Observational Outline: Isaiah 41

[0] Isaiah chapter 41.

[1] First hour was all about transitioning between chapter 40 to 41.

[2] Now, it's Isaiah 41 and we're going to begin our study of this entire chapter.

[3] I'm not going to go back through, I'm not even going to do really a review.

[4] We spent the entire time working on...

[5] how 40 and 41 are connected, how they're different, all the similarities.

[6] Now, because we have chapter 41 in front of us and it's 29 verses, I have two options.

[7] We can just jump in and start breaking it down section by section or just walking through it, but we're going to do an observational outline.

[8] So this morning, this second hour is all about doing an observational outline of Isaiah 41.

[9] Why do we do an observational outline?

[10] Let's start there.

[11] Why do we do observational outlines?

[12] Because you cannot interpret what you do not see.

[13] The quality of your interpretation is dependent upon the quality of your observation.

[14] What is the goal of an observational outline?

[15] Not to interpret.

[16] Not to interpret.

[17] It's to see, see, see, see.

[18] The more we see, the better predict.

[19] And another thing with doing observational outline, if I can show you what's in a chapter over and over and over and over and over, from that point on, the goal is that if you ever hear anyone else say something about a chapter, you should immediately be able to go, wait, I know that chapter because I've looked at it now a thousand times, right?

[20] It's kind of the idea.

[21] What's the best way to learn how to detect counterfeit money?

[22] Study the real one.

[23] That's always the idea.

[24] The more you know the real, then within seconds you can learn the counterfeit.

[25] If you spend all your time studying counterfeits, you don't get anywhere.

[26] You've got to know the real.

[27] So if you know what's really in 41...

[28] then we can avoid all the sermons that, well, don't get me started on all the problems with sermons on Isaiah 40 to 55.

[29] I've been talking about it now since October of last year.

[30] Here we go.

[31] Isaiah 41 is structured almost like, at least in parts, as a divine courtroom scene where God demonstrates his sovereignty over history and exposes the futility of idols.

[32] and reassures Israel of his covenant care.

[33] So in part, just if we're going to try to look at it, it's kind of structured somewhat like a courtroom, right?

[34] God's going to demonstrate the following things.

[35] His sovereignty over what?

[36] History.

[37] He's going to expose the futility of what?

[38] Idols.

[39] And he's going to reassure Israel of what?

[40] His covenantal care.

[41] Israel about his covenantal care.

[42] The chapter transitions from a broad global perspective, God's control over all nations, to very specific personal promises to Israel.

[43] God over everything, specifically to Israel.

[44] It's going to move that direction, just like 40 to 41 does, all right?

[45] So, here we go.

[46] Look at chapter 41, look at verses 1 through 7.

[47] 41, 1 through 7, look at it.

[48] We'll go ahead and read it together.

[49] I typically don't like it, but I know people online sometimes gripe at me. When you're in church, you don't actually read it.

[50] You just tell the people in the congregation to look at it because if I read it, that's passive listening.

[51] If you're sitting there looking at it and you're reading it, what is that?

[52] You're active.

[53] You're engaged, right?

[54] You can sit there and just look at me and not participate, but if I don't do anything, at some point it becomes uncomfortable.

[55] So you have to do something, right?

[56] 41, let's look at verses 1 through 7.

[57] Keep silence before me, O islands.

[58] Let the people renew their strength.

[59] Let them come near.

[60] Then let them speak.

[61] Let us come near together to judgment.

[62] Who raised up the righteous man from the east.

[63] called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, made his rule over kings.

[64] He gave them as the dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow.

[65] He pursued them, passed safely even by the way that he had not gone with his feet, who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning.

[66] I, the Lord, the first, And with the last, I am he.

[67] The isle saw it and feared.

[68] The ends of the earth were afraid, drew near and came.

[69] They helped every one of his neighbor bore.

[70] And every one said to his brother, be of good courage.

[71] So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith.

[72] And he that smoothed with the hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, it is ready for the soldering.

[73] And he fastened it with nails that it should not.

[74] be moved, right?

[75] It's a very wordy section, a lot going on here.

[76] What should we possibly call this section, 41, one through seven?

[77] I am not even gonna force you to try to figure it out because I didn't have a good idea either because I'm like, what do I do with this, right?

[78] I mean, like, sometimes you can read a section and you immediately go, oh, that's simple.

[79] This one, I'm kind of like, Do I, yeah, I definitely used AI here.

[80] I'm like, what do I do here?

[81] Like, because I argued in how to break this up, right?

[82] Do I do 41?

[83] Because two, three, and four seems to kind of go together.

[84] Then five, six, seven.

[85] And I'm like, oh, well, does your Bibles break things into like sections?

[86] Oh, okay, so it separates four and five, all right?

[87] My Bible takes 41 and goes one through seven, and then the next section begins verse eight, all right?

[88] So, okay, I think most do so.

[89] So most breaks down 41, one through seven as a section.

[90] AI does the same thing.

[91] AI says we should refer to this section as the Lord's sovereignty over nations, okay?

[92] All right.

[93] I'm not going to argue with that.

[94] That's fine, all right?

[95] Isaiah 41 through 7, all right?

[96] So now it's going to break down 1 through 7 into three parts.

[97] So Ai takes Isaiah 41, 1 through 7 and calls it the Lord's sovereignty over nations and then separates it into three separate parts.

[98] The first part is verse 1.

[99] 41, 1.

[100] What do you see going on in 41 .1?

[101] Keep silence before me, O islands.

[102] Let the people renew their strength.

[103] Let them come near.

[104] Then let them speak.

[105] Let us come near together to judgment.

[106] Okay, a wooing.

[107] Okay, some see it as an invitation.

[108] That's interesting.

[109] Do you see an invitation positive or negative?

[110] Well, AI sees it this way.

[111] This is God calling the nations to court.

[112] It's a summons.

[113] It's more of a summons.

[114] It's a summons.

[115] That's my word.

[116] AI didn't say summons.

[117] I'm saying summons.

[118] That's the way I feel that it is.

[119] It's like when I get a jury summons.

[120] I get those all the time, right?

[121] Whenever you get a summons, you have to appear in court, right?

[122] It's calling everyone to court.

[123] And it says, keep silent whom?

[124] Okay, O Islands.

[125] How does the NIV translate O Islands?

[126] New Islands, okay.

[127] But it's kind of a broad scope, right?

[128] This is how AI translates it.

[129] Listen to me in silence, O coastlands.

[130] Let the people renew their strength.

[131] AI breaks it down this way.

[132] God summons the nations.

[133] Coastlands equals distant lands.

[134] To a legal dispute to prove his power.

[135] Guys, come.

[136] Here, come to me. We're going to talk.

[137] All of you come here.

[138] Because I'm going to demonstrate something.

[139] I'm going to prove something.

[140] Remember, 40 was all this generic, like, philological truth.

[141] Now it's going to get very specific, right?

[142] Now it's going to get very specific.

[143] So he's calling them to prove his power, in a sense.

[144] Basically, AI says, the challenge here is basically, who controls history?

[145] Who directs the rise and fall of rulers?

[146] So it's a summons to appear.

[147] God is calling the nations to court, verse 1.

[148] That's basically how it went.

[149] Now, I know I'm having to do a little bit of interpretation there because it is kind of hard to pick up, right?

[150] I mean, I'm going to be honest.

[151] I mean, that's like when you read Isaiah, anyone who's ever read the book, sometimes you're like, what is going on here, right?

[152] So read that verse again and see if it makes a little bit more sense.

[153] I know I don't want to read too much into it.

[154] It's hard doing an observational outline here.

[155] We're just going to be honest.

[156] Some of this is going to be hard.

[157] Keep silence before me. You see, that's pretty abrupt and direct.

[158] That's somewhat aggressive.

[159] What is that saying?

[160] Everyone be quiet.

[161] How does the NIV put it?

[162] Be silent.

[163] Keep silent.

[164] Be quiet.

[165] And who is he telling you to be quiet?

[166] Oh, islands, or now there we have to do a little of interpretive work, but it's the coastlands or it's all distant nations.

[167] He's telling everyone, be quiet.

[168] And now this particular party is not speaking directly towards Israel.

[169] He's talking basically to everyone else, right?

[170] Let the people renew their strength.

[171] How does the NIV have it?

[172] Well, let the nations renew their strength.

[173] Interesting.

[174] Okay.

[175] All right.

[176] But he's not saying, this is not directed towards Israel.

[177] Right?

[178] So, all right.

[179] And then what does he say?

[180] Let us come near together to what?

[181] To speak.

[182] NIV says to judgment.

[183] The King James says to judgment.

[184] I don't know if we have any other translations.

[185] Okay.

[186] Oh, at the place of judgment.

[187] Okay, good.

[188] Okay, it does have it there.

[189] All right.

[190] So in other words, you're going to come, you're going to talk, but there's some judgment that's going to be made.

[191] This is to make some kind of judgment.

[192] Yeah, yeah.

[193] To me, it's a summons.

[194] It's very aggressive.

[195] It's very like, come here.

[196] Come on.

[197] Come.

[198] We're going to talk.

[199] Now, it's interesting.

[200] Now, let's just stop here.

[201] Let's stop here.

[202] Let's think this through.

[203] Now, I know this must be observational outline.

[204] I'm okay.

[205] If we do a little bit of extra work here, that's okay.

[206] So in our context, does it seem odd at this point that this is words of comfort to Israel?

[207] He's been teaching them theological lessons about himself.

[208] And then all of a sudden in 41, all nations appear in court.

[209] to the place of judgment.

[210] That seems odd, does it not?

[211] Now, I'm just gonna throw out, this is just my own hypothesis.

[212] I don't have anything from AI.

[213] This is just me doing what I love to do with create a hypothetical and then we test it, right?

[214] It's almost as when God talks about how great and wonderful and all his power and all this stuff, that almost immediately someone could be like what?

[215] Well, if you're so great and you're so incomparable, Israel's a joke.

[216] They're garbage.

[217] They're trash.

[218] They're defeated.

[219] They're captive.

[220] And he's like, oh, well, then let's talk about it.

[221] Come on.

[222] We're going to talk about it.

[223] That seems, that's how I'm reading.

[224] Now, I could be wrong.

[225] Because I can, again, I can take anything and create a story or a narrative.

[226] I love storytelling.

[227] But that's kind of what it feels like, does it not?

[228] Let's see if I'm right or I'm wrong.

[229] Or what happens in two through four?

[230] What happens in two through four?

[231] So this...

[232] The section is one through seven.

[233] We're calling this God's sovereignty or the Lord's sovereignty over nations.

[234] The first part of that is verse one.

[235] And we're going to call that God calls the nations to court.

[236] What happens in verses two through four?

[237] I'll read them again.

[238] Who raised up the righteous man?

[239] Now, when he says, who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, made him rule over kings.

[240] There's the question mark after kings and the King James.

[241] It takes a while before it puts, because it puts all of those questions together.

[242] So all of a sudden they're called into court and what immediately happens?

[243] Well, he starts rattling off questions to them.

[244] Boom, boom, boom, boom, rapid questions.

[245] Correct?

[246] All right.

[247] Do we agree that that's what's happening?

[248] And then it kind of becomes very then much more making dogmatic statements.

[249] He gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow.

[250] He pursued them, passed safely even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

[251] Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning?

[252] Then he goes back to the questions.

[253] So.

[254] he immediately starts interrogating them or asking them questions, and those questions center around what?

[255] The rise of, I'm going to, I know this is maybe a little too interpretive, the rise of what appears a conquering leader.

[256] Is everyone okay with that?

[257] The rise of a conquering leader.

[258] I'm not going to give the name of the conquering leader in the observational outline, but it's the rise of a conquering leader.

[259] Do you agree he sounds conquering?

[260] Do you think that's fair?

[261] Do you think I'm reading too much into it?

[262] Okay, I don't want to, all right?

[263] So the first section was God calls the nations to court.

[264] Now this is the rise of a conquering leader, verses two through four.

[265] Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step?

[266] That's how the AI translates it.

[267] Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step?

[268] Every step this one he's raising up from the east?

[269] Victory, victory, victory.

[270] Right?

[271] One from the east.

[272] Now, I'm going to do a little observational work.

[273] Most likely, this is whom?

[274] This is Cyrus.

[275] This is Cyrus.

[276] Right?

[277] Just remember that, okay?

[278] All right?

[279] And why is he pointing this out to all the nations?

[280] All the nations see what?

[281] Judah where?

[282] And captivity, seeming like God has lost control of what?

[283] History or the nations.

[284] So he's like, oh, guys, guys.

[285] Who's this person rising up from the east who's conquering everyone?

[286] Well, the implication is they're all going to be like, oh, that's Cyrus.

[287] And then what is God taking credit for?

[288] He did it.

[289] Meaning.

[290] You think I'm not in control?

[291] I'm working right there.

[292] That's like tangible.

[293] Now he doesn't.

[294] Now what's interesting, he doesn't point to whom as proof.

[295] He doesn't point to Judah.

[296] He doesn't point to Israel.

[297] He's like, oh, because in their mind, they would be looking for what?

[298] Well, God would be equaled with what?

[299] Victory, power.

[300] Okay, well, I'm not going to point to Judah because that's not going to help my case.

[301] What will prove my case?

[302] Cyrus, oh, we heard about him.

[303] Oh, yeah, we know that one on the, yeah, he is conquering, oh.

[304] Right, God.

[305] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[306] Yeah, it's all, yeah, so this is all about God.

[307] He's trying to demonstrate that, all right?

[308] So everybody see that?

[309] So what he wants to do is hear this rise, the rising or the raising of this conquering leader proves God's control over history as he raises up a king according to his will.

[310] So all the nations come here, be quiet.

[311] He's not bringing them into court to hear them.

[312] He's bringing them into court for them to hear him.

[313] And he starts rattling off these questions.

[314] When you start rattling one question after another question after another question, what does that typically indicate?

[315] Well, if I'm asking one question after another question, a lot of times that indicates I'm not interested in you answering it.

[316] I'm interested in you hearing my questions.

[317] When God starts rattling off questions, that clearly is an indicator of what?

[318] I'm not interested in you answering.

[319] I'm interested in you listening, right?

[320] Because I'm gonna make a point in these questions.

[321] Does that make sense?

[322] Right, yeah, like he did with Job, right?

[323] Same concept.

[324] So we have God's call to the nations in verse one.

[325] We have the rise of a conquering leader in verses two through four.

[326] Now, what do we have in verses five through seven?

[327] Yeah, because verse five, what do we have?

[328] The isles saw it.

[329] How does the NIV transfer verse five?

[330] The islands have seen it.

[331] They saw it and feared the ends of the earth were afraid.

[332] They drew near and came.

[333] They helped everyone his neighbor.

[334] Everyone said to his brother, be of good courage.

[335] So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith and he that smootheth, if I can read correctly, with the hammer, him that smote the anvil saying, it is ready for the soldering.

[336] And he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved.

[337] So, here we go.

[338] Verses 5 -7, the nation's response.

[339] Verse 1 is the call.

[340] Come to court.

[341] 2 -4 is almost proof the rise of this conquering leader.

[342] And in 5 -7, the nations respond.

[343] The coastlands have seen and are afraid.

[344] But what do they do with their fear?

[345] Look at the entire section.

[346] What do they tend to do?

[347] And what have they seen?

[348] When it says the islands have seen, what does it appear that they have seen in this context?

[349] Cyrus.

[350] Yeah.

[351] There we go.

[352] Thank you.

[353] Yeah, very good.

[354] They see the conquering king and their solution was build some more idols.

[355] We need some more gods.

[356] Because what could they do with those gods?

[357] They could do a ceremony.

[358] What's the name of that ceremony, Sarah?

[359] Opening the mouth.

[360] I can't remember the...

[361] Mispi.

[362] There we go.

[363] Mispi.

[364] Yeah, yeah.

[365] Mispi.

[366] Very good, Bobby.

[367] I completely forgot it.

[368] The opening of the mouth.

[369] Because by opening the mouth, what could they hear?

[370] In a sense, they would hear from their God telling them what to do to stop this conquering king that is coming.

[371] They'd run to their idolatry.

[372] So basically, God is like, hey, God, be quiet.

[373] Here's my proof that I'm in charge.

[374] I'm raising someone from the east.

[375] And they're like, oh, what do we do?

[376] Boom, boom, boom.

[377] Let's make some more gods.

[378] Let's make some more gods.

[379] And maybe there's a little bit of irony in here.

[380] Because how does it describe this?

[381] Well, they tried to help one his neighbor, right?

[382] And they tried to help each one have good courage.

[383] You see that in verse six, right?

[384] We're gonna help, we're gonna help, all right?

[385] So everyone his neighbor, and yeah, okay, verse seven, now I'm seeing verse six, and I'm like, I think I was reading that completely wrong.

[386] But all right, they help everyone his neighbor, and everyone said to his brother, be of good courage.

[387] Now we understand that, right?

[388] They're trying to help each other out because everyone's scared.

[389] So then what do they do?

[390] So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, it is ready for the soldering, and he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved.

[391] It's a little sarcasm there at the end.

[392] Oh, so you see a conquering king, you get scared.

[393] It's great that you care about each other.

[394] It's great that you try to help your neighbor, right?

[395] It's great about that, but then what happens?

[396] You have to build something that you've got to hammer down so it won't fall over.

[397] That, it's being sarcastic.

[398] It's being very sarcastic there.

[399] Does that make sense?

[400] All right, so, in fact, AI said they make gods that need to be fastened with nails so they won't topple over.

[401] All right, so, all right, so the first section is called what?

[402] God's sovereignty over nations, right?

[403] Or we could actually say God's call to court.

[404] We could go a lot of different directions here, right?

[405] So there's three major sections.

[406] First, God's call the nations to court, right?

[407] That's verse one.

[408] Then we have the rise of a conquering leader, two through four.

[409] And then we have five through seven, the nation's response.

[410] The nations are scared to death of a conquering king, and so they build idols to stop it.

[411] Do the idols stop Cyrus?

[412] No. No, it doesn't.

[413] Now, that brings us to the next section, starting in verse 8.

[414] Now, this is where it gets a little difficult, okay?

[415] Because we're trying to break it down.

[416] If I follow my Bible, it goes from 8 to 20.

[417] Yours went from 1 to 20.

[418] AI does not like any of the way the Bibles break it down.

[419] AI was like, nope, disagree with all of that, right?

[420] AI said what you should do is break it down from verse 8 to 13.

[421] Now, y 'all look at that and tell me if that makes sense.

[422] We'll read verse eight.

[423] But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend, that whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called thee from the chief men thereof and said unto thee, thou art my servant.

[424] I have chosen thee and not cast thee away.

[425] Fear thou not, for I am with thee.

[426] Be not dismayed, for I am thy God.

[427] I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

[428] Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded.

[429] They shall be as nothing.

[430] They that strive with thee shall perish.

[431] Thou shall seek them and shall not find them.

[432] Even them that contended with thee, they that were against thee shall be as nothing as a thing of naught.

[433] Then the very next verse is, For I, the Lord thy guide, will hold thy right hand.

[434] AI says that we should go to 13 and stop right there.

[435] And then 14 starts a new section.

[436] What do you think?

[437] Okay.

[438] Maybe kind of that AI is picking up a shift in tone.

[439] That's a good catch.

[440] That is a good catch.

[441] I know.

[442] Right.

[443] Okay, that's true.

[444] I like that better, almost going from 8 to 14.

[445] Frail, small.

[446] Yeah.

[447] Yeah.

[448] So let's do this.

[449] We'll go with AI's breakdown here, but I am skeptical of this.

[450] I am skeptical of this.

[451] But at the same time, reading this, where to kind of put the section is kind of very difficult to do.

[452] I kind of went with where Sarah was going.

[453] Because I was kind of like, well, I think that next section to me is very different.

[454] So I would have gone to 8 to 14 if it was up to me. I would have gone 8 to 14.

[455] That's where I...

[456] Oh.

[457] Oh, very good.

[458] Okay, that's good.

[459] Okay, I didn't catch that.

[460] I didn't catch that at first.

[461] Okay, right.

[462] All right, so this is what, this is how Ai calls it, or what it calls it.

[463] It says, so the first section was the Lord's sovereignty over nations, one through seven, eight through 13.

[464] This is what Ai refers to it as.

[465] God's assurance to Israel.

[466] God's assurance to Israel.

[467] Now, looking at eight through 13, let's just go ahead and we're gonna challenge it.

[468] Can we clearly demonstrate the assurance is going to Israel in eight through 13?

[469] Is there any question?

[470] No question, right?

[471] Because Israel is literally named, are they not?

[472] Okay, all right.

[473] So that's not an interpretation, that's an observation.

[474] All right, all right, good.

[475] Now, all right, here we go.

[476] It breaks 8 through 13 down into three sections.

[477] It loves, if I've noticed one thing about AI's outlining.

[478] It loves to create a major section and then break down the major sections into three separate parts.

[479] It loves that way of outlining.

[480] So if a student ever turns into an outline and it does that, it's probably AI.

[481] Because AI, I mean, almost every outline I've seen AI do, it does that.

[482] It'll make a section and break it down into three parts, three parts, three individual parts.

[483] It seems to be...

[484] I'm not saying it's 100%, but I use it a lot to check outlining, and I'll be like, whoa, there it goes again, there it goes again.

[485] It's almost like you can pick that up.

[486] That's an AI outline.

[487] Now, people may do the same thing, and it may be great to do it this way, but remember, if you ever ask AI to do an outline or help you with an outlining of anything in the Bible, You have to ask it to do an observational outline.

[488] You have to be specific, or it's going to be pulling outlining like you'll get in commentaries and other things that will be more interpretive.

[489] So if you want it to do an outline for you, ask it to do an observational one.

[490] Be specific on the kind of outline you want.

[491] An observational is different than an interpretive one.

[492] Does that make sense?

[493] Okay, so.

[494] Just keep that in mind.

[495] All right.

[496] So the first section, they say, our AI says goes from verses eight through nine.

[497] What do we have going on in eight through nine?

[498] Oh, there we go.

[499] Okay.

[500] So AI calls this Israel's identity as God's chosen servant.

[501] So this whole section is God's assurance to Israel.

[502] The first section, subsection, is Israel's identity as God's chosen servant.

[503] All right, everybody see that?

[504] All right, now, this is how it breaks this down or talks about this section.

[505] It gives me a quote, and again, sometimes it's using a different translation than the King James.

[506] I could ask it to use the King James, but I let it quote whatever it wants to quote.

[507] But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen.

[508] But you, Israel, my servant Jacob.

[509] How does the NIV go?

[510] Read it.

[511] Okay, all right, it gives those exact words.

[512] Okay, the King James, Sarah.

[513] Okay, so there's no question who it's referencing, right?

[514] I mean, it's making it abundantly clear, all right?

[515] So there's a contrast here.

[516] The nation's fear, right?

[517] We see that in verse 5.

[518] Remember, the nations are fearful.

[519] But Israel is securing God's choosing, verse 9.

[520] Hey, Israel, I've got you.

[521] Now, why do you think it goes from, now just ask yourself this question.

[522] We have the rise of the conquering leader in that first section.

[523] We have a court case going on.

[524] We have a trial going on.

[525] God is upset with these nations, and he's asking them these questions.

[526] All of a sudden, when you get to 8 through 9, He speaks of, this is about assurance, right?

[527] So he gives them Israel's identity as God's chosen servant.

[528] But what is he doing?

[529] He's contrasting something.

[530] The nations are afraid.

[531] What?

[532] Israel could be afraid because Israel could be thinking, oh, you've got to be kidding me. There's another king coming.

[533] He could be worse than these guys.

[534] Is this ever going to end?

[535] And he's like, hey, no, no, no, no, no. Guys, guys, guys, guys.

[536] You may be in Babylonian captivity, but who are you?

[537] Whose servant are you?

[538] My servant.

[539] Who chose you?

[540] I have chosen you.

[541] So in verse five, the nations fear, but Israel, look at verse nine.

[542] What does it say in verse nine?

[543] Specifically in verse nine.

[544] I've chosen you.

[545] I've got you.

[546] Right.

[547] I've got you.

[548] All right.

[549] God reaffirms his covenant with Israel, reminding them of their special role.

[550] So he identifies, hey, guys, I'm identifying who you are.

[551] You belong to me. Don't be afraid because they've just, in a sense, Israel's heard this court case, right?

[552] They've heard the court case and they're like, oh, no, no. I can see why they're building more idols.

[553] In fact, they may have been tempted to go do what?

[554] Hey, could you build a couple of idols for me?

[555] They could have been very tempted to do that.

[556] Okay, so the first section goes from eight through nine.

[557] This is Israel's identity as God's servant.

[558] What happened in verse 10?

[559] That's straight up the words AI used.

[560] The command to fear not.

[561] Sarah's talking AI now.

[562] Oh, okay.

[563] I'm like, that's the exact language of AI.

[564] The command to fear not.

[565] And it says, fear not for I am with you.

[566] Be not dismayed for I am your God.

[567] Now, three reasons are given for them not to fear.

[568] Three reasons are given for them not to fear.

[569] What are the three reasons?

[570] Okay.

[571] God's presence.

[572] I am with you.

[573] Second.

[574] God's covenant relationship.

[575] I am your God.

[576] I cannot, do not forget the covenant, right?

[577] I gotta drive the covenantal relationship in because that gives them, that covenant gives it about them, all right?

[578] So what's the first reason they shouldn't fear?

[579] God's presence.

[580] Second, God's covenant.

[581] Number three, God's sustaining power.

[582] God's sustaining power.

[583] So, verse 10, this is the second section, or the subsection.

[584] The command to fear not is verse 10.

[585] And the reasons they're not to fear is God's presence, God's covenant relationship, and God's sustaining power.

[586] Now, what do we have in verses 11 through 13?

[587] Oh, okay, you're going the right direction.

[588] Ai says the fate of Israel's enemies.

[589] Okay, the fate of their enemies.

[590] And it says, behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame.

[591] All who are incensed against you, who's the you?

[592] Israel.

[593] All who are upset with you, don't worry about them.

[594] Look.

[595] basically a divine reversal is going to occur.

[596] The enemies are going to vanish.

[597] Israel is going to stand.

[598] God is personally helping them.

[599] I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand.

[600] Everybody see that?

[601] So in 11 through 13, we read that, Behold, All they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded.

[602] They shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish.

[603] Thou shall seek them and shall not find them.

[604] Even them that contend with thee that war against thee shall be as nothing, as a thing of naught.

[605] For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.

[606] So he has a court case letting everyone know this rising king is coming.

[607] How does the Babylonians handle that?

[608] Bill more idols.

[609] And so then God steps in.

[610] Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel.

[611] Calm down, calm down.

[612] Who are you?

[613] My servant, my chosen.

[614] I'm going to remind you of your identity.

[615] Your identity.

[616] You belong to God.

[617] Hey, I'm going to give you a command to do what?

[618] Do not fear.

[619] And I'm going to give you three reasons not to fear.

[620] What are those three reasons?

[621] God's presence, God's covenant, and God's sustaining power.

[622] Then he's going to tell them the fate of all your enemies.

[623] Basically, what's the fate of all their enemies?

[624] Verses 11 through 13.

[625] They're going to be destroyed.

[626] They're not going to be found.

[627] They're not going to be anywhere near you.

[628] You're not going to have to worry about them.

[629] Then, we now move to the next section, section 3, and Ai says this goes from 14 through 20.

[630] Okay, what's another way we can divide it?

[631] Oh, okay.

[632] Ah, okay.

[633] Oh, so you're saying a pattern within the language used.

[634] Okay, all right, that's good.

[635] That's good.

[636] Now, I haven't asked AI to do that.

[637] I could give me the linguistic structure, and we'll break it down into the linguistic structure, but that's really good, yeah.

[638] Right, right, right, right.

[639] So it always, and in fact, if you...

[640] see what Sarah is saying, that kind of goes with our pattern from Isaiah 40 to 41.

[641] It all starts with the theological foundation.

[642] Here's who I am.

[643] That doesn't change.

[644] Now, in 41, though, he takes that theology and now applies it in a specific way.

[645] That's really good.

[646] That's very good.

[647] That's a very good observation, right?

[648] And maybe next week we'll come back.

[649] When we go through it, hopefully I will remember that linguistic pattern.

[650] Forget it.

[651] You can bring it up because that's really good.

[652] All right.

[653] Now, so this is what AI does.

[654] It breaks the next section down from verse 14 to 20.

[655] 14 to 20.

[656] All right.

[657] Now let's read 14 through 20.

[658] Everybody there?

[659] Fear not, thou worm, Jacob.

[660] And ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

[661] Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth.

[662] Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

[663] Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

[664] When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them.

[665] I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

[666] I will open the rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys.

[667] I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry lands springs of water.

[668] I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree.

[669] I will set in the desert, and the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together.

[670] that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

[671] Now, immediately what jumps out at me in this section is the language gets very poetic.

[672] Very poetic.

[673] This is a very, very, I can't, a major shift in language, at least from my perspective.

[674] I could be wrong, but at least that's what I'm seeing.

[675] So I kind of see why AI wants to put this in its separate section.

[676] I can kind of see why.

[677] But what do you think AI refers to this as?

[678] It calls, verse 14 to 20, the transformation of Israel.

[679] The transformation of Israel.

[680] All right?

[681] And this is interesting, and I think this is why it includes verse 14.

[682] Right?

[683] Because what is Israel referred to in verse 14?

[684] A worm.

[685] Now, a worm should be what?

[686] Pretty concerned of anything bigger than it.

[687] I mean, worms are slow, typically, right?

[688] They can be taken by anything.

[689] They can be stepped on.

[690] They can be picked up.

[691] They can be carried.

[692] They can be blown away, right?

[693] They're worms.

[694] So to refer to Jacob as a worm, as Sarah pointed out, because that's what she saw linguistically, that's kind of, where did that come from, right?

[695] He's being all nice to them.

[696] And all of a sudden, you're a worm.

[697] Well, that's not very nice.

[698] I don't want to be referred to as a worm, right?

[699] So I think that that's why AI puts it here.

[700] Let's see if I'm right, okay?

[701] So, and now, of course, how many sections is it going to, oh, wait, it breaks the pattern here.

[702] It actually breaks the pattern.

[703] It actually breaks 14 to 20 down to only two parts.

[704] It breaks the pattern here.

[705] I always see the three.

[706] This breaks it, all right?

[707] So, here's 14 through 20 is the entire section, the transformation of Israel.

[708] Verses 14 through 16 is the first section.

[709] And Ai refers to this, Israel, as a worm, is turned into a warrior.

[710] A worm is transformed.

[711] Okay?

[712] And look at it.

[713] Fear not, you worm Jacob.

[714] And what does he say immediately after he refers to them as you worm Jacob?

[715] What does he say immediately after that?

[716] You men of Israel.

[717] Okay, then immediately.

[718] I will help you.

[719] There we go.

[720] All right.

[721] Hey, you're a worm, but I'm going to help you.

[722] Right?

[723] Israel is weak like a worm, but with God's help, what do they become?

[724] Well, how does it describe them?

[725] What happens?

[726] This worm begins to do what?

[727] Becomes a threshing instrument with sharp teeth.

[728] That's no longer a worm, is it?

[729] You're going to thresh the mountains?

[730] Can a worm thresh a mountain?

[731] Now, it's using very poetic language to show the absurdity of this transformation, right?

[732] Or, I'm sorry, let me take it back.

[733] Not the absurdity.

[734] The improbability of the transformation.

[735] Is that a better word?

[736] Right?

[737] And it is absurd to think about, but it's improbable.

[738] When you put a worm before a mountain and, like, go thresh it, that's...

[739] Everyone's going to laugh, right?

[740] If I, if I, they're like, hey guys, we're going to have a field trip.

[741] Let's go.

[742] We're going to get, we're going to leave the church, cross the street.

[743] And what do we call that?

[744] What's that thing called right here?

[745] This hill mountain.

[746] What do we call it?

[747] Bald Eagle Mountain.

[748] Is that what they call it?

[749] Or bald, whatever they call this thing over here.

[750] Okay.

[751] That's where teenagers used to go when I was in high school and go get drunk on top of that thing.

[752] Okay.

[753] But, but wherever they were doing over there.

[754] Okay.

[755] If we went across the street right now, walked over to the base of it, and we put a worm, like, worm, go thresh it.

[756] Everybody's like, this church is really stupid, and why are you out here, okay?

[757] Well, first, you would go.

[758] I would, like, it's outside.

[759] You guys go and tell me what happens.

[760] FaceTime me, right?

[761] But it's not going to do anything, is it?

[762] The worm is not going to.

[763] In fact, it'll probably be bird food before we got back to the church, right?

[764] It's not going to do anything.

[765] That mountain would still be standing next week.

[766] All of a sudden now, this worm has turned into what?

[767] How does your translation read?

[768] A threshing sledge.

[769] A threshing instrument.

[770] So Israel is a worm, but with God, they are going to become a threshing sledge.

[771] Okay, there we go.

[772] AI uses the same word.

[773] Or it's going to crush mountains.

[774] Oh.

[775] Oh, very good.

[776] Very good.

[777] That's awesome.

[778] 40, hey, he's going to lay outside every mountain, make everything straight.

[779] Israel, you're the little worm, and now you're going to be used.

[780] And who does Cyrus call to prepare and get everything ready to go forward?

[781] Israel's going to be the one marching forward, going to rebuild everything.

[782] But it's all because of God.

[783] God is going to utilize them to march forward.

[784] That's really, that's a good idea.

[785] Now, AI does offer an interpretive thing here, but I'll just read it.

[786] After mountains, AI puts it in parentheses, and the mountains are nations, is what AI thinks.

[787] Right.

[788] Okay.

[789] Yeah, I like that better.

[790] Right.

[791] Yeah.

[792] Instead of them.

[793] Yeah, I agree.

[794] So, yeah, I agree.

[795] If you're using warriors simply in a descriptive way.

[796] But warrior seems to conquering and defeating.

[797] And I think it's more like Israel's just now going to go from a worm to a marching nation, going back to their nation to rebuild and not conquering and defeating.

[798] So I don't like the warrior analogy either.

[799] You've got to do a lot of, it requires you have to do a lot of explaining.

[800] If it just goes from a worm to frail, right.

[801] Home.

[802] Right.

[803] So I would describe this section more from a worm to a threshing instrument and just use the language that's used.

[804] Does that make sense?

[805] A worm turned into a threshing instrument.

[806] Instead of a worm turned into a warrior, I agree with that.

[807] The warrior gives the wrong image in my mind.

[808] It's like Israel's going to come out and they're going to just go...

[809] Conquer every nation.

[810] They don't go conquer every nation.

[811] They go back home and they get, well, lazy.

[812] But they do make it back home.

[813] And you're right.

[814] Everything that would be opposing them getting back home, everything is made flat.

[815] All the obstacles are removed.

[816] So the lowly are empowered by God, which is a recurring theme in Isaiah.

[817] And I agree.

[818] So we got that.

[819] All right, so the first, let's go all the way back here.

[820] We have a first major section is the Lord's sovereignty over nations, Isaiah 41, one through seven.

[821] Everybody got that?

[822] That was broken into three parts.

[823] God's call, God calls the nations to court.

[824] Verses 2 through 4, the rise of a conquering leader.

[825] And verses 5 through 7, the nation's response.

[826] Then in verses 8 through 13, this is God's assurance to Israel broken into three parts.

[827] Israel's identity as God's chosen, the commands to fear not, and the fate of Israel's enemies.

[828] Then we have the transformation of Israel in verses 14 through 20.

[829] Israel goes from a worm to a threshing instrument.

[830] That's the way we're going to describe that.

[831] And then the second section here.

[832] Within that major section, the subsection, this is verses 17 through 20.

[833] What happens in verses 17 through 20?

[834] Can we say God's provision here?

[835] 17 through 20?

[836] Or 41, 17 through 20?

[837] I think I said 41 through 17 through 20.

[838] The poor and needy seek water, but there is none.

[839] Is that a fair, that's almost a direct quote from one of those verses.

[840] You see that?

[841] This is kind of exile imagery.

[842] They're gonna be weary, they're gonna be thirsty, but what's going to happen?

[843] God's going to provide, right?

[844] God is gonna miraculously transform the desert into a fertile land.

[845] This is kind of an Exodus motif of renewal.

[846] God's gonna provide.

[847] He's gonna give them everything they need.

[848] Now, how far do we take this language of renewing everything?

[849] This is where some people would wanna jump and go where?

[850] To the millennial kingdom.

[851] This is where some people would wanna jump to the millennial kingdom.

[852] I think we just see that what God is saying is when you go back, who's gonna get them there?

[853] God, whatever they need from Babylon back to Judah, back to Jerusalem, As Sarah already pointed out, go back to the language in 40, every mountain, every hill, every obstacle is gonna be made, the way is gonna be made smooth, the road's gonna be made plain, the mountains are gonna be laid, everything, and you're gonna be able to march right back.

[854] And God's gonna provide everything.

[855] Nothing's gonna be in the way, not even physical hunger or any, he's gonna provide for them just in a sense like he provided them from coming out of Egypt.

[856] It's the same motif and the same concept, all right?

[857] I want to go further.

[858] Oh, we can do this.

[859] We can do this because we only really have one more section.

[860] We only have 21 to 29 left to go, right?

[861] Okay, 21, 29, right?

[862] He breaks, oh, well, AI breaks it down into three parts like always, all right?

[863] So I got to go through these quickly, all right?

[864] 21 through 29, I was going to read it, but we don't have time to read it, okay?

[865] 21 through 29, everyone looking at it?

[866] First subsection, AI breaks it down 21 to 24.

[867] 21 to 24.

[868] What is happening here?

[869] God begins to challenge the idols, basically.

[870] And what is he challenging the idols here?

[871] Can idols predict the future?

[872] Set forth your case, says the Lord.

[873] He challenges the idols.

[874] Can they declare the past?

[875] Can they predict the future?

[876] Can they do anything meaningful?

[877] And what is his verdict?

[878] Look at verse 24.

[879] What is the verdict of this section?

[880] Less than nothing.

[881] They're less than nothing, all right?

[882] So this is God challenging the idols.

[883] He's challenging them.

[884] This goes back to the courtroom concept that we've already established is happening in this section, right?

[885] He's like, hey, let me speak directly to the idols in a roundabout way.

[886] What's happening here?

[887] All right, what happens in verse 25 through 27?

[888] What's going on in 25 through 27?

[889] All right, now he challenged the idols 25 through 27.

[890] God demonstrates that he alone can predict and he alone can control.

[891] He predicts and he controls.

[892] What is it?

[893] First thing it's talked about here.

[894] Did he stir someone up?

[895] And he has, again, most likely this is also a reference to Cyrus the Great, whom God raised up to defeat Babylon and deliver Israel.

[896] Unlike idols, God proves his power by revealing history before it happens.

[897] The idols can't predict.

[898] The idols can't rise up.

[899] God can take care of all of this, right?

[900] So he challenges the idols in 21 through 24.

[901] 25 through 27, it demonstrates God can predict and God can control.

[902] And then what happens in 28 through 29?

[903] This is the final verdict of the entire chapter.

[904] What's the final verdict?

[905] 28 through 29.

[906] For I beheld, and there was no man even among them.

[907] There was no counselor.

[908] And when I asked of them, could answer a word.

[909] There's none that can answer a word.

[910] Behold, they are all vanity.

[911] Their works are nothing.

[912] Their molten images are wind and confusion.

[913] The final verdict is they are worthless.

[914] The idols are worthless.

[915] They are completely worthless.

[916] All right, so I'm going to summarize the chapter into four points.

[917] Here we go.

[918] You ready?

[919] Here we go.

[920] Number one, I got to go through these quickly.

[921] God's sovereignty over nations, verses one through seven, which we've already talked about.

[922] He directs history, raises rulers, Cyrus, the nation's fear, but respond with idolatry.

[923] I'm just summarizing it all, right?

[924] In a good, nice summary.

[925] God's sovereignty over nations.

[926] He directs history, raises Cyrus, the nation's fear, but they instead run to idols.

[927] Number two, God's reassurance to Israel, verses eight through 13.

[928] Israel is chosen, secure, and upheld by God.

[929] Enemies will be defeated, but Israel will stand.

[930] That's God's reassurance to Israel, 8 through 13.

[931] Verses 14 through 20, we know what we're going to call it, right?

[932] Israel's transformation from weakness to strength, from wilderness to renewal.

[933] And verse 21 through 29, the failures of idols.

[934] Idols cannot predict the future.

[935] God alone predicts, controls, intervenes, make happens.

[936] Everything else you want to say.

[937] All right.

[938] Any questions?

[939] Now, I think we did pretty good.

[940] The one part I did mess up on, I think.

[941] Hang on.

[942] Where was it?

[943] I can find it.

[944] I don't know why I kept doing it.

[945] I did it like four times.

[946] Yeah.

[947] And verse six, I don't know why.

[948] I think the way the text is written here, they helped everyone his neighbor, right?

[949] But I think I said like three times, they helped everyone his neighbor.

[950] And then it's broken down.

[951] Neighbor is like the top of the sentence.

[952] And then it breaks it.

[953] And then B -O -U -R, bore, is separate.

[954] And I think I kept saying it as separate.

[955] Like the neighbor bore?

[956] No, it's the neighbor because I would just, I see part of the word and I just fill in the rest.

[957] That's how you speed read, right?

[958] You see part of the word.

[959] I don't need to read.

[960] I just move on.

[961] So I like neighbor.

[962] No, it's neighbor, okay?

[963] And everyone said to his brother, be of good courage.

[964] All right, there we have it.

[965] All right, so I wanted to correct that because I know I caught myself doing it like five times and then I looked at the page and I'm like, oh, that's not two separate words.

[966] It's neighbor, okay?

[967] So, all right, any questions about the chapter?

[968] I think we understand Isaiah 41 pretty good now, do we not?

[969] I think we understand.

[970] Now, here's the thing.

[971] Because we did that, now when we start going through it, we should be able to go through at a rapid pace, correct?

[972] But it will be somewhat repetitive because we've already gone through it.

[973] But the reason we go through it to go through it again is so that it drives the sections home.

[974] So what we'll do is each section...

[975] If we take one section per sermon, if we do that, or we just may go through the whole chapter really quick, I will try to find specific things to emphasize.

[976] But I think you've got the overall, in some ways we could be done with the chapter.

[977] So we should be able to move through it really, really, really quick because we took that apart really well.

[978] God calls them to court and then he ends with his final verdict, which is basically the idols are useless and Israel doesn't need anything to be afraid of.

[979] And Cyrus is clearly coming.

[980] He hasn't named him yet.

[981] Now, the only thing that would, if there was a challenge or that kind of confused me, is there anything that jumps out at you that kind of confuses you or you're like, wait a minute, I'm a little confused here.

[982] Well, this is where I was a little confused.

[983] 41 .2 says, who raised up the righteous man from the east.

[984] And then 41, what was it?

[985] Verse 20.

[986] I have raised one up from the north.

[987] That caught me a little...

[988] Now, according to at least my study Bible, the conquest of Media by Cyrus, 550 BC, made him master of the territories north of Babylon.

[989] So most likely, maybe he starts in the east, but what it's trying to demonstrate by the time you get here is that Cyrus guy I raised up, has moved now to north of Babylon, and he's now captured.

[990] It's trying to demonstrate this.

[991] I'm controlling everything here.

[992] I know exactly where he is.

[993] I raised him from the east, but now he's coming from the north, meaning that he's on the move.

[994] I think that's the idea, but in other words, you can connect Cyrus to the east, and you can connect Cyrus to the north, because he's moving, right, he's moving, right.

[995] So I think, and that fits me perfectly why everyone could be afraid, right?

[996] He's getting closer.

[997] Build the idols faster, right?

[998] Oh, yeah, he's taking over everything.

[999] Yeah, yeah, he's just taking everything, right?

[1000] And so they're like, oh, boy.

[1001] So build some idols.

[1002] But the way it ultimately plays out is kind of hilarious.

[1003] At some point, they were obviously scared, and then at some point, they were just kind of like.

[1004] Maybe because they were so scared.

[1005] There's no point here.

[1006] Do I?

[1007] Right, yeah.

[1008] Right, that's what I'm saying.

[1009] The Babylonians who are obviously the ones kind of being scared here, I think at some point they kind of just realize either we go to war and we all die or we just get taken over.

[1010] And he comes in and then to their shot probably, hey!

[1011] Let's let all the Jews go.

[1012] And they're kind of like, what just happened here?

[1013] Because those Jews may have been like their slave labor, their servants, and also like, you're just going to let them go?

[1014] What is wrong with you?

[1015] And then they may go, well, this guy isn't, well, the Jews would have been like, this guy isn't half bad.

[1016] I don't know how the Babylonians would have felt about it from an economic standpoint, but yeah, it's fascinating the way it plays out.

[1017] All right, let's pray.

[1018] Lord God, we come before you.

[1019] Lord, I pray we do see your power, your greatness, your sovereignty.

[1020] end this chapter but we apply that power sovereignty and greatness of you and to our lives in a correct way in a spiritual way in a salvific way and not with some guarantee that you're going to resolve all of our problems and we're going to have some we're going to take these promises for ourselves lord that would be very wrong if we do that we would lead people to false comfort and a great sense of disillusionment and anger when it doesn't work out that way.

[1021] Let us praise you for what you did do and understand how this does apply to us and what you have done in Christ for us and our salvation and what awaits us in eternity.

[1022] We ask this in Jesus' name.

[1023] God's people said.