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KAY ARTHUR – WHAT GOD HAS PURPOSED WILL COME TO PASS
ISAIAH LESSON 8
As I teach this lesson it is March 2007. The USA is at war with Iraq. Our nation is under the threat of
terrorism from enemies of Jesus Christ. Our nation is divided and our President is greatly criticized
because of this seemingly needless war that he has gotten us into. Our Congress and Senate majorities
have been overturned in this last election. Now the Democrats are in control. People are disgusted and
are disillusioned.
We are slipping intellectually. We have aborted more babies than Jews that were killed in the Holocaust.
Our standards and morals are gone. What was once given honor, One true God, one Word of God, the
Bible and prayer is now contested and for the most part forbidden. The biblical concept of marriage and
sexual morality are under attack. The traditional family is disintegrating. What once was considered an
abomination, morally unacceptable is now accepted as a valid lifestyle.
What once was called evil, is now called good. And what is good is now called evil. You can’t say
whether it is evil or not because then you would be forcing your opinion on someone else and that
would be a hate crime.
People are unsafe in their streets and in their neighborhoods. We are experiencing all sorts of natural
disasters. We are in trouble as a nation. On the world scene, among the nations, you now have the
latest news the China is building up its military capacity, its armaments. Some are concerned and some
are not concerned. The concerned are concerned about those who are not concerned.
Then we have a Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the Iranian President who has stood and said that Israel is to be
destroyed and the USA is to be destroyed. You have them having a nuclear ability. They have this
religious belief – he truly believes that the Mahdi is coming and that the Mahdi is the savior, the
antitheses of Jesus Christ. It is like the antichrist. I’m not saying he is, I’m just saying he is the substitute
for the Christ. Mahdi is coming but he cannot come until Israel is annihilated, until Israel is destroyed.
When he comes, he is bringing Jesus Christ with him. Jesus Christ will serve the Mahdi and the Mahdi
will reign supreme. This is our nation. This is a little bit of a taste of our world.
Where is God? I mean, after all, if He is God, why He is allowing these things. I don’t know what
happened to you when you did your homework or if you simply got overwhelmed and thinking – I will
never understand it all. I can understand that. I don’t understand it all. The commentaries don’t
understand it all. They differ in their opinions. But there are certain things we do know. As I read Isaiah
and as I spent time letting that book and those truths sink deep into my heart, I was so moved by God. I
was moved by God because once again God tells me the same thing He tells me in Isaiah 14.
Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has
happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will
trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden
removed from their shoulder.
And we look at that and we think, “Oh, that is just Assyria. It’s just God involved in the time of the
Assyria Empire.” (The Assyrian empire that is now made up of a conglomeration of nations: Iran, Iraq,
Syria and partly into Lebanon.)” But that empire that no longer exists, that’s all that God has purposed.”
NO, precious one, that is not true.
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Isaiah 14:26 “This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is
stretched out against all the nations.27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can
frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
As you looked at the sad state of affairs in the United States of America, as you look and watch the
terrorism threat elevated or not elevated or the threat that we are living under now. As you look at our
soldiers dying in Iraq, I am going to say some things that you may not like, that may grieve your heart,
but I want you to listen. I want you to listen to them carefully. Why is America at war with Iraq?
Well, if I understand the Scriptures, and I understand that this Old Testament was written for my
instruction, and that this OT tells me who God is and reveals God’s way to me just as Moses said in
Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your
ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is
Your people.”
We are learning His ways that we might know Him. I can tell you whether you like what President Bush
did or whether you didn’t like what he did, Almighty God has us in Iraq. While we cannot see all that is
going on, I can tell you this, doors to the gospel of Jesus Christ have been opened in Iraq and Precept
Ministries International is there this very day as I talk to you and people are saying, “Oh thank you,
thank you. We never would have known this.” They have come under duress. They have come from long
distances; they have at the threat of harm and bombs. And yet, what they have come for, they have
received and that is a way to know God, a way to know God’s Word. At the same time others are going
in and they are getting all sorts of doctrine and how do they sort that out. They sort it out by discovering
truth for themselves.
When a man dies in Iraq, it is sad; it is grievous. We see in this week’s lesson how Isaiah moans and
groans and how horror overtakes him and the pain and the anguish that he feels. We are the mother
and the grandmother and the sister and the wife, and we moan and we groan over the one that we have
lost, that life that seems, that seems snuffed out.
Yet, if God purposes it all, if He is over all then what we have to understand is – is that those who die in
Christ are far better off. Isaiah will later tell us that He is removing them from what is to come. He is
sparing them from what is to come.
1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And you say, “What about those who died over there that did not know Christ?” I will tell you that if
they would live for 200 centuries they would never be saved because God does not lose a single one.
That is what the Word of God says:
John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing,
but raise it up on the last day.
So we need to look at it from a divine perspective. That is what I want us to do as we look at chapters
19-23. I want us to see that divine perspective. Yes, there is the human perspective. Yes, the president
will answer to God for what he does and you and I will answer to God for what we do. But we have to
understand is - and it will bring great peace – it will bring incredible peace if you know this One who sits
on the throne. If you understand His character; if you know His attributes. If you cling to Him as the
waistband clings to the waist of a man. Jeremiah 13:11
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Then in the midst of this, you can be a people for praise and honor and renown and glory.
God has some things that He wants to teach us. In this study that we have done, that we have labored
over, that we have discovered all we do not know, God has things that He wants to know and live in the
light of.
Isaiah 19 The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about
to come to Egypt;
Right from the beginning, what does He want you to know? It is God! It is God who is moving. God who
is purposing; God who is planning. God who is executing His will.
We look at it and say, “It is so awful. How can it be?” then we get to Scriptures like this.
Look at verse 12
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.
When you look at this, you see there is civil unrest. There is demoralization. There is confusion. There is
cruel leadership in verse 4
Isaiah 19:4 “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.
There is drought. The Nile is the bedrock of their economy – is dry. You see that it impacts their
economy. You see in verse 11 that they have unwise leaders:
Isaiah 19:11 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”?
As a result of having unwise leaders, there is no work even for Egypt.
They are lead astray because of bad leadership:
14 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.15 There will be no work for Egypt Which its head
or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
In other words, the economy is going to collapse.
16 In that day (in the day that this calamity happens, the day that Egypt literally falls apart, that
day there are at least 6 things that are going to happen)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.
Do you see God? Do you see God in the clouds? Do you see God in the heavens waving His hand over
them? It is the Almighty and His outstretched arm and who can turn it back?
Daniel 4:35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to
His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His
hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
What do we do instead? We bow the knee and we say, “What are you saying to me? How am I to live?”
19:17 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.
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He is the LORD of hosts. That means the armies of heaven. It means the inhabitants of the earth. It
means
He is over it all. It means He is the supreme commander.
“…. Which He is purposing against them.”
What is God purposing against America? You look at all that is happening. God is purposing something
against America. It is not Mother Nature who is causing these calamities. It is Father God. You and I need
– instead of standing and raising our puny fists when we can’t even put our own breath in our nostrils as
it says in Isaiah 2:22. We need to bow the knee and say, “LORD, what are you purposing and how do we
live in the light of it?”
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.
Here in this land of Egypt there are 5 cities that have turned to the LORD, who have sworn allegiance to
the LORD. One of them was called the City of Destruction, but obviously now things have changed
because they have sworn allegiance to the LORD.
19 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.
Do you remember when they crossed the Jordan and one half of the tribe stayed on one side and the
other half of the tribe on the other side? They started to go to war because they had put an altar there?
They had built an altar at the border. They said, you are going into heathenism, you are worshipping
idols. (Joshua 22:22-29)
And they said, “No, we want our sons to know that when they come over this border, they are
still part of this land.”
So that was a testimony there to the people.
20 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.His judgment may last for a night, but there is blessing on the other side to those
that will believe Him.21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will
know the LORD in that day.
THUS –as a result of all this calamity, the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt. What is He doing? He
is stripping them of everything. He is stripping them of good leadership. He is stripping of a land of
plenty. He is stripping them and bringing them low so that they might look to Him.
21 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.
Now, this is the verse!! This to me is THE VERSE of this chapter.
22 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.
If I lose a son and he is saved, isn’t it better for him to be with the Lord? We don’t think that way. We
are so earth bound.
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22 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.
Beloved, whatever it takes to bring us to Christ, whatever it takes to keep us there, whatever it takes to
make us live moment but moment, step by step, decision by decision, hour by hour, whatever it is, if it
makes us more dependent on the Lord isn’t hat good? Isn’t that good? Not in the eyes of the world. But
it is in the eyes of the Lord.
28 … and He will respond to them and will heal them.
He is not going to do this to all the nations. But Egypt is going to respond. He is going to strike them and
they are going to turn and they are going to want to know Him.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria (blows your mind, doesn’t it?) , and
the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship
with the Assyrians.
Those that once attacked one another… those who once were enemies are now coming together to
worship the Lord.
Then these two verse that blow you away.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the
earth,
Right now they believe that from Egypt to Gaza there is an underground tunnel where they are
smuggling all these arms and things into Gaza.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the
earth,25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria
the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Oh beloved, just think with me. Oh beloved, just think with me. If a calamity would come upon the
United States of America that would bring TRUE, true repentance, a true return to God, wouldn’t
whatever it was be worth it? Wouldn’t it be worth it to have our families restored? Children able to play
safely on the streets and not fear someone is not going to kidnap them, rape them, torture them?
Wouldn’t it be good to see families restored with a mother and a father and with the children living
securely.
It would be so good to return to the time that I was a child. Even when I was a child, it was not allowed
for two people to be shown in bed together even if they were married. When they debated whether
they were gong to allow this movie to go because they kissed too long. When I would play in the streets
and in the fields and make my wooden boats and push them through the little swamp land there when it
flooded and bring home snakes and toads and turtles and put them in the bath tub or in a cage – but
play securely. When the Bible was believed to be the Bible? When we went to church? When we could
put up our crèches and no one would object. When we could go to school and acknowledge God? Oh
what a day.
Egypt becomes His people:
Isaiah 19:25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and
Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
EGYPT
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I want to tell you a little bit about Egypt. Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Because of
the richness of the Nile Delta, they were able to develop a culture unlike any others in the Middle East
or in Africa. It was an awesome culture. The first unified kingdom of Egypt emerged around 3200BC.
There were a series of Egyptian dynasties that lasted until conquered by the Persian in 341 BC. It has a
history of Greek and Roman and Byzantine dynasties that ruled over them until the 7th century AD. Then
the Arabs came in and introduced Islam and the Arab culture to the Egyptians.
In 1250 a local Muslim cast called the Mamlūk control of Egypt until the Ottoman Empire expanded into
north Africa in 1517. (think Ottoman, think Turkey)
The completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 put world attention back on Egypt. Because of its position,
both economically and militarily, what you have is - the British seize control of the government in1882.
And yet when the British seized control of the government, it is not right, but you have Britain being a
Christian nation. And so you have the gospel coming in.
Then in 1922, they got partial independence and complete independence after WWII. The Aswan High
Dam and the Nasser Lake – the creation of those two things enabled then not to depend on the Nile. But
if you have a drought coming and all that water dries up and then you can have a situation like here in
Isaiah.
What is the situation here? Well, as you look at Egypt right now, Egypt is currently at peace with Israel.
They seem to have open communication. The country ethically is 98% Egyptian. The official language is
Arabic. 90% of the country are Muslims. I want you to remember that. But they are mostly Sunni
Muslim.
SUNNI vs. SHIITE MUSLIMS
Let me tell you the difference between the Sunni and the Shiite because this is important for you to
understand.
The Sunni are the old traditional ancient sect of Muslim. They Shiite first appeared during the abashod
(sp?) period as a way of legitimizing their control. So you have a new element coming up out of the
Sunni. The Shiite claimed to be descended from Mohammed through the Allah branch of the family.
They believe that Allah one day will send a Mahdi to establish a correct government and religion
throughout the Muslims lands. And that he will rule the world. The Shiite are governed by the Iman who
is viewed as the most able ruler from the prophet’s family. The Shiite translated the Koran literally and
they are the newer more radical sect who insist on literal translation of the Koran. The Shiite are the sect
that are funding the majority of terrorist activity in the world.
Egypt is to the south of Israel. Egypt is Muslim. We know that God is going to bring them down. Let me
give you something to think about. Isaiah 19:4 you find out that God is going to put a cruel master over
Egypt.
Isaiah 19:4 “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.
Isaiah 19:20 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.
It sounds like it could be a description of Egypt in the last days. But you could have a “forerunner” of this
like Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 8:9-14. Epiphanes is a forerunner of the Antichrist. If you studied
Daniel you understand that.
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But in Daniel 11:36-12:13 you have a statement about a king and this part of Daniel has never been
fulfilled. Up until this point, we can go through history and see the fulfillment right down through verse
35. In fact, this part talks about Antiochus Epiphanes – it doesn’t mention him but it describes him.
Now in Daniel 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself
above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper
until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
In other words, what God has purposed will come to pass. What God has planned no man can thwart.
Daniel 11:40 “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him (antichrist), and the king
of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he
will enter countries, overflow them and pass through.
Who is this king of the south? Well, up until this time, all the way through this chapter, it has been
Egypt. It has been the Ptolemy to the south which is Egypt. The kings of the north are Syria and that
area.
Daniel 11:41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land (this false king will go into Jerusalem), and
many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: (listen) Edom, Moab and the
foremost of the sons of Ammon.
That all makes up present day Jordan.
42 “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not
escape.
Could this be this monstrous king of Isaiah 19:4 because Daniel comes on the scene much later.
But look at verse 43:
43 “But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious
things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.44 “But rumors from the East
and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and
annihilate many.45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the
beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
When does Isaiah 19 happen? We don’t know. But looks like it is telling us about the last days. – about a
monstrous king and a Savior, Champion, and a highway from Egypt to Assyria and they are going back
and forth. We know that there is other talk in Isaiah about the highways.
What is the lesson that God has for us today? If you don’t remember anything else from today, I think
you need to remember that it is God who reigns supreme. It is God who reigns supreme. He purposes
and what He purposes has a purpose. Have you got that? It’s important for us to understand. What He
purposes has a purpose. Our hope is to be in Him alone. One thing we know as we look at these
chapters in Isaiah and this segment of Isaiah as God talks to the world in chapters 13-23, as He begins
these oracles of the nations, we know this: that the nations all bow to God. God is over these nations.
We know that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of His Christ.
Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven,
saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He
will reign forever and ever.”
We are not to look to world powers. We are not to fear world powers. We are to look to God, to the
God who purposes. We need to pray that every ruler that we have in the USA, and God tells us that we
are to pray:
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1 Timothy 2: 1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings,
be made on behalf of all men,2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a
tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
That is our responsibility. But as we carry out our responsibility we still remember that God is acting
responsibly and that we can trust Him and we can rest in Him. We may not see it, we may not
understand, but we can understand God.
Look at Amos 3:6
If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not
the Lord done it?
Compare that – and I hate to do this – I don’t want to spoil your joy of discovery.
Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you,
though you have not known Me;
There is no Allah. There is no other God.
Isaiah 45:6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one
besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other,7 The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
So we come to Isaiah 20 – what do we see? God acts but He warns us beforehand.
This chapter is 6 short verses where Isaiah is told:
Isaiah 20:2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen
the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and
barefoot.3 (Why?) And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot
three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush,
In personally believe that Isaiah 19 is one oracle. I believe 20 is different. I believe that what he does is
he show us the future of Egypt in Isaiah 19 – the future smiting, wounding and healing and salvation of
Egypt.
But then in chapter 20 he shows us: Here I am and I am down here and I am walking among you and I
am in this kind of attire because for 3 years I am telling you something because you are relying on Egypt.
You’re relying on Cush, because Cush would conquer Egypt and Egypt would conquer Cush. They were
just combined like that. And that is what you are looking to. And I am giving you a sign and I’m letting
you see it for three years. I am telling you this is the way that they are going to be led captive.
Isaiah 20:6- “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?’ ”
This is what God has done to them. This is our hope? What were they looking to? They were looking to
the nations instead of looking to God.
My whole statement to you today is: in the midst of all this frustration, in the fear of terrorism, get your
eyes off that. Look beyond and look to God who has planned and who has purposed and warns us ahead
of time. You see that this is Isaiah’s sign.
Go back to Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the
prophets.
And you need to know that verse. You need to know that it is there.
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God does nothing unless He reveals it to His prophets ahead of time. So you and I, precious one, God
acts but He doesn’t leave us in the dark. He warns us and He lets us know what is going to come to pass.
Then we come to Isaiah 21 – we see that sometimes that God’s vision is a harsh vision. God is going to
talk to Israel in Isaiah 21and 22 and He is going to tell Israel –you’re looking to Babylon for deliverance.
Why are you doing that?
Isaiah 21 – God tells his prophets ahead of time what He is going to do but sometimes it is a very harsh
vision. That is why I said to you that what I say many people will not like. They don’t want to hear that
God might be behind 9/11. They don’t want to hear that God might be behind a storm or behind a flood
or behind a tsunami. They don’t want to here that because it seems cruel. But it is because they don’t
understand. Sometimes these harsh visions come.
Isaiah 21:2 A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously,
and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media (way east on the map); I have
made an end of all the groaning she has caused.
Watch Isaiah’s anguish:
Isaiah 21:3 For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a
woman in labor. (If you’ve had a child you know that. And this is without anything to help you
with your pain) I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. 4 My mind reels,
horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
I think he was looking for the night of God’s judgment to come so that it would all be over. But he sees it
and it turns him into trembling. He is trembling.
Isaiah 21:5 They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains,
oil the shields,”
And they are sitting there causally around the table spreading the cloth and they don’t know what is to
overtake them. They just say, “rise up. Oil the shields. We’re to battle. We’re going to win.” But they
don’t know the horror of it all.
6 For thus the Lord says to me, (This is very important) “Go, (Isaiah) station the lookout, let him
report what he sees.7 “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of
camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”
Many times they would ride one horse and keep the others for battle. They would ride the 2nd best
horse and keep the best horse for battle. The same with the camels. They would keep them in trains so
that they could change them out when they got to the battlefield.
Isaiah 21:7-8 “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let
him pay close attention, very close attention.”8 Then the lookout called, “O Lord, I stand
continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
What are you doing when you are studying the Bible this way? When you’re discovering truth for
yourself? What are you doing? I believe that you are standing like a watchman on the tower. I believe
that you are staying at your guard post because you are to know what is coming; because you want to
know God. What do you want to know it for? Just for your own benefit? Not if you are a true watchman.
But that you might warn others.
Isaiah 21:9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen,
fallen is Babylon;(Were they trusting in Babylon and now it was gone? ) And all the images of her
gods are shattered on the ground.”10 (This is the key verse, I believe, in this chapter)O my
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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.
You are studying. We may not understand all of it but what we know we know. What is absolutely clear
is absolutely clear. It is absolutely clear that God has purposed; God does nothing in secret. He tells it to
His prophets beforehand. You and I can be spokesmen for God but we have to be faithful watchman on
the tower. We have to get what He is saying and what He makes known to us—that we can not love the
praise and the acclamation of men. We must be true spokesmen for the Lord. What I have known, I
make known.
Isaiah said – what I have known I have made known to the threshed of my people. Those that are lying
on the threshing floor, those that have been trampled underfoot. – I am making it known to them.
That is what your job is. We are to go and we are to do this.
I want you to see that sometimes it is a harsh vision. Don’t miss this. When people don’t want to hear it
and people don’t want to know it. They think they can overcome in their own strength. You know, “I’ll
get out of this. I will figure a way out of it.” And they can’t. We are to be faithful watchmen. We are to
be faithful and we are to let it be known.
The question is: how long is it before the night ends?
Isaiah 21:11The oracle concerning Edom. One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how
far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
The answer is this:
12 The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back
again.”
This is speaking to the region of Edom and beyond. It is a desert area.
ARABIA
Then you come to the oracle about Arabia. You see that God is going to bring Arabia down. God is over
the nations. Saudi Arabia is the birth place of Islam. It contains two of Muslim’s holiest shrines: Mecca
and Medina. Saudi Arabia –they believe – has 25% of the world’s petroleum reserves. It encourages
foreign investments. It will keep you in your own compound and you are not allowed to share the gospel
with anyone or you’re out of the country. It is a country that looks wealthy but the women are behind
the veil and very oppressed.
Isaiah 22 – what are we to do in calamitous times?
Isaiah 22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What is the matter with you now, that you
have all gone up to the housetops?2 You who were full of noise, You boisterous town, you
exultant city; Your slain were not slain with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.3 All your rulers
have fled together, (You just took off and fled) And have been captured without the bow; All of
you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.4 Therefore I
say, “Turn your eyes away from me, Let me weep bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning
the destruction of the daughter of my people.”5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic,
subjugation and confusion In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to the
mountain.
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KAY ARTHUR – WHAT GOD HAS PURPOSED WILL COME TO PASS
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What is He talking about? He is talking about Judah. He is talking about Jerusalem. What is the problem?
When you think of chapter 22 think: don’t live for the present. Don’t live for the present. They are living
for the present and not the sure future.
You and I don’t live for the present. We live for the sure future.
2 Corinthians 4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
Let me show you how they are living for the present.
Isaiah 22:2 You who were full of noise, You boisterous town, you exultant city; Your slain were
not slain with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.12 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts
called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.13 Instead,
there is (what?) gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat
and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
That is the way they are living. That is the way the USA is living. That is why we need to tell them that
they need to look to God. That is why we need to deliver the message because we should be a church
that is weeping. We should be a church that is mourning. There is a time to mourn. This is a time to
grieve because of sin.
14 But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
In other words, here you are. You should be weeping and fasting as Joel 2:12 says. You should have been
putting on sackcloth and ashes but instead you are partying. So there is trouble.
He says in Isaiah 22:8:
And He removed the defense of Judah. In that day you depended on the weapons of the house
of the forest, (rather than depending on God.)
In a day of calamitous times:
1) Live for the future, not the present
2) depend on God.
Look at the fact that they did not depend on God.
Isaiah 22:8-11 And He removed the defense of Judah. In that day you depended on the weapons
of the house of the forest,
Here you are depending on your weapon and it is not going to do you any good because God is going to
remove your defense. If God removes their defense, they are lost.
9 And you saw that the breaches In the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected
the waters of the lower pool. (You are getting your water so that if you have a siege you are
ok)10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And tore down houses to fortify the wall.11 And
you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did not
depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
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In other words, is it wrong to make your fortifications? Is it wrong to build up your army? No. it is stupid
not to. But who are you going to depend on? Your army… or God? This is what he is saying.
11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did
not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long
ago.
What God has purposed, He brings to pass.
God does this to people:
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of
the royal household,16 ‘What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you
have hewn a tomb for yourself here, You who hew a tomb on the height, You who carve a resting
place for yourself in the rock?17 ‘Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you headlong, O man. And He
is about to grasp you firmly18 And roll you tightly like a ball, To be cast into a vast country; There
you will die And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master’s house.’19 “I will
depose you from your office, And I will pull you down from your station.20 “Then it will come
about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,21 And I will clothe
him with your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority,
And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.22 “Then I
will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he
shuts no one will open.23 “I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne
of glory to his father’s house.24 “So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house,
offspring and issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.25 “In that day,” declares
the Lord of hosts, “the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and
the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
What is God saying? Why do you regard man whose breath is in his nostrils. (Isaiah 2:22)
He said this to us way back in chapter 2. Now He’s saying, why are you depending on man and not taking
into consideration Him who planned it long ago?
As he brings it to a close:
25 “In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will
even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off,(why?) for the Lord has spoken.”
What are you doing when you study? When you reserve this time? When you say, “No” to other things?
When you discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness?
1 Timothy 4:7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other
hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;
When you study to show yourself approved unto God?
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not
need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
When people in your class are just withering away? And you’re not understanding, and you don’t feel
like you’re very smart. But what are you doing? You are discovering what God has planned, what God
has purposes, you are spending time in the very Word of God and the very words of God are washing
over your soul, it is establishing you in truth that you can handle the word of God accurately (cutting it
straight.) so that you will not be ashamed.
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TYRE - LEBANON
Finally we come to Chapter 23. What does God want us to remember when He talks to us about Tyre
(present-day Lebanon)
What does He want us to remember? It is in our flesh to crave acceptance and honor and fame and
glory and recognition. It is built into this body of flesh. That is why Paul looks forward to putting off this
body of flesh.
2 Corinthians 5:2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,3 inasmuch as we, having
put it on, will not be found naked.4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be
unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
But if we are born again, we have the Spirit in us so that we can overcome the flesh. It is the Spirit that
causes us to do what is right. But what I want you to do when you think of chapter 23: God’s plan is
always to bring down the pride of man. You will see it later in Isaiah 42:8
“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven
images.
God will share His glory with NO man. Those that exalt themselves will be brought down. Those that
bring themselves down will be exalted. God humbles the pride of man.
As you look at this oracle concerning Type:
Isaiah 23:1 The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed, without
house or harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.
These are ships that are coming over from the Mediterranean Sea close to Spain or part of Spain, but in
that area. We don’t know exactly.
Ships are Tarshish are mentioned numerous times in the Bible.
Ezekiel 27:12 “Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with
silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.
Tarshish were the ship builders and the movers of all these treasures.
Isaiah 23:1-3 The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed,
without house or harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.2 Be silent, you
inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon; Your messengers crossed the sea3 And
were on many waters. The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue; And she
was the market of nations.
7 Is this your jubilant city, Whose origin is from antiquity, Whose feet used to carry her to
colonize distant places?
It is going to be brought down. It is going to be destroyed. Tyre is destroyed, this wonderful, marvelous
city. It reminds me of the forerunner of Babylon in the last days. This city is going to be brought down
because God planned it.
Isaiah 23:8-98 Who has planned (same Hebrew word as “purposed “yas”) this against Tyre, the
bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the
earth?9 (He answers it) The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To
despise all the honored of the earth.
What is the hottest thing going in the United States? The beautiful body. That is it. It consumes us.
The Lord is going to bring them down:
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12 He has said, “You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to
Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
Then he uses the Babylonians as an example:
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; Assyria appointed it for
desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
Here is was – beautiful and glorious – and it was stripped. God brings down the beauty of pride.
The second thing I want you to remember about Isaiah 23 is: You can labor and attain but God can take
it away anytime He wants and use it for His purposes.
Isaiah 23:15 – He takes it away.
Isaiah 23:17 It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she
will go back to her harlot’s wages and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of
the earth.18 Her gain and her harlot’s wages will be set apart to the Lord; it will not be stored up
or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food and choice attire for those who dwell in the
presence of the Lord.
In other words: “Go back. Go back and get your stuff. Play the harlot and get you harlot’s wages.” But
know this: I am going to come and I am going to take it all away and I am going to give it to My people
Israel. You earn it, but I use it for My purpose.That is God’s message I am God. I have purposed. I have
planned. When I strike, My purpose usually is to heal, to bring you back.
Sometimes they won’t be healed. They are struck and they are demolished and that is it. It is over. It is
finished. Tyre will be destroyed forever. That is what Ezekiel 27:36 says:
Ezekiel 27:36 ‘The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; You have become terrified And you
will cease to be forever.’
So sometimes it happens that way. But however it happens, you and I are to know that God is not hiding
these things. He is revealing them to us. We are to know them. We are to understand them and we are
to be a faithful messenger, a faithful watchman on the wall. We are to get the message out.
Thank you for enduring. Thank you for persevering. Thank you for learning what you can and saying –
God, you’ll have to reveal it to me or it will remain a mystery.
But thank you for learning what you can and living in the light of it. Remember, no matter what comes
your way, God has a plan and that plan will be fulfilled.
Just as He said to Israel:
Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare
and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
But in-between getting to that future and getting to that hope, there is a whole lot of adversity in that
oracles of the wilderness and that oracle of the vision, but eventually it will all be all right for the faithful
remnant.
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