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TH1149: On-Line

Teaching Notes

ISAIAH

Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 27, as we continue our study through the Word of God. Now before we dig into this section, let me say this. Verses 20 and 21 of Isaiah chapter 26 seem to fit in better with chapter 27. In other words, to make it flow better, chapter 26 should have ended with verse 19, and then verse 20 should have been the opening verse of chapter 27. And you will see what I mean in a few minutes here.

We know that the Word of God was given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these words came from the mouth of God. The chapters and verses were placed at a later date for our conveyance in reading, to help us in finding a certain Scripture, and even in memorizing it. The chapters were divided by Steven Langton the Arch Bishop of Canton who died in 1228. And the New Testament was first published with verse divisions by Robert Stevens in 1551. Finally, the first Bible, Old and New Testaments, published with chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible of 1560. Yes, helpful but not inspired and sometimes the flow or thoughts are severed by these divisions, as we see here.

So, before we dig into Isaiah chapter 27, lets look back at verses 20 and 21 of Isaiah chapter 26, just to keep the flow of things. We read, "Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain."

This is speaking of the last half of the tribulation period, or the Great Tribulation, as the Jewish people recognize the man they thought was their messiah was in reality the devil. And as this antichrist goes into the re-built temple of God and demands to be worshipped as God, many of these Jews will flee to the rock city of Petra where God will protect them for 3 1/2 years.

And as "The LORD comes out of His place" He comes to tread the winepress of His wrath against those who have rejected Him, and we see this climax with the battle of Armageddon. There will be so much death that there will not be enough time, enough people, enough peace from judgment to bury them. Just in the valley of Megiddo alone, as the battle of Armageddon takes place, the blood will flow 4-5 feet deep for over 200 miles! It is out of this that Isaiah chapter 27 flows.

ISAIAH 27

VERSE 1

1. The day in which Isaiah is speaking of is the day the Lord will pour out His wrath upon the earth. In Isaiah 63:3-6 we see the Lord speak and say of this time, "I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come. I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My ownfury, it sustained Me. I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the earth."

2. Also, the Leviathan that is spoken of here is not the fire breathing dragon that lives in the water that was spoken of in Job chapter 41. This is another dragon that will be judged by God, Satan. In Revelation chapter 12, we read "And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads...And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragonwas enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:3, 7-9, 13-17.

And we see in Revelation 20:1-2 we read of his judgment, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. Helaid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." And then in Revelation 20:10 we see his final judgment, "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

VERSES 2-3

1. This vineyard symbolizes Israel, God's people. And God is speaking of the joy that will fill their hearts in the kingdom age. And through the years how God has carefully watched over His people, keeping or caring for His vineyard like a watchman.

2. Now compare that to what God said of them in Isaiah 5:1-7, where we read "Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 'And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes? And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.' For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, butbehold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help." Notice, God did everything He could do for them to produce abundant fruit in their lives, but they rejected Him, went into idolatry, and God brought judgment upon them so they may turn from their evil ways and return to Him. And one day they will turn to their Messiah, Jesus!

VERSES 4-5

1. The call is for Israel and all men to turn to Him, to make peace with Him. He has provided the way through His Son Jesus Christ, His hand is outstretched to all. But, if you refuse to receive Him, He will destroy you. There is no other way out for the wicked. You are either for Him or against Him!

VERSE 6

1. Isaiah is talking about the spiritual fruit that is produced in a believers life. Paul said in Philippians 1:11 that we are "being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." As we abide in Jesus, having His righteousness imputed to us, fruit will naturally be born in our lives. And Israel, like we are to do, are to fill the earth with the knowledge of God, to spread the Gospel to all nations!

2. Interestingly enough, the land of Israel was devastated by the Turks. It was left barren, most of the trees cut down, and there were many mosquito infested swamps throughout the land. It was really good for nothing and when the Zionist movement began in the 1890's, and Jews began to return to the land, the Arabs were more than happy to sell the land to the Jews because it wasworthless to them. And the Arabs laughed all the way to the bank, thinking they ripped the Jews off. The Jewish people then began to plant millions of trees, a process that continues even today. They drained the swamps. And today Israel is blossoming. Israel is the second largest exporter of fruits in the world and yet this nation is only the size of New Jersey! And now they want the land back from the Jews! Also, in the Kingdom Age, it will be even better!

VERSE 7

1. God has not been as hard on Israel in their chastening as He has been on other nations. These nations that God used against His people were only to go so far in their punishment and if they overstepped that, God punished them for it. And God is still dealing with Israel, they have not been stricken as the other nations, they are still in existence!

VERSE 8

1. Kind of a confusing verse but the idea is that God has removed both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms from the land, He blew them away for their idolatry and put them in exile!

VERSE 9

1. The lesson they were to learn is to not worship false gods and the sign of their changed heart would be the removal of these stone and wooden images. And they did learn their lesson, they did not build the altars to Baal and-so-on.

VERSE 10

1. The Babylonians destroyed the land in 586 BC, leaving it so barren that the wild animals were grazing in its cities. In Nehemiah 1:2-3 we see this report of what the land was like. We read, "...Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.'" And this was almost 100 years after Joshua and Zerubbabel lead almost 50,000 back from Babylon. The land was still a mess in Nehemiah's day!

VERSE 11

1. God took a hard stand against them, breaking the strength of the nation, breaking their pride with the intent of seeing them return to Him.

VERSES 12-13

1. This is looking beyond their return from the Babylonian captivity to the time when the trumpets will be blown and God will gather His people, the Jews, from the world to worship Him as He sets up His kingdom. It is as Matthew 24:31 says, "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

ISAIAH 28

VERSE 1

1. Ephraim was the dominant tribe in the Northern Kingdom of Israel with its capitol being Samaria. It was a beautiful land which was quickly going to fade away because of their pride and idolatry. Judgment was coming.

VERSE 2

1. God used the Assyrians as His rod of judgment, and they came in like a flood. And in 722 BC Shalmaneser king of Assyria took the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity.

VERSES 3-4

1. In a very short time the Assyrians would come and destroy the land, judgment was that close.

VERSES 5-6

1. Even in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, God had His faithful remnant. During the spiritual reforms of king Asa, who was king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, we see in II Chronicles 15:9, "Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him." Because the Northern Kingdom was so dark, the faithful came down to Judah to worship the Lord, and this was about 180 years before the Northern Kingdom went into captivity. God always has His faithful remnant, even when things look very dark. And I'm sure many more traveled south as this darkness flooded the north.

VERSE 7

1. Now we have moved from the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and we see the leadership in Judah and the priests drunk, erring in their visions and judgments. Thus, false prophecies were being given, their counsel was in error, their judgments were corrupt because the wine has clouded their minds. They no longer saw God clearly and thus, as they spoke, they were not speaking for God. It is as Paul warned Timothy, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." I Timothy 4:1-2.

VERSE 8

1. Not a pretty picture to think of, and God wants to drive home that point. In Ezekiel chapter 8 God tells Ezekiel to go through a door, and then through a hole in the wall, and as he did he saw all kinds of abominations, filthy things. And God tells Ezekiel that this is the condition of the hearts and minds of His people, His leaders! What a sad day when the leadership of a church has sunk into this condition.

VERSES 9-10

1. This was not a praise report on how Isaiah was doing. Instead we see these priests and leaders mocking him for his simplistic ways that he taught and how he believed that the Scriptures were actually the Words of God. Sure, he can teach the little children but these were the intelligentsia of his day, and how in the world can this simple man, with his simple views of life, teach them? Isaiah may not have been the most sophisticated person but he was a vessel from which God spoke through, and so am I, and so are you! The religious leaders during the time of the apostles also struggled with the way they apostles spoke because they did not go to Old Rabbi University, or Pious University, or whatever. And in acts 4:13, as Peter and John are arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, Peter blasts them with the truth of God's Word and they responded like this,"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." Spend time with Jesus and as you do He will flow through you to touch the lives of others. Religious people won't understand you, how you can speak so boldly, and may they see the reason for your speech, your boldness, THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WITH JESUS!

VERSES 11-12

1. They refused to listen to the simple truths of God spoken by Isaiah, and thus, they refused to repent and get right with God, and instead of resting in the Lord, judgment was coming by the hands of the Babylonians.

2. Before we move on we are going to deal with verses 11-12 a little more, for Paul quotes it in I Corinthians 14:21. And this has caused great confusion over what he meant. Hopefully I can help clear some of that confusion up for you, or at least cause you do dig a little deeper into the Scriptures for yourself. For me, this is the best explanation that I can see for this verse, for it flows with what the text is trying to say.

In this portion of Scripture, I Corinthians chapters 12-14, Paul is dealing with spiritual gifts. And it is interesting to me that Paul opens up this section by saying "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant." I Corinthians 12:1. Now insaying that, we see so much confusion regarding these gifts today from abuse to non-use! There does need to be a balance that is according to God's Word and not according to feelings!

The one we are going to deal with is tongues, for that is the verse that Paul quoted in Isaiah. Notice what I Corinthians 14:2 says regarding this gift. "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." It is not a message that is spoken to man but to God. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 14:14-15, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding." In other words tongues is primarily a prayer and praise language unto God, even though you don't know what is being said. Paul, in Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit makes intercession for us, helps us to pray when we are unsure of what to pray in a given situation.

Now the gift of prophecy is for the body of believers and unbelievers in that through it God speaks comfort, edification, and exhortation to us. Tongues is prayer and praise unto God. Prophecy speaks to the church.

Now that seems clear until you get to I Corinthians 14:20-25. We read "Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. In the law it is written: 'With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,' says the Lord. Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in oneplace, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you."

These verses seem to contradict themselves and because of that some believe they were copied wrong. I don't think so, and I will tell you why. In verses 20 and 21 Paul is giving to us an illustration and then in verse 22, he will draw his conclusion from that illustration by opening the verse up with the word "Therefore".

The gift of prophecy draws new believers and unbelievers to Christ and it strengthens the body of Christ. It comforts them, exhorts them, and edifies them. Tongues does nothing for new believers or unbelievers because they don't understand the message.

Now why did Paul use Isaiah 28:11-12 to make this point? God sent Isaiah to speak plainly, clearly, simply of the coming judgment of God because of their sins, HE SPOKE PROPHECY! But they refused to listen to what Isaiah said and thus God was going to send another people, the Babylonians who spoke in a different tongue, a tongue they would not understand, as a sign of God's judgment.

And so, here in Corinthians Paul is saying to use the gift of prophecy. Tongues is for prayer and praise unto God. When you come into an assembly speak the words of God, prophecy, which will draw people to Christ. Teaching the Word of God is speaking prophecy for prophecy not only foretold the future but it forth told the things of God, and that is why we placesuch a heavy emphasis on the Word of God, for it builds people up, draws them to Christ, and-so-on. A controversial portion of Scripture that I hope is somewhat clearer for you now.

VERSE 13

1. God's Word is open to all not just the well educated. In fact, many times it is the well educated, because of their pride, the message is to simple for them, and they reject it and instead of being broken by the Rock, they are pulverized, crushed, eternally separated from Him.

VERSES 14-15

1. Egypt is symbolic of the Word and Isaiah is saying that they made a deal with death. At this point they were going to make an alliance with Egypt, the world, to help them fight against Babylon. The only problem was that before Egypt could rise to help Judah, they were already defeated by the Babylonians. God pronounced judgment upon them, and they tired to get around it by making this deal. And it would fail. People today try to cheat death by making alliances, placing their hope in all kinds of lies that won't save them. Only Christ can heal and restore a sinner back to God!

VERSE 16

1. There is only one foundation stone, and that is Christ. Whoever puts their trust, their hope in Him will not be ashamed!

VERSE 17

1. God has already established what He desires of us. They had rejected God's Word and because of that God was going to purge His people. You can't hide from God's judgment!

VERSES 18-19

1. Wave after wave of judgment would come upon them by the Babylonians, that is what it will take to open their eyes.

VERSE 20

1. This alliance they made with Egypt they would not be able to rest in, it won't protect them, it won't even keep them warm. It is going to fail!

VERSE 21

1. The "unusual act" that Isaiah is speaking of is God using a wicked nation, the Babylonians, to bring judgment upon His people. Habakkuk had a hard time understanding this very thing. Hesaid, "You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he?" Habakkuk 1:13. The reason God used a nation more wicked than Judah to bring Judgment upon Judah was they should have known better. The more you know the more you are accountable to what God wants you to do!

VERSE 22

1. Now we are moving from the judgment upon Judah by the Babylonians all the way into the future, the last 7 years or the tribulation period where "...A destruction [is] determined even upon the whole earth."

VERSE 23

1. A call to listen to the voice of God. To pay attention to what He is saying so you may respond appropriately to His voice.

VERSE 24

1. The farmer has a purpose, a plan that is seen in his actions. He doesn't keep preparing the field but he prepares the field so that he can plant! God works on our hearts, breaks up the hard ground, so that our lives can be fruitful for Him.

VERSES 25-26

1. The farmer knows each kind of seed, how to plant them, just as God knows each of us individually and will produce the appropriate fruit in our lives.

VERSE 27

1. The farmer also knows how to harvest each crop so that none are damaged. God also knows how to care for each of us. God is looking for a harvest, He is seeking fruit in our lives.

VERSES 28-29

1. In other words, God will do what it takes to cause us to listen to His voice. He wants to lead us gently by His eye, but if we are so hard headed, not listening, then He will inflict pain in our life to cause us to move in the direction that is best for us. It is as Psalm 32:8-9 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you."

2. In closing this evening, let me leave you with these words regarding these last several verses of Isaiah chapter 28, as Herbert Vander Lugt says this regarding Isaiah's illustration:

"the way God deals with His children by citing three aspects of a farmer's work. First, he declares that the plowman doesn't continue breaking the ground indefinitely, but stops when it is ready for planting (v. 24). Likewise, our trials are brought to an end as soon as they have accomplished His purposes in our lives. Then the prophet says that the farmer sows his seed with discernment, scattering the cumin but putting the wheat in rows (vv. 25, 26). This assures us that the Lord carefully selects the discipline especially suited to our particular need. Finally, Isaiah portrays the laborer threshing his crop. With extreme care he beats out the dill with a light stick, and strikes the cumin with a heavier flail. For the wheat he employs a wheel just heavy enough to avoid crushing the grain (vv. 27, 28). Thus the Almighty uses the gentlest possible touch for our condition, never allowing an affliction to be greater than we can bear."