Isaiah 18
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Isaiah 18]
1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 Which sends envoys by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide. 3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth, As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it. 4 For thus the Lord has told me, “I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And remove and cut away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them. 7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] In this section of Isaiah, God’s Word is confronting pagan nations, but His Word is meant to be a comfort to His chosen people.
God’s Word concerning Babylon’s fall, Philistia’s judgment, Moab’s devastation, and so on was a comfort to God’s people.
But it was also a warning to God’s people.
If they lived like pagans, then they would suffer like pagans.
[CIT] In Isaiah 18, God’s Word is about frantic Ethiopia scurrying here and there trying to ready itself for an Assyrian invasion.
But this word encourages God’s people to trust in Him rather than alliances with pagan nations.
[INTER] How difficult is it for us to trust in the Lord when our world seems to be spinning out of control?
[PROP] God’s Word in Isaiah 18 is the same for us tonight as it was for Judah in Isaiah’s day—we can trust God to get the job done.
[TS] I began by reading from the NASB, but to help us more easily understand, I’ll also be using the NLT as we think about this chapter in two PARTS…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
PART #1: Look and Listen (Isa. 18:1-3)
PART #1: Look and Listen (Isa. 18:1-3)
1 Listen, Ethiopia—land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile, 2 that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers. 3 All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth— when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen!
[EXP] Assyria was the power dominating the world scene when God sent this word through His prophet Isaiah.
His word likely refers to the events of 701 BC, when Cush (i.e., Ethiopia) assisted Egypt and Israel against Assyria.
This alliance between Egypt, Israel, and Ethiopia hoped to include Judah as well.
Therefore, Ethiopia sent envoys in papyrus vessels (i.e., swift boats) by the sea, which demonstrates the urgency of their mission.
These swift messengers from Ethiopia were sent to a nation tall and smooth or as the NLT says, “a tall, smooth-skinned people,” (Isa. 18:2).
The Ethiopians themselves were tall and smooth-skinned.
They were also a powerful and oppressive nation.
They were also a nation whose land the rivers divided; Ethiopia being located at the headwaters of the Nile.
By why would the swift messengers from Ethiopia be sent back to Ethiopia?
Because God would take care of Assyria in His time and in His way, and the whole world would see and hear of it.
3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth, As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
The frantic alliance building of the Ethiopians was unnecessary.
God would raise a standard.
God would blow the trumpet.
He would get the job done.
[ILLUS] Do we trust God to get the job done? Or are we tempted by every envoy from the world that tells us we better join in if we want to survive?
I once saw some show about doomsday-preppers.
A guy had purchased cargo containers, linked them together to make multiple rooms, buried them in the ground to create a massive bunker, filled it with drinking water and food.
He bought an old, big army truck that he was convinced would run off some alternative fuel source.
Of course, he was stock piling that fuel source.
He bought guns and ammo, and during the episode he even managed to shoot off the end of one of his fingers.
He was a frantic prepper running hither and yon preparing for the end of the world.
[APP] Outwardly, we may not be like this doomsday-prepper or like the Ethiopian ambassadors with buzzing wings or fluttering sails; outwardly, we may not be frantically preparing for invasion or preparing for the end.
But although we are not outwardly frantic, we are often inwardly anxious.
When the Ethiopian envoy was told by God through Isaiah to go back home, God’s people should’ve understood what we must understand…
…we don’t need the world, we need our God, and we can trust that He will get the job done.
That’s why we wait for Him.
That’s why we look for His banner.
That’s why we listen for His trumpet.
[TS]…
PART #2: Heat and Dew (Isa. 18:4-7)
PART #2: Heat and Dew (Isa. 18:4-7)
4 For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.” 5 Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the Lord will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches. 6 Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter. 7 At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.
[ILLUS] One night in high school my friends and I were playing Capture the Flag.
If you’ve never played, you have Team A and Team B, and the goal for each team is to steal the other team’s flag and make it back to base.
We didn’t have paintball guns or anything like that, so we took stockings and filled one end with flour so we could pummel each other.
On our team, we divided into three elements: a distracting element, an assaulting element, and a protecting element.
I was on the assaulting element, and as we made our to take the other team’s flag, we heard our distracting element doing its job.
We had to put down some members of the other team, but we quickly got their flag and sprinted toward our base.
But as we neared our base at full speed, we didn’t see our protecting element.
They were supposed to remain at our base protecting our flag, and we just knew that, although we had their flag, the other team likely had our’s because our protecting element was nowhere to be seen.
We kept sprinting toward our base with the other team now chasing us, and just as we drew near, our protecting element came out of nowhere swinging their flour-filled panty hoses.
Our flag was still there.
The enemy was put down.
And we won the game.
Because our protecting element, although unseen, was watching, ready, and struck at just the right time.
This is what the Lord said about Himself in Isaiah 18:4.
4 For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”
[EXP] The world spins out of control, and nations frantically try to account for its spinning, but God observes it all unseen, quietly looking on from His dwelling place.
There is no anxiousness in Him. He is not frantic.
From His all-knowing vantage point, He knows what needs to be done.
From His all-wise perspective, He knows when it needs to be done.
From His all-powerful position, He will get the job done…
…just as surely as there is heat in sunshine.
…just as surely as there is dew in the morning.
Heat and dew ripen the crop for harvest.
God in His sovereignty ripens Assyria for destruction.
Seemingly out of nowhere God will cut back and cutoff Assyria, which will then be left dead, spread out like a carcass-buffet for beasts of the earth and birds of prey.
God quietly watching, patiently waiting, but He will put Assyria down—and He doesn’t need Ethiopia’s help to do it.
[ILLUS] In 701 B.C., the Assyrian King, Sennacherib, invaded Judah.
In his own account, Sennacherib claimed to have destroyed 46 walled cities and taken 200,000 captives leading up to his seige of Jerusalem.
Hezekiah was shut up like a caged bird and tried to pay Sennacherib off, but it wasn’t until the Lord, who had been observing quietly, stepped in that Judah was delivered.
35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.
Sennacherib returned home, but the beasts of the earth and birds of prey around Jerusalem dined on Assyrian flesh that Summer.
Our God got the job done.
[APP] This world is chaotic, and we are tempted toward anxiousness, and it may seem as if God isn’t there, that He isn’t watching, that He won’t act—but He will.
He quietly observes, working all things according to the counsel of His will—and when the time is right, He will put down His enemies and deliver His people.
This will happen conclusively at the return of Jesus Christ.
Jesus died as the sacrifice for our sins and rose from the dead having defeated sin and death.
By repenting or our sins and trusting in Him, we are forgiven of our sins and made right with God.
But after His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of God—the position of power and authority.
As Jesus said after His resurrection, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” (Mt. 28:18).
And one day Jesus will return from heaven and exercise His authority to the fullest.
Then all the enemies of His people will be fully and finally put down, and then will come about what is written in Isaiah 18:7…
7 At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.
This is the day we all look forward too.
Until then, let us cast all our anxieties upon the Lord, waiting on Him, trusting in Him, walking with Him until He comes again.
[TS]...
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]