Blooming Deserts - Grace and Pruning

Welcome to Voices from Zion. Together we'll explore the scriptures in their original Hebrew. wrestle with hard questions, and celebrate the beauty of what unites us. and the respect that deepens when we acknowledge what doesn't.

So welcome to the dialogue. Welcome to the wrestle. Welcome to Voices from Zion. Robbie and the Rabbi. Oh, it's going to be an amazing episode.

We know because we've recorded it once already, and we apologize that last week's episode was. Kind of came into the middle of what it is that we were talking about, and so today. We get a chance to revisit that. And I know that you're going to enjoy this idea of how God. is restoring Uh, the land of Israel and certainly its people in the process, and how wonderful it is that we get to be in the Bible, you know, and see what God is doing with that.

So, with that said, I mean, I'm anxious to hear Isaiah again.

Okay, so, um. Ri really this theme. of renewal. Which of course As you so well express it, is renewal of the people and renewal of the land. is ubiquitous.

in the Bible. And perhaps nowhere more so than in Isaiah.

So Just to um rapid fire succession. Isaiah chapter thirty-five Beginning with first one. The wilderness And the dry land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. Verse 7, and the parched land shall become a pool. And the thirsty ground springs of water in the habitation of jackals, herds.

shall lie down. It shall be a grassy place for reeds and rushes. And of course There's just so much. in the land of Israel that also amply fulfills That vision. places that were utterly desolate and become A grassy place for reeds and rushes.

And we can continue. Isaiah chapter 41. beginning in Verse 18. I will open rivers on the high hills and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, the myrtle, the oil tree. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plain tree, and the larch together. That they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord. Has done this and the Holy One of Israel. has created it.

Yeah, because of course On the one hand, Sure. They were the pioneers. The Planders. The ones who came In their multitudes. And Well, the only land that they could get hold of because that was the only land that was Even least at all.

To the Jews. Was the most desolate parcels of land. For the The absentee owners who lived in Lebanon, Syria, wherever. They weren't gonna let the Jews have any of the choice lands. In land of Israel, so they gave the most desolate parcels they had.

And Of course. They gave their hearts and souls into planting up that land that they were able to acquire. Not all desert. There are also the malarial swamps. And many of those Jewish pioneers gave their lives.

to malaria. that was an endemic and also ubiquitous illness. in the land of Israel at the time. But at the end of the day While We certainly aren't in any way diminishing See Self-sacrifice. and dedication As God expresses it, He's the one who's planting.

He's got his messengers. or the way I like to express it, his junior partners. And the greatest gift. Is when God invites us to be his junior partners. But ultimately, God says I'm doing his planting.

I plan in the wilderness. And again, this is something that we Revisit over and over again in Isaiah chapter 44, and this is. The statement in verse 24 of the Lord, your redeemer, he that formed you from the womb. Verse 26. that confirms the word of his servant, And completes the counsel of his messengers that says, Of Jerusalem she shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah they shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof.

And again, of course, it's This theme of His servant His messengers The other ones who serve as the means, but ultimately God is the one. who is raising up the waste places thereof. And likewise in Isaiah chapter 49 Your waste. And desolate places, and the land that has been thrown down, destroyed, surely now will be too straight for the inhabitants. And Again, the theme, who is the one who's doing it?

Isaiah chapter 51, verse 3: The Lord has comforted Zion, He has comforted all her waste places. and has made her wilderness like Eden. And your desert Like the garden of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and voice of melody. I I I don't I don't wanna overkill here, but There's still more. Passages from Isaiah.

We're not even talking about the other prophets yet, but just to. Go through these passages in Isaiah. Of course, Inevitably, as we continue further and further into Isaiah, the theme of consolation. And God restoring what was lost becomes ever more dominant. In Isaiah chapter 54, verse 3: You shall spread abroad on the right hand and on the left, and your seed shall possess the nations and make the desolate cities.

to be inhabited. Isaiah chapter 55, verse 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. and shall be to the Lord for a memorial for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isaiah chapter 58, verse 12.

And They that shall see of you shall be And they that shall be of you shall build the old wayspaces. And you shall raise up the foundations of many generations. and you shall be called the repairer of the breach. The restorer of paths to dwell in. And again, the problem is in Isaiah chapter 60, verse 15: whereas you worth Cold Forsaken and hated so that no man pass through you.

I will make you into an eternal excellency. a joy of many generations. Chapter sixty one Verse four And they shall build the old wastes, the ship. They shall raise up the former desolations. They shall renew the waste cities.

the desolations of many generations. And again, in much the same theme. Chapter sixty two, verse four You shall no more be termed forsaken, neither shall your land be termed desolate. Because you shall be called, my desire is in her. Of course that's God speaking first person.

My desire is in her. and your land espoused. For the Lord. desires you and your land shall be espoused. And perhaps finally the next to last chapter of Isaiah.

Chapter 65. From verse 21, they shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabitant. They shall not plant and another eat.

for as the bays of a tree, Shall be the days of my people. And my chosen shall outlive the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain. nor bring forth terror. For they are the seed blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

and it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are not yet speaking, I will hear. You're just the antithesis. of God being deaf to our cries. He hears us before we even know that we're calling. Yeah, this is this is just you know So much my mind is about to explode here, but I I I'm on Which one?

Okay. I want it. At some point in time, but before it talk about what I saw in Israel. I also want to not forget to talk about How what I see We the people Not that we are the people of Israel, but the people of Israel are. In their own way, especially in the passages where he was talking about the water, that all of a sudden there's going to be pools of water, and all of a sudden there's going to be this water, and all of a sudden, water, water, water.

Well, Torah is water, right? And so, fascinatingly, as the people. In other words, come back together and go deeper into Torah, they become. That was very fruitful, beautiful. Uh uh uh amazing You know, that's all part of what he's picturing there, too.

But I, but going back to the land, when I was in Israel back in May. They took us to what they said was the outermost or the southernmost. I outpost in the occupied territory of Palestine that's down in Judah. And so it was way down in Judah and they drove us down there. and talk about desolate and would not begin to describe I've never, I lived in New Mexico.

I graduated from high school out there. I've been to White Sands. I've seen a lot of desert in my life. I kind of grew up in my own way in the desert. That ain't desert.

You haven't seen desert. Until you tell you, see. And again, I haven't, all I know is that, man, when we were down there, like, really, we're going to a farm that can't possibly be a farm in the middle of. And it's somewhat mountainous. And uh You know, honestly.

We're hearing gunshots all over the place. This is how occupied this is, like, they're literally. And at the time, of course, the war was a... you know, very much in going on. Yeah.

We pull into this highly barbed wire kibbutz, which is a sort of a farm thing, for those who are not familiar with it. And I mean, there's barbed wire and guard posts and all this, and it's like, what? And then you know, we kind of go down this long dirt road, and as we get down there, all of a sudden, in the middle of. like absolute nowhere desert is this beautiful lush Green field of Uh uh And orchards and vineyards and all this stuff that's been planted right there. And then we come up there, and there's just Wait.

Two or three Israel Defense Force people that are essentially occupying this and farming it.

Okay. And they've only been there, you know. A relatively short time.

So to see that, you know, I think they'd been there maybe two years, three years. to see what it is that they had going was absolutely mind-blowing. The part that I will never forget. Was he said, you know, they asked me to come out here because if we could get something going on the land, then we could begin to, you know, reclaim it.

However, that would work. And so when I came out, I said, I'm not a farmer and all it is is rocks. And sand, and like there's nothing going to grow. They said, just. put the seed in the ground, water it, watch what happens.

And he goes, oh my gosh, what you're seeing right now is not based on any farming experience. Whatsoever, but the fact that God is restoring the land. And again, if you don't see God in that, I don't even know. What to say, but as you described, and I don't want people to miss this, it broke my heart. It still breaks my heart what you told me.

About the original settlers. in Europe had been forced into cities and And the fact that the original ones that came, they weren't farmers either. Not at all. Right. There's...

The the Jews coming from Europe uh in the waves of The Jews that came From the Arab world because of course they had to flee for their lives In the mid-20th century, the moment that the State of Israel was declared, they became persona non grada. in which they had been living For literally a millennium before Islam even existed. And some of them really did. have experience in farming, but we're going back to the mid-19th century. the settlers who came Primarily from Eastern Europe, primarily from the Russian Empire, because there was such.

Virulent anti-Semitism there. They were all city dwellers because they had been forbidden to own land. And that was the case in much of Europe. Most of Europe. That the Jews hadn't been allowed to own land.

That, of course, was one of the major reasons that the Jews were the shopkeepers and the lenders and so on. They didn't have any experience in farming because they couldn't. Four? And they come to the land of Israel and And of course This was Not merely by virtue of circumstance, this was by ideology. to coax sustenance from The Holy Land.

And They had no experience. Um Truth of the matter is the plan didn't have any more experience than they because The land hadn't been cultivated for close to two millennia either. And again, They were working on Malarial swamps and deserts. That was pretty much it. If I can Speak on a very personal note.

Of course, very much. Hoping that you, Pastor Abbey, will be able to be our guest here in our neighborhood in Harnoff. on the west end of Jerusalem.

So I always describe where we are on the map. If you draw a line due west from the Temple Mount. Then They Last Area it will pass through. Before plunging into Jerusalem Forest, will be our neighborhood. We're right adjacent to Jerusalem Forest.

And Jerusalem Forest is this beautiful woodland area. And If you don't know its story, you might think, okay, yeah, well no. The forest, like there are so many forests in the world. The trees of the Jerusalem Forest. were all planted by hand.

There was no forest. There were some old growth forests, that still existed in the Galilee. They were few But there were some. But in this part of the country, there were none. There were no trees.

Israel is the only part of the world in which the percentage of forestation increased over the last century. Because they want a forest and I'm looking at my window and I see all These Forested. hills and mountains and And I know what went into producing them. Everyone Was planted by hand. Of course, now.

The trees are there. They regenerate, they drop seed, and new trees will grow but But that didn't happen. for a long, long time. Unfortunately, there are still parts I don't know if you've heard about the devastating forest fires that we've had this year as well. Um in other parts of the world For example, in the US You can have forest fires.

in dry spells because It could be a lightning bolt that ignites. the Troy ground Uh that's not the case here. There is no lightning during the summer. There is no rain at all. This is a Mediterranean climate.

those forest fires. were deliberately set. Like people will still want to keep the Jews off of the land.

So there's still areas that need to be replanted and regenerated. But thank God. their forests, and they continued to flourish. Why? Because of God.

Period. End of statement, because of God. When we leg out the window and see the forests. we are seeing prophecies fulfilled. we are seeing God's hand before our eyes.

That's amazing. It is, it is. But if you don't mind, speak to your your concept of how that is not just a Physical reality. which it is, but it's a spiritual. Absolutely.

So of course you mentioned before the beginning of Isaiah chapter 55. Anyone who thirsts Come you for water. And here there has no money. Come you buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money and without price. And of course this theme which is manifestly redemptive begins with Those who are thirsting.

Come for water. And the the continuation which is Admittedly, there's no question here, this is also rebuke. The next verse Why do you spend money? for that which is not bread, and your gain for that which does not satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me and eat.

that which is good, and let your soul delight itself. in the fatness thereof.

So of course that's a spiritual message. That's spiritual sustenance. But Hey, the physical and the spiritual. They're not at loggerheads. They're two sides of one coin.

That is Ultimately, the flourishing of the land is precisely a reflection of that. And I have to share with you, I was. reminiscing So Some of our grandchildren a week ago. of um one of the Songs of the Pioneers This is a song that goes back to the 19th century. But yeah, our grandchildren are So Far away that they didn't have the song.

So I was sharing with them the song. And Uh the The theme. Just sharing with you this stanza. It's Hebrew, but of course Not from the Bible. It's from just a century ago.

Here in the land that our forefathers. Longed for. All of our hopes. will be actualized. Here we will live.

And here We will form Lives of Radiance and Lives of Liberty. And the next two lines, this again, this is a pioneer song. Here God's presence will indwell. Here will flourish again. The language of the Torah.

Hebrew. Because Hebrew also needed to be renewed. That is Hebrew was For All of the period of exile. The language Of study, the language of scholarship. Yeah, we've shared.

I'm always a little bit out of kilter in using translations because If it was never A tradition among the Jews. to study the Bible in any language other than the original. But it's still was The language of study, the language of scholarship. It wasn't the language of going to the grocery store. That also needed to be Reborn.

to be resuscitated. But again, the steam, and it's concommitted. Here God's presence will indwell. You feel like that Again, you We have no sense of Um You know, it You know, I don't know of a single Christian church that they that that they don't speak whatever the native language of the people is. And then they used numerous translations.

Unfortunately, most of them Greek translations of Hebrew, which is just It just blows my mind at times to think because I can't tell you the errors that I have seen over the years. how did they come up with this this is crazy um Uh Just Total misunderstandings of words, and apparently, from what I understand. Grace. The word grace, like Noah found favor in God's eyes. Like that's a huge concept.

Yes. And it's a lot different than mercy. Right? It's a hugely different. spelling and idea and all sorts of things.

But unfortunately, when you look at Here's a rendering where the Apostle Paul. Quote Moses. quotes Exodus, where God is speaking of himself. The saying that he is You know, you could quote it exactly, but essentially he's saying that I will be gracious to who I will be gracious to. Right.

And He uses the word grace. Right. In most, in fact, in every single English translation that I could find, put my hands on, they translated the word. to mercy. I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful to.

Well, so the film is so in that expression, this is a fascinating discussion in and of itself because What God is saying is to Give the Exactly. Verse speaking of Exodus chapter 33, verse 19. In the Hebrew We can't, the richantita she's Arachem. I will grace whomever I shall grace, And I will give compassion to whomever I shall give compassion.

So there is arguably a theme of mercy, compassion. I'm not exactly sure what the difference between mercy and compassion is. English either, but that is a term that does refer to God's mercy. I would say what is Specific to the word that we are translating as grace, and it's the same word, of course, in. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Let's hand. And Can Is linguistically related to T nam. which means gratis. And it's important to appreciate the distinction here because There is the aspect of compassion. But there's also this dimension of God being free-giving.

It is In The self-same vein. Just a few verses. Afterward Exodus. Chapter In verse six. When God reveals to Moses What we described in our tradition as the 13 attributes.

of divine mercy. That Immediately after the opening words, which are divine names The tetragrammaton appears twice, followed by ale, which is also a word. That refers to God as the source of power. The next two words are rachum, The Hanun. Ya home.

From the same root as The second verb that we noted in Chapter 33, verse 19, being compassionate. And Hanon. Likewise related to Hen. The word that we rendered as grace.

So in that vein Typically We would translate gachum as compassionate or merciful. No, I let me um Sure. Just to clarify, so because I'm sure a lot of Christian listeners are like, Robbie, why don't you quote what Paul said?

So I'll quote what. Paul said. in Romans chapter 9. Um Verse 15. The way it's translated, but you know that Paul, you know, Paul was obviously a Hebrew scholar.

I mean, he was thinking he would not have misquoted Moses, not to this extent, okay? And so, what he says in Romans 9:15, it says, For he said to Moses, and this is the King James Version, but you'll find it across. Most translations will be some version of this. For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

So they got compassion right. But the grace is missing. But grace is missing, which is absolutely huge. It's absolutely huge. It's bizarre, why did they leave that out?

Yeah. I mean, I was like. You almost feel compelled to ask. Was there some kind of Bizarre agenda? Right, well, especially when you think of this.

And here's something that in Greek you may know that. Grace is generally translated charis or haris. I don't know how I necessarily say it in Greek, but it's C-H-A-R-I-S.

Okay. And in our Fundamental belief about Jesus in John chapter one, it says. that Jesus was full of grace and truth.

So All of us that believe in Christ, the grace aspect of it is gigantic. It's huge. It's like, oh my gosh, this is a huge thing, Charles.

However, If you study the New Testament and it's very difficult, like. As much as you study it, you will find that Jesus only teaches on the word charis twice.

However, If what Paul says is mercy is grace, and all of a sudden Jesus taught on it a ton. Because there's someone that should In other words, that little translation difference, and again, which speaks to the point that I really want to get to. Which is If we truly understood God's word in Hebrew. Christians, Jews, whoever, this is what he wrote. In other words, God is describing himself in this passage.

I mean, how more important a passage can you get than God is speaking to a man and saying, this is who I am? All right. I'm going to show mercy. You know, I'm going to show. I'm going to be gracious to who I'm going to be.

I just think that's a gigantically huge understanding. And we need to, if we're going to really push into who God is, we need to know what he actually said. Conceptually. And how do you do that? If you're using a language which I understand Because I spent a lot of time on this.

And asking artificial intelligence, et cetera, how in the world it happened, essentially what they told me. was that great doesn't have enough verbs. to be able to fill out What the Hebrew said. It's like In English, we don't have but one word for love. Which is horrible because you can love a hot dog, you can love a person, whatever.

It just, you know, where in Greek obviously have two or three words, agape, and all these different. words for love in Hebrew, oh my gosh, the words for love. Right? And they each have a completely different Like concept within there. And so here's this unbelievably rich language.

that God gave us from my perspective, unbelievably rich. because it's a picture language and a lot of other things. And it's been diluted by Greek. and then diluted by Latin? and then really diluted by English.

So And again, this is Robbie's opinion, but nonetheless. If we could all speak God's language, if you don't think that's Hebrew, whatever it is that you think, it would be nice. I'm sorry to go on, but I'm not sure if I can do it. No, that's I completely agree. And of course, this is inevitably the idea that.

Always surges into my mind in Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 9. Then I will change to a pure language for all peoples to call all of them in the name of the Lord to serve him shoulder to shoulder. Or, of course, that's our. Friend Pastor Mark expresses that, and he's right, that the Hebrew says, which means one shoulder, as if we become conjoined twins. Conjoined at the shoulder.

Um Of course, that is. Fundamentally. most critically. because we're calling together in the name of the Lord. But It's also because we have that pure language.

And the pure language, obviously the ideal is Hebrew.

So, I always emphasize, and I really do mean this in utmost sincerity, that I do feel. we experience at least a partial fulfillment. of that prophecy Just Coming Together in God's word, and I always feel this so acutely. when I'm speaking to A Christian audience quoting God's will revealed in his word. From Tanakh.

From the Hebrew Bible, and they're hearing it the same way. And I know they're hearing it the same way. And that's a profoundly powerful platform upon which we stand together. But it would still be easier if we could do it in Hebrew. When you consider the nuances of Hebrew, I can just share one.

Almost pedestrian observation. I don't think it's all pedestrian, however. We're familiar with the verb in English. Have. In French, avoir.

Familiar with other languages to be able to testify to how it is expressed in other languages, but I have something. Being possessive. What's They Possessive verb. to have. In Hebrew.

It's a trick question. The answer is It doesn't exist. The way in Hebrew I would say I have something. I have a book. Yesh Li Sefer.

which literally means there exists for me a book. That's the only way you can say I have. There exists for me. But there's no verb for to have. And maybe that's significant.

Because Um perhaps Western languages gauge people in terms of what they have. And Hebrew Well, Jason. Phonetically, there is a verb. That sounds a lot like have or avoir. It is the verb.

Jovet. But it's the verb of being. That's not about having it, that's about being. It's not who you are, not what you have. A little bit of That's ideal.

That is I'll have to put it there. One for weeks. Right. How awesome is that? Because in honest You know, we're stewards of whatever it is that God has given us, right?

And um There exists for me. I love that. I love that. There does. There exists for me.

Why there exists for me? family there exists for me. Certainly the Torah to study. and friends. I don't like you.

Honestly. That word you just use, steward, that's such a beautiful way of expressing it. It's stewardship. That is, we don't actually acquire We our stewards Over whatever God has sent our way for us to do with it, what we're supposed to. you know i always stress in this regard and i realize that it may ruffle some feathers but The land of Israel doesn't belong to us.

In the Bible, I repeatedly encounter I'll let see. God saying, my land. And he's always referring to this one.

So, who does the land of Israel belong to? Of course, everything belongs to God. But God stresses the point in particular with the land of Israel. He doesn't refer to any other parcel of real estate as Artsi, as my land.

Well, this one he does. Constantly. And Maybe that's also a message. To those who try to subvert or ignore that. Yeah, I realize Uh something that's I guess coming up in current events.

Actually it was Our mutual friend pastor Vark. who pointed out to me that the Vote. in the UN. Over declaring Statehood. Over a country that doesn't have borders.

or any of the other trappings of B nationhood. And only cutatively came into existence in the 1960s. Because Some brilliantly evil geniuses realized It would be great. to concoct Uh supposed nation that never existed, and call them Palestinians. as means for accusing the Jews somehow of being imperialists.

I think it's probably the only Nation. in the history of the world. whose supposed name They can't even pronounce. That is, in Arabic, there is no P sound. It comes out sounding like a B.

So How do you have a name? That starts out with a P sound? That was the word.

So they've lately made it into an F, but that wasn't the word. Palestine was Um Innovation. You could best say a fabrication. Of the Romans after they conquered this land, that they wanted to erase the Jewish connection by dredging up. From Forgotten history: The Philistines.

Right. And In Latin. calling the land Palestina. In order to perpetuate a nation that had not existed. At the time that the name was fabricated for a full millennium.

And then You another two millennia and Fabricate something new. But in any case, my point. Simply with respect to The significance of declaring statehood for Palestine. Yeah, apropos of God referring to just one land. as R C.

The very well-known words of Joel. Whether We call this Chapter 3, verse 2, or chapter 4, verse 2. I think it depends upon the Bible. It's the same verse, and it's the same place in. Joel just Whether the previous chapter is subdivided or not is the question, but in any case.

the um the verb, the verse very tellingly. I Well Gather all nations And bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Which is simply Hebrew for God will judge. and I will enter into judgment with them there. For my people and by heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations.

and mile land that they partitioned. My land. It wasn't their land, it was my land.

So, you know, when God says, This land is mine. Obviously, that's a message for everyone. It's a message for us, too. Israel in the land. And we always need to remember as well.

That this is God's land. But um So does everyone else. At um That's a spectacular understanding. And it's a spectacular thing. That would probably be a good transition back to how we left ourselves on the end of a cliff on what we actually were able to record.

on the idea that it's a good thing that God is angry with us. And you were connecting that to pruning. Yes, yes, absolutely. I hope we went to release. We may need to leave this somewhat dangling because I'm afraid we will run out of time, but let's at least give a An attempt at starting on this.

Um Of course. What you just referenced is The words of Isaiah. CHAPTER twelve Verse 1. In that day, you will say, I will give thanks unto you, O Lord. Because you were angry with me.

When your anger is turned away You comfort me. The last phrase should be better transit. A supplication, may your anger be turned away, and may you comfort me. I Give thanks. Because You were angry with me?

And in order to be able to appreciate. what the significance of that worse verse is. We really need to take it in context. That is Inevitably, of course. Isaiah Chapter 12 verse 1 is coming on the heels of chapter 11.

What's going on in chapter 11? In chapter 11. Of course, the chapter begins. as everyone knows very well with There shall go forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse. and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots.

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And he shall be Animated by fear of the Lord, and shall not judge after the sight of his eyes. neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.

Now This gets a little bit complicated because If we ask Who is he? Who is The one being described in these verses.

So the truth of the matter is that Yeah. virtually all Jews and Christians will respond identically. This is talking about the Messiah. Right. And on the one hand, That certainly is a valid answer.

Yeah, but You know, inevitably in The Words of the Bible There are multiple strata. And in order for us to really understand what's going on, At the beginning of chapter 11. We need to turn another couple of pages backward and ask ourselves what's taking place at the end of chapter 10. I'm not going to keep on going until we get to chapter one here, but chapter 10 is critical in order for us to understand the context. CHAPTER eleven And Well just note The Succession of Versus In chapter 10.

In particular, What is described from Verse 28 through the end of the chapter. There's also a he. Here. Who needs to be identified? He has come to Ayat.

He has passed through Migron at Michmas he laves up his baggage. They're gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Gaba. Ramah trembles. Kibacha all is fled.

Cry out with a shrill voice, O daughter of Galim. Hearken, O Lais. Oh Poor Anato. Nadmena. Wonders the inhabitants of Gevim Flee.

What's described here? Verse thirty two. This very day. Shall he stand at Nob shaking his hand derisively. at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

Now there's a historical answer to this question. This is not mere metaphor. This is something very Ex exclusively. Concrete. In the most excruciating of senses.

Who is he? He It's an acorb. Sennacherib entered the land of Israel from the north, as everyone always does, because. of the Fertile Crescent. That's the side of the land of Israel that is most vulnerable.

And he begins his southern march. by destroying the kingdom of northern Israel. and exiling its inhabitants. But he's not finished. He's on the march.

And These verses describe his trajectory as he heads south. culminating in this very day. He will stand at nub, overlooking Jerusalem. And then Two more voice verses. Behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Salop the bowels with a sore.

and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be humbled. and he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon. shall fall by a mighty one.

So What's being described here?

Well, obviously, that sounds like the fall of Snapchat, right? Absolutely.

And of course, that's precisely what we're describing here. The full Of Sennacherib. That described in the Bible when we read This is a theme that is In particular. described Isaiah chapter thirty seven. That is um In the wake of the wake.

of the pretentious boastings of Rav Shakeh. The Representative. Right. Um the twenty whom Sennacherib sends So Tell the Jews who are defending Jerusalem that that Their situation is absolutely hopeless. And he elaborates.

with with really blasphemous taunts. Against God. And King Hezekiah goes into the temple. He lays out the letter, yeah? He prays, yeah, he spreads out the letter.

And he praised the God. And God Sends Isaiah So Reassure him. The words of Isaiah begin in chapter thirty-seven. Bruce. This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him.

The virgin daughter Of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. Who have you taunted and blasphemed? And against whom have you exalted your voice? You have lifted up your eyes on high, even against the Holy One of Israel.

By your servants you have taunted the Lord. And The ultimate Consequences as We read in the verses that follow. Verse 29, because of your raging against me, and for that your uproar is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips. And I will turn you back by the way by which you came. and there's a sign.

To the Jews in Jerusalem, this shall be the sign unto you. You shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and the second year that which springs of the same, and in the third year, sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof, and the remnant that is escaped. of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion they that shall escape. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. And of course, the culmination In the verses that follow, therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into the city.

nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast an hound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come unto this city, says the Lord for I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred eighty-five thousand. And when men arose early in the morning, Not those men. They were all dead corpses, and Jerusalem was saved.

And of course, manifestly, that's precisely the theme. of what we're reading at the end of CHAPTER eleven Excuse me, at the end of chapter 10.

So when you get to the beginning of chapter 11. And we read about The Rejuvenation: There shall go forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow up forth out of his roots. To whom are we referring?

Sounds like he has a guy. Obviously, he's a kaya.

Now, of course, it doesn't. in any way invalidate. Our appreciating that these verses also pertain to the Messiah, because the truth of the matter is. And we have a tradition as to why this is the case. These verses were not fully realized, fully actualized.

in King Hezekiah. And as a result?

Well, you know, we read in. Isaiah chapter 55. That As the rain and the snow go down from heaven and don't return there. But rather. Yeah.

So they moisten the earth. And provide seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so shall be my word that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty-handed. But shall succeed in that for which I have sent it. and fulfill That for which it is Given.

So we appreciate very well. That the word of God never goes back empty-handed, and we believe that the full complete actualization. Of these words will indeed be in the coming of the Messiah. And even further, even further, I think. Um Again, that leads to some very In fact, I've often and and I've often taught.

Both on my radio show and as a pastor. that to me Isaiah 11. Is such sacred ground. Because here we see This What is described by many, and certainly by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. the seven spirits of God.

And you may know this, that in the book of Revelation. Um When they go into the, when John gets to see the temple, one of the first things he describes is the menorah. And which he says And there's seven. blazing torches, which are the seven spirits of God. which is cross-referenced by most Bibles.

back to Isaiah 11. And so Um I'm very curious. If there's any tradition on your side that says that these Seven attributes Which I describe differently than anybody I know. And so you can even tell me why you think I'm wrong on this too, because I probably am. But nonetheless, this is my take on it: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge.

Fear the Lord. And in my opinion, what you said animated I would say delight in the fear of the Lord. It's almost like. From my perspective. My dad is so big and so amazing, and so I really.

at my core shouldn't worry about anything. Because if he loves me. Then, why should I have any concern? That's a delight in the fear of the Lord. In other words, you go up to that level.

And it's like boom. And so, you know, in my mind's eye. when I picture of the menorah I picture these. And again, based on you know, our tradition, I picture that. Like, man, here are these seven blazing torches, and that center one being: if I can get to that point of a delight in the fear of the Lord.

Now you can say, Robbie, you're crazy. I know, I think it's a it certainly is um Of course. What I'll stress, and I think you're saying this also, is that These are Not Spirits of God, but spirits of the godly man. Who is imbued with these? That is.

Ultimately, this is in full an actualization of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon him. Through What follows?

So we're not speaking of something that characterizes God, but characterized as God summons Of us? And of course His promise. To the extent that We actualize The Mission that God gives us.

So yeah, on some level, this is indeed A blessing. That We strive. to actualize in our own lives. Um May um place this in a quasi-liturgical framework. This verse We use In Blessing Every bridegroom Really?

on his way to the Marriage canopy. Really? As again, the theme that this is something that. Ultimately. God is bestowing upon us And Through it.

Godly man. Is indeed animated by God's Spirit.

So, I don't know that that would necessarily in any way diverge from what you said. No, I know, I don't know that, no, that's absolutely wonderful. And it brings up another one of my favorite, and I think it's in Jeremiah 29. Again, you know these things so much better than I do, and I'm so grateful for that. But it says that the Lord's going to do a new thing.

The bride encircles the groom.

Well, you know that that's also something that we uh Right, right, right. Marriage canopy under the marriage canopy there is a A well-insanced Tradition, it's not like it's biblical law or something like that, but it's a very ancient custom. that the bride circles the bridegroom. in fulfillment of Those words of Jeremiah. But of course, the simple meaning In The context of Jeremiah is that on some level, We describe our relationship with God.

as being God's bride. Right. And Don't normal routine is generally that the Grome Is um suiting the bride And of course that finds its expression. At Sinai. When God, as it were.

Beckoning us. But in the future This is Part and parcel with what we read in Jeremiah chapter 31 about God inscribing his word upon our hearts. There will be Looking for God. Seeking out God. which unfortunately in this world all too often we have not.

Yeah, I've seen that so beautifully. Um I heard one teaching. On it. That the reason That they go around seven times. Is that they went around Jericho.

seven times in order to bring down walls. and that the groom has walls around his heart and the bride is to um You know, she's illustrating a concept that she wants to. Um create such a trust with the groom. That he can begin to let his walls down. And in doing that, I have taught and loved the idea of, okay.

How am I encircling God. How how am I trying to invoke such trust. In a relationship, that he can begin to let me in. And by that, I mean, Like from my perspective, he let me into this conversation. That You know, I met you in Israel, a blessing beyond blessing for me at this point in time.

Just and to some extent he's letting me in. Right, he's letting me in. Um As he trusts you more with his word, don't you feel that? That he lets you into things that Obviously, are near and dear to his heart. I feel A new insight in God's word.

That means that God is as it were. inviting us in to His secrets. Right? But obviously The wedding The ceremony It's an amazing picture. Um Of You know what God did at Sinai, like you said.

of what he wants. Um our relationship to be. Um and You know, as we pursue that, it's like you said. Um That's a wonderful place. The more the better.

I hate we once again we're We've gone about as far around wrong. But I love it. We will get back to, we will not continue to hang you on the cliff of God's anger. Um However Um It's a beautiful thing, and I hope I really do pray that the that you have enjoyed this conversation. nearly as much as I have and I'm sure Uh rather high in this mouth.

Oh boy. And of course, just to make sure we don't lose sight of the cliff, that is, this was all a lead-up to going back to. I thank you, God. for you are angry with me. and how that's going to lead us into The song The Song of the Redemption Verse two And God's pruning.

and the redemptive moment.

So We're still going to Leave that dangling, I realize. Yeah, but it's, you know, to some way that since we're speaking of the bride and we have it just. Sure. Don't I want my Don't I want my wife? To be angry with me if I am not doing what I ought to be, so that she can correct me, so that I can be the husband I need to be.

By the same token, if I am God's bride, then don't I want him to tell me, Robbie, you are off, you know. Like, if you love somebody, you discipline them, right? And that, and therein lies part of the deal, I imagine, right.

Well, it but it may not even B Solely in terms of disciplining. It may be also in terms of. A divine scheme That we only catch a glimpse of in retrospect. Oh good, where now we're back on the cliff. Just where we need to be.

Mm-hmm. Hopefully with We will revisit it. Shalom, my dear friend. Shalom, Shalom, any other? This the wedding canopy, you know, some people might be thinking Isn't it almost Blasphemous?

to be incorporating these motifs. into the wedding ceremony when it's about Our marriage to God. And of course, our response is. On the contrary. It's not bringing God and our relationship with Him down.

It's bringing Our relationship. with her spouse. And Altogether. the way we need to be functioning. Individually.

And as a family and as a community. Up. Yeah. As reflections. And we're getting our Lives in order.

with God. Yes, and I have had the absolute privilege and honor. of meeting your wife and seeing your relationship in action and teaching together. and the joy that I see. Um of what you know, God can have in that as well.

And I imagine that you've been married for some time. Yeah. If I have And it was It's a beautiful thing. Once again, shalom, my friend. God bless.

Shalom, God bless you. We look forward to continuing. Shalom to everyone listening in. We are so honored that you would join us today on Voices from Zion, Robbie, and the Rabbi. For more information about Rabbi Haim, Go to his website, zionbible studies.org.

That's zionbible studies.org. Or visit me, Robbie Dillmore. at the Christian Car Guy website. That's ChristianCarGuy.com. Once again, Shalom from Jerusalem, the Holy City, God's City.