This is the Truth Network. I got to tell you, I don't know that I've ever entered in an episode of Robbie and the Rabbi with such anticipation of. Seeing some new insight that God has for us here today as we're talking about unfulfilled prophecies. Let's carry on from. last week's episode and Today, we're going to dive into one of the greatest passages, in my opinion, you know, just a place I've spent a lot of time in.
I know Rabbi has, it's Isaiah chapter 11. Um And I'm told by the rabbi that we may ruffle some feathers, but I love my feathers ruffled. I do, because if I think I know all this stuff, then I'm not going to learn anything. And so I really am excited. to be able to see new information that can help me process This passage, which is so rich, so unbelievably rich, this prophecy.
And so we're going to see how it works out today from the rabbi's perspective, and maybe a little bit of mine.
So, with that said, Rabbi, let's go.
Okay, God bless you, Pastor Robbie. I just feel. A need first To reinforce what you just said. That sometimes people think, oh, you're always asking questions, that means you're a skeptic, that means.
something isn't right and In our tradition, just the opposite. Questions are the hallmark of learning. That's why indeed the traditional format for studying the Torah. in Jewish tradition was always Using the Aramaic word kavruta, which literally means friend, but in practice, that means specifically study partners. Study partners.
At one another is Throats. Asking questions, challenging one another. with the realization that If I Read the word of God. without asking questions, I haven't learning anything. 'Cause he means I'm only paying attention to what I already expect.
and if anything, the opposite happens. I teach it what to say. because I only see it in terms of my own expectations. When I ask the questions, that means I'm focusing upon Okay. What doesn't sit well with me?
What's counterintuitive? What is against the grain. And When I highlight that by asking the questions. I'm opening my heart. For the Word of God to teach me, to illuminate me.
To raise me up.
So the questions are what was most important. Amen. All right. And it's of course on that note, then, that we plunge into Isaiah chapter 11. And Just to read the opening verses, I'm sure they're very familiar to everyone, but just to.
Put matters in the right context. Right off the bat. The first five verses There shall go forth a shoot. out of the stalk of Jesse, and a twig shall go 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 The fear of the Lord. and shall judge Not After the sight of his eyes. neither reprove after the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness. Shall he judge the poor? and reprove with equity the humble of the the land, and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth.
And with the spirit of the ellipse Shall he slay the wicked? and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness. the girdle of his reins. And read these verses. I think it is.
A fairly certain bet. That you if you ask Both Jews and Christians. To whom? Are these words referring? Easily 9 out of 10.
Maybe 99 out of 100. We'll tell you They're talking about the Messiah. And I'm not coming. To say That answer is incorrect. Don't worry.
But I am coming To say If it's not the simple meaning of the text. And on what basis? Can I claim That it is not the simple meaning of the text. Context. What's the context?
Well, of course, inevitably, we appreciate, we've noted this on so many occasions in the past. The division into chapters is from our perspective, a relatively recent phenomenon. We also weren't involved. And to that extent, then, when we consider the beginning of chapter eleven. Inevitably We need to consider it in light of The End of CHAPTER ten Well, I'm not just going to consider the very end of chapter ten.
Yeah. Inasmuch as the Masoretic text has different divisions to it, I'm going to focus upon. They primary Previous the vision that begins in verse twenty four. And I invite us all in participating in this exercise. To consider what's taking place From verse twenty-four and on Therefore, thus says.
the Lord the God of hosts O my people that dwells in Zion be not afraid of Assyria. Though he smite you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you. in the way of Egypt. Nevertheless. For yet a very little while.
and the indignation shall be over. And my anger Shall be I could read this as Either to their destruction. or because of their again referring to Assyria. They are blasphemy. And the Lord of hosts shall rouse against him a scourge, as in the smiting of Median, at the rock of Oreb.
And His staff was over over the sea.
So shall he Carry him off. in the way of Egypt. Obviously, these are references.
So The Salvations of God in the Past Referring to Egypt and Midian as particular examples, of course, in Exodus and in the book of Judges, respectively. We continue, and it shall come to pass in that day. that his burden shall depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck. And the yoke Shall be destroyed. we can either read the continuation as by reason of fatness Or by reason of oil.
There may be something of a subtle distinction with respect to what the focus is. By reason of fatness, that Assyria has gone grown too fat. By reason of oil, The oil the oil lamps, by which people were studying God's Word. While this is taking place. Um The Dark Night.
And now we read A rapid fire succession. And this is geographical, manifestly so. From verse 28. He has come to Ayath. He has passed through Migron.
At Michmas. He laves up his baggage. They are gone over the pass. They've taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles.
Gib'ath Shaul is fled Cry you with a shrill voice. O daughter of Galim Hearken, Olaish. Uh you got Last phrase of the verse we could either read as Oh, you poor Anatador. O on ya, o anatot, referring to two different places. Not me now?
Igor is in mad flight, or is a wandering. The inhabitants of Gabim Again, the translation is ambiguous. It could either be flee to cover or gather together. But we get a sense of the calamity unfolding here. And Spoiler alert.
There is definitely a definitely a trajectory here. Culminating in verse thirty-two. This very day. Shall he stand at nub? Shaking his hand, at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
And my question. Who? Is he? There is, in context, Only one Possible. and actually quite obvious.
Answer to this question. Uh Just as A crucial hint. Remember. The words of the prophets. We first need to read.
in their time. in their place. in their set of circumstances. to their audience. Who is he?
Uh That's the question. Are you asking me actually? Yes, of course.
Well, you're going to stand in for everyone else here, right?
Okay.
Well, I uh I'm thinking Hezekiah Wait, wait, wait, wait, we're talking about someone who was attacking. Oh, you're talking about the king of Assyria. You're talking about Sennacherib, or however you want to see his name. Yeah, that's what I thought he would. But then I thought, well, maybe he's talking about the one who's coming up the next.
Okay.
Okay, you're on the right track. And actually, this is going to play in dramatically. in another three verses. But For now we appreciate This is a description of the attack of Assyria. Again Geography.
The land of Israel is at The end of the Fertile Crescent. No one The pacts The land of Israel. by crossing the Jordan. Because on the other side of the Jordan is well nowadays Jordan. But right, Jordan is mostly desert.
So How are you going to bring your army? Coming in. From the East. Also crossing over. The mountains of of Gilead.
So you don't take that route. You rather follow the trajectory of the Fertile Crescent, which arcs around. Through the north into Lebanon. And then itself. into the land of Israel.
Which of course is the root. that Assyria took. It is The root Really Everyone takes. And Yeah, inevitably One cannot help But bear in mind in this context A different profit, a different Set of circumstances, a different adversary. But In terms of the geography, the self-same issues.
when in Jeremiah. In Chapter 1. Verse fourteen God says to Jeremiah in the explication of the second vision that from the north the evil will open up. against all the inhabitants of the land, is the same north. In the time of Assyria, that resulted in the attack first against the kingdom of northern Israel.
and its complete and utter destruction. The Exile of the ten tribes. But Sennacherib is not finished. He's more to me south. He's marching south.
To Judah. And this trajectory that we just read is a trajectory of his southerly advance. And it culminates Again. Explicitly. Shaking his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion.
the hill of Jerusalem. And what happens next? The last two verses of chapter ten is as crucial. Behold, The Lord The Lord of Hosts Shall lop The bells with a saw. 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. What is he describing?
Right. What happened to Snack Rib when he tried to exactly when. Right, one angel, 185,000. You got the number right, exactly. 100%.
That is, this is precisely what we will read. Playing out, this is worth all in the prophetic eye. of Isaiah seeing what will be. We'll see this. Playing out.
In Isaiah chapter 37, verse 36. Where we read the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of Assyria a hundred eighty five thousand. and when they arose early in the morning They didn't arise. When others arose, they were all dead corpses. And Jerusalem was saved.
But this is described Poetically. prophetically. By Isaiah at the end of chapter 10. That They are advancing. as a thicket of the forest.
And God is cutting down. The thickets of the forest. And Lebanon, which of course. signifies the cedars of Lebanon in all of their loftiness. Yeah.
Libanon is cut down. Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. Referring, of course, to God. And what happens next? What happens next is chapter 11.
And there shall go forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots. Hmm.
Now in context. In the wake of chapter 10, When I ask Well To whom? Is the Prophet referring here? In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1. There we go.
Mm-hmm. Which he clearly was. All the above. And and And clearly His wisdom to lay out that letter. Mm-hmm.
Before God in his prayer. I don't know if everyone heard the the antecedent of his. Just make the make the the the name clear. For the audience, we're talking about. There's a guy at the Of course this is Hezekiah.
This is all description of The cataclysm that leaves Assyria in utter destruction and Now Hezekiah whose Rain was completely eclipsed By The threat of Assyria. And of course, we see this explicitly, in particular, in. The second book of Chronicles.
Now Hezekiah is flourishing.
So my question, I'm I'm perplexed a little. I mean, that's clearly. Clearly. The simple meaning of the end of Isaiah 10 and the beginning of Isaiah 11. Why would that ruffle anyone's feathers?
Well, because There's inevitably going to be a tension here. Remember the first answer. The answer that Everyone reflexively gives respect to the beginning of chapter 11: is this is talking about the Messiah. Right. And it is talking about the Messiah.
But that's not the simple plain meaning because As You point out, Pastor Robbie, the c Clear, plain meaning is talking about Hezekiah. And this I think this does Have a tendency to ruffle feathers because We tend to think in a binary manner. It is either this. Or that. Twenty.
And of course, inevitably, when we consider the Word of God, we need to accommodate. It is this And Death. Because The Word of God. is so profoundly rich. It's not just one layer.
It's multiple layers. And With respect to the obvious question, so how Am I describing this? As simultaneously referring to Hezekiah and to the Messiah. Here's where we Appreciate That theme. The theme that is Simultaneously Maybe sad, even depressing.
And also extraordinarily uplifting and exalting. That um Prophecies Don't go back to God empty-handed. There was the potentiality. For King Hezekiah. Being.
The Final Messiah. And he certainly was a righteous king. No one is contesting that at all. I feel compelled to share with you, we have a tradition. That there was The proposition that that was going to take place.
That King Hezekiah would be the Messiah? The Battle of Gog and Magog. That figures so prominently in Ezekiel chapter 38 and in chapter 39. would be the Battle of Sennacherib. We appreciate that Gog and Magog.
Those are. Placeholders. They're not necessarily names. Senator Group could be gold. His minions my God.
That could have been The final battle that ushered in The Kingdom of the Messiah. And the kingdom of God Himself. And As We discussed last time. And so Often happens So close.
So Didn't make it. No, I I can share with you This is not of course in the Bible anywhere. But in our tradition What failed? And Maybe there's a lesson for us all in in what failed. Our tradition is Yeah, but After this extraordinary salvation, All the forces of Syria a hundred eighty five thousand soldiers Being slain by the angel?
ran about the walls of Jerusalem. King Hezekiah Didn't Get everyone together to sing a song. of thanksgiving to God.
Now, it's not that God is some kind of megalomaniac who needs us to sing his praises. But if you experience such extraordinary miraculous salvation, You need to connect it. to its divine source. And he didn't sing. If you ask me How could it be that such a righteous king didn't sing?
I have My personal proposition. Which I think has a crucially important lesson. for us all. We're talking about the Assyrian Empire here. It's a world-class empire.
Do you really think they only had 185,000 soldiers? 185,000 soldiers were the first army. Right. They'll send the second army. And we'll still be in trouble.
Now of course God could save us next year as well. But is now the time to start singing songs of thanksgiving?
Now is the time to be praying and fasting and imploring God for compassion and Thanksgiving, that that happens only when it's all finished.
Sounds Plausible. No? No. There is never a good excuse to postpone saying thank you. Never.
Not the god Not to our fellow man. Not under any circumstances. And you know, I always feel compelled to note here with respect to saying thank you. In Hebrew The verb For Confessing one's sins. And the verb For Saying thank you Are not related or similar.
They are the same verb. exactly the same verb. It means both. It's identity. And you might be wondering.
Mm-hmm. How does that compute? And of course, inevitably, we appreciate. I can summarize the convergence of these two meanings of this one root. In just one word.
Humility. And the verb you're referring to. You know, excuse my poor pronunciation, ta-da. The the infinitive it's the adult.
So Hoda would be the um the declination in the Normative uh third person Usage. It is Well, I'm confessing, I'm saying I'm sorry. I did something wrong. I am deficient. When I'm saying thank you, I'm not saying I did something wrong.
But I am recognizing I am deficient. And I owe you owe you my thanks. Just as if I did something wrong, I owe you my apology. And while there can be all sorts of Lofty and brilliant considerations for postponing that. None of them are any good.
I always need to say thank you. Immediately. Because Ultimately What thank you also does When I say thank you to you, I am binding myself to you. When I say thank you to God. I'm binding myself to God.
That's not because God needs that bond. We need that pant.
So as Moses sang as Miriam sang. Right. See? This was a You know, clearly in several of David's These are questions, right? And um Deborah sang That is we have a number of Songs of thanksgiving for extraordinary salvations of the Lord.
And so The complaint, as it were, Look at all those songs that David sang, and you didn't make him into the Messiah, you're gonna make Hezekiah into the Messiah when he didn't even sing one single song. Yeah. So what happens? Yeah, we The Messiah is still coming. And and and Make no mistake about this.
Hezekiah, we still. Range. as among the most righteous kings. But he didn't make that cut. And These verses In chapter 11.
that are referring to him and could have been referring to him in his ultimate role. As the Messiah Are still bouncing around the world. Because again they don't go back to God empty handed. And they will be fulfilled. Make no mistake about it.
In the Messiah.
So these verses are talking about the Messiah. But they're also not talking about King Hezekiah. And appreciating that, that flame level of meaning is talking about King Hezekiah. has I think A crucially important lesson. For all of us.
Oh, absolutely. I mean that's profound actually. Um So I I couldn't agree more that And marvel at several things you taught there. But would I be right to say that There should be. A lesson here.
That was for the people of the time. There should be a lesson here that's people That are yet to be or yet to be identified. But there should be also something in our current situation where, you know, clearly God gave us Those attributes, wisdom, understanding, counsel, you know, fear of the Lord. And in that situation, He did something that we. Um Can Appreciate in the way of salvation.
That then we should be, you know. Like King David. Or like Moses, You don't Properly getting humbled before to say because I as I was thinking about what you're saying In that When I'm thanking someone. You're You're admitting That you were a needy. Like, I needed help.
Like, I couldn't handle this, it's beyond me. And I'll never forget, I I had um Cancer in in 1996 I had lymphoma cancer that God miraculously healed me from it. It was beautiful, absolutely amazing. Believe me, I'm sang many songs. as a result of that particular healing.
And As I took my last chemotherapy treatment, I was crushed by a jeep in a and we were celebrating. My wife and I actually in the mountains in North Carolina, and I got out of my jeep. We were in a jeep jamboree, and the other person left their jeep out of gear, and they came and they and I was crushed between those two. And as a result, I almost lost my left leg. and below the knee.
And I was in a cast for a couple of years, but I was in a wheelchair for a year. And at that point in time, Um My Sunday school class at the time Um They came and they built a wheelchair ramp on the back of my house. And my house, I had a really high deck, and so this wheelchair ramp was probably 100 yards long to get the right angle so I could go down this ramp. And one day they just showed up and they're out there building this wheelchair ramp for me. And I went out there humbled, like I cannot believe.
Was talking to the Sunday school leader. His name was Mike Ham, and I said, I just can't believe that you're doing this for me. I just, I said, I've never done anything like that. I just can't believe, and I'm just so grateful for what you're doing. And he said these words, I'll never forget, along the lines of what you're saying.
He said, Robbie. We would do it for so many other people, but they rob us of the blessing. Because they don't admit that they are needy, that they actually, I was in no position to build a wheelchair ramp, and I can't tell you, it gave me freedom unbelievable to get out of the house and go do things. This ramp. was was phenomenal, but it obviously came from God as As the healing came from and all through these people's hearts.
And you know, even of my last accident and your wife and your prayers, I was like, man, God. You were so awesome. Like, how in the world could I have a broken back and all these things that you and I'm sitting here and I'm in no pain and right? And I and I and he did that and so What's this? What you're saying to me is So fundamental to truly appreciating Life and what God is doing is just like, man.
Um I know there's a lot of stuff out there that we could be really worried about. Like I could understand Hezekiah being really worried about a lot of stuff that was coming, but don't miss what just happened. Exactly.
So well expressed, 100%. Exactly.
So I love that. love it. And I I marvel at Isaiah's Gift. that he gave us in those two chapters. And also what Gantt games certainly threw it.
Uh the hope of generations, right? Absolutely. And it just to to resonate with what you just said. We are in any way minimize the importance. Praying to God.
crying out to God. Imploring God. For salvation from Everything. from which we need to be saved. And I mean everything goes goodness just so much.
That ongoing absolute dependence. On God's salvation.
So Let there be no mistake, but Saying thank you doesn't mean I'm there. I'm finished. I say thank you. I can pack up and go home now. Life is a process.
And of course, it's something that has been, I think, a recurrent theme. our partnership together here, recognizing That it is a process, that it's an ongoing process and We're not just being taken along on the ride. Come on. We're part of that process. And part of that process is Well, what's gone?
doing to me. Right now. And how am I reacting? Saying thank you. Also crying out for salvation.
It's not a contradiction. It's a tension. But we need to live in the tension. And we They're not. Forget about saying thank you in order to cry out for salvation.
And we dare not Forget about Crying out for salvation because we're saying thank you. Yeah, what a neat Understanding, I'm going to have to, as usual, these discussions are going to send me back to my study. uh being so critical to how we Uh w navigate life. And uh those those will be a lot of fun. Um Two.
And and as I process this whole thing, Um I can't thank you enough. I like you said, like I knew, I mean, it was gonna it was gonna teach me something and I'm I marvel at at those lessons, not to mention to really Um See Chapters 10 and 11. In the Actuals, you know, how Hezekiah felt or how the people of Israel felt during that time, which was terrifying, beyond terrifying. Um But also, you can't help but note, I mean, or I can't help but note, they're coming. Assyria came down through the Valley of Armageddon.
And, you know, I've stood on that, and one of the great things. one to Israel's you can you can stand in a place and look over this valley And in one place, you can see all these mountains that all these things happened. And you're standing there, and you're like, oh my gosh, not only did all these things happen, just like what we're talking about in Isaiah 10, 11, but the things that are going to happen in this valley. And Mind-blowing, but it's exactly the route that you're talking about. That comes down that way.
It's in, and as I think General Patton put it, it's the world's most natural battlefield. One time, I think it's Napoleon. Napoleon is. Yeah. 'Cause Patton wasn't here but Napoleon was, so it makes sense that what Napoleon was at.
Napoleon said it, but Patton quoted it in the movies. But but nonetheless, when you actually stand there and look at it. Can you grasp Like This has meant This for Hezekiah, this has meant this for. you know Zerubbabel and all these people that were coming on the other side of the of the exile and and and and this will mean Um something so significant in the future. That will, again, bring us to the point of singing, like, because I completely believe God, but nonetheless, the horror of.
of what that valley will bring is You know, if I may just Yes. The natural battlefield. Maybe even a bursance. Where is the land of Isra of Israel located? The Bridge of Three Continents.
Europe, Asia, Africa.
So of course You could say there's no more natural battlefield. They just the very placement of the land of Israel. And of course, everyone's seen those medieval maps in which The Continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa are like petals of a flower, and Jerusalem is the. Vertex of the three, the center of it all. But of course What I feel compelled to add is.
It's also the means For the dissemination. God's light. And God's truth. to what was Then the known world. And of course.
Now that we're no longer dependent upon land routes, we could also spread that light to North and South America to Australia, even to Antarctic. that realization that This Precarious placement, Being At the place where all forces converge. Which on some level in Inevitably. connects with The attack of the Assyrians, the attack of the Babylonians, and the attack ultimately of the forces of Gog and Magog. All that Is just one side of the coin, where the other side of the coin is this.
process of God's Word. going forth. from Zion and Jerusalem. Ultimately embracing a culture coming. You know, for me, I taught on the woman at the well as well as other passages yesterday.
Jesus was so clear to her in saying, Salvation is of the Jews. He said that. Those were his words. And In that to this moment The preservation of the Torah. the preservation of God's word.
Um That is still of The Jews. I mean, it just. We we have it in Christendom. Don't get me wrong.
However, I think The world has much to gain. Shit. by seeing what's been preserved. Um Through your Torah study. And I, oh, the other thing I want to highlight, and I know we're out of time, but the thing that you said that just again just flipped my switch.
When you were talking about that because of the fatness or oil is what you said. of the midnight lamps that were that or people studying God's word. Oh. beautiful is that understanding of these people that had to be terrified. Because the Assyrians, they were not, they were going to do horrible things.
So these people. horrible things and they'd seen it done to their brothers. And the ten tribes. And Rather than do a lot of things they could do that that I The And with Hezekiah's leadership, undoubtedly. They were studying the Torah, looking for these promises.
And they knew through Isaiah's leadership, through Hezekiah, et cetera, like, oh my goodness. What a lesson that is for all of us, right? You don't know. I have all these things facing my life. Like, Oh, oh, to and for me personally, early in the morning while it's still dark.
I'd love to study. And for God to feed my hungry soul. And who gave me a lot to study on, but that's such a precious insight, and I was curious where that came from. With respect to how to understand the oil slash fatness. Right.
I mean again, this is In trying to understand the implications of that verse. What does it mean? And again in the uh in the Hebrew Wh when we Two. Consider Dot second. Um put the verse right in front of me again.
Um that is When One considers The formulation in the Hebrew The khubal all Nippene shamen. The yoke is destroyed. Nope. Mipine Shaman Shemen is the word for oil. It can mean fatness.
So again Is this describing The Viola is going to be destroyed because of Their depravity. that the Assyrians have earned their destruction. Or Is there the additional Critical ingredient. They may have earned their destruction. But if you haven't earned your salvation, They may still.
have the upper hand. How do you earn your salvation? Of course, the short answer is: you can't earn salvation. Salvation is a gift from God. Yes, but.
Remember, it's a process. and we're not spectators. We're part of it. If We are integrating God's word into our lives. That midnight oil.
Not Only perhaps Hey. Literal sense of, well, you know, when the sun goes down, it's dark and you need That midnight oil Burning in order to be able to read God's word. But You're living in a dark world. A world. of tension Yeah.
of war. A war That is threatening your very survival. In that darkness Still hold fast to the Word of God. As that wish sustains you. When The Word of God.
Is What's burning Well, not just in Midnight Oil, but in my heart. Then No guarantees, but God may say You've learned the lesson that this was intended to teach you. It's time for salvation. Beautiful, beautiful.
Well, it's a beautiful way to close. Like, man. Which is Mm-hmm. You know, I think while we're all here. is to um Try to grasp that which God as written And study and Feed them.
all those things that you certainly gave us much to consider thank you rabbis True honor to be part of this discussion. It's an honor for me to be part of this discussion. I'm sure when you said. or being here just To make sure everyone appreciates You were saying our all being in this world. We have a spiritual.
Adventure, ambition. And Again. It's an ongoing process. Yes, it is. Shalom, my friend.
Shalom. God bless you from Jerusalem. Shalom. Sure. Should I have a message?
