The ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Today's teaching is about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Now, here's Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 35 with this edition of cross-reference radio. This is the first time in the millennial age, inhabitable for humans. And this judgment is certainly ignited by God as it was with Sodom and Gomorrah. And that is on purpose. God is saying, remember what I did to Sodom? Peter comes along in his letter and he says, Ray, remember, God turned those people to ashes.
You think he's playing around? And it's either real to you or not. Luke chapter 17. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. They were having just a good old time hating God. And look what happened. It was a sad ending for them. Their wickedness was so bad, God said, I can't let this spread. Not yet, but it's happening now. Sodom has been revised. You wish they would get back in the closet. They're not going to.
And we're not either, incidentally. And anyway, this corresponds, this section about the pitch and the fire and the brimstone, it corresponds to the apocalyptic Babylon and the judgments that are coming. The fires of eternal hell, the lake of fire. Also, we're told by Jesus himself, will never be quenched.
This language is intentional. So I have a, you know, a reference here to John 14, not 14, Revelation 14 and Obadiah 18, but don't have time to read it all. But I can take part of Revelation 14. Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself should also drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out in full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, in the presence of the land.
And it just goes on. So these judgments are real. They match what Isaiah is saying.
You see the pitch. That's, you know, oil-based. Is the prophet talking about Saudi Arabia? Those areas of the world that produce a lot of oil?
I think there's some of that included. Anyway, coming back, not all of them necessarily, but in Edom's neck of the woods, verse 11, Pelican, the porcupine shall possess it, also the owl and the raven who dwell in it, and he shall stretch out over it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. Remember, God is not the author of confusion for his people.
He is the author of confusion for the enemy. And the Bible is very clear about that. And here's one example. These are ceremonially unclean animals and they speak of God's rejection. Cain bought fruit when he was supposed to bring a blood offering. God rejected it. In this picture here, Isaiah presents people that have these ceremonially unclean animals, which God would reject.
It is their unbelief. Verse 12, they shall call its nobles into the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all of its princes shall be nothing. Verse 13, the thorn shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles, in its fortresses it shall be a habitation of jackals, a courtyard of ostriches. Again, we've talked about apocalyptic Babylon. This is apocalyptic Edom, representing the nations that have this hatred for the Jews. In a sense, compared to Edom, Babylon didn't hate the Jews, they just conquered everybody. It was emotional. There was a rage against the Jewish existence in the heart of the Edomites.
Anyway, just review this a little more. What he is saying here, verses 12 and 13, matches Jeremiah 50 verse 39. The difference is Jeremiah uses Babylon and says almost identical to what Isaiah is saying.
There's a reason for that, of course. Edom, the haters of Israel, the Chaldeans, they embody the powerful false religions of the world. Now, the Chaldeans were in Babylon. The Babylon represents the world's collective powers against God. That would include the haters of God.
It would include the occultic religions, the false religions, the apostate religions, the financial world, the political world, the military world, the global culture. That is apocalyptic Babylon. And in that is apocalyptic Edom also. I hope that, you know, if you read enough Isaiah and Jeremiah and Revelation and Zechariah, Ezekiel, you begin to see the pattern. It forms right in front of you. You say, okay, I got this.
But it can take a while to get to that place. So verse 14 is the next verse. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with jackals and the wild goat shall bleat to its companion, also the night creature, shall rest there and find for herself a place of rest. Verse 15, the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs and hatch and gather them under her shadow.
There also shall, there also shall the hawks be gathered, everyone with her mate. Well, the reason why, because snakes have no arms, they can't wear vests. It's a random thought. It's nothing to do with what we're talking about. The precise identification of these animals is sometimes impossible. Some of them we get, okay, that is a raven in the Hebrew. But some of the others, the translators struggle. I try to look at the root words and figure out, okay, he must be talking about this. And it's really incidental.
It's not important. Isaiah knew what he was talking about. He's actually kind of showing off how much knowledge he has, has me, and not in a bad way.
Anyway, again, all this reads, these details and this assurance reads like he watched it on a screen, like, you know, a video. And he just has this information. Verse 16, search from the book of Yahweh and read, not one of these shall fail. Not one shall lack her mate for my mouth has commanded it and his spirit has gathered them. So he evokes the scripture. He is saying the scripture can't fail. What I'm giving you comes from God and is now scripture. This is the third time in Isaiah. Isaiah 8, bind up the testimony, seal the law among nine disciples. Well, that was what Isaiah was given to preach. God said, I want you to make a book out of that.
And that's for your students. And then in chapter 30, he says, now go write it before them on a tablet and note it on a scroll that it may be for a time to come forever and ever. And we've been reading these things. So here's another example of the spoken prophetic word becoming written scripture. New Testament answers that too. Paul, Paul, Peter treats Paul's writings as scripture. He says, as they twist the rest of the scripture, which means that Paul's writing was considered scripture. Jesus said this, assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. So there's the assurance of scripture. Verse 17, he has cast the lot for them.
His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever from generation to generation. They should dwell in it. So what he is saying, he's summing up everything he's been saying. And he is saying, God has put boundaries on the judgment that befalls Edom and nothing's going to reverse it. Everything he said about animals inhabiting their territories will happen. Well, chapter 35, the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom, verse two, abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it.
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of Yahweh, the exceeding at the excellency of our God. Now it's a radical shift. We now come to the second coming of Christ, which ends the tribulation period and brings all the slaughter that we've been reading about. I'm kind of like developing a new preaching style.
It's called a cost-suppressant preaching style. I don't know if you can pick it up. I hope you can't, but I'm usually wrong on those kinds of things. Anyway, whether it's the sand of the desert or the ice deserts, Christ comes and there will be climate change. It will be radical and it will be wonderful. So isn't it interesting that no matter what language you speak, all the costs are the same.
You would think that someone who speaks Norwegian or Nordic language would have a different cough, but they're all the same. Anyhow, coming back to this, you can't get to chapter 35, the meanings, until you've passed chapter 34. Chronologically, the prophet's end-time theology is perfect and it matches everything we get in the New Testament.
Which is a critical point. Verse 3, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Paul writes that in Hebrews 12.
He adds, though, strengthen the hands which hang down. It's an interpretive rendering of Isaiah 35, verse 3. Now we come to verse 4 of Isaiah 35. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, be strong, do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance.
With the recompense of God, he will come and save you. You ever try to strengthen somebody who's in fear? And you're saying, be strong.
Now sometimes we can mess that up. It's not the time to say be strong. They already know that. They're doing the best they can do.
They don't need to hear us. You've just got to be strong, Tiger. But then there are other times where we can say, listen, you've got to do better. You've got to be stronger than this. God is with you.
God loves you. And you know it. And you're in a retreat moment. We need you to get into a regroup moment. The difference between a retreat and a regroup, you're both going the opposite way of the attacking enemy.
But one's intention is to stand and fight and counter-attack at some point. Whereas the one that's just in full retreat is just looking to go as far away as they can. 2 Thessalonians 1. Paul writing to the Thessalonians. They're being persecuted now as Paul and Silas were when they arrived there. And he says about those persecuting them. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. When he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. Because you believed our preaching of Jesus Christ, you've suffered this persecution. God's going to deal with them. Because you belong to that group of people that love the appearing of the Lord, that admire him. And of course, it's superlative language.
It's not like, well, I admire people, but this is on another level. And so there we find the New Testament in rhythm with the Old Testament prophecies. Verse 5, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Well, when Messiah comes, the second coming, those who are sick, lame, and they're going to be healed, the ones that survive.
However, what is also pronounced is these are the credentials of the Messiah. This is why none of the Jews get a pass for rejecting him, because this is what the scripture said of him. Now, in fairness, even the mighty castle of a man, John the Baptist, fumbled a little bit here.
He recovered. Jesus said this, if I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father. Jesus said, who else has done what I've done? This is consistent with what Moses taught about there's one coming, you listen to him. It is consistent with what Isaiah said, the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. There's a near and far fulfillment of that verse.
The near one was the coming of Christ, the far one will be the second coming of Christ. Acts chapter 1, to whom he also presented himself, no one presented Christ alive, because he is God the Son. No one could present him alive. Only the Godhead could be involved in his resurrection. It says to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days, speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Again, consistent with the miraculous nature of Messiah as credentials that he is God the Son. So the miracles of Jesus demonstrated that the end time kingdom of God had arrived. When he comes, it's going to have more miracles than just the destruction of evil.
There's going to be the promotion of good. And Matthew chapter 12, if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come among you. If I'm doing what I'm preaching, living the way I'm living, and performing what I am performing, and you can't connect those three, something's wrong with you. Something's very seriously wrong with you. So when John the Baptist doubted, he said, are you the one?
Or do we look for another? Because John is wondering, when he's thinking Messiah is going to come, he's going to deliver them. All the Jews thought that.
Deliver them from the rule of evil. Well, Christ is. But he first did it spiritually.
In his second coming, he will do it physically also. So Jesus, instead of saying to John the Baptist, yes, I am the Messiah, he does it this way. Jesus answered and said to them, go tell John the things that you have seen and heard. The blind see the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, not finished. The deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Who else can do this, John?
You see the link? So Antichrist is going to do false miracles. He's going to use the dark arts. But he's not going to be moral. He's going to be immoral. Christ is saying, I am moral because I preach the good news of the kingdom.
And John would know right away, that's right, all the miracles he's done, the time I baptized, John will connect it all. And this one verse shuts down all the Jews that are, were, and will be against the Christ. And not all the Jews will survive the time of Jacob's trouble. Almost all of them will be wiped out. But that remnant will be totally in. They will weep, they will grieve over their unbelief. They will turn, all Israel will be saved at that point. Verse 6, the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing, for water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. So every believer that enters heaven enters whole.
A sick Christian that dies in the illness does not enter into heaven sick anymore or lame. I won't wear corrective lenses. I still will have sunglasses.
But I, because I just make them look cool. But there should have been an outrageous applause at that. And there was nothing. Anyway, every lame body in the millennial age, when Christ comes, will be restored at the second coming. And it's just going to be so amazing. We'll be so down to business. We'll be so done with the flesh and the world's culture and Satan. We would have seen heaven, the streets of gold. We will live in New Jerusalem, which is like heaven mobile.
And it's just going to be incredible. So verse 7 now, it says the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, and the habitation of jackals, where each lay there shall be grass with weeds and rushes. So reversal, where the wild animals were, now will be this lush territory for people.
Earlier he mentioned Carmel and Sharon. You go to Israel today, those regions are very lush, very green. As you work your way down to Jerusalem, to Judah's territory, it turns very gray, desert-like a lot by comparison. There's some green areas there too. But the northern part of Israel is quite beautiful. And so is Lebanon. And of course you can stand in Israel and look right into Lebanon. You can walk right in, as long as you don't hit one of those land mines, because there's big signs up. Land mines.
Anyway, of course if you don't know, land mines are usually out of sight, until they blow you out of sight. Well, verse 8, a highway shall be there, a road, and it shall be called the highway of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others, whoever walks the road, although a fool shall not go astray.
That's hyperbole. He's saying our future in Christ is foolproof. You don't have to worry. I'm too this, I'm too that.
Christ will take care of that. The theme of the highway is one of Isaiah's favorites. He uses it, oh I have the references here, but I'm not going to give them too much time. One, two, three, four.
This is the fifth time. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He is the king's highway of holiness. He himself is the highway.
So just as he's the ladder for Jacob. The roadways that lead to Rome, lead to Athens, will pass, and we'll say goodbye to all of those things, and good riddance. Verse 9, no lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it.
It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. Gone will be these words, beware of your adversary the devil who walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We won't have that fear. That'd be gone. And neither will the survivors of the great tribulation period.
Light will be a perfect environment for them. They will still have iniquity, but they will not have the triggers that belong to our fallen nature. That just sets it out of control. I don't think that there'll be no more road rage, for example. Anyway, verse 10, and the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Can you imagine? No depression, no down feelings. No, you won't hear this in heaven. Why so glum, chum?
Just not going to be. When David said, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a profound statement. At that stage of scripture, David just summed up the teachings of Christ concerning heaven, especially those found in the Revelation. So the future of any friend of Jesus Christ is bright if he is the Lord and Savior. And now this all concludes the judgments on Judah, Israel, the nations that we've been studying from Isaiah 1 through 35. Next up is we go back in time a little bit in Isaiah's time, though, when Rabsheka shows up with his armies, they get dealt with. Isaiah gets sick. His sickness is to death. He calls out to the Lord. So we'll have that.
And then we'll probably take two weeks to do that, at least. And then we come to the second part of Isaiah, well, the third part, if you want to divide it that way, where it is just he starts out, comfort, yes, comfort, my people. So rich with New Testament application. Comfort, yes, comfort, my people. Remember my faithful, modern Antipas. I just blended the two. Yeah, you're going to be comforted, but you're also going to have some modern experiences.
So let's be sober-minded. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.
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.
