3. What’s the number one thing?
The Glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God.
4. References
• Palmer, Edwin H., The NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids,
Zondervan, 1985).
• MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Study Bible NKJV
(Nashville, Nelson Publishers, 1997).
• McGee, J. Vernon, THE PROPHETS: Isaiah, Chapters 1-
35 (Nashville, Nelson Publishers, 1991).
• Wiersbe, Warren W., BE COMFORTED: Isaiah
(Colorado Springs, Chariot Victor Publishing, 1992).
5. Focus of Lesson Today
• God’s promise of protection for Israel and Judah.
• The condemnation of Israel and Judah for not trusting
God for protection.
• God’s formula for returning to Him.
6. God’s promise of protection to Moses and the
people
• Deuteronomy 1:29-31 NIV
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be
afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going
before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in
Egypt, before your very eyes 31 and in the desert. There
you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a
father carries his son, all the way you went until you
reached this place.”
7. Obedience to God’s Commands was a
condition for His blessing and protection
• Deuteronomy 4:39-40 NIV
39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the
Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands,
which I am giving you today, so that it may go well
with you and your children after you and that you may
live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all
time.
8. God’s conditions on relationships with other
nations
• Deuteronomy 7:1a, 2b NIV
1a When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are
entering to possess and drives out before you many nations
2b Make no treaty with them,
• Deuteronomy 17:15b-16 NIV
15b Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a
brother Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire
great numbers of horses for himself or make the people
return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told
you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
9. The Lord’s exhortation to Joshua and the Israelites
(1406 BC)
• Deuteronomy 31:7-8 NIV
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the
presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for
you must go with this people into the land that the
Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you
must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The
Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he
will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid;
do not be discouraged.”
10.
11. Introduction to Isaiah the Prophet
• Isaiah’s name means “salvation of the Lord.”
• Isaiah prophesied during the time of the divided
kingdom, directing the major thrust of his message to
the southern kingdom of Judah.
• Isaiah ministered in the Jerusalem area as a prophet
from 739-686 B.C. (53 years) during the reigns of 4
kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah.
12.
13. The Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) in 732 BC
• 2 Kings 17:1-3 NIV
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son
of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he
reigned nine years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. 3
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack
Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had
paid him tribute.
14. The Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) in 732 BC
• 2 Kings 17:4-5 NIV
4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a
traitor, for he had sent envoys to So king of Egypt, and
he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he
had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized
him and put him in prison. 5 The king of Assyria
invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and
laid siege to it for three years.
15. The Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) in 732 BC
• 2 Kings 17:6-7 NIV
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria
captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to
Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the
Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned
against the Lord their God, who had brought them up
out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of
Egypt.
16. Setting for Isaiah 31
• After capturing the Northern Kingdom (Israel) in 732
BC, Assyria is threatening Judah.
• Some are urging an alliance with Egypt, which is ruled
now by the Cushites from Ethiopia.
• Egypt’s military strength lies in horses and chariots.
• In 711 BC, Sargon II of Assyria attacks Ashdod, a
Philistine city, who has been allied with Egypt.
17. God requires Isaiah to preach in an unusual state of
undress
• Isaiah 20:1-2 NIV
1 In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon
king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured
it (711 BC)— 2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah
son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from
your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so,
going around stripped and barefoot.
• This state of undress represented humiliation and
disgrace.
18. God requires Isaiah to preach in an unusual state of
undress
• Isaiah 20:3-5 NIV
3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone
stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent
against Egypt and Cush, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead
away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and
Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared —to
Egypt’s shame. 5 Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in
Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame.
• King Esarhaddon fulfilled this prophecy in 671 BC.
19. Isaiah 31:1 NIV (Don’t go down to Egypt)
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.
20. The horses of Egypt
• The Assyrians were a heavily armored military with
skilled charioteers, infantry, archers, and siege
machinery.
• The military of Judah had some of these same
weapons, but not at the level of the Assyrians.
• Chariots required trained horses.
• Egypt could provide these horses and chariots for
Judah.
21. Isaiah 31:2 NIV (God can protect)
2 Yet he (God) too is wise and can bring disaster;
he does not take back his words.
He will rise up against that wicked nation,
against those who help evildoers.
22. Isaiah 31:3 NIV (The Egyptians are not God)
3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;
their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped will fall;
all will perish together.
23. Isaiah 30:1-2 NIV (Additional warnings about Egypt)
1 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
24. Isaiah 30:3-5 NIV (Additional warnings about Egypt)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
25. Isaiah 31:4 NIV (Assyria Threatens Judah)
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“As a lion growls,
a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor —
so the Lord Almighty will come down
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
26. Meaning of Isaiah 31:4
• “As a lion growls,” = Reference to the Assyrian king.
• “band of shepherds” = Rulers of the nations.
• “Lord Almighty will come down” = In His defense of
Jerusalem, the Lord is to be like a strong and
determined lion, unafraid of shepherds summoned
against him.
27. Isaiah 31:5 NIV (God will protect)
5 Like birds hovering overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”
•Like an eagle hovering over its young, the Lord
will protect His people.
•Like the death angel “passed over” the
Israelites houses with lamb’s blood on their
doorposts.
28. Isaiah 31:6-7 NIV (Return to God’s protection)
6 Return to him you have so greatly revolted against, O
Israelites. 7 For in that day every one of you will reject
the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have
made.
• There is still time to repent and return to God.
• When judgment occurs, the treasured idols will be
worthless and thrown away.
29. Isaiah 31:8 NIV (Prophecy about Assyria’s destruction)
8 “Assyria will fall by no human sword;
a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.
They will flee before the sword
and their young men will be put to forced labor.
•Isaiah predicts with exactness the battle of the
fall of Assyria in 700 BC.
30. Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man
• Isaiah 36:1-2 NIV
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (700
BC), Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the
fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the
king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large
army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
31. Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man
• Isaiah 37:15-17 NIV
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the
cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of
the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give
ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see;
listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule
the living God.
32. Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man
• Isaiah 37:36-37 NIV
36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to
death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the
Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next
morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So
Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.
He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
33. Isaiah 31:9 NIV (Assyria’s capital will fall)
9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror;
at the sight of the battle standard their
commanders will panic, ”
declares the Lord,
whose fire is in Zion,
whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
34. “Their stronghold will fall”
• Isaiah 37:38 NIV
38 One day (681 BC), while he (Shennacherib) was
worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons
Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword,
and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And
Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
•Nineveh was the Assyrian capital and was destroyed
by the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC.
35. Why did Israel and Judah look to Egypt and other
nations for protection instead of God?
• God had stopped protecting them because of their
disobedience.
• 2 Kings 17:7-8 NIV
7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned
against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out
of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of
the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as
the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.
36. Why are we tempted to run to “Egypt” instead of
the Lord with the troubles in life?
• The answers are the same for us as for Israel & Judah.
1. I can fix this myself. (Sin of pride.)
2. God will require obedience, and I want to keep
living for myself. (Sin of idolatry.)
3. God has not answered my prayer. (Impatience.)
4. God will not help me because of my sins.
(Misunderstanding God’s grace.)
37. God’s formula in Isaiah for returning to Him
• Isaiah 30:15 NIV
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of
Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
38. The Formula in Isaiah 30:15
• Repentance + Rest Salvation
• Quietness + Trust Strength
39. Repentance + Rest Salvation
• Repentance = Confession, regret, a turning away from.
• Rest = Stillness, inaction, allowing God to work.
• Salvation = Recovery, restoration, peace, protection.
• Exodus 14:13-14 NIV
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.
Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord
will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you
will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you
need only to be still.”
40. Jesus promises “rest”
• Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is
easy and my burden is light.”
41. Quietness + Trust Strength
• 2 Chronicles 20:15, 17 NIV
15 “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and
Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be
afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the
battle is not yours, but God’s.
17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your
positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will
give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord
will be with you.’”
42. Isaiah 30:18, 21 NIV (The result of returning to God
and waiting for Him)
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you
compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears
will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way;
walk in it.”
43. Psalm 46 NKJV (Our Encouragement!!)
1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of
the sea;
10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
44. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.”
45. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this
life to pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death”
explained in Revelation 21:8.
46. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation
21:8, will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn away
from sin and believe in Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
47. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.
48. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
49. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900
or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/
