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TH1160: On-Line
Teaching Notes
ISAIAH
Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 55, as we continue our journey through the Word of God. And as you will see, chapter 55 opens up with an invitation to the world to receive what God has for them.
ISAIAH 55
VERSE 1
1. When the Lord says "Ho!" He is trying to get our attention, for what He is about to say is very important. This is a universal invitation to the world to come to the Lord and receive the free gift of salvation. Even in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, we read in chapter 22, verse 17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." God keeps calling for us to come to Him, even at the very end!
Also, notice that Jesus doesn’t say "Everyone who needs" because we all need the free gift of salvation, for without it we are dead in our trespasses and sins. The key here is are you thirsty? Do you have a spiritual thirst for God? If you do, God will satisfy that thirst. In this verse Jesus makes 3 points regarding water, wine and milk, that we are going to look at a little closer.
A. WATER
In John 7:37-39 we read, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." Jesus is speaking of the refreshing, life-changing waters of the Holy Spirit, and all you need to do is come to Him and receive it.
B. WINE
Wine speaks of joy, a glad heart which God desires to give us. As one person said, "Joy is the flag that is flown in the heart when the King is in residence there!" And as Psalm 16:11 says, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
C. MILK
When you think of milk you think of that which nourishes, and the thought that is being expressed here is the Word of God. The Word of God will keep you healthy and strong in your spiritual life. As James 1:21-22 says, "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." And we know what Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 3:16-17. We read "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The key, of course, is being hungry and thirsty for the things of God. God tells us these things are free, you don’t have to spend money for them, and yet He tells us to buy them, why? First of all, we that have no money speaks of us being spiritually bankrupt, and God is giving to us this free gift. Secondly, if you had to purchase it with money, those who were poor could never enter into the kingdom of God. So to make sure you had the money, you might steal, cheat, and-so-on. That is ridiculous, it is a free gift. And thirdly, to "buy" could be speaking of us parting with everything that is coming between us and the Lord, to lay aside those things that are entangling us. As Paul said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
VERSE 2
1. Isn’t it amazing what people try to fill their lives with and they still are not satisfied. The thought today is bigger, better, more expensive, faster, prettier, younger, and-so-on. They fill their lives with all kinds of material things, drugs, sex, and-so-on. And yet, Jesus said in Luke 12:15, "...’Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’" You see, outside of Christ, you will not be satisfied, it is an illusion that quickly falls apart, and you once again are searching for satisfaction in someone or something. God wants you to come to Him, to enjoy a meaningful relationship with Him. It is a free gift to you, but it cost Christ His life! Thus, eat what is good, the bread of life, partake of Him and you will be satisfied.
VERSE 3
1. The Scriptures tell us that the Messiah would come from the seed of David and one day His kingdom will be established over all the earth. And again the thought is that this invitation is open to all. Not only to Israel.
VERSES 4-5
1. Jesus came to save us and to right the wrong concept that the Jewish people had developed about God. They felt that the gentiles were only created to fuel the fires of Hell, and only the Jews or those gentiles that converted over to Judaism could come to their God. Not true. The invitation is open to all to come to Him. Jesus, condemning what the religious leaders of Israel were saying and teaching, said "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." In other words, they were not leading people into a relationship with God, but into a ritual relationship, that Jesus said is sending them into Hell! God does not want rituals, He wants a love relationship with you, and all who come to Him He will receive.
VERSE 6
1. I don’t know how often people think about this, but there is a day of God’s grace which will come to an end and lead into a day of God’s judgment or wrath. In Genesis 6:3 God said "My Spirit shall not strive [abide] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." In other words God gave man 120 years to repent, or to turn around to God before God brought His judgment upon them by a flood to destroy the wicked. And God has been very gracious towards man once again, but that is coming quickly to an end.
2. In this verse it seems like it is our responsibility to find the Lord before His grace comes to an end. There is an element of human responsibility on our part. You see, as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, we have the choice of receiving what He is showing us or rejecting it. Remember what Jesus said in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."
VERSE 7
1. This is what the good news is all about. God desires us to turn from our evil ways and come to Him. As we do his mercy and pardon will be extended into our lives. Our life is a walk, either moving towards God or away from Him. When you walk towards God you are walking away from sin. When you walk away from God you are walking towards sin. You see, you are either being transformed by the power of God or conformed to this world.
VERSES 8-9
1. First of all, God is speaking about the gift of salvation that He has extended to us. For many it is just too easy. They feel they have to work their way into heaven. And God is saying that the worst sinner can enter into heaven by faith and the most righteous person will not by his lack of faith. That is a difficult concept for many to understand with our minds, but God can do as He pleases.
2. Secondly, we may say or we may hear people say, "I just don’t understand God!" That should not be any real surprise to us. God is all-knowing and we are not. And if we could know everything about God, how mighty would He be? In fact, we are told that God measures the universe with the span of His hand, Isaiah 40:12. Our universe has been estimated at being some 12 billion light years, and light travels at 186,000 miles per second. To give you an example of the enormity of our universe, if you were to jump on a light beam you would be able to circle the earth 7 ½ times in a single second. Obviously no meals on that flight! And God measures the universe with the span of His hand! You see, if it only took intellect to believe in God, we would not need faith. That does not mean we turn off our brains when we become Christians. But it does mean we fully can’t understand an infinite God with our finite minds, and thus, we must believe by faith what God is doing and what He has said. Trust in Him!
VERSES 10-11
1. In the Middle East, where rain is a commodity, the land is dry, it is hard, and yet, when the rain does come, seemingly overnight the land bursts forth with vegetation. You see, the life was already there in the ground, it just needed water to spring forth. The same is true of our hearts. As God’s Word is spoken, the refreshing waters of the Holy Spirit break up the hardness of our hearts and bring forth life. The Word of God is living and it is powerful, and it will accomplish that which God desires. You see, faith does not come by entertainment, skits, social programs, stories or anything else except what Paul said in Romans 10:17, "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Don’t be ashamed to speak the Word of God, for it has the power to change lives!
VERSE 12
1. Initially, this was spoken of the captives being returned from Babylon and returning home to Jerusalem. But ultimately this is speaking of the kingdom age. Will the mountains and the hills break forth into song and the trees clap their hands literally in the kingdom age or is this just spoken poetically? We shall see. But remember as Jesus was coming down the Mount of Olives, and the people were saying "...'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Luke 19:38. And the Pharisees told Jesus, "...’Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’" Luke 19:39. And I like what Jesus said to them, "...’I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’" Luke 19:40. I get the impression that if the people were silent, the rocks and stones would have cried out!
VERSE 13
1. What a glorious day the kingdom age will be. The effects of the curse will be reversed, not removed yet completely, for that will not happen until God creates the new heavens and the new earth spoken of in Revelation chapter 22, verse 3. The land will be beautiful once again, righteousness will flow throughout the earth, the land will be restored, in the kingdom age.
ISAIAH 56
VERSE 1
1. God wants us to live a righteous life until He comes. Not for our salvation of course, but to live a life that would be pleasing to God, that would bring glory to Him. The result of living that kind of life is found in verse 2.
VERSE 2
1. A person who follows after the Lord is blessed or happy. It is a joy to do those things that please the Father. It is as the Psalmist said in Psalm1, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3.
2. God is speaking primarily to Israel here. And thus, the keeping of the Sabbath was a sign of the Mosaic covenant that God made with them. For us as Christians, communion is the sign of the new covenant. Now I do understand that there are those that teach if you don’t worship on the Sabbath, on Saturday, you are going to Hell, you have taken the mark of the beast. That is foolishness. In Exodus 31:16-17 we are told "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’"
Again, a sign to the nation of Israel of the covenant that God made with Moses. Also, all those things were types and shadows all pointing to Christ, the substance. Thus, when you have the substance you don’t need the other things. Paul put it this way in Colossians 2:16-17. He said "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." Personally, I don’t think we should worship the Lord on just one specific day, but everyday. You see, isn’t everyday the Lord’s? Of course it is, don’t limit your worship of Him!
VERSE 3
1. For the foreigner, a non-Jew, who comes to the Lord, they were not to be treated differently. They were to be welcomed into the family of God. You see, God will always receive those who come to Him. The Jew’s thought differently, but even here in the Old Testament we see God’s loving arm of grace and mercy extended to all men.
2. A eunuch, spoken of here, was a person who completely devoted himself to the service of his master, and lived a life of celibacy in order to do his job more effectively. But the concern was that a eunuch would not have any offspring to pass the family name on, and in a sense, he was dry, a barren tree. God is going to speak on this in the next 2 verses.
VERSES 4-5
1. God is saying to those who have lived their lives in total devotion to Him, have given up some of the things in this life, like getting married and having children, that God will bless them. Their service to Him will not go un-noticed. As John said in his first epistle, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." I John 1:1-3.
2. Now God is going to be speaking of the foreigner, or really, of you and me.
VERSES 6-7
1. We, as foreigners, have been grafted into the tree, and how thankful we should be. Interestingly enough, God says that His house shall be a house of prayer for all nations, not just for the Jewish people. And interesting thought we you realize how the temple was set up. Going from the inside out, there was the court of the priests, then the court of the men, then the court of the women, and finally the court of the gentiles. And every so many feet there were signs saying that if any gentile crossed into another court, passed the court of the gentiles, their death would be upon their shoulders, it would be there fault. Jesus has broken down those walls of division, and both Jew and gentile can boldly come before the throne of God and make intercession.
VERSE 8
1. Again, this is not an exclusive relationship for Israel, but God’s grace is extended to all, Jew and gentile or foreigner. In John chapter 10, beginning in verse 11, we read "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd." John 10:11-16. Jesus is our good shepherd who gave His life for His sheep. Notice, not 2 or 3 or 4 different flocks, but one flock made up of a variety of different people, both Jews and gentiles!
2. We have seen Jesus as our good shepherd, but now beginning in verse 9 of Isaiah 56, we are going to see what the wicked shepherds, the hirelings, and evil leaders are all about.
VERSES 9-10
1. God is indicting the religious and political leaders of Israel. They have allowed wild beasts to come in and devour the people. They were blind, they were ignorant, they were lazy, and God called them greedy dogs. The Jews would call gentiles "dogs", it was a big time put down. You see, these leaders were more interested in their own gain rather than the safety, protection, edification of the people they were entrusted to watch over.
2. God can also say this of the church in general today. There is more of a concern for personal gain than being a good shepherd. Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27-35, when he said to them, "For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
Wolves would be coming in from outside the church and they would also be rising up from within the church to devour the people and draw the people to their own doctrine instead of Christ. And he was admonishing them to watch over the flock that God has entrusted them with. To warn of false doctrine. To teach them the Word of God. To equip them so they can stand strong and not be taken by the winds of false doctrine that blow through the church. And Paul ends his words by saying that he did not do this for money, for he worked with his hands to provide for himself, and his desire was to give all he could to those he was watching over.
3. Remember the story of king Josiah in II Kings chapter 22. He was a good king, who brought reform to the nation after his grandfather Manasseh and his father Amon did evil before the Lord and sent the kingdom into a downward spiral from which they never fully recovered. But Josiah tried to bring reform, he called for the temple to be repaired, fixed up, to make it a place of worship once again. And as they were removing all the junk that had been pilled up in the temple, underneath it all, they found the Word of God. And as they brought the Word of God to the king, and they read it to him, he tore his clothes because he recognized how far from God they were by their actions. And as the Word of God was spoken, lives were changed, revival broke out. The church today has covered up the Word of God with all kinds of programs, entertainment, psycho-babel, and-so-on. And what the people need to do is get rid of all that junk and get back to the Word of God.
VERSE 11
1. It always bothers me when I hear of church leaders begging for money, fleecing the flock they are to be watching over, and they are driving around in fancy cars, have mansions they are living in, and usually more than one, jewelry that would knock your socks off, and-so-on. They are greedy dogs, God says. They are looking out for their own personal interests and fleecing the flock of God.
Paul, very simply, put it this way in I Timothy 6:6-12. He said "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
VERSE 12
1. The thought is to drink, enjoy yourself, don’t worry, things will just continue on. How foolish. How sad. I have said a lot about religious leaders of our day, but this is also speaking of the political leadership. In our own nation, Washington DC has the highest per capita alcohol consumption rate in the United States! The place where we send our leaders to lead us and they are drunk with wine, or whatever. No wonder they make such foolish decisions. Their minds are clouded over with intoxicating drink, and they are more concerned for their own well being, their own political future, than they are with doing what is right, leading the people. We have seen this in the decision they made not to impeach the president for lying to the grand jury and obstruction of justice, not to even mention his adulterous relationship he was having in the White House. You see, to impeach the president was not the popular thing to do, so instead of having the welfare of the nation at heart, they were looking out for themselves. It is as Proverbs 17:23 says, "A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice."
It is not always easy to do what is right, and it is not always popular, but it is what is best. Remember King Asa, as He was leading the people, his own grandmother, Maachah, had an obscene image of Asherah, and because of that Asa removed her from being the queen mother. Why did he do it. Because he wanted to do what was right before the Lord. That is always the best policy to follow, as difficult as it may be sometimes. Pray for our political leaders, that they would do what is right and that the religious leaders would get back to teaching the Word of God to equip the saints of God.