No. 17. >> I truly appreciate your comments that apply to our daily lives as ministers in the church. Thank you. Now I guess it's time to ask: What comes next in Isaiah? >>DR. R. REED LESSING: As we have already indicated, the oracles against the nations comes next. This particular section in Isaiah has ten sections, ten oracles or declarations. Let me give you a quick outline of this section of Isaiah. In Chapters 13 and 14, we have oracles against Babylon and Assyria. Then at the end of Chapter 14, an oracle against Palestina. Chapters 15 and 16 are oracles against Moab. 17 and 18 are oracles against Damascus. 19 and 20 are oracles against Egypt and Kush. Chapter 21 Verses 1 through 10 is simply entitled Against the Desert by the Sea. No one is quite sure what that means. 21:11 and 12 would be an oracle against Dumah, which is probably Edom. 21:13 through 17 is against Arabia. And here comes the shock. Chapter 22, Jerusalem. What is an oracle against Jerusalem doing in a section entitled oracles against the nations? Good question. Amos performs the same rhetorical and theological strategy in Chapters 1 Verse 3 through 2:16. In other words, in the book of Amos, he has six oracles against foreign nations. And then he has an oracle against Judah, that's the seventh. And then an oracle against Israel. That begins in Amos 2 Verse 6. That's the eighth oracle in those initial chapters of the prophet Amos. Amos probably being the first writing prophet makes this claim: That the people of God are no different than the surrounding nations. So Amos can preach against Edom and Ammon and Moab and the others. And do so in such a way as to include the people of God. Isaiah writing in the same century, though slightly later than Amos, makes the same move. He says: As long as we're talking about the nations and their sins, let's include Jerusalem because at the time of Isaiah, the people of God, by and large, were no different than the nations. Saint Paul puts it this way in Romans Chapter 12: Therefore, by the mercies of God I beseech you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Don't be conformed to this world. But be transformed. Well, Israel and Judah in Isaiah's day were not transformed. They had conformed to the present evil age. So it is shocking that in Chapter 22 of Isaiah we have an oracle against Jerusalem. Well, then it is all coming to a completion in Chapter 23 with the oracle against Tyre. Each of these ten sections in this part of the book of Isaiah indicates that the Lord is the judge of all the earth. Isaiah includes Jerusalem, as we said, because Jerusalem acted just like the other nations. Ezekiel will have much to say about that, especially in Ezekiel Chapters 16 and 23. Well, let's look at this now in a little bit more detail. In devastating nation after nation, the Lord has a plan. The plan is stated in Isaiah Chapter 14 Verse 26. And again, the plan is to humble the nations so that they, too, in repentance can stream to Zion and learn torah from Yahweh and the Word of God in Jerusalem. So why does God do this? First he executes his wrath in order to eliminate sinners from the earth. Isaiah 13:9 and 14:20 through 23. One of the major theological themes in this section is to put an end to all human pride and glory. It was Martin Luther who said that every sin can be traced back to the sin of pride. That was the sin of the devil. Pride. So this would be a major theme in this section of Isaiah. Chapters 13 Verse 11. 23 Verses 7 and 9 give you a little flavor for all of the pride and glory that God humbles and judges in this section. He also defeats enemies by, therefore, giving rest to his oppressed people. And allowing exiles to return. That would be, for example, in 14 Verses 1 through 8. He also -- and this would be an important component -- he draws the nations to Zion. And to Zion's king. Specifically in Chapter 16:1 through 5 and 23:17 and 18. Let's look at that more specifically how the nations are drawn into Zion in a most radical way. Look in your Bibles, if you will, to Isaiah Chapter 19 Verse 25. The last verse in this section, which would be an oracle against Egypt. Now, Egypt would never be the friend of Israel. Not only when they were in bondage in the land of Goshen for 400 years before Moses, Aaron and Miriam led them out. But even after they left Egypt, the Egyptians were never Israel's friends. In fact, we could summarize the entire Old Testament with this statement: God could get Israel out of Egypt. But he could never get Egypt out of Israel. Egypt was always this huge temptation for Israel. And the Assyrians, we've already talked about the Assyrians. With their horrific crimes against humanity. Their ripping open pregnant women. Their skinning people alive. Decapitating others and forming pyramids out of heads. Assyrians, Egyptians, these are the chief of sinners in the Old Testament. But look at what God promises in Isaiah 19:25. He says: Blessed be my people Egypt. And the work of my hands Assyria. And my inheritance Israel. What has God done here? God is leveling the playing field. He is saying that Egypt, Assyria and Israel are all in the future going to be his people. We could almost hear the people in the parable Jesus tells in Matthew 20, the parable of the workers. Remember, some come early in the day, some come at midday, some come at the end of the day. But they all get the same wage. And the people who worked all the day and bore the heat of the entire working day say in the parable: You have made them -- that is the latter workers -- equal to us. Well, yes. All are welcome into the kingdom. Even Egyptians and Assyrians. So when Jesus comes along and he heals a centurion's servant, when he heals a Canaanite woman's daughter, when he goes into Gentile places and proclaims the coming kingdom, this is not a new strategy for God. This is not a new blueprint for his work in the world. No, God has always been after all the nations. And we see that here in its most radical form in Isaiah 19 Verse 25. In the oracles against the nations. Well, continuing then, not only do we have nations coming to become the people of God, but the fifth idea within this section would be to redirect all people toward Yahweh and away from their idols. So this list indicates that God uses judgement and grace, law and Gospel, in his plan to bring forth nations to Zion. His alien or strange work of judgement is to destroy the wicked, debase the proud. To defeat the tyranny of Assyria and Babylon. His proper work of the Gospel, mercy, includes the restoration of Israel to Zion while also reaching out to the nations to bring them to Zion. This is, again, fulfilling the grand vision that Isaiah has of all the nations streaming to Zion. So it is by design that this section in Isaiah is placed here. Because its ultimate fulfillment is in Jesus Christ, who will gather all the nations from the four corners of the earth, Mark 13:27. And people from all directions will come to the great banquet of the lamb. Luke 13:29. Revelation Chapter 7 Verse 9 pictures a great multitude from every nation. Singing praise before the throne and the lamb. And as we've mentioned now several times, Hebrews 12:22 through 24 sets forth this fulfillment of Isaiah's Zion theology in the church.