History is His Story

Good to see you all tonight. Some of you I've maybe never seen before. Some of you it's a long time since I've seen you.

But it's my task to dive into the Sea of Isaiah.

I'm not a regular here at Brunsfield, so I don't know what you've done so far in your seat in Isaiah.

But I guess as Esther read chapter 34 and 35 tonight, you're probably glad that it's you that's not preaching.

You may be glad or you may wish there wasn't me that was preaching as well if I don't do a great job on it.

But this is tough for us. We need to work our way through.

Let me say what my goal tonight is. My goal tonight is to walk you through the passage, the two passages that we've got tonight.

I think Isaiah does give us some literary aids.

One of the key things that Isaiah seems to do and the commentators suggest is that he's quite good on structure.

So we'll need to say something about both the structure of the section that the verses are in as well as the chapters themselves.

Isaiah is quite clear often in his themes.

And I don't think we miss much tonight.

We shouldn't have missed it.

The theme of judgment in there is chapter 34 and blessing in chapter 35.

Isaiah 34 · chapter mention

And so Isaiah gives us some good structural things.

So we'll say something about that.

And then we'll have a couple of very clear applications that I'm indebted to Alec Mateer for.

I don't know if any of you have read his daily walk through the book of Isaiah, but it's very helpful.

And he's helped me with some two very clear applications.

I've also been helped by my principal at Bible College back in the 80s.

Jeffrey Grogan was the principal at the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow.

Some of you may know of Jeffrey.

He wrote a commentary on Isaiah and he had some helpful things to say as well that I've pinched as we walk our way through it tonight.

I was only given Isaiah 34 and 35.

I wasn't given Matthew 11.

But I'm glad you read Matthew 11 because obviously there's a reference in Isaiah 35 that was read where Jesus said, go back.

This is Matthew 11, 4.

Jesus replied, go back, report to John what you see and hear.

The blind will receive their sight.

The lame will walk.

Those who have leprosy are cured.

The deaf will hear and the dead are raised.

And the good news is preached to the poor.

I think Allerysus once wrote, Jesus is God's righteousness revealed.

The answer to the judgment problem of Isaiah 34 is Jesus.

And the one who gives the blessing that will be ours who are saved people in future glory is all because of Jesus.

The one who reveals God's righteousness as he lived and walked in Matthew.

As Matthew records in Matthew 11.

Let me pray and then let's work our way through Isaiah 34 and 35.

Lord, thank you for your word read to us and open before us.

We pray, Lord, that you would just help us as we make our way through this tonight and as we seek to apply your word.

We thank you, Lord, that your word is your word and it has power to work in our hearts and minds this evening.

And so, Lord, help us as we turn to it now.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So if you have Isaiah 34 and Isaiah 35 open, let's go to the first thing.

Isaiah's literary structure helps us, I think.

So I want to just say something briefly about the structure of this part of the book, chapter 28 to chapter 37.

And I want to say something especially about the structure of verses of chapter 34 and 35.

And so first of all, about this big section, chapter 28 to chapter 37.

You see at the beginning of chapter 33, woe to you.

That is the beginning of the sixth woe or the sixth summons that Isaiah gives from chapter 28 through in this section to chapter 37.

And so we're in the section of the sixth woe.

So it's divided up into two lots of woes, the first three and the second three.

And so we're obviously at the last of the second three.

What's really interesting about these woes and particularly the latter three is that Isaiah Earth's roots in reality,

something that the people really knew was going on.

The first three woes were almost just talking in general terms.

But when we get to these last three, he focuses on the nation of Assyria that is there and then going to attack Judah.

He focuses on Egypt and the alliance that Judah want to have with Egypt.

And he, if you like, their interim fulfillments.

He says, look, what I'm talking about in general terms, you can actually see what out before you earthed, rooted.

In other words, I will do to Assyria what I say I'll do.

And I will do to Egypt what I say I'll do.

And I will do to you, Zion, Judah, what I've said I will do.

Somebody put it this way, that Isaiah chooses to use historical narrative as a rock of certainty.

And I think the best way that I can put that for you tonight in application terms is to think that what Isaiah wants to do here by rooting what he's saying in the reality of the real situation that the Israelites, those in Judah, were facing as they faced Assyria and as they had alliance with Egypt to try and get rescued,

was that God was saying, listen, you cannot rest in the armies of people.

And you cannot rest in your own wisdom.

If you do, you'll fall flat on your face.

And actually, when we read God's word when it's hard sometimes, having interim fulfillments or having this rock of certainty that this word is true is really important for our lives.

What Isaiah does here is to use this technique to fully assure us that what God plans to do, he is able to do because he's working out before them.

Or if you like, what he said he will do can be trusted.

And so for you and I tonight, although we hope that as the Lord sees the earthly reality of our lives, hopefully we're not like the Assyrians.

Hopefully we're not like the Egyptians.

And hopefully we're not actually like the Israelites.

Hopefully we're like those who are not ready to trust in the armies and political systems or in our own wisdom.

But they'll be ready to trust in his wisdom and in his strength and in his power.

And so these are three woes followed by three other woes of interim fulfillment.

I won't bore you with this, but they're also paired.

One and three, two and five, and three and six.

And our summons in our section tonight is part of the longest summons from chapter 33, verse 1 to 35, verse 10.

And actually like summons 3 that you find in chapter 29, it's actually wholly visionary and eschatological.

It's not earthed.

It's heaven bound.

That's what we've got to see as we look at both these chapters.

Heaven bound as far as future judgment is concerned and heaven bound as far as future blessing is concerned as well.

Or as somebody put it this way, here we can read historical events only between the lines.

But our eyes should be held throughout.

Not on the near future, but on the far eschatological future.

So there's a word in terms of the structure of chapter 28 to 37.

And then briefly, just something on the word of structure there in chapter 34 and chapter 35.

One of the things that you should note just in terms of, I guess, Isaiah preaching his sermon, as it were, from chapter 33 to chapter 35.

He begins with the woe in verse 1 of chapter 33.

But then he has his first proclamation, his first bit of preaching, which begins in verse 13 of chapter 33.

You who are far away, hear what I've done.

And you who are near, acknowledge my power.

And so chapter 34 then moves in verse 1 to his second proclamation.

Another, come near.

And this time it's, come near you nations and listen.

Pay attention you peoples.

And it's his proclamation of this final overthrow of the world in all its hostility to God's rule.

It's horrible.

And we'll say something about that more when we come to the theme of the chapter.

As far as the structure of chapter 35 is concerned, then what we get here is this,

at the end of this summons, it moves from this final overthrow of the world in all its hostility to God's rule,

to the glorious picture of the final exodus, so the final pilgrimage of the Lord's people

to their eternal and blissful destination of Zion.

So there you go.

It's important to get Isaiah's structure, both of chapter 28 to 37 and 34 and 35.

You might not have taken all that in.

I had a number of hours and a week to think about it,

but it might be worth going away, reading those chapters and thinking about that yourselves.

And so the second thing I want to do is just say something that Isaiah is really clear on,

his second literary tool or aid.

If his first was structure, then his second is actually to be absolutely crystal clear

in chapter 34 and chapter 35 exactly what they're all about.

Judgment and blessing or judgment on the world.

And you'll see why I've hashtagged Edom and blessing for God's people.

And you'll see why I've hashtagged Israel on that as we look at it briefly.

And so let's take chapter 34 in terms of its theme, first of all.

Judgment on the world, hashtag Edom.

Well, here is Isaiah's articulating the final overthrow of all the world

in all its hostility to God's rule.

And the fact that Edom comes up as the chapter goes on

is a really interesting wee technique that the prophets began to use.

Edom was a way in shorthand of basically saying,

this is the highest form of ultimate rebellion and to God's rule.

So that's how extreme it is.

How extreme it is in terms of rebellion against God.

That's really, really important as Isaiah moves from judging the nations

to focusing in this tiny wee nation of Edom.

Actually, that tiny wee nation is to highlight

that that was a way the prophets helped us to see really clearly

that this is radical, highlighted, magnified rebellion

against the rule of God.

So therefore, for God to overthrow the world

in all its hostility against his rule is his right.

Even although as Isaiah describes it here,

it's not a pleasant scene.

In fact, it's a fearful description, isn't it, in verse 3.

The slain will be thrown out

and their dead bodies will send up a stench

and the mountains will be soaked by their blood.

Fearful.

It's meant to be.

Driving home the point that God's wrath

will lead to the death of his enemies.

It's horrible, isn't it?

I mean, I don't know if you just even stop at that wee phrase.

The mountains will be soaked by their blood

or the mountains of this world will be dissolved

in the blood of those that God has slain.

It's horrible.

It's almost like an anathema.

It's a fearful description

that God is saying that he has the right

to have a final overthrow of the world

in all its hostility to his rule

because he's God.

And because, like the Edomites,

there was this radical, multiplied, intense

arrogance against him.

You see it in verse 5.

My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.

See it descends in judgment upon Edom.

The sword of judgment.

The sword of judgment.

Has fallen in judgment on Edom

and the people.

They are the people that I have totally destroyed already

because of their anathema,

their antagonistic rebellion

against God.

I think Geoffrey Grogan,

what does he say in his commentary here?

I've got it.

He says,

The inhabitants of Edom

were clearly under divine judgment,

just like sacrificial animals.

Maybe that's why there's so much blood highlighted here.

Like them, the Edomites' fate was death.

Yet in one way,

it's hardly appropriate

to liken the antagonistic Edomites

to the comparatively docile domestic animals

employed in sacrificial ritual.

But God had the right

to respond to them

and the right to respond

those who take the stand

that the Edomites took.

Verse 2, of course,

raises the whole issue before us

of what right does God have

to have wrath and judgment?

The Lord is angry with all the nations.

His wrath is upon all the armies.

He will totally destroy them

and give them over to slaughter.

What right?

Geoffrey Grogan again,

as he comments on the word judgment,

says this.

Verse 5, it says,

The slaughter of Edom is,

in its moral context,

because of their rebellion.

And he wants to say

that divine vengeance here

is not mingled with the malice and evil

as in the case of human vengeance.

But it's a quality that in God is divine

and praiseworthy.

And in the execution of what God does

is honoured and glorified.

Let me say that again

because it's really important

when you read a verse like verse 2

and when you see what happens in verse 5

and when you get the sense

of these mountains being dissolved

in the blood in verse 3,

we have to remind ourselves

that God's divine vengeance,

God's wrath on all that is evil

and all that is in holy rebellion to him

is not mingled with the malice and evil

in the case of human vengeance.

It is a quality that in God

is divine and praiseworthy.

It's a fearful description.

We meet the antagonistic Edomites

and we see God in his right judgment

and wrath.

And actually verse 10

is a really interesting verse as well

in the chapter.

I don't know if you saw the reiteration

of the sort of complete

and permanent destruction phrases.

Do you see that they are

from generation to generation?

Forever and ever.

There's a permanence about the whole thing.

Look at it, verse 10.

It will not be quenched day and night.

It is from generation to generation.

It will never happen.

It will ever pass through again and again.

There's this sense of ongoing,

permanent, complete destruction.

It's horrible, isn't it?

But Isaiah doesn't want us to miss it.

Equally, Isaiah doesn't want us

to miss chapter 35.

The joy of the redeemed,

as the NIV puts it.

Or the eternal blessings

for God's people.

Hashtag Israel.

There's a blessing.

There's a new exodus for them.

They had been through the wilderness.

They had been through

leaving Egypt,

through the wilderness

for all those years.

They had faced dry and broken

and barren lands

that seemed to be referred to again here

in chapter 35.

You probably spotted it

with the idea of streams in the desert

and bubbling springs

and desert lands.

But let me say something briefly

about this sixth summons

of this glorious picture

of God's final exodus

and pilgrimage for the Lord's people.

The eternal, blissful destination of Zion.

The summons began in chapter 33

by a message directly to Zion

and their king.

That's what you get

at the end of chapter 33.

And then it's contrasted

towards the end of chapter 33

and into 34

with the eternal destiny

of the saved and the unsaved.

And then it seems to,

in chapter 35,

bring itself back to where it began

with a pilgrim people.

You see them referred to as them

in verses 1 to 8.

You see them referred to as they

in verses 2 and 10.

You see them defined gloriously

in verses 9 and 10

as the redeemed and the ransomed.

And one commentator says,

we met the redeemed

and the ransomed before

in chapter 24.

And in this matching third summons

in chapter 29,

here it only contained

an understated reference

to redemption.

But here at the end

of chapter 35,

we read the story in full.

A protected path,

an assured arrival,

a safe homecoming,

and unbroken happiness.

Isaiah doesn't want us to miss it.

God's just judgment

on a rebellious world.

And God's incredible blessing

for those who are his people.

Well done.

That was heavy, wasn't it?

You think it's heavy to listen to?

It's heavy to preach.

But here are two applications

that Alec Mateer,

I think, has helped me with

as we bring these two chapters

into a conclusion tonight.

And the first from his book,

Isaiah by Day,

is this thought,

serious passages about divine wrath

and judgment are hard to take.

And this is one of them.

But then listen to what he says.

They're hard to take.

Isaiah doesn't try to spare our feelings.

And we are for the most part,

we for the most part,

don't feel as he did.

If you read Isaiah chapter 21

Isaiah 21 · chapter mention

in verse 4,

as Isaiah gets the sense

of all this that's going on him,

the way the NIV puts it is,

he said his heart staggered

and the horror appalled him.

Mateer says,

I wonder,

are our hearts broken

for our lostness

and the lostness of people?

Especially those who feel

the blow

of the divine hand.

He says,

it will come.

He says,

for the wages of sin is death

and death it will be.

The outpouring of divine exasperation

was once divine patience,

but now has reached its terminus.

Isaiah's picture

of the mountains eroded

by the colossal flow

of blood of the slain,

as we see,

is only a picture,

but it will be matched

by the reality

when that sad day comes.

Mateer says,

praise God,

that the company of the saved

will be innumerable,

but that does not take away

from the multitudes

who stand unready,

unfit,

hopeless

in the valley

of that eternal decision.

He then goes on to say,

Jesus didn't hide his face

or ours from it

in Matthew 25

and 46.

Nor did John make

any attempts

to camouflage

the grim

procession

to the lake of fire

in Revelation 20.

And then he says this,

and these are people

we know,

sometimes people

we love,

always people

for whom we have

a responsibility

in the gospel.

And then he says,

today is the day

to ponder these things,

but it's also the day

in the light

of God's word

to look at ourselves,

to determine

to flee from sin,

for though in Christ

the wrath

of the sin-hating God

with me

can do nothing.

Our eternity

is as secure

as if we were already

on

before the throne.

Ephesians 2.

Yet,

as long as

he leaves us

tarrying

here on earth,

our sin

will then

bring us death.

Like our ancestors

in Deuteronomy,

we face

the daily choice

of life

or death.

To choose good

and not evil.

To refuse

disobedience

and cultivate

obedience,

for it is

the Lord's word,

his commands,

which bring life,

which bring progress,

which bring blessing

and inheritance.

The Holy Spirit,

he says,

is given

to those

who will be him.

Well,

that's the application

on judgment.

He is a slightly

brighter

application

on blessing.

Mateo says this,

but if the beauty

of Isaiah's words

and thoughts

thrill us,

how great

is our excitement

when we realize

that he is

actually writing

about us.

And here's what

Mateo says.

Sometimes even

Isaiah

excels himself.

He was a

master wordsmith

and poet.

In chapter 35,

he is at his

highest

and best.

But then,

as Mateo says,

but if the beauty

of Isaiah's words

and thoughts

thrill us,

how great

is our excitement

when we realize

that he is

writing

about us.

We

are the

enigmatic

thee

and

them.

Chapter 1,

verse 1,

verse 2

and

verse

8.

Let me just

read it again

to you,

those verses.

verse 1.

The desert

and the parched

land will be

glad.

The wilderness

will rejoice

and blossom.

Like the crocus,

it will burst

into bloom.

It will rejoice

and sing for joy.

The glory of

Lebanon will be

given to it.

The splendor

of Carmel

and Sharon.

They will see

the glory

and splendor

of God.

Lebanon

commentators

tell us

stands for

natural abundance

and fertility,

Carmel for

order,

Sharon for

beauty.

We're told

here that

these things

can be

ours.

Verse

8

puts it

this way,

and the

highway will

be there.

It will be

called the

way of

holiness.

The unclean

will not

journey on

it.

It will

be for

those who

walk in

that way.

Wicked

fools will

not go

there.

The lion

will not

be there

and so

on and

so on.

And then

they,

verse 9,

they will

not be

found there,

but the

redeemed

will walk

there and

the ransom

will turn

and they

will enter

Zion with

singing and

everlasting joy

will crown

their heads.

Gladness and

joy will

overtake them

and sorrow

and sighing

will flee

away.

What thrill,

says

Mathieu,

should be

ours to

know that

we are

the enigmatic

they and

them.

The anonymous

ones around

whom the

poem

moves

because we

are the

redeemed.

We are

the ransomed

of verses

9 and

10.

The

ransomed

are those

whom the

price has

been paid

for.

The

redeemed

are those

whom the

Lord,

the divine

next of

kin,

identified

himself,

saying to

us this.

This is

brilliant.

It's not

minus material.

That's why

it's

brilliant.

The

redeemed

and the

ransomed

are those

who the

goel,

the kinsman

redeemer,

the Lord,

the divine,

your divine

next of

kin,

has identified

himself with,

saying this.

So,

what's your

problem?

Give it

to me.

What's

your need?

I will

meet it.

What's

your burden?

Lay it

on my

shoulders.

That is

the way of

the goel,

the

kingsman

redeemer.

He

bears it

all,

pays it

all,

does it

all.

He is

the doer.

We are

the

recipients.

But now

that we

know who

the them

and the

they are,

follow through

what Isaiah

says about

them.

First,

whatever our

circumstances

appear,

you see,

verse 1,

the desert

and the

parched

place,

we can be

confident

that we

will be

provided for.

Yeah,

we might

need the

eye of

faith to

see beyond

what's

there.

but this

imagery

drawn from

Exodus,

where this

menacing

wilderness

was

habitual

in

hindering

the

Israelites

until he

produces

the miraculous

manna

to feed

them,

produces

the water

from the

rock

to

quench

our

thirst.

And so

that desert

and parched

place,

we need to

give to

him,

knowing that

he can

give us

his manna

and that

he can

quench

our thirst

from the

rock.

Every

situation,

every

place,

the glory

of God

is present.

You see it

there?

The glory

of God

ultimately

will be

present as

our great

blessing on

that day.

And then

look at

this

highway

that he

provides.

It's this

glorious picture

of a road

above the

wilderness,

so it's just

higher than

everything else

that we walk

on,

and it's

our great

blessing.

For you

and I,

it's possible

to run a

straight line,

says Matia,

from conversion

to glory.

That's why

the highway

exists.

And

finally,

says Matia,

the end

is guaranteed.

The redeemed

shall come.

Everything

that made

the journey

a sad

experience

will take

legs.

Every

unalloyed

delight

that slipped

like soap

out of the

pilgrim's

grasp

will finally

be possessed.

For Zion

admits

no

disappointment.

It's a

glorious picture,

isn't it?

I've done

a poor

unfolding

of it

for you.

But there

you go.

A structure

in Isaiah,

the clear

message of

34,

the clear

message of

35,

a challenge

to us

about the

blessing that

can be

ours and

others,

and the

challenge for

us as we

daily face

the thought

that Isaiah

34 is

true and

that God

has the

right to

judge a

fallen world.

We began

and I'll

finish with

Matthew 11.

Jesus is

God's

righteousness

revealed.

He is the

champion to

mean that we

don't need to

face that

judgment.

And he is

the giver

so that we

can receive

that blessing.

That's our

Jesus.

I hope

he's yours.

Keep on

trusting.

Thank you.