Restoration of the Jews (Part C)

If today you give them the antidote, say, here is the key to stop the suffering of the Jewish people. The Christ, Jesus, your Messiah, my Christ.

They'll turn on you many times. They don't want to hear anything about Jesus Christ from the Bible. We just saw this, these two pundits going at it. One mentioned the Bible worse, the other one went ballistic.

It's serious stuff. The Bible's not fooling around. Sin has done some heavy work.

This is the cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Isaiah chapter 54 is where Pastor Rick will be teaching from today on this edition of cross reference radio. God is joined to me in a way that no man can separate me from God. He is the creator and he is the companion before sin entered the picture. That's what he was to Adam and Eve, the creator and the companion. But once sin came in, now he has to be the provider and the protector.

Things got nasty after that. He does not cower or humiliate me under the weight of his enormity. God is huge. He is all knowing.

He's all powerful, but he doesn't try to make me cower in his presence. He invites me to come to him with joy, with singing in my heart. Luke chapter 15, here we have a picture illustrating the heart of God. It is in the father of the prodigal son. That son did not deserve anything the way he treated his father.

Just give me my stuff and I'm out of here. And of course he goes and he wastes all of it because he thought his father was, you know, a fool and he was not. And he wasted all of his money. He suffered and finally an epiphany. It struck him.

You know, I would be better as a servant in my father's house than where I am out here in the world. And he goes back and of course we know the father sees him from a distance. He knows his child.

He knows how he, that gate, how he walks his posture. He knows him and he runs to that child and he embraces him and the child is humbled at that point. Well, Luke 15, 31, before all goes south, he said to his son, you're always with me and all I have is yours.

Actually the other son. The point that I'm trying to illustrate, not so clumsily, is that we have a picture here of the father and his heart of not looking to humiliate his children, but standing his ground, of course, but trying to let them understand that they are loved. Well, I have found God has always been that way with me. Even at my worst, he has always, I've always sensed his love and his open arms. I've never felt, now there are times I felt that there was an iron wall up and my prayers aren't getting heard that God has decided this is how it's going to be. And there's no prayer that you can say it's going to change the situation.

We come across a few of those in life, but that doesn't mean he's angry or cold or unapproachable. It's like he said to Moses, don't bring this up again. Now, about other business, Moses, and that's pretty much what happened. Well, the Lord of hosts is his name.

Isaiah 54 5 and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Well, this is the incarnate Christ that again, the Jews at this time did not have the information we have. But when Christ came, there was no excuse. The things that Christ was doing, it was just no way to dismiss it without being guilty.

Why did they reject him? It was no backslapping going on. He didn't pat them on the back and say, boy, you guys are wonderful. I'm glad you're the leaders in Israel. It was none of that.

It was quite the opposite. Like you better fix this kind of in his sermons. Imagine if somebody came along, fitting all the criteria of Messiah, born in Bethlehem. Christ is the firstborn of Mary, and she had subsequent children, and that is scriptural. This Christ, God in the flesh, God the Son, is who this is talking about. The Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. So if you have someone meet the criteria of Messiah, born in Bethlehem, the Lion of David, there's other prophecies surrounding him. And then he goes and he empties out the hospitals, if I could say it that way.

Heals everybody. Who in their right mind would say he's not the one? He's just an average guy. He's a counterfeit. He's preaching God's word. He's telling you to your face that he is fulfilling prophecy and he's backing it up. Who in their right mind would then say he's an imposter, let's kill him?

That's exactly what they did, and they're not innocent for that. In case you have struggled with, you know, well how are they supposed to know? How could they not know is the question? Well, Luke chapter 24 verse 21. This is on the road to Emmaus, and they're educating this person that has inserted himself in the conversation, which is the risen Christ.

And they don't know that at this point, and they make this statement. We were hoping that it was he who was to redeem Israel. Well, he is the one, and not only Israel, the Gentiles too.

It's short-sighted there, which just proves. Christian doesn't have to have all their theology together to be loved and saved. Anyway, Titus chapter 2, who gave himself for us, talking about Christ, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. You can't do that unless you're God. Peter couldn't, could not redeem everyone from lawless deeds and purify them for himself. Only God could do that, and this is another proof of the deity of Christ, which is everything. If you do not believe that Christ is equal with the Father, then you are against Christ, because that is his revelation to man, and that's what the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses, why they are so lost. They refuse to accept who Christ says he is. Imagine you come along telling somebody who you are, and people just, you know, no, we're going to change that. We're going to say this is who you are.

Whether it's true or not, this is how it's going to be. Well, how about the Holy One? Luke chapter 1. And the angel answered her and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, speaking to Mary, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Well, when the Jews spoke of someone being the Son of God with the definite article, the Son of God, that was either blasphemy or fulfillment of prophecy. This is a big deal. Mary had a hard time, man, when people must have thought of her, what they did think of her.

Thank God Elizabeth was there for her. Well, anyway, what I'm pointing out is Isaiah speaking about Yahweh of hosts is his name here in verse 5. Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. We take one more from the New Testament, Acts chapter 3, where it is also applied to Christ. This is Peter now preaching, but you, to the Jews that crucified him, but you denied the Holy One and the just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. It's kind of like, are you crazy?

Are you out of your mind? How could you have an innocent man preaching righteousness, upholding Scripture, healing people, doing miracles, and then you want to kill him and get the real outlaw who deserves to be killed set free? Where's the logic to this? This is all baked into Peter's statement.

And, of course, they hated Peter for it, too. He is called the God of the whole earth, and this is the Christ that settles it. The divine identity of Jesus. Listen to what Paul says about Christ in Romans 9, verse 5. Christ came who is over all the eternally blessed God. The eternally blessed God, amen. He straight out calls Christ God.

That's not the only place, but that's one of them. And so this character in verse 5 is Christ, verse 6 now. For Yahweh has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit like a youthful wife, when you were refused, says your God. Well, God separated from Judah. He did not divorce the southern kingdom like he did the northern kingdom. Ezekiel 10 explains to us how the Shekinah reluctantly departed from Jerusalem.

It was a spiritual separation, not a severance. And then Judah went into exile to Babylon. Isaiah 50, verse 1. Thus says Yahweh, Where is the certificate of your mother's divorce, whom I have put away?

Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? So he's saying, I have not given you up, but I am separating from you as part of your judgment. I can't live under the same roof with idolaters without dealing with it. Jeremiah picks it up too in Jeremiah 3.8. And there he says, speaking of the northern kingdom, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce. So the metaphor of divorce and marriage, of barrenness, all of this goes into God's relationship with the Jewish people. It teaches us that God does have a boiling point with people.

That there are consequences to rejecting him, and there are benefits to not rejecting him. We understand that as fair when we are offended. Why cannot people understand it when God is offended? Has not God a right?

Is he not entitled to be offended by what people do against him? This is just a logical question. You don't have to go to a seminary, you don't have to read a thousand books.

They ask these kind of questions to somebody who is not thinking it through. Before Christ, I didn't think these things through. I felt it was fine to just make up things about God. That's blindness. And God in his mercy rescued me, and I think to myself, well, how can you reach a lost person?

Well, there's no direct formula. There are things that you can do that will keep you from being used to reach the lost, and there are things that will heighten your ability and chances of being used to reach the lost. Verse 7, for a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. And the Babylonian captivity demonstrates that. Incidentally, the word forsaken there, you know, we hear that and it makes it sound as though God was guilty for a moment. The Hebrew word means leave you. And you can say forsaken, but not as an accusation against God for somehow failing to do what he was supposed to do. That is not the meaning. The meaning that God is saying is that I withdrew from you.

I separated from you. That's your punishment. And, well, it got worse, and we'll cover that after the crucifixion. Verse 8, with a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says Yahweh, your Redeemer.

Israel, of course, the antagonist that provoked Yahweh, and the church can provoke Christ also, equally so. In Matthew 28, we know this, Jesus telling the disciples to go out and make converts, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. That's what a disciple is, a student, not just a convert. It's not enough just to be converted to Christ and you have to learn him.

Well, he continues, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It's God's assurance he's not going to forsake his people. Hebrews 13, 5, let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Well, you might get the feeling if you are in need that God has forsaken you, and, you know, if you're keeping up with the Joneses, you're going to have that problem.

If the Joneses got a new car today, and if you're going to turn green on that, then you're going to have problems. Contention, confusion, all those things come from self-seeking, but if you just rest assured that, hey, God is with me, I'll be all right, you're going to have more strength. John 15, 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned up. So we see this, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is the same person. We see that Christ is saying there are consequences, there are real things I expect from people. So now we come to the church, Revelation 2, verse 5, the church at Ephesus, the darling church, the church that had all the advantages, and then she left her first love. And he says, remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else. I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. I will sever the relationship.

How else should it be? Should God just bless the wicked and let the righteous just suffer? Of course not. Verse 9, for this is like the waters of Noah to me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you nor rebuke you. Israel will survive her judgments.

That's what he is saying. You're going to be dealt with, but as a people you will survive. Verse 10, for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh, who has mercy on you. That covenant of peace is going to be under the new covenant in Christ, who, of course, is the Prince of Peace.

But again, he says he's not going to forever distance himself from his people. Verse 11, O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems and lay your foundations with sapphires. Verse 12, I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stone.

So ultimately, in the kingdom age, they will be magnificent. God is assuring them of future blessings, the redemption of Israel from all her suffering. Verse 13, all your children shall be taught by Yahweh, and great shall be the peace of your children.

Had the Jewish nation accepted Christ, then their entire history would have been different. But they did not, and because they did not, this verse has been postponed until he reigns on earth in the kingdom age. Jesus quoted this verse, a section of this verse, to those who were resisting him, who were refusing him. John chapter 6, it is written in the prophets, Isaiah specifically, and they shall be all taught by God, as it is here in verse 13.

Therefore, Jesus said, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. That's why Nicodemus couldn't keep away from Christ. Joseph of Arimathea put his own life on the line when he went and asked for the body of the crucified Christ, because they were taught by God, by the Spirit of God. They knew that he was not one to be crucified.

They didn't have the whole story yet, but they got it. Instead of the leaders submitting to Christ, the people and the leaders opted for this, Matthew 27, 25. And I think this has to do with all their suffering.

He says here in Matthew 27, 25, and all the people answered and said to Pilate, let his blood be on us and our children. Well, we look at their history, beginning just 40 years after those words, about 40 years after those words were uttered, after they cursed themselves, it's been nothing but misery. The Romans came and wiped them out, dispersed them. There were a series of wars with Rome, great slaughter of the Jewish people, crucifixions of the Jewish people. So many Jews crucified, they ran out of wood to crucify them on. If today you give them the antidote, you say here is the key to stop the suffering of the Jewish people, the Christ, Jesus, your Messiah, my Christ, they'll turn on you many times. They don't want to hear anything about Jesus Christ from the Bible. We just saw this, these two pundits going at it. One mentioned the Bible worse, the other one went ballistic.

It's serious stuff. The Bible's not fooling around. Sin has done some heavy work. I think of this verse a lot from Luke's Gospel. The words of Luke concerning the teachings of Christ, men ought always pray and not lose heart. I think of that a lot because you want to lose heart, you want to just give up.

What's the point? You've been praying for this for decades. This is right. Hell doesn't have to pray to get what they want. This is the war we are in. And it always comes back to God's worth it, which is the meaning of worship.

I worship Him. And that's what He wants, that's what I'm going to do. The rest is beyond me, the arrow is beyond me. As Jonathan said to David, it's not the arrow beyond you, David, it's just things that are out of your reach.

But you know what you're supposed to do. Verse 14, in righteousness you shall be established, you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come to you. That ain't happening today.

This is future. Israel, they still are oppressed. They still are targets of Satan. Isaiah 59, verse 20, the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob says Yahweh.

Do you catch that? Those amongst the Jews that turn from their sin. So just being born a Jew is not enough to go to heaven. Just being born in a Christian home is not enough to go to heaven.

You must have that personal relationship. And the 21st verse of Isaiah 59 I think is worth reading. Listen to what the Lord, how He closes that last statement about the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob says Yahweh. Then He says, as for Me, says Yahweh, this is My covenant with them. My Spirit who is upon you and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth.

Pause there. Paul was, Paul and Peter, they were Jews. God put words in their mouths. We call them the New Testament. It's in the New Testament. God continues, I have put in your mouth, His words, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants, descendants, says Yahweh, from this time and forevermore. So there in Isaiah 59 verse 21 God is saying the time will come where you will not depart from Me again. You will be My people and you will preach My word.

So we go back to what I said earlier in the Millennial Kingdom. The Jews will be preaching to people born in those days, in the thousand year reign of Christ. They will be preaching to their children because they will have children. Not those who have died and gone to heaven and now have come back with Christ. Those who have survived the tribulation period. This is why probably all the rewards that take place after the thousand year reign when there are no more deaths and then the rewards are handed out. Certainly looks that way if you look at Revelation 11 18 where God talks about the rewards at that time.

Anyway, that's a side note. To be right with God and to be right for God. That's what I want in life. What do I want most out of this life? To save souls, to be right with God and to be used by God.

What is left? Well, the reality is that there are real forces doing everything they can to stop that from happening with every single one of us. Whether it is a church or an individual. There are spiritual forces that want to do whatever can be done to sidetrack the believer. To get you to rather prefer fame or eloquence or stature or beauty or wealth or whatever else. Anything but righteousness.

And we all know it's true. Verse 15, Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. I think the objective answer to where, what is Isaiah talking about here? Is Revelation 20 verses 7 through 9 when Satan is released. He influences people that have not ever died, that have lived in the kingdom age. And they turn on Israel and God's people. And they're instantly dealt with. I think that's what verse 15 has to do.

I don't know where it could fit anywhere else. Verse 16, Behold I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work. And I have created the spoiler to destroy. So the weapons and tools of men, however they may be used, whether for God or if they're satanically employed, as we see with Hamas, they certainly are satanically employed. God is saying, regardless of what men do with their tools, I am still in control.

Hell has not broken loose and gained the upper hand. Revelation 11 18 that I mentioned earlier, the nations were angry and your wrath has come. And he goes on to say that you should destroy those who destroy the earth.

And that setting is again at the end of the kingdom age. Verse 17, No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh and their righteousness is from me says Yahweh. Well that's not to the individual Christian. There are weapons formed against us that do kill us or there be no martyrs otherwise. This again is the kingdom age.

Ultimately they can't harm the spiritual man but the physical man for sure. The Jewish people have longed for the fulfillment of this verse but they've sought it without their scriptural Messiah. And not until Christ returns will this happen.

And I just want to finish up by saying what he says here. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Well the servant of the Messiah, we won't read of him again in that form in Isaiah that we had in chapter 53. But going forward, servants being plural, it is the role of the righteous within Israel.

But it is expanded to those within the church regardless of their ethnicity. 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.