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Wrath and Deliverance (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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January 3, 2025 6:00 am

Wrath and Deliverance (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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January 3, 2025 6:00 am

This is the judgment against the Lord’s enemies and the proclamation of salvation for God’s people. It will happen in the last days, God will remember His promises to His children and He will indeed redeem them.

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So, Isaiah sees God in phases. He sees his work, he sees his vengeance, he sees his salvation.

And the prophets condensed these things into writings. Mighty to save. That is a dominating interest.

That's one that I have. I mean, you can't be God if you're not mighty to save. Even in his judgments, he is saving his people. 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. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 63 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Isaiah chapter 63, Wrath and Deliverance. Well, the first six verses of this chapter are dialogue. That's how Isaiah gives it to us. It's between the redeemed remnant of the Jewish people and from the great tribulation with Christ and dialogue with Christ. Of course, from the Jewish perspective in the days of Isaiah, they had no concept of Christ as we know him, but Messiah was certainly a character that they were familiar with. And so we're dealing in these first six verses with the wrath of God.

But then the chapter changes and it makes it very difficult to give a title to the chapter because it's a drastic switch. But speaking of the judgment, being as serious as it is, the prophet Nahum was talking about God's wrath just on the Ninevites and he says this, who can stand before his indignation and who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him. Well, here in Isaiah, he's dealing with the great tribulation period where as I mentioned, Nahum is dealing with the judgment coming on the Ninevites.

It's a real thing. The wrath of God, the wrath of the Lamb. What Isaiah starts off with in the first six verses is a warrior returning from the conflict. Conflict described from the standpoint of its completion. It's over. He's coming back.

He's giving the report. And you think about the wrath of God, you think about the people who acknowledge the existence of God. I believe there is a God. Well, good for you.

That's really not enough. What about fearing his displeasure? Well, see their concept of God is deficient, it's defective, and that's where we can really help. Not necessarily by starting out with the wrath of God, but that's going to be part of the gospel.

No way around it. So looking at the first verse, who is this who comes up from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.

I who speak in righteousness mighty to save. Well, two questions and two answers in verses one and two. The who and the why. Well, once we learn who is this warrior coming up from Basra, then the why is infinitely important.

Their first question, who is this returning warrior coming up from Basra, which is a territory of Edom, enemy territory, the land inhabited by the descendants of Esau, known as the people of Edom. Now, Esau, the brother of Jacob, the twin brother of Jacob, the older of the two, and his name means Harry. And, you know, they was born and they said, wow, that kid is Harry. Well, that's his name. So they called him Harry.

No, they didn't. But then, of course, he gets Edom, which means red, over the whole stew incident where, you know, who needs a blessing? I'm hungry, which is a very carnal approach and that's who Esau was, a very carnal man. So Esau the man, Edom, became the people of the man Esau. His nickname was Edom and the people were known as the Edomites.

And you can look that up. Genesis 25 is with a story of his being nicknamed red comes from Edom. Edom has come to mean the world against God, against Israel from Isaiah's perspective, but from the New Testament we have a broader look.

We understand it's against all God's people because it's against God's will, symbolic now of all who are in opposition to Israel and to faith. And so names do evolve. Zion evolved. It wasn't just originally the city of Jerusalem in the Promised Land.

It's a name that evolved and there's nothing to be intimidated by about that. Malachi brings out for us the radical differences between Esau's descendants and Jacob's descendants, Israel and Edom. And, of course, Malachi is ministering to those who had a low-grade faith with a high attitude of their own religious approach to God and God, of course, sent the prophet Malachi to straighten him out. I have loved you, says Yahweh. This is Malachi chapter one.

It gets right to it, right at the beginning. Yet you say, in what way have you loved us? And the answer comes, was not Esau Jacob's brother, says Yahweh? Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness. By contrast, God is saying I have loved the Jewish people. And by contrast, those who are in opposition to me have been hated.

Their ways have been unacceptable. You'll never meet an Edomite. You'll never meet a descendant of Esau. They are gone, which is the purpose of Malachi.

I've loved Jacob. He had Jews all over the place. You can't even wipe them out. It's a testimony to God's care for the Jewish people. But the descendants of Esau became an enemy of the Jewish people, were complicit in their destruction. With the Babylonians, Obadiah is addressed to these people. And so where I'm going with this, when he's talking about Basra in the days of Isaiah, they understood these were the enemy.

These were people hostile towards them. But now Edom and Basra, all of the Edomite territory has a greater meaning, and it's pretty interesting how it's going to fit into the end times. So Isaiah reveals it is Yahweh returning to Zion after his judgment in Basra.

Not a literal event, but this sort of vision that he receives from the Lord doesn't say the word vision, but this is what he sees, and it is spot on accurate. Today, what is Edom's territory, and Basra, one of the capital cities of the Edomites, is in the Kingdom of Jordan, the modern Kingdom of Jordan, just across the Jordan River. You can see it from the Promised Land. And over there in that land, other than Basra, there is Selah, which is close to the ancient city of Petra.

Basra, just to the north of those two cities. And it appears from Scripture that many Jewish people will take refuge in the Kingdom of Jordan when Antichrist comes to power. One of the first places it shows up is Isaiah chapter 16, verses one through four, and we covered that. We see it flash again before us in Revelation 12.

Then a woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days. That is, by the Jewish calendar of 360 days, three years and a half. Well, the Great Tribulation period, according to Daniel, seventh week, is going to be a seven-year period. Antichrist is going to be relatively friendly towards the Jewish people, very friendly, actually, in the first three and a half years.

Then he goes nuts. And those last three and a half years, the time of Jacob's trouble, is when everything intensifies, and he looks to wipe out the Jewish people, because he is, again, Satan's boy. So this first verse reinforces the idea of Jesus destroying the forces of Antichrist, which are global, is beyond just the Middle East, and conceivably as those forces of Antichrist are poised to destroy the Jews seeking refuge in the Kingdom of Jordan. But Antichrist won't be able to get to them. Now, you should know, Petra, that natural fortification of a city is not mentioned in the scripture. Selah, or Selah, may be the same place or not, doesn't have to be. But what we do know about Antichrist coming to power is that he can't get his hands on, or he doesn't get his hands on, the people that are in Jordan, modern day Jordan.

And I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'll come back to that and tell you where that comes from. Where I want to go now is to this part about the dyed garments from Basra in verse one. Now, Basra means grape gathering, and it's a play on the name Edom. Edom is red, and if you're trampling on red grapes, well, the Jews coming out is going to be classified as red. And it's a type of the sinful nature is Edom.

It has two types. The impenitent world, as I mentioned, those against God, but Edom can in type be the flesh that is also resistant to God. The flesh, and Basra resists God, is the idea, is an enemy combatant of Yahweh. The ancient Basra being in the territory of the Edomites, the flesh is doomed, the world system is doomed. And that's what Isaiah is saying. Basra is doomed.

We have, again, a greater understanding of these things from New Testament perspective. Jeremiah 49, 13, for I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, that Basra shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, a curse, and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. That has been fulfilled. That's fulfilled prophecy.

It's interesting. There's a lot of prophecy not fulfilled yet. There's prophecy being fulfilled in front of our eyes, and there's prophecy already done.

Many of these places are mounds or tourist sites, but the prophecies are sure. He says here in verse 1, this one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. Well, this warrior is seen approaching. He's not wounded. He's not weary. He's glorious in apparel. He's dressed well for a warrior.

Strong. And the prophet asks, who is this? For the sake of his audience, of course. Making this glorious fashion statement, we must know.

Well, of course, there's more to just, there's blood on his garments. And that ties into the name Basra, the red of Edom and the grapes being, you know, gathered and prepared to turn into or still distilled into wine. I speak in righteousness mighty to save comes the answer.

The warrior answers the question, who is this that comes up dressed like this from Basra? And he says, I speak in righteousness mighty to save. Well, speaking in righteousness refers to God's infallibility and inability to be lying. God does not lie.

Titus tells us in the first chapter, it's not possible. It would defy what the meaning of holiness is. And so he speaks in righteousness and that's the word of God to us.

I mean, the word of God to us is trustworthy and infallible to us. So his method is true. Well, what's his purpose? The salvation, deliverance of the people of God from their enemies as the end as the great tribulation period will demonstrate. He is mighty to accomplish his work. And so this is the who Isaiah is presenting.

And now Isaiah, this chapter, he's gonna have a session where he comes under great stress over things in life around him. But the foundation is his assurance of the things that God has shown him. The prophets believed their message. I hope all pastors believe their message. I hope all witnesses of Christ believe their message. When you tell someone fear not, trust in the Lord.

Do you fear not and trust in the Lord when you're under those, the stress of life, whatever it may be coming your way. So Isaiah sees God in phases. He sees his work. He sees his vengeance. He sees his salvation. And the prophets condensed these things into writings mighty to save. That is a dominating interest.

That's one that I have. I mean, you can't be God if you're not mighty to save. Even in his judgments, he is saving his people. So verse 2, why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

The second question. And of course, this is blood, emblematic of blood. The Hebrew word really is not used for blood, but it was translated, so we'll come to that. But the sign of judge sin stained with blood, the blood of his enemies, the day of vengeance of our God. And your garments like one who treads in the winepress, splattered with the grape juice that's symbolic of the blood. You'll get that if you were reading the Hebrew, but you also get the meaning.

So there's no loss and the translation doesn't do any injustice to everything that's going on. Evidence of a conflict from which he emerges the victor. Joel says this about the judgment of God in the tribulation period, alas for that day, for the day of Yahweh is at hand, it shall come as destruction from the almighty. Revelation is going to really tune into that, give us more detail, and it's going to be graphic and somewhat gory. Language that is used here matches Revelation 14 verses 15 through 20. The vintage, the vine on the earth, the fully ripe world for judgment cast into the winepress of God's wrath.

Well, we get the phrase, the grapes of wrath. Well, verse 3 now, I have trodden the winepress, so the warrior is continuing to answer the question who he is. He has already said where he's coming from, the judgment of Bozrah, again emblematic of the world in its phases. I have trodden the winepress alone and from the peoples no one was with me, for I have trodden them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon my garments and I have stained all my robes. Well, I mentioned the Jewish people seeking refuge and that they will have, and I mentioned that they will flee to the Jordan for this refuge.

Daniel chapter 11 verse 41, by this time in Daniel chapter 11, he's talking about Antichrist, Antiochus Epiphanes, he is part of it, he is a type, but it is Antichrist who fulfills what he is talking about. And this is what he says, he shall also enter the glorious land. That's how Daniel saw the promise to land. And that would be nice, you know, you book a flight not to Israel but to the glorious land. You call it, I'd like a flight to the glorious land.

They'll go, huh, and then you can yell at them. You don't know your Bible. Anyway, he shall also enter the glorious land and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand, Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Amnon.

That's all Jordan, modern day Jordan. Egypt won't escape, and that's pointed out. And so there is, you know, we get these understandings of the Jews fleeing to the kingdom of Jordan, and for whatever reasons Antichrist can't get to them. Probably looking at it from a human perspective, he's got bigger fish to fry, he thinks they're cornered, the logistics is going to be an issue, so he's rather going to deal with other things first and get to them later, but before he gets to them, this one in, this mighty one in this apparel will deal with him, and that will be the end of it.

And so he comes to, he answers, I have trodden the winepress alone. So the warrior in his wrath and fury overcomes the foes, revelation 1915. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. There is nothing friendly about a sword. It is a terrible letter opener. It is a weapon, and it has no other purpose.

Yeah, I mean you could use it for a doorstop, but that wouldn't be advisable. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God, because that's who he is. And you know that 19 chapters, the Lord returning, and will be with him. He returns with ten thousands of his saints. The intense description of the wrath of the Lamb, as mentioned in Revelation 6, not in Revelation, also 1911 through 21, graphically illustrating this slaughter, which is what's given to us here in these first six verses of Isaiah 63. Still, remember this, as you read this, this is gory way you can trample the blood splashing over the place.

Revelation again, he ramps it up even higher. As gory as this may sound, eternal hell is going to be worse, and that still awaits them. A simple judgment on this life is not all there is. When someone like Adolf Hitler died, well that was one part of his experience, but there's a judgment, too, and that's the worst part. So we have to keep that perspective, especially when we talk to unbelievers. Listen, wherever you go through in this life, there's still a judgment to come. What is the profit of man? You gain the whole world, lose your soul.

It ain't worth it. You should understand these concepts. Well, but then when I think about when I was lost, what would I have understand till the Lord got hold of me? And so the humility that has to always accompany our sure convictions. Well, our Lord's garments were dyed with blood as a result over the great victory of his enemies. This is combat. Again, this is not the cross, so we're going to get to part of that. Revelation 19, 13, he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God.

So we're not guessing about who this character is. Harmony throughout scripture is astounding, how it all locks in. You younger ones, when you get into the world, if you go to the universities or you have Mr. Know-It-All at work, understand they don't know it all. They are wrong. They can have human achievements and successes and lose their soul. Don't let them drag you down with them. Understand that the word of God is sure and just because they don't like it does not mean they win the argument.

I have trodden the winepress alone. Again, this may remind us of Calvary, but its first meaning is judgment. Of course, Calvary belongs to everything that the Lord does, that being New Testament Christians, we see this. Never is his wrath out of control. Never is it something that just sprung up. It has been documented. No one will say about the great tribulation period, well, we didn't see that coming. Well, if you didn't see it coming, they may be able to say that, but there wasn't documentation. It was there in the word of God. Now, blood here in verse 3 is not the usual word for blood, but the Hebrew word is red juice and he's keeping it consistent with the metaphor of Basra and its grape gathering and the translators have appropriately given this interpretive rendering.

Sometimes they're like, you know, I think I could have done better than that, armchair quarterback kind of thing, but this is one where it is sound because the context supports their interpretation. That is precisely what is taking place. The grape juice is a metaphor for the blood and it's consistent with Basra and the judgment that will befall them. And so his imagery mixes that of the farmer with the grape juice trampling of the harvest grapes for the wine. But before his garments were stained with blood and judgment, they were stained with his own blood as a victim. See this ties in. The first meaning is the judgment, the wrath of God on his enemies.

However, he first suffered as a victim and bled on the cross. 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.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-03 08:32:10 / 2025-01-03 08:40:53 / 9

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