture often represents righteousness as well. So that when he says, I see the morning coming, he is saying there is indeed righteousness for these sinners. These sinners who are fallen in Adam and these sinners who contradict the law of God, there's righteousness for them. Not their own. Not that they're going to get better. But there's righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And His righteousness will be made their own. And there's a relief from death and the judgment of God upon sin. Yes, there is an escape from the justice of God. There is a satisfying of that justice, not by ourselves and not by some other creature, but by the Lord Jesus Christ. When the prophet says, I see the morning coming, he is really saying one thing. I see Jesus Christ. My eye has fallen upon Him. There is salvation. There is righteousness. There is life. There is relief for the people who are bound in their sin. And that means what the prophet is proclaiming here is simply the gospel. which we saw this morning. The Gospel which is God's Good News of Jesus Christ. And now we find here in Isaiah another way to describe that Gospel. It's the morning. It's the dawning of the light. And Jesus Himself is called that Day Star who dawns in your hearts. There is the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His glory, all of His righteousness, all of His life, all of His salvation. It's Jesus Christ who comes into our night and who takes upon Himself our night. Indeed, taking upon Himself all our sin and the curse of God due to us for them, that when He hung upon the cross, God made it night. It had to be night in those three hours of darkness. And in that darkness, God was declaring, this is what I do with your night, you people who sit in darkness. This is the light that I give to you by making your night His night and cursing Him for your sin. That's the good news of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? I see the morning. I see light. I see Jesus Christ and all His salvation. But as the prophet says, the morning cometh, he immediately adds, and also the night. And there, Isaiah does not mean, I see morning and night coming in this recurring cycle. That's the way we think of the morning coming and also the night. First, morning comes and a new day dawns, and then at the end of that day, it becomes night again. And then that cycle will repeat the next day, and the new day will dawn, and then it will become night. Morning and night following one another, day in and day out. That's not the prophet's meaning. He's not saying, I see a cycle, but rather he is saying, I see night coming with the morning at the very same time. Not a cycle, light first, then darkness, but light and darkness coming together at the very same time. The morning cometh and also right now cometh the night. You can imagine the picture of that. in Edom, that there the inhabitants in Edom, living as they were in the dead of the night, in all of its darkness and fear and judgment, see that a morning comes. But when that morning comes, it's not light. The darkness is still there. The darkness remains. It's just as dark as it was before. And in fact, what came for them was more night. It was already night, but the night came again. It gets darker for them. The judgment becomes heavier. That's all there is for Edom. Morning came. Jesus Christ came. Salvation came. But in Edom came the night and came more of it. More sin. More death. More judgment. So that she truly is Duma. Duma. Edom is Duma. The land of perpetual darkness. The land of everlasting emptiness. The land that is forsaken. When the prophet speaks of this morning coming and the night, He is by that making a sharp distinction between Jerusalem on the one hand and Seir on the other hand. Maybe that's not so obvious at first reading, but that's what the prophet is doing. He's making a sharp distinction. between Jerusalem and Seir. And he is saying, in one place the morning comes. Certainly the morning comes. In Jerusalem the morning comes. And at the very same time for Edom comes only more night. To see that the prophet is making a sharp distinction between Jerusalem and Seir, in the first place we begin with Seir, and that's obvious in the text. The burden of Duma, which we've seen is Edom, he calleth to me out of Seir. It's very obvious that there's this one place in the text called Seir. But there's also a place in the text called Jerusalem, even though it is not named explicitly, it is there by implication. And in fact, there unmistakably by implication. The first implication that there is this other place is the voice calling to me, to Isaiah out of Seir. And where was Isaiah? Isaiah was not in Edom. Isaiah was not the watchman on the walls of Edom. Isaiah was in Jerusalem. Isaiah was the watchman on the walls of Jerusalem. Or he was the prophet that God sent to his people Israel. So that when they cry out to me, they're crying to Isaiah. And when they call Isaiah a watchman, they are calling him one upon the walls of a city. And the only city that could be was the city of Jerusalem. Watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem. What of the night? Watchmen in Jerusalem. What of the night? But then in the second place, the text brings up Jerusalem by implication. at the end when the watchman says, return, come. And he's saying that to the voice in Seir. When the watchman says, return here, come here, he is saying, don't stay there. Don't be in Seir anymore. Don't remain in Edom anymore. return out of Seir and come here to this place that is different than Seir. That is this place that is Jerusalem. This place that is Israel, to whom Isaiah was sent as a watchman and to prophesy. So that in the city, there are two very distinct, in the text rather, there are two very distinct cities. There is Jerusalem and there is Seir. And when God through Isaiah in the text speaks this sharp distinction between morning and night, the morning cometh, but also the night cometh, at the same time, He is saying this distinction is found in these two distinct cities. To Jerusalem comes the morning. To Seir comes only more night. The distinction that the prophet is teaching between Jerusalem and Seir is the distinction of election and reprobation. That is the doctrinal underpinning of the text. That is the doctrinal meaning of this distinction between mourning on the one hand and Jerusalem on the one hand, and on the other hand, night and Seir. Remember that Edom, was the nation that came from Esau. And that Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, represented that nation that came from Jacob. So that in Jerusalem on the one hand and Seir on the other, we have Jacob and Esau. That's who we're dealing with. That's whom God is dealing with. Jacob and Esau. And what do the Scriptures teach about Jacob and Esau? They are the outstanding representation in Scripture of election and reprobation. That's Romans 9. As the apostle deals with this whole matter of many Jews Not being saved. Not believing in Jesus Christ. And the apostle is explaining that phenomenon. And his explanation is this. Election and reprobation. They're not all Israel that are of Israel. There are some Israelites who are not Israelites. Those are Israelites who are children of the promise, not merely children of the flesh. Those are Israelites who are the elect of God, not the reprobate among the tribes of Israel. And to prove this doctrine of election and reprobation, the apostle appeals to Jacob and Esau. Verse nine, for this is the word of promise, in Romans nine, at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. There the apostle brings up Jacob and Esau. These twins. These men who came from the same mother. These men who were both sons of Isaac and grandsons of Abraham. He brings up these twins as the outstanding examples of election and reprobation. God had a purpose according to election. The election of Jacob and that purpose must stand in the salvation of the elect and not of the reprobate. And Jacob and Esau are the examples of it. What is that purpose of election? What is that election of which Paul speaks and which the text in Isaiah is describing? Election is God's eternal decree, choosing His people to be His people in Jesus Christ. And God's eternal decree was absolutely free, absolutely sovereign. God of his own good pleasure chose his people. As Paul says, not of works. This whole thing had to happen with Jacob and Esau. That the purpose of God according to election might be seen and demonstrated. That salvation is not of works. What did Jacob ever do? What did he ever do? As far as men go, Esau was the more appealing man. Esau was a man's man. Esau was out in the fields, not Jacob. Jacob was conniving, working behind the scenes, coming up with deceit in order to get his way. As far as men go, Esau was the more appealing man. And Esau was the older one. He was born first. So that the covenant line should have been continued with him. But it wasn't. Esau, whatever he appeared, was a reprobate. God hated him. Not because Esau had done something to incur God's wrath, but because God freely, sovereignly, in order to show His wrath, reprobated him. And God had loved Jacob. Not because Jacob did anything. Not because he earned the favor of God, or even drew the favor of God, or attracted that favor of God. but because it was God's good pleasure to save this Jacob who doesn't look like he should be saved in order that his purpose according to election might stand. That's Jacob and Esau. It's election reprobation. And what's emphasized in that matter of election and reprobation is the absolutely sovereign freedom of Jehovah God. in salvation. Seer, according to every appearance, was beautiful and grand. That's the kind of nation a god would be proud of. But Israel? Israel? Israel was a nation that was constantly turning against him. A nation that constantly was trying to leave him and serve other gods. It's the kind of nation that a god would be ashamed to have as his own. But not Jehovah God. Not the true God. God was not ashamed of His people. And Lord Jesus Christ was not either. So that when Jehovah God sent the Lord Jesus Christ in our flesh, He said about these sinful, backsliding people, they're my brethren. They're my brethren. That's my family. And don't you forget that's my family. I love them. I belong to them. They belong to me. God, Jehovah, is a merciful God and a gracious God and has chosen those things of the earth that are nothing that the greatness of his mercy and glory in Christ might be seen. That's what we're dealing with here then when we have Jerusalem and Seir. We're dealing with Jacob and Esau and we're dealing with election and reprobation and God's purpose according to election standing. Mourning came to Jerusalem. That is, mourning came to Jacob. Mourning came to God's elect people. And now don't press this to try to make every member of Israel an elect, and every member of Edom a reprobate. But rather this, in Jacob and Esau, you have the outstanding representation of election and reprobation and mourning comes to the elect. That's the reason for this distinction. The first reason for this distinction between Jerusalem and Seir. So that the elect might know salvation is inevitably ours because of the electing grace of God in Jesus Christ. Also with regard to reprobation and Seir. Night came to seer, and only night, and more night came to seer. That's all that ever comes to seer. And that comes to seer according to God's own eternal decree of reprobation, in which He rejected all of those who are not His people, whom He did not set His love upon, which He did sovereignly and freely as well. Jehovah God has chosen His own and reprobated His own, and mourning and reprobated those who are not his own, and mourning comes to the elect. This is for the comfort of Israel, as they sit there and look over there at Edom, and see all the advantages of Edom, and all the appearance of power and strength in Edom, and begin to think about themselves, what of us? What of us now? God comes and says, mourning comes to you, Jerusalem. It doesn't come to see you. Night comes there. More judgment and more death. And that truth of election and reprobation is so dear to the heart of the child of God. Because this takes my mourning entirely out of my hands and my heart and what I do and what I think and what I am. And has that mourning fixed firmly in the will and good pleasure and eternal counsel of Jehovah God. And then that mourning cannot be taken away. That Lord Jesus Christ and all His salvation cannot be taken away. Not even by my sin and what I am. Never depended on what I am. Always depended on the good pleasure of Jehovah God. Do you hear what God says to Seir with all her earthly advantages? Night comes to you. That's all. And do you hear what God says to Jerusalem with all her sin and folly? Morning comes to you. Salvation in Jesus Christ. That's the first significance of that distinction between Jerusalem and Seir. It's an election and reprobation. The second significance of that distinction between Jerusalem and Seir is in the true church on the one hand, And on the other hand, the world and the false church, which are one and often treated as one in scripture. Election is the heart of the church. That means that the church is not made by men. It is not made by the decisions of man or the will of man, not your will either or mine. But the church is made by the will of God. He gathers His elect into His church and constitutes them a true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we confess in Lords Day 21 of the Catechism Question and Answer 54, What meanest thou by the Holy Catholic Church? And the answer is that the Son of God gathers by His Word and Spirit a church chosen to everlasting life. There's election coming up right there where it belongs as the heart of the church. God gathers and Christ gathers by His Word and Spirit that church that is elect and chosen to everlasting life. And that morning, therefore, comes to the true church. That's where the gospel of salvation is proclaimed. That's where Jesus Christ is set forth. God's good news of Jesus Christ set forth so that the church knows Him as her mediator and her deliverer. That's where the Spirit of Christ operates in that true church by that Word. So that that church has that Word and knows that truth and has the comfort of that Word. Mourning comes to the true church. of the Lord Jesus Christ as the assembly of God's people and their children. And morning never comes to seer. Night comes to seer. More night comes to seer. That is, to the world and to the false church that is allied with the world, there is only more night. There is no gospel, though the false church and even the world will talk your ear off about Jesus and God and grace. They'll mention those things over and over. Maybe they'll even land on a reformed formulation of a doctrine, justification by faith alone, let's say. But in the false church, there always comes the denial of Christ at the key point. At that point, wherever that point lies on the whole spectrum of salvation, wherever the point is that He must become yours and that you have Him as your own, there the work of man rears its head and there the work of man makes the difference. Especially when that Lord Jesus Christ is offered to all, to all elect and reprobate alike, there at the moment When He must become yours, you make the difference. Whether that's by your own power or by the assisting power of Jehovah God. That's not morning. That's more night. That's the darkness of sin and death and the judgment of Jehovah God. And so the prophet ends, having made this distinction, with this matter of inquiry and return. If ye will inquire, inquire ye, return, come. What the prophet is speaking of in the first place is this wonder of faith. That's what inquiry is in the text. And faith is a wonder because faith is not man. Faith is not the work of man. Faith is not the doing of man. Faith simply doesn't mean man. But faith means Christ. The whole meaning of faith is its object, Jesus Christ. That's what the prophet is speaking of. If you will inquire about this morning, about this light, about this righteousness, this life, inquire. What he's saying is believe in the morning. Believe in the light. Believe in the righteousness who is the Lord Jesus Christ. That too is for the comfort of the church. Because the salvation of the church then never depends upon some work of man or faith being turned into a work and condition of man. but rather faith is entirely the gift of God in Jesus Christ by which he gives his gospel and his light and his morning to his people." And then the prophet says in the second place, having said, believe, he says, come, return, come. To anyone who is in Jerusalem, come to Jerusalem, stay in Jerusalem, return and stay in Jerusalem. And to anyone who has wandered somehow outside of Jerusalem and has landed in a false church, return and come to the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. To that voice that cries out of seer, what of the night? What of the night, watchman? The answer is, if you will inquire, inquire. That is, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. and become a member of Jerusalem, the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this too is for the comfort of the Church of Christ, because we so easily get it into our heads that the faithfulness of the Church, the trueness of the Church, depends upon us. And what are we going to do as this little remnant of a church if maintaining ourselves as the true church depends upon us? But the word of the prophet is not this. The true church depends upon you and you keeping it the true church. But rather the word of the prophet is this. There is a Jerusalem. There is a Jerusalem where there's mourning. There's always a Jerusalem where there's mourning. Though the name on the building might change. There's always Jerusalem. Why? Because of God's election. Because of his love of Jacob from all eternity. And therefore he shall always have upon this earth his church where he gathers his people by his word and by his spirit. And then the church of Jesus Christ beholding this wonder of God's grace doesn't have to pine after Edom. Doesn't have to want to be seer with all the wonder and all the glory that belongs to Edom and Seir. Do you know what she is? She's Duma. She's Duma. She's perpetual emptiness and darkness. But look what God has given in the Church of Jesus Christ by His Gospel and by His Spirit. He has given us mourning and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the necessary word that the Church of Christ must hear. The burden of Duma, he calleth to me out of seer. Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire, return, come. Amen. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee for the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. Bless it to our hearts for our comfort and peace. We pray that Thou wilt continue evermore to give unto us the morning light of our Savior and His blessing and life and salvation and righteousness in Him. We pray, Father, that Thou wilt strengthen our faith by the sacrament that Thou hast given us this morning, as well as by the gospel proclaimed morning and evening, that we might behold Thee and behold Jesus Christ as all our salvation. Will Thou send us to our homes in Thy mercy, bless us in this week, returning us again to worship Thee on the next Lord's Day for Jesus' sake. Amen. We return to Psalter number 415 and I'll finish with stanzas 9 and 10. Stanzas 9 and 10. Come, Jehovah, and redeem Israel from tribulation. We'll sing the last two, 9 and 10 of 415. my affliction, all my trouble, Lord, behold. Grant me full and free remission of my trespasses untold. See my enemies for great, Tis the number that upbraid me. Who in their consuming hate, With their cruel scorn hath played me. Be my soul, O gracious Savior, Thou my great Deliverer be. Bless my head with shame be covered for thy refuges in thee. Trusting in thy power supreme, Lord, I wait for thy salvation. Come, Jehovah, and redeem Israel from tribulation. ♪ See the Lord, our Father's God ♪ ♪ Eternal King of Kings ♪ ♪ Who only is omnipotent ♪ ♪ Performing wondrous things ♪ ♪ Thus be His praise and glorious fame ♪ The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee. and give thee peace. Amen.