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Tedious Teachings? (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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August 21, 2024 6:00 am

Tedious Teachings? (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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August 21, 2024 6:00 am

Isaiah, having given Millennial Kingdom encouragement to the believers, returns to the political conditions in his part of the world — The Assyrian menace. He warns the arrogant alcoholics of the Northern Kingdom, in the palace, and the priests and prophets as well. Then, he warns Judah that the same fate awaits them because of their abandoning Yahweh […]

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Now therefore, do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord Yahweh of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth. So God's reach is throughout human history saying, I'm giving you advice.

Don't continue this mockery of, you know, the Bible teachings are tedious. Listen to the teaching of God. Give ear and hear my voice.

Listen and hear my speech. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Isaiah.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter 28 with this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Isaiah's not going to be with these guys, but there's a wordplay, a poetic wordplay that he is using here.

He's mocking, in this speech he's sort of sounding like a drunkard because they accused him or because they were drunkards. It's baby talk, that jab they took at him in verse 9, who are you going to teach? And then he's also baking into this intelligible language coming from the Assyrian conquerors. So verse 11, for which stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people. Yeah, that's the Assyrian foreign language he's talking about. If you can't understand my Hebrew, try understanding the Assyrian Akkadian language.

That's where this is going. Make nonsense of God's sense and you will find yourself in a place where you don't understand the things you must understand or suffer. And which is ultimately in the judgment where this chapter ends.

This chapter ends with the judgment to come. And soon these people in the north will be deported to foreign lands and they will be forced to hear the babble of the foreigner's tongues along with the false and seductive religions that they will be subjected to, the gibberish of lies about God. So when Rabshakeh comes, the general of the Assyrians, he gets to the gates of Jerusalem, we get to the latter chapters of Isaiah. When he gets there, he's speaking in the Hebrew. And the representatives of King Hezekiah ask him not to speak in the Hebrew because they don't want the people on the walls to hear what the conversation is and become frightened.

And of course Rabshakeh, obnoxious as he is, he doubles down and says it louder. But the idea is that they spoke Rabshakeh's language, the people did not. Well when the people of the north are taken captive, they're not going to understand the Assyrian language and that's what Isaiah is saying. You're going to be conquered. And because you wouldn't understand the plain truth of the prophets, you'll just get what you want.

You won't understand the plain truth of those who conquer you either. Now when you get to Corinthians 14, Paul quotes this verse from Isaiah. And he's saying to the Corinthians, he's saying Corinthians, Isaiah is not applauding that which is unintelligible. When Isaiah used these words that I'm quoting to you, he was saying to a people who were against God that they were going to be judged. And he's saying to the Corinthians, understanding is critical as Christians. You're not to come to church and start speaking in tongues and nobody knows what you're saying and then say this is a blessing. And don't hide behind Isaiah's verse saying well God's going to speak in this language.

No he's not. He's not out trying to confuse people. He wants his people to understand and you're going to redirect the blessing of tongues into something it never was meant to be. And so Paul and Corinthians, I guess I should just take that, well let's just take verse 15 where Paul says to them, what is the conclusion then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will also pray with understanding.

And that's it right there. They weren't doing that in Corinth, many of them. He says I will sing with the Spirit.

I will also sing with the understanding. So you had this madhouse, this element in that church that was just emotional and bringing a lot of pagan stuff in and Paul's trying to get a hold on it. And then when he finally gets to this he says in verse 21 of 1 Corinthians 14, you know why is this complicated? Well because people have complicated the whole thing of tongues.

Tongues are like.002% of your Bible and like 20% of the problem many times. He says in the Lord 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. And so when Paul quotes that he is saying God is not applauding ignorance. He's condemning it and when Isaiah told that to the people it was because they were mocking what God had to say. Don't use Isaiah to try to defend unintelligible tongues. That's what he was saying to them.

So I hope that clears some of it up to you. The Bible is not condemning one speaking in tongues. It is condemning one speaking in a way that nobody knows what they're saying and then acting like see that was God.

No that's not. It offends a lot of people to hear that. They want to be. They want to be unintelligent. I attended a church that when someone would stand up and speak in tongues I would go like that. And sometimes no one would stand up to give the interpretation. But their doctrine was that you can only speak in tongues if there's an interpreter. So the pastor would do it and I just like wait a minute that's not right. You're waiting for someone to give the interpretation when no one does you just magically have it. You say well maybe he had the gift. Well either way. You're interrupting what he was teaching anyway. So you have two problems there and then he would give the interpretation and it would be like that was the same thing he said last week.

It was a mess I thought. Anyway coming back to this verse 12 and again if you pointed out the people is so ingrained it's become a sacred cow in many circles in Christianity. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God because we understand it.

That's why. Verse 12 to whom he said this is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing yet you would not hear. Verse 13 but the word of the Lord was to them precept upon precept precept upon precept line upon line line upon line here a little very little that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and caught.

So the prophet says yeah oh here's your own words back at you and by the way here's the conclusion you're falling backwards you're going to be ensnared. God tried to reach you he tried to refresh you with truth but you couldn't be bothered. Bible stuff was just tedious teaching to you so boring that's what Isaiah is doing when Peter he and John go into the temple in Acts chapter 3 and the man is begging for money which is understandable. Peter says I don't have any money silver and gold have I none such as I have give I thee and in the name of Jesus Christ arise and walk and the man was cured. Then Peter drew a crowd and this is what he said to them repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Well that's what Isaiah is saying here in verse 12 this is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing yet they would not hear. They knew what they were doing verse 14 therefore hear the word of Yahweh says Isaiah speaking again you scornful men who rule this people who are in Jerusalem. So now he's turned his attention to Judah he's dealt with the north he's saying don't go thinking you're all high and mighty and he's warning those who are scornful of the message that he preaches just like the ones in the north. He says your foreign policies have failed because they factor out God that's why this is God city it's his land you're his people he owns it. The fact that you want nothing to do with him does not mean he has no power or rights over you it's not like God we don't believe in you okay so he stops existing that's not how it works in verse 15.

Here's I heard someone say to an atheist says well I never saw God so I don't believe in him and the comeback was well I never saw an employee at Home Depot but I believe that they're there. Alright come back to this verse 15 because you have said we have made a covenant with death and she old we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through it will not come to us but we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves. The sarcasm continues and rightfully so he's characterizing the alliance Judah made with was sought to make with Egypt to protect them from Assyria. And it was a deal of death that's what he's saying it's not going to work and again when Reb Sheka comes to the gates of Jerusalem. Well what happened to the rest of Judah well they already enslaved them so they were trusting in their power politics and not Yahweh. They were also trusting in the underworld thus the double the covenant with death and she old the underworld the afterlife world the spiritual realm. They were having their seances they were calling on their fake gods Isaiah 8 he says and when they say to you seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter.

Should not a people seek their God should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? They were doing these they were pulling these kinds of stunts eventually the Assyrians took Egypt to. And Isaiah says if you were honest with yourselves then you would say we made a bad deal by turning our back on God and trying to do it in our own genius. But they won't so when God says continues he does here in verse 15 when the overflowing scourge passes through will not come near us. Well that scourge is God using Assyria and there's with this false security they said well we're good we got it covered. We've got you know envoys up in Egypt we're going to be Assyria is going to hear that they're not going to want to tangle with us.

And of course it was all false they were impressed with their foreign policy but no one told Assyria how impressive it was. For we have made lies our refuge so God's estimate of their hope is put into their mouths. He's saying this is what you're doing they're not actually standing up and saying we have made lies out they wouldn't admit that they were lying to themselves. So God says well I'm going to admit it for you through my prophet I'm going to tell you what you're doing.

You're hiding behind lies and you feel very safe there. Willfully delusional this is what they were and this is the outcome of being argumentative with God. This is the outcome of being defiant and dishonest with him. Willfully they've become delusional. He continues and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves. And so again the prophet admits for them since they refused to. They lost their ability to identify truth. They lost their ability to tell the truth.

They lost their ability to like the truth. And they paid twice. The sinner pays twice they pay in this life and they pay in the next. Verse 16 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh behold I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation a tried stone a precious cornerstone.

A sure foundation whoever believes will not act hastily. So he sort of like perks up when he gets to this revelation. God's speaking to his heart. Of course this is in contrast to the drunkards and the dishonest and apostates to their leadership. There stands Messiah contrasted with them. The Christian doesn't have to say where can I find heroes. They're just in their Bibles. And they start at the top with Christ.

And this is what they were not doing. This reference to Messiah is made clear in the New Testament. Peter, Romans, Mark I mean even the Psalms. Behold God speaking I lay and that behold is always dramatic music. That you can say that.

You know here it comes. Something big a big point is going to be made. I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation a tried stone a precious cornerstone a sure foundation. So the true versus the false metaphorically pointing to the stability of God and his righteousness.

A sure foundation as opposed to the instability of man's government and his sinful ways that the north and south had to suffer through. He says whoever believes will not act hastily. Well haste implies anxiety and confusion.

Unless you're playing sports I guess. But otherwise in life you don't want to make haste. It would be nice to name a kid haste and have them make a pie.

You could say haste makes pies. Here when he says whoever believes will not act hastily he means they won't rush off to make allies without God. They will go through life thinking about God.

What would he want done and to do that they will seek him. As we read about the Macedonian Christians seeking God on giving money to the Jerusalem Jews. They didn't just say well there's a need let's just give something. They said whoa there's a need that doesn't mean we're supposed to give. Let's think this through on our knees and they did that. And Paul was so blown away that he told the Corinthians that and the Holy Spirit said I'm going to put that in print.

That's my work in their lives I could do it to them I could do it to you. The Septuagint which is the Old Testament in the Greek language. The translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek known as the Septuagint. They use the word ashamed instead of hastily. I think that's interpretive. In other words I think when the translators were writing it that said you know will not act quickly.

Well the idea is they will not act shamefully and it's not inaccurate. Just would not adhere to the original Hebrew which wasn't too much of a problem. Remember Jesus grew up with at least two translators. The Aramaic, the Hebrew and the Septuagint and he quotes some of them. So it's not like oh this new thing we've got all these translations which one can I trust. Well you could trust them all but it's still going to take work to dig down to the deeper points of doctrine. No matter what translation you have. Anyway the frantic of heart are not the victorious ones verse 17.

Also I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters will overflow the hiding place. So he's still going at them.

He's saying your little hiding place is like the sand castle is what it is. And you know they were steamed at this. The history says that Isaiah was martyred.

They were probably a lot of giving three cheers to Manasseh if it's accurate for their brutal savage killing of the prophet. The refuge of lies appears a second time. How many people take a residence there? Well I'm moving.

What are you moving to? A refuge of lies? Are you going to find a safe place? A harbor of lies? We have the right to lie to ourselves. You just have no right to blaspheme God for it. They were lying to themselves. They were blaspheming God. Thing is God would hold them accountable. Verse 18 your covenant with death will be annulled.

Your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through then you will be trampled down by it. So God is saying Egypt's not going to help you and nor are your occultic gods which are demons.

They're not going to help you either. I'm going to put the kibosh on all of it. Verse 19 as often as it goes out it will take you for morning by morning it will pass over. And by day and by night it will be a terror just to understand the report. Well the Assyrians were devastating Judah. When they got rolling after they took out the north they were making raids and they took all the cities of Judah except Jerusalem. And people had relatives there and it was terrifying. We're next. They're going to kill us next. And we know the Assyrians they skinned people alive. I mean they just tortured people. They had ingenious ways of torturing people. They had special forces. They would skin people and lay the skin over the walls so everybody could see it. They were brutal by this time in history.

They weren't that bad in Jonah's day but they evolved or devolved. Anyway verse 20. For the bed is too short to stretch out on and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. And so again he's a funny guy. He says you bought a bed too short and your blankets on they don't work.

This is the language he's using. You could do a whole sermon on this one. They chose wrong when it came for comfort and satisfaction. In fact they're not going to get comfortable and they're not going to find satisfaction. They make wrong choices. That's his point.

You can't shop. You always come back with two percent milk. Anyway verse 21. For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Parism.

Please don't comment to me about two percent milk after. It's just a joke. For the Lord will rise up verse 21. As at Mount Parism he will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon. That he may do his work, his awesome work.

And bring to pass his act his unusual act. Well the point is that David conquered in the valley of Gibeon and at Mount Parism. And God is saying God was with his people to judge other people. But God is going to use other people to judge his people when they mess up. Just like I did with David is going to switch around because you're guilty.

And this is an awesome work. It is beyond your changing this. And it is an unusual act in that God doesn't want to do this. But you're forcing his hand.

You have provoked him to do this to you. And yet he will of course have a remnant he will spare. He will not wipe out the children of Isaac. Verse, now I purposely said Isaac because Abraham had children that were not Jews. Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. He had many other children. He had twelve sons after Sarah died.

He had twelve sons by Keturah. But they're not Jews. They're children of Abraham but not covenant children. But it starts with your seed Isaac not counting Ishmael. Counting Isaac. Then came Jacob. Jacob becomes Israel.

The children of Israel are linked directly to all three. Verse 22, now therefore do not be mockers lest your bonds be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord Yahweh of hosts a destruction determined even upon the whole earth. So God's reach is throughout human history saying I'm giving you advice.

Don't continue this mockery of you know the Bible teachings are tedious. Listen to the teaching of God. Give ear and hear my voice.

Listen and hear my speech. And now he turns his attention to the faithful of the nation. He says God's judgments are methodical.

They are perpetual. He's going to illustrate them through farming. Verse 24, we'll just take that right to 28. Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? Verse 25, when he has leveled its surface does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin?

Plant the wheat and rose, the barley and the appointed place, the spelt and its place. For he instructs him in right judgment as God teaches him. I love that. As God teaches him.

He still does this. Verse 27, for the black cumin is not thrashed with a threshing sledge nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cumin. For the black cumin is beaten out with a stick and the cumin with a rod. Verse 28, bread must be ground as a flower to get the flower. Therefore he does not thresh it forever, break it with his cartwheel or crush it with his horseman. So he's saying God knows what he's doing. He has this methodical approach to life. Things don't go on randomly. He's under his control and ultimately there's a conclusion.

There's a proper way for this that is not proper for that and vice versa. God's got it all. The husk of the iniquity will be separated from the wheat, the sheep from the goats we would say. And so a never-ending process in God's dealing with the farmer is cyclical but it does come to an end.

So he's saying judgment is not random. The day of judgment is coming. The word cyclical appears 15 times in the Bible, 13 times, Old and New Testament together. Seven of them are in one paragraph in the book of Revelation.

I mean it's pretty intense. That is emphatic. I just want to take, instead of taking verses 14 through 19, I'll just take verse 19.

Well I'll take 18 too. And another angel came out from the altar who had power over fire and cried with a loud cry to him who had a sharp sickle saying, thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. For her grapes are fully ripe so the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

And that's what Isaiah is saying. God will reap the judgment. The man will reap the judgment and God will be the reaper. And man will be, of course, that vine of wrath. And verse 29, this also comes from Yahweh of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

So he has this outburst in the last verse. He always has his eyes on the Lord. His doctrine is always in order.

This is Isaiah. In the midst of all this judgment, he attaches hope. He attaches righteousness. And he says that the Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

You either take it or you leave it. You've got to love this prophet. He's just not even warmed up yet. Let's pray. Our Father, so much, so much, we thank you for it and we thank you for it very much.

In Jesus' name, Amen. You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at CrossReferenceRadio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-08-21 08:23:09 / 2024-08-21 08:32:49 / 10

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