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Lesson 11 Video

Isaiah Part 1

Lesson 11 Video Pete De Lacy (55:11)

1/22/2009

The Word of the Holy One

Isaiah and Revelation

How had Ephraim sunk so low that God would call them the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim? Where did Ephraim come from?

When we started the course eleven weeks ago we did a little review of history of the splitting of the nation of Israel into two kingdoms and Ephraim is a reference to that Northern Kingdom that we talked about back in those days, so many months ago, when we began our study together. But how did they get there? If you go back with me to Exodus 23, I just wanted to do a few verses to help us remember what the situation was and how they got to where they are and how they sank so low, because you wonder how God’s chosen people, the ones who God had been with so many years, would end up in such a situation that there would be such judgment against them.

In Exodus, chapter 23, starting in verse 31: God is telling them there that He will fix their boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, that would probably be the Mediterranean, if you understand the Philistines were those coastal people. We talked about that with the judgment against Philistia. Remember along the coastland there? From the wilderness to the river. Euphrates is in italics in the New American Standard because the word “Euphrates” is not there in the Hebrew but everyone who studies the Old Testament understands that when the text says “the river” it’s a reference to the Euphrates. The same Euphrates River as is in Iraq today. It’s kind of interesting to see that.

Ex 23:31-33 [reads]

31 And I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33 They shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." NASB

If you trace that word “snare” through the Old Testament it seems to come up again and again and again. It’s a trap. It’ll get you. You’re unsuspecting. You don’t notice it. You’re looking at one thing but then you’re caught in a snare. You can think you’re doing just fine, but the snare grabs you. That’s what he’s saying. You think you can handle it. A lot of people are that way in this world about alcohol and drugs. “I can handle it.” But you know, it becomes a snare to them.

People are that way about pornography. “Oh, I can look at that, it won’t affect me.” But it becomes a snare, it catches them. “Oh, I can handle that.”

There are other things like that: money. You read about the winners of these great large sums of lotteries, you know? “I can handle it, it won’t affect me. I won’t change.” But it becomes a snare. There are probably other things we can think of that put us in a position to be snared by that which we thought we can handle.

I think Israel, if you go through, had plenty of warning, but they never saw it coming. It just seemed to grab them. So I thought we could trip through a few chapters and take a look how God had dealt with them over the years.

Go to Exodus, chapter 34, verse 11. This is in the time of the giving of the Law, of course, that we’re talking about here.

Ex 34:11 [reads]

11 Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. NASB

The Jebusite are the people who are living in the city of Jebus, or Jerusalem. He would drive them out before you.

Ex 34:12-17 [reads]

12 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst.

13 But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim

14 — for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God —

15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they play the harlot with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invite you to eat of his sacrifice;

16 and you take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods, and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.

17 You shall make for yourself no molten gods. NASB

If you study the history of Israel, what happened? Solomon himself took foreign wives. They worshiped their gods and Solomon began to worship their gods, too. The Lord punished Solomon by tearing the kingdom into two halves, which we discussed before. That Northern Kingdom made molten images: two golden calves. One at Bethel and one at Dan, just like the golden calf back here in Exodus at Mount Sinai. The prophecy came true.

God was saying, “Look! Look! Look! Watch out! Watch out! It’ll be a snare! You won’t see it coming. It’s going to get you. Don’t do it.” Yet it still got them. This is all the first generation coming out of Egypt there at Mount Sinai where this is happening.

Turn over to Deuteronomy. The next generation, they’re sitting at the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy. This is the next generation. Everybody at Kadesh Barnea who was afraid to go in, who wouldn’t listen to the report from the spies who thought it was too hard, these have died out along the way. God would not let them enter the land. Only Joshua and Caleb were going to enter the land of all those who were there at Kadesh Barnea.

Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verse 16. Now he’s talking to that second generation.

Deut 7:16-26 [reads]

16 And you shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

17 "If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?'

18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

20 Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.

21 You shall not dread them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

22 And the LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you.

23 But the LORD your God shall deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

24 And He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you shall make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.

25 The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.

26 And you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned. NASB

If you remember the story where they went into the land, this exact thing happened. They coveted that which they saw; they hid it in their tent and they brought defeat upon Israel because they had disobeyed what God said. This story is as ancient as there was people from Israel in the land that God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can look at Joshua, chapter 23. They are in the land; they’ve been conquering the land. It’s near the end of Joshua’s life.

Josh 23:3-7 [reads]

3 And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has been fighting for you.

4 See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea that would be the Mediterranean toward the setting of the sun. Means to the west.

5 And the LORD your God, He shall thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you; and you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.

6 Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,

7 in order that you may not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. NASB

See how many times God brings this message up? To the first generation, to the second generation, before they entered the land, now here they’ve conquered the land. He’s telling them the same basic thing. It’s not a new story.

But look at down where it says:

Josh 23:12-13 [reads]

12 For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,

13 know with certainty I love that phrase: know with certainty. Sounds like something a parent would say. “I’m not kidding this time. Know this for sure: you do this, here’s the consequence.” that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. NASB

This is basically what’s happening in the days of Isaiah. Remember that when we look at the timeline of when Isaiah is prophesying (739–681 BC) and what that relationship is to the years BC and what not. Isaiah is prophesying at the time that the Northern Kingdom is going to be taken captive off that land. They’re going to be taken from the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob away to other countries. So He says if you don’t watch out there’ll be a snare and a trap and a whip and thorns until, until you perish from the land. That’s the history of Israel. We’re studying Isaiah which is prophesy, but if you study the Kings and Chronicles leading up to that point, you find that’s what happens up to that point. They’re continually getting involved with this idol worship, these things which God said are an abomination, these things are banned, you should never take part in these things.

We have to ask ourselves, is it that way in our lives? We sometimes get involved in things which God has already said in His Word are an abomination to Him, but we think we can handle it. It becomes a snare and a trap to us. Then God says, “You know, I told you the consequences for that. So now here it comes. Know for certain.”

If God doesn’t certainly judge unrighteousness and certainly doesn’t judge evil and sin then He’s not really righteous. He’s just making a mockery of justice. “I’ll get you if you do that . . . well, never mind.” He does judge. That’s the story we’re coming to. Here we are at Isaiah 28, 29, is it not? He talks about Ephraim in 28 and He talks about Ariel, or Jerusalem, meaning Judah, in chapter 29. Is that not right? So it doesn’t matter if you’re in the north or south, if you play the harlot you get judged.

Move on to Judges, chapter 1.

Judg 1:27-33 [reads]

27 But Manasseh did not take possession of you don’t need the names of the cities Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.

28 And it came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob.

32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them. NASB

Verse 28 says they didn’t drive them out completely. Verse 29, Ephraim did not drive out. Verse 30, Zebulun did not drive out. Verse 31 Asher did not drive out. Verse 33, Naphtali did not drive out. Catch the pattern? See what’s happening? They did not drive out the inhabitants completely. Those nations were going to remain in the land and become a snare, a trap, a whip, and thorns. What struck me was when I read those names, where do Manasseh and Ephraim and Zebulun and Asher and Naphtali actually live?

[Note to Pam: if you look at the map I sent in lesson 4 of the “Dividing of the Land” you can follow this next paragraph easier.]

They would make up what they called Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Dan is at the very north. I like to think of Dan as an acronym: Dan, Asher, Naphtali. D-A-N. Below them you’ve got Zebulun and Issachar, until you get down to the hills of Samaria, where you’ve got Manasseh and Ephraim. Over on the east side of the Jordan, you have Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, from south to north who stayed on the east side of the Jordan. We just named the tribes of the Northern Kingdom. There they are. Well, how many are named here who did not drive the people out? Well, what happened?