[0:00] Okay, we're going to continue a study we started a few weeks ago and took a break last Wednesday night with the prayer meeting.
[0:16] And the study began in Romans 11, and I'm not going to turn you there tonight, just not going to be too much review for you. But Paul references a few things in Romans 11 about the nation of Israel, and he even says so much as that God's allowing us to partake of the grace of God to provoke them to jealousy.
[0:41] And God's got a plan for Israel, He still has a plan for Israel. Any teachings that the church replaces Israel is just garbage theology through and through. And we've been studying in the book of Isaiah predominantly what their fullness is.
[0:58] Paul uses that term, their fullness, and he describes also that when God takes Israel back, it's going to be life from the dead. And so we studied in two, well, one part.
[1:08] The first part was that their fullness is going to be the return of the Lord, and ran some scriptures there and saw that in four parts there. It was the revelation of the glory of God, the recompensing of the wicked when they get paid back for their sins and for their iniquity and for how they treated the Jew.
[1:29] And then it's the removal of the man of sin. The Antichrist has to be cast out from his position and sitting in the throne or in the temple of God. And then the rebuke of the nations, as we read in chapter 2 of Isaiah, and ran a few verses from there.
[1:44] So the fullness of Israel, that term their fullness, begins with the return of the Lord. Then two weeks ago, we got into the second point, and that their fullness is also seen in the restoration of Israel.
[2:02] And we got through four out of eight points under that one. First of all, it was the resurrection of the saints. And we ran through scripture, seeing how Daniel prophesied of the resurrection of the just.
[2:13] Jesus Christ prophesied of the resurrection of life. In Revelation 20, the first resurrection is those that are beheaded. They're going to be brought back to life and reign with Christ.
[2:24] And we ran a few passages in the Old Testament as well. The restoration of Israel. So when Christ comes back, some people are coming up out of the graves. Secondly, along that line, the restoration of Israel is going to be the replanting of God's branch.
[2:38] That's the term Isaiah used. It was a few other terms used throughout the book as well. But we ran some scriptures about how God's going to plant them back into that land, and they're going to flourish as a nation.
[2:51] Thirdly, the restoration of Israel is typified as the redemption of God's servant. And that is, God uses the analogy that because of their iniquity, they've sold themselves to other creditors, but he's going to buy them back or redeem them.
[3:07] And the word redeem shows up more in Isaiah than any other book in the Bible. It's a reference to God buying back or taking back his servant. He calls Jacob his servant through that book all over the place.
[3:20] And so that analogy is predominant in Isaiah, and God using that analogy to describe how he's going to bring them back to him. As if they're his servant, they walked away from him, but he's going to get them back.
[3:33] Another analogy then was the fourth part where we stopped on the restoration of Israel, where it's called the remarriage of God's wife. And this analogy where God describes Israel as his wife, that she has stepped out and committed adultery on him and worshiped and served other gods.
[3:49] And then he describes, we read in chapter 54 and chapter 62, as well as a few spots in Hosea, how he's going to betroth her back to him, and it'll be happily ever after.
[4:01] So those are just analogies, a servant. God is not marrying a nation, and they're not actually a slave either. But these are analogies describing God's relationship with that people.
[4:12] So let's continue with that, and we'll move forward with that. Come to Isaiah chapter 11. It's the first place I'd like you to be. So in this second section of their fullness, the restoration of Israel, we've covered four parts already.
[4:30] Here's part number five of that. And this is going to be the recovery of God's oppressed. That is, these people have been oppressed. And for a long time, not just historically back with the kings in captivity, but throughout this age and church age, is there ever a nation that has been sought after and hunted and murdered and displaced?
[4:55] Is there ever a nation but the nation of Israel? And it's going to be God recovering them and bringing them back. So Isaiah 11, look at verses 11 and 12. Verse number 11 says, and it shall come to pass in that day, that's future.
[5:10] How do we know? That the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. If you ever need to underline that phrase there, that'll help you, keep you to understand this is not something that has been fulfilled.
[5:25] A lot of people miss that little phrase there. It's happening again where God's going to bring his people back into that land. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, from Egypt, and he lists all the lands.
[5:41] As a matter of fact, to the end of verse 12, the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. So he's going to bring that people, recover them is what he calls it, back into their land.
[5:52] Look at chapter 14. And we'll read the first four verses. Chapter 14, verse 4. Here's where the word oppressed shows up. This people has been oppressed by those Gentile powers that God is recovering them from.
[6:07] Verse number one. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land. And the strangers shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place.
[6:20] And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids. We're going to see that a little bit later. The strangers, the Gentiles are going to be serving Israel for servants and handmaids.
[6:31] They shall take them captives whose captives they were. And they shall rule over their oppressors. So the tables are going to get turned, completely flipped around. The reversal here of the roles of the ones that oppressed will now be oppressed.
[6:46] The oppressor will be oppressed. The ones that work servants are going to... I'm just going to say that backwards here. The ones that served shall be served. How about that? Verse 3.
[6:57] And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord will give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear and from thy hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, how hath the oppressor ceased?
[7:09] The golden city ceased. So all of it's going to be put to an end when God breaks the staff of the wicked, scepters of the ruler, when the return of the Lord, the restoration of Israel, it's the recovery of God's oppressed.
[7:22] Come back to chapter 61. Isaiah 61. For some more on this. The nation that was cast aside and cast out and treated like dirt and run all over is going to be picked up and they're going to be on top and nobody's going to push them down again.
[7:45] Isaiah 61. And we'll read a few verses here considering how God's going to flip the tables here. Verse number 2. We'll read down through verse number 7. Verse 2 begins to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes.
[8:06] That's a total flip. The oil of joy for mourning, completely opposite. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
[8:19] And they shall build the old wastes and they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks.
[8:30] And the sons of the aliens shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles.
[8:41] And in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double. And for your confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess the double everlasting.
[8:52] Joy shall be unto them. God is going to recover that land, that nation, all of it. And totally flip it on its head the way it's been for them. And the persecutions they've faced.
[9:04] In some cases just the annihilations they've faced from Gentile rulers. That's going to be done. Alright, so the recovery of God's oppressed. Stay there in chapter 61.
[9:16] And notice we read past it. The restoration of Israel is going to be also the rebuilding of God's land. The rebuilding of God's land. Verse number 4.
[9:27] And they shall build the old wastes. They shall raise up the former desolations. And they shall repair the waste cities. The desolations of many generations.
[9:39] The rebuilding of God's land. And notice it says strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. That's those Gentiles that don't belong. They're going to be there working. Who's going to do the building?
[9:50] Look back at chapter 60. Isaiah 60 and verse number 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls.
[10:02] And their kings shall minister unto thee. For in my wrath have I smote thee. But in my favor have I had mercy on thee. The sons of strangers are going to get to work and work for them.
[10:17] And kings are going to minister unto thee. Kings. This is going to be some stuff. Let's see. Do I want to stay here for a second or not?
[10:28] I lost. I'll come back to that later. This is just an interesting cross reference I picked up today.
[10:42] And I didn't have. I don't have it written here. Like I thought I did. Keep your place there. But go to 2 Chronicles. We'll find it here.
[10:52] It's early. 2 Chronicles 2. Remember this is I don't know when.
[11:06] Sunday school more than once. We've cross referenced to Psalm. It was recent. We cross referenced to Psalm 78. Where Asaph says I speak in parables.
[11:18] And when Jesus Christ does that in Matthew 13. He's saying that it might be fulfilled. Which is spoken by the prophet. I opened my mouth in parables and taught them. And that was a fulfillment.
[11:29] Jesus Christ fulfilling a prophecy. But what I showed you was in Psalm 78. That the history of Israel. All that they've endured and been through. And hopped around and gone through this. And came in. Like came in from that direction to that direction.
[11:41] What took place in the land. It was all a foreshadowing of the future. Of the second coming of Christ. And the kingdom that he establishes. And just this little point just adds to that tremendously.
[11:55] We saw that the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls and their kings. Who built up Israel back in the day? Who was the king over them? And the wise king that just had it flourished.
[12:08] The land flourished. It was Solomon. And who did the building? It was strangers. Look at 2 Chronicles 2 verse 17. And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel.
[12:20] After the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them. And they were found at 150,000. 3,600. And he describes who he sets where. Over the work that he's doing in building the temple.
[12:32] And in building his house. And building cities inside of Israel. He's got his slaves, Gentiles, doing the work. And it's just a picture of what's coming to pass in the future.
[12:43] When Christ comes back and restores the nation of Israel. And rebuilds that land. And guess who's bearing the burden? It's not the Jews. I can tell you that much. It's going to be those Gentiles.
[12:54] And they're going to be happy to do it. Amen. The rebuilding of God's land. Let's see. Come back to Isaiah now. Look at chapter 58. Isaiah 58.
[13:11] And verses 11 and 12. And the Lord shall guide thee continually. And satisfy thy soul in drought. And make fat thy bones.
[13:21] And thou shalt be like a watered garden. And like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations.
[13:33] Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach. The restorer of paths to dwell in. That land's going to be built back up. Nothing like today. Nothing like it. It's going to get so much better.
[13:45] And it's going to get destroyed too. A good bit probably before. If you look around today and think. Oh it's high in technology. I think you'll be surprised to see what it's like. When the king of kings comes to reign over it.
[13:56] And rebuilds it. Come to keep your place. But come to Ezekiel. To the right little ways. Ezekiel chapter 36. The rebuilding of God's land.
[14:07] And just bear with me. And follow along. I'm going to read a good portion of this chapter here. But just listen to the language.
[14:19] You can't deny that God is not finished with Israel. And that he's got a lot to do. A lot of things he's promised and pledged to that land and people. That he's yet to fulfill.
[14:30] And much of this chapter here is just. Just right on course with what Isaiah preaches. Ezekiel 36. And I'm just going to start reading verse 16.
[14:42] And go for a good ways. And follow along. Ezekiel 36 16. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying. Son of man. When the house of Israel dwelt in their own land. They defiled it by their own way.
[14:53] And by their doings. Their way was before me. As the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them. For the blood that they had shed upon the land. For their idols wherewith they had polluted it.
[15:05] And I scattered them among the heathen. And they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way. According to their doings. I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen. Wherewith they went. They profaned my holy name.
[15:15] When they say to them. These are the people of the Lord. And are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name. Which the house of Israel had profaned. Among the heathen wherewith they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel.
[15:26] Thus saith the Lord God. I do not this for your sake. So house of Israel. But for mine holy name's sake. Which ye have profaned among the heathen. Whither you went. And I will sanctify my great name. Which was profaned among the heathen.
[15:38] Then. Which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord. Saith the Lord God. When I shall be sanctified in you. Before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen.
[15:48] And gather you out of all countries. And bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you. And you shall be clean. From all your filthiness. And from all your idols.
[15:59] Will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you.
[16:09] And cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And ye shall be my people. And I will be your God.
[16:20] I will also save you from all your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn and increase it. And lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree. And the increase of the field. That ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
[16:32] Then shall ye remember your own evil ways. And your doings that were not good. And shall loathe yourself in your own sight. For your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this.
[16:44] Sayeth the Lord God. Be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways. O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God. In the day that I shall have cleansed you. From all your iniquities.
[16:54] I will also cause you to dwell in the cities. And the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled. Whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that pass by.
[17:05] And they shall say this land that was desolate. Has become like the garden of Eden. You can't go over there today and say it looks like that. But that day is coming.
[17:16] And the waste and desolate. And ruined cities. Are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you. Shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places.
[17:27] And plant that that it was desolate. I the Lord have spoken it. And I will do it. So we'll stop there. But you get the idea. That land's going to be rebuilt. And that prophecy kind of encompasses a whole lot of time there.
[17:42] But it's the rebuilding of the land. That's point number six. Out of this second portion of the restoration of Israel. The next one is the respect of God's people.
[17:54] Come to Isaiah 61. That is the restoration of Israel. Is going to be the respect of God's people. They've been despised. They've been trodden down.
[18:05] They've been ridiculed and outcast. But no longer. When the return of the Lord takes place. The restoration of Israel takes place with it. And with that is the respect of God's people.
[18:17] From all the nations. Look at chapter 61. And verse number nine. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles.
[18:28] And their offspring among the people. All that see them shall acknowledge them. That they are the seed. Which the Lord hath blessed. Now they're not just going to be tipping their hat to them.
[18:42] Acknowledging them. It's going to be a whole lot more than that. Look at chapter 62. And verse number 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world.
[18:55] Say ye to the daughter of Zion. Behold thy salvation cometh. Behold his reward is with him. And his work before him. And they shall call them the holy people.
[19:07] The redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called sought out. A city not forsaken. That nation is going to be known to the rest of the world as the holy people.
[19:18] They are not just going to acknowledge them like yeah yeah. It's okay. We're good. We're good right. No they're going to reverence them. Oh it's going to be more than that. Look at chapter 60. Oh much more than that.
[19:31] Chapter 60 and verse 12. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. Yea those nations shall be utterly wasted.
[19:44] The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. The fir tree, the pine tree and the box together. To beautify the place of my sanctuary. And I will make the place of my feet glorious.
[19:55] The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee. And all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.
[20:08] And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou has been forsaken and hated so that no man went through thee.
[20:18] I will make thee an eternal excellency. A joy of many generations. And it goes on to continue. It's more of the talk of the same. That people will get respect.
[20:30] The respect of God's people. They'll be number one. Is God a racist? Yes. Absolutely. He's got one that he picked above all others. And he's going to exalt them.
[20:41] And the others are going to bow down to them. They're going to pilgrimage to the land where their king sits and rules the world. And they're going to obey him. He's the king of the Jews first.
[20:52] And king of the world. But when they come, I mean, imagine if it was our land that's on top and just destroying everybody and everything. And there's no question.
[21:02] Like destroying the pride of the nations like Christ is going to do. If it was us on top, it's not just they're coming to see him. It's coming through us.
[21:13] They're going to acknowledge us. So I'm saying us, if it were America, it's going to be Israel. And the world is going to reverence God's people. They're going to be called the holy people. All right.
[21:23] So that's another point of this restoration of Israel. So much is encompassed with this. And the final thing here is just kind of an encompassing thing. All told, it's the restoration of Israel.
[21:35] This whole thing is just one way of saying it. It's the reality of God's promises or the realization of all of this, of the scriptures. It's when it finally comes to pass, it's finally realized, it's in your eyes, you see it, it's no more wondered about.
[21:54] And one day it's going to be this and that, and it shall come to pass in that day. No, that day is going to be here when Jesus Christ comes back and Israel's restored. And I've got a few verses.
[22:06] I'll skip them and just go to look at Daniel chapter 2. Let's work to the right, Daniel chapter 2. There's several places in Isaiah that I have highlighted that God makes the comment that I will do all my counsel.
[22:27] Things of that nature. All those things that he has purposed, he will fulfill. I will do it. I, the Lord, have said it. I will do it. That kind of thing. And that's kind of the culmination of this whole study of this portion of the restoration of Israel is that it's going to be a reality.
[22:42] It's not just going to be talked about happening in the future. All of these promises and prophecies, the will and purpose of God for that people is going to be real in everybody's view.
[22:55] Daniel 2, look at verse 44. Here's one thing that's going to be real. And in those days, and in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.
[23:08] This is these kings referring to Gentile nations during the tribulation that are going to be destroyed. In the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.
[23:20] That's the realization of God's prophecies when it's there. The kingdom shall not be left to other people. That's what happens with Daniel. He's always talking about this king's coming and this king's coming after him.
[23:33] And God says, then I'm going to set one up that's never going to be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. And it, the kingdom, it shall stand forever.
[23:47] That's God's plans for the nation of Israel. One more chapter tonight, Jeremiah. And chapter 33. Back to your left there, Jeremiah 33.
[24:04] And pretty much this whole chapter, and I don't want to read the whole thing, but this whole thing is a great prophecy concerning what the Lord's going to do with Israel. And when it's a reality, when it all comes to a head.
[24:21] Boy, where should I start? How about, I'll just start in verse 7 and see what happens. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first.
[24:37] And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me. And I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, of praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them.
[24:56] And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. Thus saith the Lord again, there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate without man and without inhabitation, without beast, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth forever, and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.
[25:31] For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord. And he continues on, talking about how they're going to take care of it, the cities, the mountains.
[25:42] In verse 15, In those days, and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
[25:55] In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. And then there's the promise about David, having his seed being on the throne, that Davidic covenant.
[26:09] Look later at verse 20, or verse 19, And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, that there should not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.
[26:32] So if you can handle that, in other words, every time that son comes up in the morning, and every time he comes up the next morning, it is a testament to God's promise to David.
[26:47] A covenant. It is evidence, a token of the covenant, that God has with David. If you can stop that from happening, then the other one will happen. Look later in the chapter. 25, Thus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers, or the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for I cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
[27:15] That's God's word. And he can't violate his word. He won't violate or break his word. And as long as that thing's still going, then that one's going to take place.
[27:27] And so this is the second, the end of the second point here of their fullness. The restoration of Israel. I got eight points out of it. I'm certain that there's more.
[27:39] And I'm certain that we could have just, could have wore you out with turning more and more and more on each point of rebuilding and recovery, and how the Gentiles will reverence and respect the people of God.
[27:50] There's more in that book. And when you read through your Bible, I hope you're reading through it. Not just picking little Psalms here and there, but reading through your Bible and getting every word of God inside of you.
[28:01] As you do, you can understand better, perhaps, some of these, what seems to be a little bit foreign passages, things that are just God judging Ammon and Moab and talking about Egypt all the time and Babylon.
[28:14] And there's future stuff going on there. And there's application that he's, it's connected to this stuff here, this end times when Christ comes back and restores his people.
[28:25] And he's going to fulfill every word that he promised toward them. In the next week or two weeks, whenever we get to finish this up, there's two more categories of their fullness.
[28:35] And the next one's going to be a study here in Isaiah about the regeneration of creation. And as you know, God created this planet and it was beautiful.
[28:47] And we read the phrase today, like the Garden of Eden. And when sin came in, then he just cursed the whole thing and thorns and thistles and labor and sorrow and things went downhill fast.
[28:59] But Jesus Christ is not going to rule over a planet like that. He's going to rule over a planet where things change and get back as close as he allows them, I guess, to that situation that he originally created.
[29:14] And so I'll show you some things next time about nature, about curses being lifted, about the longevity of life, how things are going to change drastically when Jesus Christ comes back.
[29:27] And I mean this earth, the planet, the dirt. The planet over there, the land is much like the dirt here. And if you don't do something to this dirt, you're not going to get much out of it if you don't take care of it.
[29:40] Well, he's going to fix the land so that it puts out far more than you and I could make it put out with the best chemicals and the best treatments and the best lights and whatever else you can come up with.
[29:52] He's going to put it so that that thing just blossoms. The last point then is the reformation of civilization. And I'll show you, again, through the book of Isaiah, a lot of information, a lot of prophecies about the quality of life and about society and how sinners are going to shut their mouths and how righteousness is going to rule.
[30:15] And it's not just going to be coming out of Zion or Jerusalem where they're going to be living right. It's going to spread to the world. And if Gentile kings and kingdoms don't want to submit, he's got an answer for them.
[30:28] And we'll study all that out in the future. I'm fascinated by this stuff, not just because it's intriguing or that you don't hear a lot about it, but because this is where God, remember, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
[30:40] And God speaks so much about Israel and about their fullness in the future. So that draws my attention to it too. It draws my attention to get my mind off of me and God, don't you love me and fix my problems?
[30:56] No, God's got his own will and his own purposes. And he's put an awful lot in print about that man Abraham and his seed, Jacob and, or Isaac and Jacob, changed his name to Israel and just, so we're going to keep studying this.
[31:10] And I hope that it's a blessing to you. I hope it helps you also when you read your Bible, just to have a better handle on the Lord's will there. So we're finishing a few minutes early. I'm going to pray and then turn you loose.
[31:22] And thanks for being here. And I hope this was a benefit to you and you enjoyed it. Father, thank you.