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Sent
John 20:21
August 13, 2023

This morning we come to our annual
“Back To School Commissioning Service”.

We are those who see the school as far more than
Just a means of education, we believe it to be our mission field.

• More than just asking for blessing…
• More than just asking for safety…
• More than just asking for a good year…

We believe that as the church it is our duty to see the school
As we see all other things and that is as a place
Where God has sovereignly placed individuals
To be light in the midst of darkness
And salt in the midst of that which has no flavor.

Every year we encourage those who are headed into the school system
• To see it as more than a job or more than a requirement,
• But to see it through the lens of scripture
• And to embrace it as a mission field.

And this morning the verse we’re going to focus in is John 20:21.

• At this point Jesus has already been crucified and has risen from the dead.
• His followers have locked themselves back in the upper room because they are
afraid of the Jews.

And that alone should cause you to take a little comfort.
These men were fearful too.
These men were confused too.

But Jesus enters that room with many things to say.

The statement we focus on is found in verse 21:
“So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

And more than any this morning I want us to consider the word “sent”.

This morning we could talk about the willingness of Jesus.
• We could talk about His willingness to leave heaven.
• We could talk about His willingness to take on human flesh.
• We could talk about His willingness to face temptation.
• We could talk about His willingness to fulfill the Law.
• We could talk about His willingness to bear our sin and shame.

And in all those things there is nothing wrong at all
With referring to Jesus as a tremendous volunteer.

After all Hebrews 12 says:
Hebrews 12:2-3 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus embraced the suffering of the cross.
• He despised the shame (thought little of)
• He looked to the glory of heaven
• He loved so much that He laid down His life

You know the realities of Jesus as a volunteer; a willing Savior.

And yet, as Jesus stands in the upper room with His disciples
He refers to Himself as One who has been “sent”.

The very word brings with it a connotation of obeying an order.
• The very word brings with it the understanding that a Commander gave a
command and someone obeyed it.

God sent Jesus.
God commissioned Jesus.

And Jesus catapults off of that reality
To pass on the marching orders to His disciples saying, “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

And what we first need to consider this morning is
The sovereign prerogative behind the evangelistic call to missions.

Now this morning we are NOT going to discuss God’s sovereignty over salvation.
• Things like foreknowledge and election and predestination;
• Things which are all absolutely biblical and true.

Rather, this morning we are going to talk about God’s sovereignty
In the aspect of His prerogative to send His church into the world.

In short, by the end of this sermon
• I hope you will not see yourself merely as one who has volunteered to enter the school,
• Or even as one who has a heart for the school,
• But I hope to show you that you have been divinely and sovereignly sent by God into your school.

So let’s start down that track this morning.

First I just want to remind you to some extent of what we mean by
“The sovereignty of God”.

It is a theme which saturates Scripture.

Early on in the book of Genesis,
• As Abram encountered the King/Priest named Melchizedek,
• Melchizedek described God to Abram like this:

Genesis 14:19 “He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;”

Later
• When Abraham commissioned his servant to go and find a bride for Isaac,
• Abraham spoke of God like this:

Genesis 24:3a “and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth…”

When Moses described God to the Israelites:

Deuteronomy 4:39 “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.”

When Moses then commissioned Joshua, He revealed God as:

Joshua 2:11b “… the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

Hezekiah recognized the sovereign nature of God as he prayed while under Assyrian attack:

2 Kings 19:15 “Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

David certainly recognized God’s sovereignty over all things:

Psalms 75:6-7 “For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation; But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.”

Psalms 115:2-3 “Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

Psalms 135:5-6a “For I know that the LORD is great And that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, He does…”

Isaiah saw it:

Isaiah 40:22-23 “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.”

Jeremiah had the most famous illustration of it
• As he saw God as the Potter who does whatever He wants with the clay.

Jeremiah 18:6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”

GOD IS SOVEREIGN.

And men even spoke of the PRACTICAL RAMIFICATIONS
Of God’s sovereignty over human affairs.

Hannah had a great prayer in which she said:
1 Samuel 2:6-8 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them.”

Job recognized the same:
Job 12:9-10 “Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?”

God is not a passive sovereign, He is an active sovereign.
He is actively ordaining all things.
Even the things which we do not understand.

When God called Moses
• Moses hesitated because he felt unqualified as a man who stutters
• God said:
Exodus 4:10-13 “Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? “Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.”

Even your supposed weaknesses and frailties are not mistakes.
God has sovereignly crafted you into the exact tool He desires
In order that He may be glorified through you.

Psalms 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

There are no mistakes here.

And we could go on and on and on in this realm.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL THINGS.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

He does whatever He pleases with all men.
• Their existence is not a coincidence…
• Their location is not a coincidence…
• Their occupation is not a coincidence…
• God has sovereignly ordained it all.

And certainly this includes our understanding of missions.

Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

You see the sovereignty of God there.
• “all these things are from God”
• He “reconciled us”
• He “gave us the ministry of reconciliation”
• “God was in Christ reconciling the world”
• “He has committed to us the word or reconciliation”

Nothing about that is coincidental.
The sovereign God of the universe is behind it all.

In short, it is God who divinely places and sovereignly sends
His people into the world for the proclamation of the gospel.

IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT
• When they find themselves where they find themselves.

IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT
• Or a coincidence that you are in the school you are in.

We know that God is sovereign over all things
And all circumstances and all men.

And we know that God sends His people into the world
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROCLAIMING HIS WORD.

That is clearly seen throughout Scripture.

Now I want to ILLUSTRATE that a little. (And I’m going to work you a little)
I want you to see the reality of God sovereignly sending people.

Let’s start with one we have recently seen.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 6:8-10

Of course you remember this story.
• It is Isaiah’s commissioning.
• Isaiah saw the Lord and it should have killed him, but God had mercy on him.

• And when God asked, “Whom shall I send?”
• Isaiah said, “Send me”

Now in one sense that looks like a clear case of Isaiah volunteering
(And to an extent it is).

However, are we going to overlook the reality of what happened before that?
• That God appeared to Isaiah…
• That God convicted Isaiah…
• That God cleansed Isaiah…

Obviously, it was God who initiated all of this.
And then God sent him.

(9) “He said, “Go, and tell this people…”

God took a sinful man of unclean lips…
God pardoned Him…
God commissioned him to carry His word to the people of Israel.

GOD DID THAT.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 1:4-10

That one is unmistakable.
• God knew Jeremiah in the womb.
• We would say, “You were created for this.”

It didn’t matter that he was a youth.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t know how to speak.

But just like with Isaiah, God touched His mouth and told him to go.
• He was created
• He was consecrated
• He was chosen
• He was commissioned

GOD SENT HIM.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 2:1-3:11
(my personal favorite)

Ezekiel, much like Isaiah had seen a vision of the glory of God
And it put him on his face. Which is why God first told him to stand up.

And God sovereignly sent him.
• (3) “Son of man, I am sending you…”
• (4) “I am sending you…”
• (3:4) “Son of man, go…”

Ezekiel was confronted by God.
Ezekiel was consecrated by God.
Ezekiel was commissioned by God.

And God even uniquely created Ezekiel for the people he was sent to.
(3:8) “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.”

This is not a mistake.
This is not a coincidence.
Ezekiel was sovereignly sent.

TURN TO: DANIEL 1:8-21

• We think of all the kings Daniel had a chance to speak to.
• We think of sermons preached and dreams interpreted.
• Daniel had a tremendous platform from God to speak to the most powerful men in the world in his day.

That segment ended with the statement:
(21) “And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.”

• That would be a ministry of 69 years.
• God placed him in Babylon and placed him there to stay.

Do you see that?

Or even in that time period we think of Esther who was placed there “for such a time as this.”

IT’S ALL GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY.

TURN TO: HOSEA 1:2

• If you keep reading Hosea did what God said and had children.
• The 3rd he named “Lo-ammi” which meant “Not mine”

But he did it because God commissioned him to it.

It was a job God called him to, and obviously not even a pleasant one.
But God called him to it none the less.

TURN TO: AMOS 7:14-15

• Amos lived in the Southern Kingdom,
• He was called by God to go to the Northern Kingdom
• They hated him for it.

When they rebuked him, this is what he said.
“I’m a farmer, not a preacher, but God called me here.”

Just a regular guy whom God sent with a word to His people.

TURN TO: JONAH 1:1-2

• You know that story and the man who was sent to a people he didn’t even like
• And who he didn’t think deserved salvation.

But God sent him, even if it meant using a fish to do it.

We could go into the New Testament and see Jesus calling those fishermen to lay down their nets and be fishers of men.

We certainly read the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

It is God’s sovereign prerogative to send people.

Romans 10:13-15 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

GOD SENDS PEOPLE.

And what I hope you glean from those prophets is that
God was sovereign over all of it.

Was it an accident Isaiah saw Jesus in the temple?
Of course not – your salvation wasn’t an accident either.

Was it an accident Ezekiel beheld the glory of God?
No – neither is God revealing Himself to you.

Was it an accident that Ezekiel was hard-headed?
No, God uniquely designed him for the people he was going to preach to.

Was it an accident that Daniel was in Babylon?
No, and neither is the location of your ministry.

I think it is fascinating that our church will have representatives
In schools in Matador, Guthrie, Lorenzo, Spur, and Jayton.

Do you suppose that to be a mistake or a coincidence?
Certainly not.

You are where you are for a reason.

Was it an accident that Hosea had a hard calling to marry a prostitute?
No – and your hard job isn’t an accident either.

God may have purposely placed you in that darkness
To be the brightest of lights.

Was it an accident that Amos and Jonah were sent to foreign lands?
No, and if God just moved you from one place to another that’s not an accident either.

Was it an accident that Jeremiah found himself in Jerusalem at the very time God appointed the fall of Jerusalem?
No, and your setting isn’t a coincidence either.

You are not accidentally in your school,
You have been sovereignly placed there by God.
He saved you and He has sent you into that school.

If you think you are in that school
• Because you decided to move here…
• Or because your parents made a decision to put you there…

You greatly overestimate your sovereignty
And greatly underestimate God’s.

It is God who is sovereign.
• He controls not only opportunities, but also desires.
• He is at work in all these situations.

And I just want you to see that this morning.
YOU HAVE BEEN SENT

It is not an accident…
It is not by your doing (even if you think it is)…
It is not a coincidence…

God is Lord of heaven and earth.
• He sovereignly controls all things.
• He is the potter who is molding the clay.
• He is the One who ordained your days.

You are where you are by His sovereign plan.
You have been sent to your school.

So I hope you see that first.

But secondly I want you to ask the question – WHY?
Why has God sent me to the school He sent me to.

Well back to John 20:21
“So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus said, that He is sending us
For the same reason that the Father sent Him.

• Did you think it was to make money?
• Did you think it was for an education?
• Did you think it was opportunities to do things you like?
• Did you think it was to meet a specific person?

Indeed, those things my indeed occur as byproducts
Of where God has placed you.

But none of those are the primary reason why God sent you there.

He sent you to your school for the same basic reasons He sent Christ to earth: THE SALVATION OF HIS CHILDREN.

But take it from the lips of Jesus.
Let me show you 5 reasons Jesus said He was sent to earth.

This will help you understand why He is sending you.

1) TO SUBMIT

This is sort of generic, but it is a good reminder.
Jesus came to this earth to obey His Father.

John 12:23-28 “And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

He came to do His Father’s will.

And that is a great place to start when I ask you: Why you are in the school?

Are you there to do the Father’s will?

There is really no gray area in this one.
• You either go there to serve Him or you don’t.
• You are either there on His mission or you aren’t.

Jesus did not come to earth as a vacation…
• He did not come to earth for furthering education…
• He did not come to earth just for the fun of it…
• He did not come for the purpose of making money…

Jesus came to obey and glorify His Father,
And that is our calling as well.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

God is sending you into that school,
You have to determine if you will acknowledge that
And go for the purposes that He has sent you.

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

2) TO SPEAK

Mark 1:35-39 “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.”

What you may not know about that setting is that it was Sunday.
• On the day before, the Sabbath, Jesus had cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue and really irritated the religious leaders.
• He left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house where Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever.
• That night crowds showed up with all kinds of sick and crippled and demon possessed people and Jesus healed them all.
• And the next morning His popularity was surging.

If He had ever had the intention of opening up a healing center
Or a deliverance center, He was well on His way.

BUT INSTEAD HE LEAVES.
WHY?

“Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”

He was sent to preach the gospel.
He was sent to proclaim the good news.
He was sent to preach.

And Jesus said:
“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Someone in the 90’s coined the erroneous phrase,
“Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words.”

And because people are more sentimental than they are discerning,
People loved the phrase.

But as Allistair Begg pointed out, that’s like saying, “Go forth and feed the poor, if necessary use food.”

Preaching is necessary.
And God has sent us into the world to do it.

What did Paul say in the text we read earlier?
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

He does the saving, but part of His process is
To entrust the word of salvation to us.

Paul said:
Romans 1:14-16 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Do you want to know why God has placed you in that school?
• To proclaim His word.
• To preach His gospel.

The opportunities are absolutely endless.

And look, the arguments against it are growing tiresome…
• “Well the ACLU says we can’t”
• “There is a separation of church and state”
• “Well I wouldn’t want a Muslim doing it, so I won’t either”

Do you suppose any of those excuses would wash in the book of Acts?

Do you ever hear anything like that from the lips of Jesus?
He was sent to preach, and now He has sent you to do the same.

3) TO SHOW

Or maybe we might say, “to expose”.

Jesus said:
John 9:39 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

Which shows us that His purpose was to expose the hearts of men.

Certainly He did that through preaching
But also simply through righteous living.

His very life was a conviction of the world.

And we think of how deep His exposing of men would go.
Luke 12:49-53 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He would bring truth to a boiling point
And it would cut to the hearts of men.

He would expose men like light exposes the darkness.
• And the change that He would create in man runs the risk of separating even the most intimate of relationships.

• He didn’t come to overlook sin.
• He didn’t come to tolerate sin.
• He didn’t come to empower sin.
He came to expose it.

Ask the woman at the well about the time Jesus told her she’d been married 5 times and was now living with a man she wasn’t married to.

Ask Nicodemus about how Jesus told him his only hope was to be born again.

Ask one of the Pharisees whom Jesus called sons of the devil.

I’m not saying we should be mean, or rude;
Jesus was none of those things, but He did lay down the truth,
Even if it exposed and cut and convicted.

If the church is the light then she must be willing to shine.

Do you think that unredeemed teaching colleague is going to give students an accurate understanding of what is sin?

Do you think the other boys in the locker room are going to point out what is sinful?

Jesus sends His followers into the world
To shine the light and expose the darkness.

Matthew 10:12-15 “As you enter the house, give it your greeting. “If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

4) TO SEEK

Who did Jesus seek?
The lost.

We remember the story of Jesus eating at the house of Zaccheus and how the religious elite balked at it.

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Seeking the lost is important.
• This is why you are in the school.
• This is why God sent you there.

You do realize that most of the unredeemed people in your school
Are not going to come here, at least not on their own.

For a lost man to hear the gospel one of two things has to happen.
• Either the lost man has to seek a saved man and ask him for the truth,
• Or a saved man has to seek a lost man and tell him the truth.

Which do you suppose to be more likely?

Jesus was sent to the lost.

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

5) TO SERVE

Clearly from Jesus we read:
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus came to serve.
God sent Jesus to serve.

But when Jesus says serve,
He does not mean simply do kind deeds for people.

Certainly He did, but the Christian mission is far more than staying behind to clean up the mess or helping to unload the trailer.

Certainly a Christian should do those things
for they are acts of love and they open doors to the gospel.

But Jesus spells out for us what service was to Him.
It was “to give His life”

No, we do not die for the atonement of sinners,
Only Jesus does that,

But we do lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel.

It reminds us that the mission is elevated above every other thing.
It reminds us that we are committed to the mission at all cost.

John 13:13-17 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

We are called to do what He did.

So you see that you have been sent,
And if I ask you why you were sent, it is simple.

You were sent to be the presence of Jesus in your school.
Go and do what He did.

• Submit to God.
• Speak the Gospel.
• Show what is true and what is false.
• Seek the lost to tell them.
• Serve by laying down your life to do it.

You are not there by accident.
You are not there by coincidence.
The sovereignty of God does not allow for such anomalies.

• You were created…
• You were chosen…
• You were called…
• You are commissioned…
• For this very task.

And this morning, we the church charge you to the fulfillment of that task.

And we will conclude this morning,
With a commitment to pray for you as you carry it out.

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The Babylonian Mirage
Isaiah 21:1-10
August 6, 2023

By now you are certainly picking up on a very distinct theme
Throughout the oracles of Isaiah.
DON’T TRUST ANYONE BUT GOD

Indeed, as we said from the beginning,
Isaiah’s name means “The LORD is Salvation”

In fact, He is your only salvation.
He is your only hope.

The oracles of Isaiah illustrate that in very dramatic fashion.

There is a bully in the area: ASSYRIA
• Everyone is trying to figure out how to be saved from them.
• We’ve seen an almost alliance with the Philistines.
• We’ve seen warnings not to trust Egypt or Cush.

And we have learned even in our own lives
That in this world there is no other Savior.

At REGEN a student asked John MacArthur about 1 John 2:2
1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

MacArthur also quoted:
1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”

The student was confused regarding
In what sense Jesus is the Savior of “the whole world”,
Or in what sense Jesus “is the Savior of all men”?

For we know that not all men are being saved.
We know that not all men trust Jesus.

So how can John and Paul both speak as though Jesus is the Savior of all men?

And THE ANSWER given by John MacArthur
Is the same point Isaiah has been making to us.

Namely, that Jesus Christ
Is the only Savior this world is ever going to get.

There are no others.
There will be no others.

The tragedy is that NOT ALL men look to Him as their Savior.
In fact Scripture teaches that MOST men reject Him as such.

But there will be “salvation in no one else”.

Isaiah is trying his best to drive that point home
To the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

• Don’t trust the Philistines.
• Don’t trust the Ethiopians.
• Don’t trust the Egyptians.
• TRUST GOD

HE IS YOUR ONLY HOPE.

HOWEVER:
• Despite the warnings…
• Despite the accuracy of Isaiah’s prophecies…

Judah had a difficult time forsaking men as their source of salvation
And trusting in God alone.

And when they or we or anyone does that,
There is only ONE RESULT and that is DISAPPOINTMENT.

No one who rejects Christ in any area of their lives
Will be satisfied with what they trust instead of Him.

That is the drum Isaiah has been beating,
And he continues beating it tonight.

It is “The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.”
And we’ll discuss in a moment what that means.

But hopefully, as we read this text to open our time together this evening,
There were a clear couple of verses that jumped out to you.

And the truth that really sort of jumps out at us is that:
ISAIAH IS IN A PITIFUL STATE.

Look at verses 3-4 again.
(3-4) “For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.”

7 statements Isaiah gives to make sure you understand what a miserable condition he finds himself in.

“loins are full of anguish”
Have you ever been so disturbed that it literally made you sick at your stomach?

“pains…like a woman in labor”
Every time the bible wants to illustrate the worse pain imaginable it uses this analogy. Partly because of the intensity of the pain, but also because of the unrelenting nature of it. It just keeps bowling over Isaiah.

“so bewildered I cannot hear”
Have you ever been so grieved and so distracted in that grief that you can’t even pay attention to the people around you?

“so terrified I cannot see”
That is to say he can’t see any way out.

“my mind reels”
The whole room is spinning as tragedy has captivated him.

“horror overwhelms me”
It’s something so terrible and he can’t get a grip on it. He’s just beside himself.

“twilight…turned into trembling”
We know what our “twilight” years are. It’s those days of retirement when your work is finished and you sit back in satisfaction and enjoyment. Isaiah says, “the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.”

This is NOT just a thoughtless or passing statement.
ISAIAH IS IN A TERRIBLE WAY.
He is really bothered by what God has shown him.

And the question is:
WHAT DID ISAIAH SEE?

Clearly it relates to his future…
What was it?

What he saw was, “The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.”

That would likely be undistinguishable to us were it not for verse 9 later in the chapter.
• Verse 9 reveals to us that the nation in focus here is none other than “Babylon” whom Isaiah will report has “Fallen”

But Isaiah refers to them as “the wilderness of the sea”
And many commentators have made reference to the Persian Gulf.

Babylon is modern day Iraq and so you can kind of understand the analogy.
• So some would see it sort of as a slang name for Babylon.
• Sort of like we call our flag “O Glory” or we call Texas “The Lone Star State”

They see this as just a slang name for Babylon
That would have been recognizable to Isaiah’s contemporaries.

But I think it is more than that.
J. Vernon McGee saw the nickname “wilderness of the sea” as another way of saying “The Mirage in the Desert”
(McGee, J. Vernon [Thru-The-Bible Commentary Series; The Prophets; Isaiah 1-35; Thomas Nelson Publishers; Nashville, TN; 1991] pg. 156)

AND I THINK HE IS RIGHT ON POINT.

A mirage is a false hope.
• A mirage tells someone lost in the desert that salvation is just up ahead.
• (You can pause and play The Sons of the Pioneers “Water” in your head)

It looks good, it will get your hopes up,
But when you arrive and see that the water doesn’t exist
The bitterness is even greater for you had dared to get excited.

In that sense a mirage is actually an intense form of cruelty.
And that is what Isaiah calls Babylon here.

NOW THERE IS A LITTLE MORE WORK WE NEED TO DO.

TYPICALLY when you read about the nation Babylon your mind immediately goes to the nation that ultimately invaded Judah and burned down the city of Jerusalem and exiled God’s people for 70 years.

That nation, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, who took Israel captive and was eventually conquered by the Medes and the Persians in the time of Daniel.

And indeed, if you go read a commentary on Isaiah 21,
Most will tell you that Isaiah 21 references the fall of that nation.

• They see a reference to “Media” in verse 2.
• They see the words “Fallen, fallen is Babylon” in verse 9
• And the immediate assumption is that Isaiah is prophetically looking in the
future about 150 years and talking about the fall of Babylon to the Medes.

You remember that story of Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson) who was eating and partying with all the utensils of the temple and God’s hand appeared on the wall and wrote the message, “Mene, Mene, Tekil, Upharsin”

Daniel translated it and that night the Medes broke through
And killed Belshazzar and conquered Babylon.

BUT THAT IS PROBLEMATIC

1) The oracles of Isaiah are prophetic in nature as they speak of future events, but all of them deal with nations that are present day contemporaries of Isaiah.

It would be bizarre for Isaiah to all of a sudden leave the present
And jump 150 years down the road.

2) If this is the prophecy of the future fall of Babylon to the Medes why would Isaiah be upset and grieving about that?

That day will mark deliverance for Judah.
That day will allow them to return home to Israel.
That vision should cause him joy not grief.

3) In verse 10 Isaiah says that this message is for his “threshed people”, but if this is speaking of the future Babylon falling then Isaiah would have been speaking about “delivered people.”

I understand the temptation to look to that future Babylon
But that is NOT what Isaiah is seeing.

Isaiah is seeing the present day Babylon.
He is looking at the Babylon of his day.

And if you will remember,
They actually played a role in the present-day happenings of Judah and Jerusalem.

You are pretty familiar with the Hezekiah (Judah’s king)
• We’ve read several times about how he was on the throne when Assyria
invaded.
• We’ve read how he trusted God.
• We remember him spreading out that letter before God.
• We remember Isaiah answering him
• We remember God promising that the Assyrians wouldn’t even shoot an arrow
there.

The other famous story of Hezekiah’s life
Is coming in Isaiah 38.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 38:1-8
• You may remember that story as well.
• God healed Hezekiah and added 15 years to his life.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 39:1-8
• Now that is certainly a prophecy concerning the future invasion of Babylon.
• That is about the day 150 years later.

But the point I want you to understand is that
Hezekiah and Merodach-baladan had made an alliance.

And Hezekiah, as well as the rest of Jerusalem,
Was hoping that he would be a beneficial ally to Judah and Jerusalem.

So let me tell you a little about the HISTORICAL Merodach-baladan.
• He was a Chaldean prince
• In 722 B.C. he took Babylon from Assyria.
• That, incidentally is the same year that the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria

So you see how he was in intriguing figure.
The same year Judah watched their brothers to the north get carried away into exile, Merodach-baladan was notching victory against the Assyrians.

However in 710 B.C. Sargon of Assyria took back Babylon from him.
• Then when Sargon died in 705 B.C. Merodach-baladan and troops from Elam revolted against Sennacherib to take it back.
• But in 702 B.C. Sennacherib defeated him and Elam and devastated his home area around the Persian Gulf.
(Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy B. [The Bible Knowledge Commentary; The Old Testament; ChariotVictor Publishing; Colorado, Springs, CO. 1985] pg. 1-68)

The following year (701 B.C.) is when Sennacherib would invade Judah.

Hezekiah and all of Judah had hoped that Merodach-baladan
Might be their source of deliverance from the mighty Assyrians.

But they proved to be a false hope.
They were A MIRAGE IN THE DESERT.

Isaiah is grieved because he saw what was coming.

So let’s look at Isaiah’s oracle and see the three things he saw.
#1 A LINGERING JUDGMENT
Isaiah 21:1-2a

“The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As windstorms in the Negev sweep on, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land. A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.”

Isaiah opens this oracle with the explanation that
What you are about to see is “A harsh vision”.

And the basic announcement is this:
“windstorms in the Negev sweep on”

That is another way of saying that it is not over.
• It is a weather analogy that basically means, “No relief in sight”
• Sort of like what you felt today if you looked at the forecast for this coming week and saw temperatures of 103 to 106 forecasted for the week.
• It’s not over.

And in case you misunderstood Isaiah’s little weather analogy
verse 2, “The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.”

Now we know the “windstorm” is Assyria
And God is NOT finished using her for the purposes of His judgment.

• You may have hoped Assyria was about to meet her end.
• You may have hoped that Merodach-baladan could subdue her.
• You may have hoped that times of peace were near.
• WRONG!!!

Assyria was God’s rod.
And Assyria wouldn’t be stopped until God was finished with her.

Let me just make the simple point:

When God determines to judge a nation
There is no plan of man that can stop it.

And America (including the church) needs to see this.

We read it all the time:
Romans 1:24-32 “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

And just to make sure you read it correctly.
IT DOES NOT SAY if a nation persists in idolatry or homosexuality or depravity that God will judge that nation. (Though that is true)

WHAT PAUL SAYS is that if a nation is overrun by idolatry and homosexuality and deprave thinking, that is evidence that that nation is already under God’s wrath.

God IS judging that nation.
He is giving them over to do that for which He will judge them.

I see people continually holding out hope that some elected official is going to be able to turn America around and fix our problems.
• That is a mirage.
• The wrath we see today is God’s wrath
• Nothing short of revival will fix it.

But man’s intervention cannot undo God’s judgment.
Man is not a Savior.

Jerusalem was hoping Babylon would fix it all.
• Isaiah says, “A harsh vision has been shown to me”.
• You aren’t going to like what you’re about to see.

A Lingering Judgment
#2 A LETHARGIC ARMY
Isaiah 21:2b, 5

“Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused…They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

I told you earlier that Merodach-baladan was warring against Assyria.
• He fought Sennacherib from 705 B.C until 702 B.C.
• And during that time the support he counted on was support from Elam and support from Media.

And this is what is referenced in verse 2.
“Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;”

It is a call for them to get into the fight.
• Get up!
• Join us!
• Help in the battle!

“I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.”
It is the call of Merodach-baladan to Elam and Media to join the battle because victory is within our grasp.
• We can finish them off!
• We can silence the mighty Assyrian!
• We can stop all the cruelty and evil she is spreading!

BUT THE PLAN ISN’T WORKING AS GOOD AS HE THINKS.
In fact before Isaiah tells you what is coming next he pauses and tells you
How awful this vision is and what horror it has caused him.

Merodach-baladan wants the Elamites and Medes to rise up
And get in the battle and help him overthrow Assyria.

But there is a problem.
They are a lethargic army.

(5) “They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;”

This is part of Isaiah’s grief.
• The Elamites and Medes are no help.
• They are not interested in battle.
• They are interested in banquets.

And the call goes out again:
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”
• Get up from the table and get dressed for battle!
• Wake up!
• Let’s go!
• It’s not a time for feasting it’s a time for fighting.

It’s like when you elect someone who is supposed to be your help
But they end up doing nothing…

And Isaiah reveals that those who were expected to help Babylon
Are not as committed as perhaps we had hoped.

A Lingering Judgment, A Lethargic Army
#3 A LOST HOPE
Isaiah 21:6-9

Now Isaiah jumps to the conclusion and result of the battle.

“For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees. “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.” Then the lookout called, “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post. “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

So Isaiah is told to station a watchman.
Go get on your post and watch to see what is the result of this battle.

It’s like Americans watching the television on election night
Waiting to see the results.

And God says, “when he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, let me pay close attention, very close attention.”
• In other words, what he is looking for is a caravan.
• He is looking for a caravan of people carrying all of their supplies on donkeys and camels.

So the watchman was stationed and begins to watch.
He watched “continually by day” and “every night”.

(9) “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

And all of a sudden, over the hill, there is the caravan!
He saw the riders, he saw the horsemen.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE?
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

• Your deliverer wasn’t strong enough.
• Your weapon wasn’t powerful enough.
• Your candidate lost.

IT DIDN’T WORK.
Babylon was only a mirage in the desert.
They could not stop the judgment of God.

The caravan depicts how “all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

All those little deities they took into battle
Have been destroyed and discarded.

Just like all those yard campaign signs from the losing candidate.
Just like all of those campaign bumper stickers.

It’s over.
You lost.
Your would-be savior has failed.

Now, you surely recognize that verse
Because it is quoted by John in the Revelation.

Revelation 18:1-3 “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

And Revelation 18 then becomes a great lament.
It is a horrific time of grief and weeping by all those who live on earth.

TURN TO: REVELATION 18:9-19
• All of their pleasures…
• All of their comforts…
• All of their securities…
• GONE…

It was a FALSE HOPE to Jerusalem back in the days of Isaiah
And it pictures the same FALSE HOPE to those in the world.
• Men who thought their political system was secure…
• Men who thought their financial system was secure…
• Men who thought their military systems were secure…
• Men who thought their judicial systems were secure…

And when it falls, there is tremendous grief.

And this is what Isaiah references in verse 10.
(10) “O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you.”

Isaiah actually laments for the people
Who are legitimately crushed at the news.

People who had trusted in Babylon
Must now feel like they have been threshed in the threshing floor.

• They must feel “full of anguish”
• They must have “pains…like the pains of a woman in labor”
• They must be “so bewildered that [they] cannot hear”
• They must be “so terrified that [they] cannot see”
• Their “mind [must] reel”
• “horror overwhelms” them
• The “twilight [they] longed for has been turned for [them] into trembling.”

Such is the state for all those who trust in any other Savior.

THE PARALLELS FOR US ARE TOO OBVIOUS TO MISS.
• A nation such as ours cannot stand.
• The evil world system, of which the U.S.A. is a part cannot endure.
• God will judge it, and indeed God is judging it.

SO WHAT ABOUT US?
• What are we to do?
• What are we to take from this?

Well the announcement of Babylon’s fall
Is not the only thing revealed to us in Revelation 18.

READ REVELATION 18:4-8
“Come out of her, my people…”

But what does that mean?
Leave the U.S.A.?
• Well, I don’t know where you’d go.

Leave earth?
• That’s not exactly possible.

So what does that mean?
“Come out of her, my people”?

Philippians 3:17-21 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Colossians 3:1-6 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,”

Ephesians 4:17-20 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way,”

1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

God’s people are not to be people of the world.
• We are told not to love it…
• We are told not to treasure it…
• We are told not to trust it…
• We are told not to seek it…
• We are told not to go along with it…

We are told to leave it!
We are told to forsake it!

We are citizens of heaven.
• We are to set our eyes on things above.
• We are to be different.
• We are to be lights in darkness.

We don’t wait for a political leader to rescue us.
We can’t be like everyone else.

THE LORD IS OUR SALVATION!
We look to Him
We trust in Him

Every other hope only ends in disappointment.
As we saw this morning, every other hope ends in humiliation.
The people of God should trust God!

And incidentally, Hezekiah must have gotten this message.
• For Merodach-baladan fell in 702 B.C.
• Assyria invaded Judah in 701 B.C.

And during that invasion, with no one else to trust,
Hezekiah turned to God and God delivered.

That is the point.
That is the message.
The LORD is Salvation!

TRUST HIM!

download here

The Reason We Hope In God
Isaiah 20
August 6, 2023

NBC12 out of Richmond reports:
In Virginia there is a so-called church
That believes in worshiping God completely in the nude.

Pastor Allen Parker noted that, “If God made us that way, how can that be wrong?”

He explained that nudity is a great equalizer, as it becomes impossible to judge someone based on their expensive or shabby clothes if they simply aren’t wearing any.

Parker went on to say, “People are more open as far as hearing the word of God, and speaking the word of God…I consider this a gift and a privilege God has given me…They’re caring, they’re understanding, and they’re community and family oriented. We have one of the most involved chapels anyplace around. I’ll put our church up against others around.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nude-church-white-tail-virginia_n_4763199

Now just in case you are confused,
• No, it is not the will of God that anyone should meet under such circumstances,
• And it should be blatantly obvious that this is not a church.

Paul wrote an entire letter to Timothy regarding how one
“ought to conduct himself in the household of God”
And the key word used over and over is “godliness”.

It was James who wrote about not showing favoritism to the rich or disregarding the poor in their shabby clothes,
• But the solution for James was not having everyone shed their clothes,
• But rather that such people repent of their prejudice.

Obviously this is sinful, this is NOT a church,
It is just another example of the depravity that lurks around our culture
Even hiding itself among Christianity.

But I share that news story with you because
It is horrific even to hear about such a place,
And the thought of visiting such a place is even more horrific.

None of us is going to any place like that.
And certainly none of us is going to listen to or follow
Any so-called pastor who seeks to lead in that condition.

And yet THIS MORNING we are confronted with Isaiah in exactly that condition and it causes us all to wonder what in the world is going on.

4 points
#1 THE SETTING
Isaiah 20:1

You know by now that Isaiah likes to give you
A way to date the circumstances he talks about.

“In the year that King Uzziah died…” (Is. 6:1) – 739 BC
“In the year that King Ahaz died…” (Is. 14:28) – 715 BC

Well Isaiah does it again here.

“In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.”

Incidentally, this should NOT be totally NEW information to you.
If you were with us on the Sunday night where we discussed the oracle concerning Philistia we heard Isaiah prophesy this.

“Ashdod” was a Philistine city.
• Had become a vassal kingdom to Assyria
• And had been forced to pay tribute to Sargon, king of Assyria.

• But one of Ashdod’s puppet kings (Azuri) had refused to pay tribute to Assyria
• Had conspired to form an alliance against Assyria with his neighbors
• So Sargon (King of Assyria) replaced Azuri with his more compliant brother Ahi-miti.

• But the people of Ashdod resented the outside interference
• They overthrew Ahi-Miti and replaced him with a king of their own choosing named Yamani
• Yamani had been a leader among the insurgents who sought to break free from Assyria.

• Yamani tried to form an anti-Assyrian coalition and reached out to Judah, Edom, and Moab to join him in resisting Assyria.

And if you’ll remember the oracle concerning Philistia (Isaiah 14:28-32)
Isaiah referenced the messengers who wanted Israel to join them.

That sermon was preached by Isaiah in 715 BC
(“the year that King Ahaz died”)

Isaiah told Judah to tell them, “Thanks, but no thanks”
Isaiah 14:32 “How then will one answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, And the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.”

You tell them that God founded Zion and God will protect her.

And of course Isaiah also revealed at that time
• Going to the Philistines for help would be a terrible decision
• For Assyria was going to return and destroy them.

Isaiah 14:29 “Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For from the serpent’s root a viper will come out, And its fruit will be a flying serpent.”

And indeed history bears out that
• In 711 BC Sargon did return and brought Ashdod back under his rule.
• Excavations years later revealed a mass grave with 3,000 skeletons attributed to Sargon’s return to Ashdod.

And this is the event Isaiah uses to date his next sermon.

“In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and fought against Ashdod and captured it,” (711 B.C.)

So first and foremost there ought to be a reminder there
To Isaiah’s audience that 4 years ago Isaiah was right.

He had told them not to run to the Philistines.
He had told them Assyria would destroy the Philistines.
And his prophecy had come to pass.

So Judah was right to listen to Isaiah and not run to the Philistines.

But if you’ll remember, that was NOT the current temptation.
• The opportunity to run to the Philistines was over and gone.

The current temptation was to run to Cush and Egypt.
That is the idea being kicked around Jerusalem at the present.

And Isaiah had spoken to that too. (2 Sundays ago)
• He told them not to run to Cush, for God would save them.
• He told them not to run to Egypt, for even Egypt would need a Savior.

And the obvious implication is that
If Isaiah was right about the Philistines
Certainly he is right about the Ethiopians and the Egyptians.

BUT YOU KNOW ISRAEL
They always seem to have a difficult time believing God.

And here in chapter 20 we find that
Judah had ignored Isaiah and some were already fleeing to Egypt.

You see that down in verse 6, “So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, Behold, such is our hope, where we fled…”

(Isaiah will address that again in chapters 30-31)

But even the King of Assyria knew this was Judah’s plan.
Isaiah 36:4-6 “Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have? “I say, ‘Your counsel and strength for the war are only empty words.’ Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me? “Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.”

So THE SETTING now has become clear.
• Isaiah is receiving clear messages from God.
• God is doing exactly what He promised.
• God told them not to run to Egypt.
• But people have ignored that and run to Egypt anyway

Isaiah now has a sermon regarding those people who fled.
It is a sermon certainly meant to
Encourage the rest of Judah not to follow their lead.

The Setting
#2 THE SIGN
Isaiah 20:2

“at that time” – That would be 711 BC, Sargon just toppled Ashdod.

“the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amaz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot.”

Now, just to go ahead and answer the question:
• No, this does not justify the church in Virginia.
• God at times commanded his prophets to do outlandish things to make a point.

BUT WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE POINT TO THIS?
Why would God have His prophet engage in such appalling behavior?

In fact, SEVERAL COMMENTARIES like to
Try and dial back what the Scripture says here.

One commentary says, “It was only figuratively speaking, Isaiah certainly didn’t do it.”
• But verse 2 says, “And he did so, going naked and barefoot.”

Another commentary says, “It wasn’t totally naked, he would have still worn a tunic that reached down to his ankles.”
• But verse 2 says, “naked” and what is more later in verse 4 there is reference made to “buttocks uncovered”.

Others say, he wouldn’t have done it continually either, perhaps just when he was preaching,
• But verse 3 says, “Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign”

So if we take this verse literally, and we have no reason not to,
Then we find ourselves with a story that we really don’t like.

We’d say:
• “That’s vulgar!”
• “That’s indecent!”
• “That’s embarrassing”

If you went to Isaiah’s church, you’d hope that word didn’t get out.
• YOU’D BE EMBARRASSED When people said, “I heard about your preacher!”
• YOU’D BE ANGRY trying to explain it to your kids.
• YOU’D BE DISHEARTENED that this once faithful preacher had lost his mind.

IN SHORT, THIS WOULD BOTHER YOU!
It likely bothers you now.

And so it is UNDERSTANDABLE
• Why commentators would try to soften what is clearly said here.
• Why commentators would try cover Isaiah’s shame and find a way to dance around what Scripture says happened.

But let me remind you of a few things before you do that.

1) It is not uncommon for God to use His prophets in very dramatic fashion to illustrate their message.

In Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah was told to go buy a linen waistband and then hide it in the rock. Later he was told to retrieve it and it was ruined. And that was a picture of what God was going to do to Judah.

Ezekiel was very dramatic.
• We have the story in chapter 4 of him building a little model of the city and then
smacking it with an iron plate.
• Later he ties himself to the ground for 430 days.
• He is commanded to eat his bread cooked over human dung (though God
concedes to allow for cow dung)
• Later he shaves his beard and then mutilates it.
• Even later in chapter 24 God killed his wife to show how painful it was going to
be to God to let His people go into exile.

We remember Hosea who was told to marry a prostitute.

Sometimes God required His prophets
To do eccentric things in order to make a point.

I would agree that this one for Isaiah seems extreme,
But it’s not beyond what God has been accustomed to doing.

2) I would also remind you that Scripture seems to have no problem illustrating the ultimate shame of sin and judgment.

Of course the pinnacle picture of this is when
Christ bore our sin and our shame
As He hanged naked on the cross for all the world to see.

I just point that out to you to say this.

This scene from Isaiah may utterly offend you…
IT IS SUPPOSED TO!

You’re supposed to be sickened, angry, embarrassed, and appalled when you hear about that so-called church in Virginia.

You’re supposed to be sickened, angry, embarrassed, and appalled when you find that Isaiah went for 3 years naked and barefoot.

But that is what God commanded him to do.

And we can certainly imagine the ramifications.
• I would imagine that attendance to Isaiah’s sermons dramatically decreased.
• I would imagine that no one wanted to hear what he had to say.

After all, if a naked man walked into our sanctuary this morning
And said, “Follow me!” There is no way you’re going.

• But I am also certain what Isaiah did would have caught everyone’s attention.

Do you suppose that there was a single person in Jerusalem
Or in all of Judah that did not know about Isaiah?
He was “THE” preacher of the day.

I promise you if John MacArthur pulled such a stunt everyone would know.
• He’d be mocked and scorned and ridiculed.
• He’d be discounted and likely condemned.
• But EVERYONE would know what he was doing.

No sermon Isaiah ever preached…
No deed Isaiah ever did…
Would be as far-reaching as this one.

This message would reach every corner or Judah
And every household in Jerusalem.
It was a sign you couldn’t miss.

The Setting, The Sign
#3 THE SIGNIFICANCE
Isaiah 20:3-4

This is what we really are curious to learn.
What possible purpose could God have had in telling Isaiah to do this hideous thing?

And the answer is that Isaiah was
“a sign and token against Egypt and Cush”

WHY?

Because “the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.”

And after 3 years had passed,
Isaiah now explained the significance of his nakedness.

This will be the fate of everyone who runs to Cush and Egypt
Because this will be the fate of Cush and Egypt.

Now, as I said, you know people were distancing themselves from Isaiah.
• You know, no one was taking him seriously in such a state.
• You know, no one was attending his sermons.
• You know, no one wanted anything to do with a lunatic like that.

He was shameful.
He was appalling.
He was disgraceful.
You’d tell your kids, “STAY AWAY FROM HIM!”

AND THAT IS THE MESSAGE.
• Trusting in Egypt or Cush is shameful.
• Trusting in Egypt or Cush is appalling.
• Trusting in Egypt or Cush is disgraceful.
• STAY AWAY FROM THEM

You won’t like the results of following them.

And because the scene was so outrageous
I am confident that it was heard by everyone in Judah.

God was serious about this.
• Don’t put your hope in Egypt.
• Don’t put your hope in Cush.
• You won’t like how it ends.

And then we get one more point in the chapter.
#4 THE SERMON
Isaiah 20:5-6

Here is the sermon.
Isaiah spells it out for the people in case the dramatic demonstration had been too difficult to understand.

Let me break what he said down 3 ways.

1) EGYPT IS AN EMBARRASSING HOPE (5)

“Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.”

You can see the point clearly.

How many devoted followers do you suppose Isaiah had before he started walking about naked?
• Do you suppose they were dismayed on the day that Isaiah did this?
• Do you suppose they were ashamed of him?

You know they were.

You know all the nay-sayers were coming out of the woodwork and asking questions like, “What do you have to say about your preacher now?”

You know Isaiah’s followers were disillusioned.
You know Isaiah’s followers were embarrassed.

And Isaiah says, that is what’s going to happen
To everyone who puts their hope in Egypt or Cush.

Egypt is an embarrassing hope
2) EGYPT IS A DISAPPEARING HOPE (6a)

(6a) “So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, “Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria;”

You will see the Egyptians and the Cushites being led away naked and barefoot.
• They will be a pitiful sight of weakness and shame.

And as they are being led away you’ll say,
“And that’s who we thought would save us.”

That is where we staked all our hope.
That is the basket we put all our eggs in.

And as they train of captives disappears over the hilltop,
Your hope will disappear with it.

If you place your hope in the Egyptians then there will soon come a day
When you won’t have hope any more.

An embarrassing hope; a disappearing hope
3) EGYPT IS A FAILING HOPE (6b)

“and we, how shall we escape?”

• Not only will you be ashamed that you fled to them.
• Not only will you see your hope disappear.

But you will also soon find that you are now in danger of the Assyrians
Because you have been found in league with the rebel Egyptians.

Where are you going to run now?

If you follow a false prophet or a bad preacher and he shows his true colors by doing something shameful.
• Not only are you ashamed…
• Not only do you see your hopes disappear…
• But you have to wonder also where his preaching has led you…

Trusting in a false hope is more than humiliating,
It is absolutely damning!

Shame moves to despair and despair gives way to absolute terror
When you see where trusting in the wrong thing takes you.

AND THE POINT?
• EGYPT IS NOT YOUR HOPE!
• CUSH IS NOT YOUR HOPE!
• GOD ALONE IS YOUR HOPE!

And church, we again find such simple but necessary application here.

• What are you trusting in?
• What is going to be your deliverance?
• What is it that is going to cause you to escape the coming judgment and arrive
safely in the presence of God?

I HOPE YOU ARE NOT TRUSTING IN YOURSELF.
• Well, I’m a pretty good person,
• I think on the average I’m doing alright.
• My hope is that in the end the good I did will outweigh the bad.

IS THAT YOUR HOPE?
You’re a good person?

Have you totally ignored all the passages of Scripture which speak to the depth of human depravity?

Have you overlooked?
Romans 3:10-12 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Have you forgotten the standard to which God holds all men?
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Do you suppose that you are as good as God?
Do you suppose that you are as perfect as God is perfect?

If you are trusting in your works you must be.

Jesus told a parable about that kind of foolishness.
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

No one can build a house strong enough
To survive the judgment that is coming.

That would be like Noah deciding not to build the ark
Because he’s a pretty good swimmer.

• The only thing that would survive that flood was the ark, which Peter says is Jesus.
• And the only thing that will survive that judgment is that rock who is Jesus Christ.

Would you really put your hope in the fact that have done good things?
• I go to church…
• I give to the poor…
• I got baptized…

And that is supposed to be enough to save you
From the corrupt rebellion of your sinful heart?

No!
• You must be perfect!
• You must have the righteousness which only comes through Jesus Christ.

There is only ONE HOPE to which we can cling and that hope is Jesus

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He really was the Son of God who was born of a virgin.
• He had to be or else He is Adam’s descendant and just as fallen as we are.

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He lived a sinless life and perfectly fulfilled God’s Law which is the
written standard of His righteous expectation.

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He died and in dying took the punishment that we deserved.

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He would rise from the dead signifying that He was indeed sinless and
His death was not for His own sin.

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He ascended to the right hand of the Father and is now the reigning
King and also the great High Priest who intercedes for us.

OUR ONLY HOPE
• Is that He will return to judge the living and the dead and to rescue His
kingdom.

HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE.

And THIS MORNING, with the remainder of our time,
I want us to examine why He is a sure and steadfast hope!

TURN TO: HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6 begins with a very real and frankly terrifying warning.

(READ 1-8)

The promise couldn’t be clearer.
• If someone is fully enlightened to the truth of the gospel.
• If someone is given a full taste of the greatness of Christ.
• If someone is given the full conviction of the Holy Spirit.
• If someone is given understanding of the gospel.
• If someone is able to see the power and effect of new life in Christ.

If someone sees all that and still chooses to reject Christ,
Then it is impossible for that person to be saved.

Anyone who would reject all of that…
There’s nothing that can be said or shown to convince them to be saved.

It’s like the Abraham said to the rich man in Hades.
Luke 16:27-31 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

That is a terrifying reality.

BUT…
That is NOT what the writer of Hebrews thinks this congregation will prove to be.

(READ 9-12)

• He says, look, I don’t think that’s you.
• I have seen fruit in you that I am certain testifies to your salvation
• What I want to see is you continue doing what you are doing.

But notice how the writer of Hebrews expresses that encouragement.

He tells them (11) “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.”

In other words, keep standing firm! Keep striving for Christ!
Carry out your hope in Christ to its absolute end.

So where Isaiah would tell the people of Judah
To give up this foolish hope of running to Egypt,

The writer of Hebrews would tell his congregation that
Jesus is no foolish hope.
You ride Jesus all the way to the end!

WHY?
(READ 13-18)

Now you need to know at this point that
There are two verses that are driving the entire book of Hebrews.

And one of those verses is:
Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

The writer of Hebrews is absolutely mesmerized
• Not just the reality that God has granted another priest according to the order of
Melchizedek
• But that when God announced it He actually swore to the fact.

See, God doesn’t have to make an oath.
• It is impossible for God to lie anyway.
• His yes is always yes and His no is always no.
• For God to make an oath is overly redundant.

So if God does make an oath about something
He must be really serious that you should believe Him.

Now you see that God has done this before.
He did it with Abraham. (14) “Saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”
• There was no need for God to add that word “surely” in there,
• But God did it so that Abraham would be doubly sure that God would do it.

Well, what God did for Abraham, He did also for us.
He not only promised us a coming King/Priest like Melchizedek
But He actually swore to it.

Now why would God do that?
Because He wants you to be doubly sure that you can trust what He said.
• On one hand you should trust Him because He can’t lie.
• On the other hand you should trust Him because He swore an oath.

(18) “so that by two unchangeable things…we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

AND THAT’S HIS POINT.
• God said you can trust Jesus.
• God swore that you can trust Jesus.

I’m telling you to trust Jesus all the way to the end.

And here comes his exclamation point.
(READ 19-20)

We have a hope!
• A sure hope!
• A steadfast hope!
• A hope that is inside the veil!

And notice that the hope is compared to AN ANCHOR.
I love this imagery.

If you are in the market for an anchor or if you ever need to use one there are three things you want to know about it.

One concern has to be how strong the shaft of the anchor is.
• When your boat pulls against it with the force of the sea driving it on, will the shaft of that anchor hold?
• We would ask, how sure is the anchor?

Another concern has to be how good is the anchor at gripping the surface?
• Will it actually hold to what it is clinging to or will it let go allowing your ship to be driven along?
• We would ask, how steadfast is the anchor?

And another concern has to be will it reach and grip in the area where I want to be?
• If the anchor won’t reach the floor where I need to stop what good is it?

Now notice what the writer of Hebrews says about Jesus.

(19) “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”

• He is “sure” He won’t give.
• He is “steadfast” He won’t let go, nothing can snatch you out of His hand.
• He “enter within the veil” He is at the right hand of God.

He is the ruling and reigning King.
He is the accessible High Priest.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?

Jesus will never embarrass you.

On the day of judgment, there will be no shame
For those who put their hope in Jesus.

Hebrews 13:9-14 “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

You might have to endure His shame and reproach for a season.
• Go ahead!
• What He offers is worth it.

Jesus gets the last laugh.
Jesus offers a lasting city and nothing in this earth can offer that.

It also means that Jesus will never disappear.
He is not a disappearing hope.

In fact Scripture says He is a REAPPEARING hope.
Hebrews 9:24-28 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

• Our King currently sits enthroned at the right hand of God ruling over the universe.
• One day He will reappear and save those who wait for Him.
• He is not a disappearing hope.

It also means that Jesus will never fail you.
He is not a failing hope.

Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

This priest can make you perfect.
• He can make you pleasing to God.
• There will be no shame in the day of judgment if Jesus is your hope.

The point is simple.
There is only one sure hope and that is Christ.

• Don’t trust your works.
• Don’t trust some earthly government.
• Don’t trust some political leader.
• Don’t trust some court.
• Don’t trust some bank account.

All of those things are as foolish as following a naked preacher.

You trust in Christ and you will not be disappointed.

1 Peter 2:6 “For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

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The Oracle Concerning Egypt
Isaiah 19
July 23, 2023

Tonight we come to yet another of Isaiah’s oracles.

And this one is with A NATION that we are all too FAMILIAR with, especially as they relate to the history of Israel.

Egypt first represents SLAVERY to the nation of Israel.
• You know all about their bondage
• You know all about the Exodus

But no sooner did God deliver Israel out of Egypt then did Egypt take on a NEW ROLE for Israel.
• They became Israel’s hope and boast.
• How many times even in the wilderness wanderings do we see Israel wanting to go back to Egypt?
• And certainly during times of trial and distress you always find Israel wanting to run to Egypt for safety and deliverance?
• This occurred in Isaiah’s day, it will occur again in Jeremiah’s day.

So Egypt holds a unique role in the history of Israel.
They went from slave owner to savior in the eyes of Israel.

The next chapter in Isaiah (as we saw this morning) will give you all the information you need to know in understanding how Israel viewed both Egypt and Ethiopia.

Isaiah 20:5-6 “Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. “So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?’”

THAT PRETTY MUCH EXPLAINS IT.
• Assyria was the villain.
• Israel saw Cush and Egypt as the saviors.

Well we dealt with Cush this morning
• And saw how Isaiah told the messengers to go to Cush and remind them that God was going to save them both.

Now we have Isaiah giving a prophetic message
Regarding THE FATE OF EGYPT.

The chapter for us, as is all Scripture,
Is full of relevant information even for our very lives.

We are all prone to trust in faulty saviors.
We are all prone to rest in faulty deliverers.

So much of the time when people think of idols
They think of little graven images or molded statues that people worship.
And truly those are idols, but they aren’t the only kind.
You can make an idol out of anything.

ANYTHING YOU LOVE MORE THAN GOD IS AN IDOL.

That can be money, that can be time, that can be a person, that can be a relationship, that can be a hobby, that can be a toy.

An idol is anything you find your pleasure in…
An idol is anything you find your satisfaction in…
It is those things you love more than God.

• Idols consume our resources…
• Idols consume our time…
• Idols take priority over the things of God…

They may not be a graven image at all.

But that’s still not the only kind of idol.

IDOLS CAN ALSO BE ANYTHING YOU TRUST IN INSTEAD OF GOD.
Idols can be anything through which you find your security.

• That can be a job…
• That can be a 401K…
• That can be a surplus of stuff…
• That can be the government…
• That can be your own plan or ingenuity…

What is that thing that makes you feel secure for the future?
What is that thing that makes you feel safe amidst the world’s dangers?
What is your safety net?

If it’s anything other than God then you have identified an idol.

And if you have trouble identifying them
All you have to do is be threatened with losing them and see how you react.

For example:
Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

And just like that we found the man’s idol.
• His wealth, specifically his property, was his source of security
• And maybe even his source of enjoyment and satisfaction.
• He loved it, he depended on it,
• And when asked to give it up for Christ, He would not.

It’s not hard to spot an idol
Even though we are short on the graven image kind,
We have them even in our lives and in our day.

Well one of Israel’s biggest idols was the nation of Egypt.

Namely because Egypt represented for them security.
• Egypt was the breadbasket of the world and Egypt meant food.
• Egypt was a mighty and powerful nation so Egypt meant security.
• Egypt had endured for centuries with wise men and prophets so Egypt meant
wisdom.

In short, Egypt was always the safety net.
If everything falls apart, we can always go to Egypt.

That is an idol and tonight Isaiah is going to address this idol of Israel.

And the way we’re going to look at the text tonight
Is to draw out some logical conclusions.
• Tonight we’re going to look at portions of the text
• Then I’m going to present you with a logical question to each one.
• In all there are 4 questions tonight that will help us evaluate the wisdom behind trusting in anything more than God.

So let’s start working through the text.
(READ 1-4)

Obviously here we get an announcement of judgment on Egypt.
And it’s pretty straightforward.

Verse 1 tells us about the COMING TERROR
(1) “The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.”

Very simply there is coming a day
• When God is going to do such a work that He will make the Egyptians terrified.
• He is coming on a cloud, and “the idols of Egypt will tremble”

We remember what a laughingstock God made
Of all those idols back during the 10 plagues in Egypt.
This time He’ll come and terrify those false gods (demons).

“And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.”
• It is simple terror.
• What God is about to do will make them melt.

Verse 2 tells us about the COMING CHAOS
(2) “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom.”

The Egyptians won’t know how to respond to what God will do.
And they’ll turn on each other.
• “Egyptians against Egyptians”
• “brother against…neighbor”
• “City against city”
• “kingdom against kingdom”

God will strike them with such terror that they’ll be skeptical of everyone.
• Everyone will become the enemy.
• Chaos will rule the streets.

It’s like martial law.
It’s people out devouring one another.
You can’t trust anyone.

That is what people overcome with fear will do.

Verse 3 tells us about the COMING HOPELESSNESS
(3) “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.”

They’ll have a plan for defying God,
But God will “confound their strategy”

Their best hope will be to go to the cemetery
And see if anyone there has a plan.

They will just be demoralized and disillusioned.
All hope will be gone.

Verse 4 tells us of the COMING BONDAGE
(4) “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.”

That “cruel master” will be the Assyrians whom God will bring in to devour Egypt.
• They will be subdued,
• They will be conquered,
• And they will become slaves.

It is a horrible thought and a horrible picture.
Egypt, totally terrified, chaotic, hopeless, led away in bondage.

And THIS is who Israel is counting on to save them.

So here is our first question.
#1 WHY SEEK A DELIVERER WHO CAN’T DELIVER THEMSELVES?
Isaiah 19:1-4

And yet we see it all the time.

We remember those prophets of Baal leaping on the altar and cutting themselves repeatedly crying out, “O Baal answer us”

Isaiah 45:20 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.”

Where is the logic in that?

We remember when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the temple of their god Dagon.
1 Samuel 5:3-4 “When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.”

• Then the Philistines made the brilliant decision to get rid of the Ark.
• They should’ve gotten rid of Dagon and changed Gods!

Or we remember when Paul went to Ephesus and offended the idol makers.
Acts 19:26-27 “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. “Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

• It isn’t much of a god if a traveling missionary can totally dethrone it.

WHY SEEK A DELIVERER WHO CAN’T DELIVER THEMSELVES?
It’s dumb.

So why would you seek deliverance from a conquered nation being led away in bondage?
• Do prisoners look to other prisoners for release?

I WOULD THINK IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR A DELIVERER
You would look for one who is powerful and mighty and victorious
And one who no one could stop or thwart.

Isaiah 63:1-2a “Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Perhaps One who can
• Cast out demons
• Or heal paralytics
• Or cleanse lepers
• Or forgive sinners
• Or raise the dead or calm storms…

Why seek a deliverer that can’t deliver themselves?

Find one mighty in strength and power and trust Him,
But don’t run to some helpless prisoner for your salvation.

Well, let’s move on…
(READ 5-10)

Here we see yet another judgment which will be applied to Egypt.
THIS IS AN ECONOMIC JUDGMENT.

Egypt was considered the breadbasket of the world.
They were the world’s great supplier of food.
WHY?
THEY HAD THE NILE.

And the deposits left after the flooding of the Nile
Made Egypt the food producer of the world.

So it was natural that a nation might want to run to Egypt in their crisis because Egypt could provide.
• We actually remember Jacob doing that during the famine of his life.

Sounds like a good idea.
Except for one problem…
GOD IS GOING TO DRY UP THE NILE.

There goes the FARMING INDUSTRY
(5-7) “The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry. The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away. The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.”

Everything that is planted just dries up and blows away.
• No crop this year.
• No bread this year.

God will dry up the entire source of water for their crops
And Egypt will be no different than any other patch of desert.

But it’s not just the farming industry.
There goes the FISHING INDUSTRY (8)
(8) “And the fishermen will lament, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.”

• No Nile also means no fish.
• No bread, no meat.

Famine just got really real in Egypt.

And that’s still not all.
There goes the FLAX INDUSTRY
(9) “Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.”

• No more Egyptian cotton sheets.
• Their manufacturing and textile industry just vanished.

Isaiah sort of sums it up in verse 10, “And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.”

“the pillars of Egypt” were
Their wheat, fish, and textiles and God just crushed them all.

Jesus told us not to trust in earthly treasures.
• We know that grain rusts…
• We know that garments get moth eaten…
• We know that gold gets stolen…

Things that seem so secure aren’t as secure as we thought.

And so here comes question #2
#2 WHY SEEK A BENEFACTOR WHO IS ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING?
Isaiah 19:5-10

Why would you run to Egypt for food if Egypt won’t have any food when you get there?
• If they can’t feed themselves do you suppose they’ll feed you?

BUT PEOPLE DO.

We’ve got thousands of people in our own country
Who depend on the government for their livelihood.

Do they not realize that as of today the U.S. government is 31.4 trillion dollars in debt?

Why would you trust a benefactor who is about to lose everything?

It seems to be that if you were seeking a Benefactor
YOU’D WANT A RICH ONE.

• You’d want one that owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
• You’d want one who faithfully feeds the birds.
• You’d want one who has glorious riches and promises to supply your needs.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

• Perhaps you’d want one who can take 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed a multitude.

It seems only logical that if you’re looking for a Benefactor
You’d look for a wealthy one,
But you certainly wouldn’t trust in a benefactor
Who is about to lose everything.

That just wouldn’t make sense.

Well, let’s keep going…
(READ 11-15)

The first 10 verses of this chapter spoke of the coming judgment on Egypt, now we start looking at their inability to do anything about it.

When a nation faces a crisis, often the people look to the leaders to fix it.
• If it’s inflation…
• It it’s some sort of war…
• If it’s a pandemic…
• If it’s a national disaster…

It is typical of a people, even a nation like ours,
To look to the government or the leaders
For some sort of solution out of the crisis.

Well, God has rained judgment upon Egypt.
• Not only are they facing destruction and bondage,
• They are also facing terrible economic loss since God has dried up the Nile.
• Their farming, fishing, and flax industry is collapsing.

And the people are looking to their leaders for answers.

But here we find that there are NO ANSWERS to be found.

We see that they have NO WISDOM
(11) “The princes of Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid. How can you men say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

They are facing invasion and they are facing famine and all “of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers” are clueless.

He’s got no “experts” to turn to.
• No one has a solution.
• No one has an answer.

The people are crying, “What are we doing to do?”
And all Pharaoh’s advisers can do is shrug their shoulders.

There are no answers.

Beyond that, there has been NO WARNING
(12) “Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the LORD of hosts Has purposed against Egypt.”

The question is: Did no one see this coming?
• Where are the intelligence agencies?
• Where are the people who watch the internet and monitor chatter on the hotlines?
• Where are the prophets who are supposed to be in tune with the plans of God?

I mean, where is Joseph when you need him?

No one in Egypt had a clue this was coming.
• No one saw it…
• No one prepared for it…
• No one was ready…

And now it has come and no one has an solution for it.

And since no one saw it coming and since no one knows what to do, we also learn that there is NO WAY (PLAN)
(13-14) “The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly, The princes of Memphis are deluded; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray. The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.”

All of a sudden reality is sinking in.
Our leaders don’t know what they are doing.
• They didn’t anticipate this.
• They can’t explain this.
• They have no plan to fix this.
• They have doomed us all.

(We can get that sort of feeling with our government today.)

All that is really left is finger-pointing.
• The princes are fools, they are deluded.
• They lead men astray.
• They have distorted logic.

Following them is like following a drunk man
Who eventually vomits and then trips and falls in it.

There is no help.

And there is NO WORK
(15) “There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.”

That is to say that there is nothing that can be done
By human ingenuity to fix this.

There will be NO grass-roots movement to save the nation.
There will be NO blue-collar effort to fix everything.

There is nothing that man in his limited power can do to fix this.
Egypt is ruined.

So here is the 3rd question.
#3 WHY SEEK A GUIDE WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE HEADED?
Isaiah 19:11-15

IT’S KIND OF IMPORTANT
If you are going to look to someone for guidance through a trial
That you pick someone who has experience navigating such things.

Judah is facing the Assyrian threat.
• Things like war and famine are very real possibilities if Assyria invades.
• The thought process is to go to Egypt and let them guide you through the storm.
• But as you can see Egypt has no answer themselves.

It is like Jesus said about the Pharisees.
Matthew 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

And again:
Matthew 23:13, 15 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in…“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

Do you really want to follow a guy who is headed to hell and judgment?

If you’re going to follow a leader
Then there needs to be some sort of indication
That the person knows what they are doing.

This is why Paul required that overseers be good managers of their families.
1 Timothy 3:5 “(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),”

I mean if a man can’t lead his own kids
You sure don’t want to entrust him with yours.

You don’t follow people who are lost.

If you’re going to follow someone then it needs to be someone who has wisdom.
• It needs to be someone who can see what is coming.
• It needs to be someone with a plan.
• It needs to be someone who can work and fix things.

SOMEONE LIKE JESUS.
When He said, “Follow Me!” it was good advice.

For
• He is filled with wisdom.
• He outsmarted all of His opponents.
• He is also well acquainted with His Father’s plan.
• He has a plan for saving the world.
• His work will endure.

You want someone to trust and follow, then follow Him.

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

But why would you follow someone
Who doesn’t know where they are headed?

Why follow someone without wisdom?
Why follow someone without a plan?
That is a foolish decision.

But there’s more.
(READ 16-25)

Here we see the GLORIOUS FUTURE of Egypt,
And it is actually good news.

You see 5 of those “In that day” statements.

There is coming a day when Egypt will be SHAMED (16-17)
(16-17) “In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them.”

In other words
• They will no longer be the power in the region.
• They will fall down the pecking order.

There is coming a day when Israel will be the power in the land
And Egypt will be looking to them, not the other way around.

Egypt will come face to face
With their own weakness and wretchedness and shame.

It will also be a day of SURRENDER
(18) “In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.”

“Speaking the language of Canaan”
Means that they will be speaking Israel’s language.

“and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts”
There is coming a day when Egypt
Is going to adapt their lives to seek out Israel’s God.

“City of Destruction” can also be rendered “City of the sun” which would be the major city of Heliopolis.

But you’re going to see Egypt come to the end of themselves
And surrender themselves to Israel’s God.

And then it will be a day of SALVATION
(19-22) “In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.”

There is coming a day when Egypt will cry out to God and “He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.”

Who do you suppose that is?
It is Jesus Christ.

This promise has a millennial fulfillment.
There is coming a day when the Egyptians will look to Jesus for salvation.

And it’s not just Egypt.
This will also be a day of SYNCRETISM
(23) “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.”

It’s not just the Egyptians that Jesus will save,
But in the end, He’ll save Assyrian’s too.

One is your ENEMY, one is your HOPE,
And they have both been saved by Jesus and are worshiping together.

And thus it will also be a day of SOLIDARITY
(24-25) “In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

You’re just going to have total unity.
Everyone worshiping Christ together.

This is coming during Christ’s millennial reign.

Now, all of that is certainly good news!
All of that is certainly a beautiful picture of salvation.

But it does bring up our final question:
#4 WHY SEEK A SAVIOR WHO WILL NEED SAVING?
Isaiah 19:16-25

Egypt themselves will have to be saved by Christ.
• So why would you look to them to save you?
• They aren’t saviors, they need to be saved themselves.

What is that politician’s name that doesn’t need to be saved?
They don’t exist.

THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR.
Jesus Christ is the One who saves others,
And yet He is also the One who never needed saving.

Oh Peter, thought He was going to save Jesus in the garden,
• But everything in the garden was going exactly according to plan.

Pilate had thoughts of saving Jesus by giving up Barabbas,
• But the crucifixion of Jesus was ordained by God.

Jesus didn’t need saving, He was doing the saving.
He is the Savior.

And you come now to your understanding of Isaiah 19.

Judah was afraid of the Assyrian threat
And their plan was to run to Ethiopia or Egypt for salvation.

Egypt was their hope.
Egypt was their idol.

By the way, Assyria knew this too.
2 Kings 18:19-21 “Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have? “You say (but they are only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me? “Now behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.”

And in that sense Rabshakeh was right.
• Why would you rely on a crushed reed?
• Why would you rely on a deliverer who can’t deliver themselves?
• Why would you seek a benefactor who will lose everything?
• Why would you follow a guide who doesn’t know where they are headed?
• Why would you trust a savior who needs saving themselves?

Isaiah’s point is clear.
Don’t trust in Egypt, trust in God.

And what an encouragement to the church.
Many things today promise us salvation, but they can never deliver.

Only Jesus Christ ever saved anyone.
Trust Him for salvation
Trust Him for provision
Trust Him for protection
Trust Him for satisfaction
Trust Him for deliverance

Paul nailed it:
1 Timothy 4:9-10 “It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”

So did David:
Psalms 20:6-7 “Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.”