Isaiah 26-27
The Lord Will Restore
The Strong City vs. 1-6
The Level Path vs. 7-11
The Life Giving Dew vs. 12-21
The Fruitful Vineyard vs. 1-13
Intro:
This second part of Isaiah takes us through God’s plan of restoration
It first starts with His judgement of Judah and the surrounding countries
Then it shows us the final judgment of the world
Then ultimately His redemption through the second coming of Jesus Christ
Today we see what a restored kingdom will look like
He shows us a holy city that He will reign over and the benefits that come from that
At the same time we see how God brings restoration in our lives
We go through a period of time where our sin
Read Isaiah 26:1-6
Transition:
We have seen some strong cities in the bible
Tower of Babel
Jericho
Babylon
Rome
All seemed so powerful but all ended up falling not because of military, but because of sin
Contrast that with what we see this morning
We see a strong city as well but one that is different
The Strong City vs. 1-6
Twice we will see the the phrase “In that day”
This is a reference to the Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns and reigns over Israel
In that day there will be a lot of singing
That is what Isaiah 26 & 27 is, a song
They will be singing about what the Lord brings with this city
The first thing that will be established is a strong city
Cities came into being after the fall so man has never know a truly godly city
The purpose of the city is salvation and people will find that behind the walls of this city
The gates will be flung wide open and only the righteous will be able to enter
Ps 118:19-20 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
The New Jerusalem is a city filled with glory, which excludes the unrighteous
Vs. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you
Peace is always the result of trusting in the Lord
This is an incredible promise! Perfect peace
God promises that we can have perfect peace
In the Hebrew the term perfect peace is actually shalom shalom
Repetition communicates intensity
The place of perfect peace is the mind that is “stayed on You.”
When we keep our minds settled on the Lord himself, then we can be kept in perfect peace
To be kept in this perfect peace it is a matter of the mind
This isn’t so much our spirit, soul, or heart but our mind
We are to love the Lord our God will all of our mind (Matt 22:37)
We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2)
We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16)
We are to set our mind on things above (Col 3:2)
Where we set our mind is essential in our walk before the Lord
So because of this promise we are exhorted to trust the Lord forever and therefore receive the blessing of perfect peace
Peace isn’t manufactured but a gift that comes from trusting Jesus
He is coming again to establish a new city
We hold to that trust and from that will come peace
The Level Path vs. 7-11
Next God makes our path level
Sidewalk Shavers
Have you seen these guys going through the neighborhood who are shaving the sidewalks?
Roots from tree have cause sidewalks to become unloved
Instead of removing the roots and pouring new concrete they are just shaving the sidewalk down to make it level with the other parts
They have these carts with machines that take the cement and shave it down to make it level
It doesn’t really makes the sidewalks level but gets rid of the bumps that prevent tripping
It’s indicative of who we try to handle the issues in our life as well
Instead of getting to the root of the issue we carve our life around it
In the new city Jesus is going to root out unrighteousness and make the path level
In the Kingdom of God, His people will walk in a way, the way of righteousness
Isaiah gives the sense of order in this
The Lord makes his people just by a relationship of faith
Then they walk in righteousness
Why do they walk in righteousness? Because the Lord is righteousness
As we trust in the Lord we walk in His way
1 Sam 2:9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
Vs. 7 The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous
So the Lord makes the path level, which means to lead the way
He also weighs the path of the just
The Lord looks at his righteous ones and evaluates their path
He cares about the walk of his loved ones
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
Now contrast that with the wicked who get grace from God but never learn righteousness
vs. 10 If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness;
The wicked are ungrateful for God’s goodness and their end is disaster
The Life Giving Dew vs. 12-21
vs. 12-18 the prayer of a humble heart
We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind:
The humble heart knows the futility of working apart from the direction and blessing of God.
We have had the torment of a woman in child-bearing, but not the comfort of a living child . . . for we have brought forth nothing but the wind; all our labour and hopes were vain and unsuccessful.” (Poole)
You have increased the nation: The humble heart knows the LORD is responsible for increase and blessing.
LORD, in trouble they have visited You: The humble heart relies on the LORD in times of distress and futility.
Vs. 19 You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light
Just as the dew brings new life to the soil and vegetation, so God will raise the dead out of the earth.
The prophet had already announced God’s great victory over death (25:7–8), and now he tells us how He will do it:
He will raise their bodies from the dust.
Resurrection is not reconstruction; God does not reassemble the body and give it life.
Hos 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
The Fruitful Vineyard vs. 1-13
Vs 1 The LORD, with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent:
The ultimate triumph of the LORD in the day of the Messiah is expressed in victory over Leviathan the fleeing serpent.
Some make the connection between Leviathan and ancient myths of nations near Israel.
“The term as used here is normally linked with the Ugaritic Lotan, the chaos monster destroyed by Baal in the Canaanite creation myth . . . the term may be applied figuratively to monstrous enemies of Israel and of God.” (Grogan)
While there is an illustrative element here, Isaiah may be more literal than many would like to admit.
If Satan could manifest himself as a serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden, why not also manifest himself as a dreadful sea-dragon?
Vs 2-3 A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the Lord, and its keeper, every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day;
A vineyard of red wine! I, the LORD, keep it:
In the days of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the LORD keeps the vineyard of Israel with special care.
He waters it (I will water it every moment), He protects it (lest any hurt it), He guards it constantly (I keep it night and day) against all enemies, forcing them to make peace with Him and His vineyard.
Let him take hold of My strength:
We can only be fruitful when take hold of the strength of the LORD.
As long as we hold on to our own strength, what we really have is weakness.
Is 37:31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
Hos 14:6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
Closing:
