They shall see the majesty of our God
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Isaiah, ancient book of prophecy
2700 years ago, 700 years before Jesus lived. I’ll explain why that’s important soon.
The Desert Rejoices!
The Desert Rejoices!
A breath of fresh air!
Compare with the end of 34
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
Recreation
Rose/Crocus/asphodel - The specific species is uncertain - but it’s deffinitely a flower of some kind.
A scene is envisaged, where the dersert comes to life. You know how there are certain times of year, like when the season changes, or when there is rain after the dry, and the flowers burst to life? Colour, smell, insects, all of a sudden the world seems full of life.
Even in remote places there are often plants who will flower and bring colour to the landscape.
Here the picture is of the emptiness being filled and it is as though the world itself rejoices! Creation sings!
Read some more:
it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
Creation rejoices as it is restored. The wilderness is brought to life! It is as though it is a New Earth after the old one was emptied out.
Lebanon was known for it’s forests, Carmel was a maajestic mountain, Sharon was a beutiful fruitful place. Their beuty and natural glory is being clumped together to highlight the majesty of this revived world.
This land will be full of glory, not just the reflected glory of creation, but the glory of God!
The God of Israel, YHWH our God will display his glory in this new world.
Application
This is painting a picture of a beutiful future for the people of Judah facing down armies and exiles.
When bad stuff happens they will be tempted to think that God has abandoned them or forgotten his promises. But this gives them hope.
When is this? We live in the Now & not yet, so some of it has come to pass, but there is more to come. That’s why the pictures of the consumation of all things in Revelation riff on these kinds of themes, plants, fruitfulness, water, this kind of stuff.
God will make a new heavens and new earth, and this vision is a taste of what’s to come.
Do you have a hunger for it? Do you desire it?
Be Strong, Fear Not!
Be Strong, Fear Not!
This is for the audience of Isaiah, they will face trial and temporal punishment, but this message is one of hope.
They don’t need to live in fear because God has secured the future!
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
We have talked at length about the Assyrian armies of Senacharib (more to come next chapter!) and that generations later Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. But God is telling them not to be anxious about what’s coming!
Over past chapters all sorts of judgment and wrath is promised, and yet the people of God are called to steel themselves and not be anxious!
God is coming back, he will set everything right. He will come and save you!
What about you? Is your view of the future fundamentaly positive or negative?
If you do not have a view of the future that is fundamentally positive, then you have a faulty eschatology.
Yes, great trials and tribulation will come. Yes there will be wars, but it’s nothing you need to worry about!
In many places Christians are known for their views about future trials suffering chaos etc. But not their views of a triumphant Christ.
Jesus wins.
In view of the Good News about Jesus;
Strengthen your weak hands
God has come and saved you his names is Jesus Christ!
He has rescued you...
He is coming with recompense
Was God being mean when he says don’t be anxious? Or did he actully say something that he expects you to do?
He said it a bunch of times to His people. He says it to us:
The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
If you tend to be anxious, it is time to stop. Do not feed your anxiety. Instead turn to the Lord and trust Him, give him your fears and worries, and find peace.
The LORD will sort everything out.
There was a partial fulfilment of this passage when Assyria, and later Babylon fell. The people returned from exile. But that was only a foretaste of greater salvation & judement in Jesus Christ.
The Blind shall See, the Deaf shall Hear
The Blind shall See, the Deaf shall Hear
When God comes to save, there will be signs. The curse of sin will be undone. Our broken bodies will be restored:
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
The salvation of God is wholistic. The good future that God promises will not just include a nice creation with the same old problems of the human condition, not there shall be bodily healing an wholness.
What is broken will be fixed.
When Jesus came into the world, he performed many miricles, and said many wonderful things. But some people were unsure if Jesus was the messiah, or if he was just another prophet. Even John the baptist doubted.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
The miracles that Jesus did in healing the lame, the blind and the deaf, they were big bilboards saysing “God has come to save you!! The promises of Isaiah are being fulfilled! The Messiah is here!!”
Jesus came in fulfillment of this prophecy and brings Salvation
But we live in the Now & Not yet. He has brought healing and slavation but it’s not finished yet! He can and has healed, but he does not heal everyone. Instead we get a taste of the coming kingdome where every illness and disease and injury os fully healed. Hwere everyone get’s resurrection bodies!
Where all creation is full of life and wholeness!
For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A Holy Highway
A Holy Highway
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
Very similar to:
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
So What?
So What?
God has a beautiful future in store. He is going to remake the world! New Heavens and New Earth!
You don’t need to fear the future, whether in include great cataclysm, wars and other trials.
Instead, Don’t be anxious
