Isaiah Part 3

As we continue our study of Isaiah, we want to continue a thought we introduced earlier:

Not all prophecy was fulfilled when Christ died on the cross.

The Day of the LORD: What and When?

And What Follows the Day of the Lord?

Paradise Lost is told in Genesis 3,

(Rev 2:7 NKJV) "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'

This verse reminds me of the garden of Eden

(2 Cor 12:3-4 NKJV) And I know such a man; . . . {4} how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

(Acts 3:19-21 NKJV) "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, {20} "and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, {21} "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

“God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” – So we should be able to find it in the books of prophecy! What would the restoration look like?

What about the coming of the Lord? 1^st or 2^nd?

(Isa 11:1-10) There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. {2} The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and under-standing, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. {3} His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; {4} But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

(5) Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

We tend to ignore “the Rod.”

(Rev 2:25-27 NKJV) "But hold fast what you have till I come. {26} "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations; {27} 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels'; as I also have received from My Father;

(Rev 12:5 NKJV) She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

(Psa 2:7-9 NKJV) "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. {8} Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. {9} You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'"

The change in the animal kingdom:

The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.

And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. {9} They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."

(Mat 8:20 NKJV) And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Once again, I don’t think we have seen the fulfillment of all of this. Perhaps some of it to some degree, but not all of it completely.

Paradise Restored? The Garden Re-visited!

(Gen 1:29-30 NKJV) And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. {30} "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.

The whole world was vegetarian. Nothing was killed for food until after the flood.

(Gen 9:3-5 NKJV) "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

Capital Punishment for Murder follows:

(Gen 9:6 NKJV) "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

There was to be no mistake. The right to kill animals for food was not to change the sanctity of human life.

There are other scriptures that tell about the restoration of the earth. I told you Romans and Revelations have some things in common.

(Rom 8:19-22 NKJV) For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. {20} For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; {21} because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. {22} For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

We laugh at the idea of “All good dogs go to heaven,” but Dean Berman (our UPS man who is a member of the Church of Christ, and often talks about his faith) was dead serious as he asked me one day about his dog that had been killed. I told him to read this passage. It’s the passage that gives hope to pet lovers, if there is hope. It doesn’t say our pets will be resurrected.

As we ponder my statement that I don’t believe all Old Testament Prophesies were fulfilled when Christ died on the cross, consider this one:

(Isa 19:21-25 NKJV) Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. {22} And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. {23} In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. {24} In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria; a blessing in the midst of the land,

{25} whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."

“Are we there yet?” Has this prophecy been fulfilled? If so, when? If not will it be? Or did we just totally misunderstand?

2. Interpret things figuratively when that is the only way that will make sense.

4. Compare scriptures that are apparently talking about the same event and let one shed light on the other.

5. Approach the study from the point of view: What would my conclusions be if I had no commentary or pre‑conceived ideas.

6. Not to force an interpretation upon a passage to make it fit a pre‑conceived idea.

8. Understand that God is timeless. Prophecy may apply directly to the ones to whom it is spoken, or its fulfillment may be hundreds or thousands of years later.

9. Many prophecies have double meanings, or fulfillments, and both make completely good sense.

10. Understand that prophecy is like the rest of scripture in most respects:

· While we may not all agree with each other, that also means we cannot all be correct.

We also need to avoid making it so global that it really says very little to give additional enlightenment

(Jer 31:33-37 NKJV) "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:

I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. {34} "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

{35} Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): {36} "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." {37} Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.

Paradise Lost is told in Genesis 3,

But what about Paradise Restored?

What does Peter say about Restoration?

A Passage from the Psalms that we have studied