The Coming Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
TS: Isaiah means “The Lord is Salvation”
In Hebrew it is very similar to the names of Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus
Isaiah is quoted 65 times in the NT. More than any other prophet
In Ch 2, Isaiah discusses the 1000 year period after the tribulation and before eternity in which Satan is bound and Christ rules as king on Earth.
RS: We are included in the Kingdom of Christ. All believers have a part. The NT declares we are joint heirs with Him.
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them!
Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty.
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;
against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;
against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft.
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
And the idols shall utterly pass away.
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,
to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Power of Hope vs. 2-5
Power of Hope vs. 2-5
The Hope vs. 2-4
The Hope vs. 2-4
Isaiah 2:1-3 is repeated in Micah 4:1-3.
Since Isaiah and Micah were contemporary prophets, it isn’t surprising that the same Spirit of the LORD could give these two prophets the same word, to establish and emphasize His word
Repeated things are often important things!
In the latter days:
In context, the term latter days refers to the “time of the Messiah,” when the Anointed of the LORD reigns over the earth.
This speaks of the time many refer to as the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Jesus on this earth
Isaiah 2:1-5 is a prophecy about the Millennial reign
It is part of end times prophecy in what we call eschatology
Much is made about the rapture, tribulation, and new heaven but we don’t hear a lot about the millennial reign
It is a 1000 year period between the Tribulation and Heaven
Jesus will come down to earth and rule from Jerusalem
Isaiah 11:4-9 gives us a picture of the millennium
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The angel Gabriel told Mary about this
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Rev 2:1-3 Tells us Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit and Jesus rules with a peaceful reign
Isaiah also refers to a mountain
Jerusalem actually sits between seven mountains, They are 1300 ft above sea level.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
During the millennium, Israel will be the “superpower” of the world.
It will be the leading nation in all the earth, and the center of Israel will be the mountain of the LORD’s house
The Temple Mount will be the “capital” of the government of the Messiah.
All nations shall flow to the “capital” of the government of Jesus.
During the millennium, the citizens of earth will acknowledge and submit to the Lordship of Jesus.
It will be a time of perfectly administrated enforced righteousness on this earth.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks:
During the reign of the Messiah, there will be no more war.
There will still be conflicts between nations and individuals, but they will be justly and decisively resolved by the Messiah and those who reign with Him
(He shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke many people).
It isn’t the reign of the Messiah itself that will change the heart of man.
Citizens of earth will still need to trust in Jesus and His work on their behalf for their personal salvation during the millennium.
But war and armed conflict will not be tolerated.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore:
This is the peace of enforced righteousness.
There is no more war, and no more need for swords and spears, so why not make them into plowshares and pruning hooks?
There is no more war because there is a new ruler on earth, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 2:9 tells us what the Messiah will do to the disobedient in that day:
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
After the thousand years will come the judgment seat of Christ and then the new Jerusalem
So we can take hope that Christ is going to return to rule over the world in peace
But do you know that you have that same peace in your heart right now?
The Transforming Power vs. 5
The Transforming Power vs. 5
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Vs. 3 Come, let us go to the mountain of the LORD, He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths:
After painting the picture of the glory of the Messiah’s reign, Isaiah then challenges Judah (house of Jacob) to live in the Messiah’s reign right now.
He is calling us up to the mountain spiritually right now
Coming Up to the Mountain
Going up to the mountain is a symbol of coming up to Jesus
We don’t need to physically go up to a mountain to experience it
Vs. 5 Let us walk in the light of the Lord
Isaiah is calling us up to Jesus by telling us to walk with him daily
To walk in the light of the LORD means to order your life after God’s truth and God’s ways.
The ultimate reign of the Messiah may be many years away, but Jesus can reign in our lives, in our minds, and in our hearts right now.
We don’t have to wait for the enforced righteousness of the millennium to have the blessing of Jesus’ righteousness in our lives right now.
To walk in the light of the LORD means you enjoy the blessings of the Messiah’s reign now.
You don’t have to live a dark, depressing, discouraged Christian life.
You can walk in the light of the LORD!
What is it that gets you down, that brings darkness into your life?
What can it compare to the light of the LORD?
Is it the darkness of spiritual attack, of unfaithful friends, of bad circumstances, of shame, of guilt, of anything greater than the light of the LORD? We think not!
What prevents us from walking in the light?
Vs. 6-9 gives us three answers
For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them!
Power of Humility vs. 6-22
Power of Humility vs. 6-22
The Humility vs. 6-21
The Humility vs. 6-21
Isaiah moves from comfort to the conviction and why we aren't feeling the warmth of the light
He hits on three areas that prevent peace in our life
vs. 6-9 Foreign Gods, Money, and Idols
They are filled with eastern ways … they are soothsayers like the Philistines … they are pleased with the children of foreigners:
Judah had allowed the false gods of foreigners to captivate their attention.
Their land is also full of silver and gold:
Judah had allowed the false gods of wealth and materialism to captivate their attention.
Because Judah was in a time of economic prosperity (full of silver and gold … no end to their treasures … full of horses … no end to their chariots), they were far more prone to economic idolatry.
This was not an anti-wealth statement.
God is not against wealth and riches, and may choose to bless some with significant resources.
This is a rebuke of the love of riches, and any trust in wealth.
Their land is also full of idols:
Judah had allowed idols to captivate their attention.
People bow down, and each man humbles himself:
There was plenty of worship (bow down) in Judah, and plenty of people humbling themselves.
They were simply worshipping the wrong things, and humbling themselves before the wrong things!
We know how to bow down, we know how to humble ourselves; we just don’t find it easy to direct it properly towards the LORD.
We are more than happy to bow down and humble ourselves for something of our choosing, but often find it difficult to do it for the LORD.
Diagnostic tools:
1. Find our identity and peace in being in control when faced with uncertainty
2. Find Trust in approval if greatest nightmare is rejection
3. Derive peace from comfort if nightmare is stress or demands
4. Find identity in Pride and position if greatest nightmare is humiliation
The application is sobering:
Therefore do not forgive them.
Their worship of foreign gods, of riches, and of idols was sincere.
It may have been ennobling or helpful to society. But it rejected the LORD God, and was therefore unforgivable.
In conclusion, Isaiah reminds us how to yield to God now.
Transforming Power vs. 22
Transforming Power vs. 22
How do we break this?
Vs. 22 Stop Regarding Man
Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
We have a choice, just as ancient Judah did.
Regard God or Man
The one you regard is the one you will serve. You will seek to please them
Man:
Your moral compass will be decided by the crowd
You will go along with all manner of sin and rebellion against God to get along
This might be the easiest path today
But it is one of rebellion against God
God:
You will obey and worship Him alone
You will get your sense of right and wrong from God’s Word
This may be the most difficult path for today, but it is the RIGHT path
It is the path which pleases GOD