No. 22. >> Are there any handles we can take hold of to help us remember Isaiah's prophetic themes? >>DR. R. REED LESSING: Yes, it's always good in the study of a biblical book to try and find some texts, some themes, that incorporate much of the corpus. Especially with Isaiah. With all 66 chapters, how in the world can we get our minds and our hearts around this? So there are several texts in Chapters 32 and 33, which are great summarizing texts that bring us a way to somehow summarize and get a good firmer grip on what we've discovered so far. So let's look specifically at these two verses. They would be in 32:1 and 33:17. Let me summarize what we've looked at so far in terms of what these two verses indicate. And that would be the king. Who is the king? What is the king like? Where does the king come from? What will the king do once he actually arrives on the scene? For Isaiah living, you know, within a monarchy, this is a major idea that we have in Chapters 1 through 39. Let's review where we were at when we were doing that real quick overview of the death of Moses to the ministry of Isaiah. And I mentioned in passing the nature of the messianic kingdom. And I said that in I Kings Chapter 12 we have perhaps an obscure verse. We want to lift this up so we can see: What is the nature of the king's ministry. So look in your Bibles, if you will, to I Kings Chapter 12 Verse 7 where Rehoboam, Solomon's son, is given this advice. Quote: If you will only be a servant to the people, they will serve you. The king was called in Israel to be a servant. To not lord it over his subjects. But rather, serve them specifically -- remember we saw in II Samuel Chapter 8 Verse 15 that the king would serve the people by dispensing justice and righteousness. That's what Isaiah is trying to get Ahaz to do in Chapter 7. That's exactly what Hezekiah does in Chapters 36 and 37. This is what the ideal king does. He's a servant. He dispenses justice and righteousness for the people. Justice and righteousness were what Isaiah cried out wasn't in the vineyard in Chapter 5 Verse 7. In Chapter 9 Verse 6 we have the promise that there will be justice and righteousness in the land. And in Chapter 11 we saw where the king is girded with justice and truth and dispenses righteousness in the land. So where is this king who will be a servant? Who is this king who will bring about equity and peace and well being for the people? We've already seen that this king will come from the stump of Jesse. He'll be a Davidic king. So let's look now specifically at these verses. Verse 32 is important. And let's just get our bearings here. We said in terms of the outline of Isaiah that 24 through 27 stops with had this overall cosmological look at the world. Because in Chapter 28 Verse 1 it begins with the Hebrew word hoi, which is woe, which we've discussed now already numerous times. Woe means death. And so as I've already said, 28 begins with woe, Verse 1. 29, woe. 30, woe. 31, woe. But 32 begins with the Hebrew word hane or behold indicating a shift. Indicating that now we're going to look at a new theme. And what's the new theme? Behold, 32 Verse 1 begins, the king will reign in righteousness. Righteousness, we haven't talked about this in any depth yet, means to place the world back in its original intention. Perhaps the nursery rhyme: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. And Humpty Dumpty, oh, my, he had a great fall. And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again. But righteousness takes all the broken pieces, all the shattered fragments, and puts it back together again. That's righteousness. And that's what the king has come to do. 32 Verse 1. The king will reign in righteousness. He will take all of the little eggshells that all the king's men and all the king's horses couldn't help with and begin to create a restored world order. That's what righteousness is. Tseh-dek in the Hebrew language. And that's what this king will come and do. In fact, Jeremiah Chapter 23 Verse 6 has the same message. That days are coming when God will restore the lineage of David. And Jeremiah says that this king will act wisely. And he will do what is just. And he will bring about righteousness. In fact, Jeremiah says, this is the name by which he will be called: Yahweh Tsidqenu. The Lord is our righteousness. So not only does Isaiah picture a king who will restore people's lives in righteousness. But so does Jeremiah. So does Ezekiel in Chapter 34. So does Hosea. Chapter 3 Verse 5. So a major theme of a Davidic king bringing righteousness. Let's look at then a great verse in Chapter 33 Verse 17 in Isaiah. A great summary of what we've looked at so far. And your eyes will see the king in his beauty. See, this king is a beautiful king. Because he restores what is broken. He restores what sin has brought into the world. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. In his glory. This king certainly isn't Ahaz from Chapter 7. But in its near context this king is Hezekiah, who simply will not trust in horses and chariots. Your eyes will see a king in all his beauty. See, that's the king Isaiah saw in Chapter 6 Verse 5. Remember he says when he is in the Jerusalem temple: My eyes have seen the king. General Yahweh. So Yahweh is the beautiful king. His vice regent Hezekiah is the beautiful king in Isaiah. But all of this points to the most beautiful king. In fact, he is King of Kings. The ultimate king John would tell us in Revelation Chapter 19. And we see this King Jesus in righteousness restoring what is broken and bent and busted in this present world. So there you have it. Two verses. 32:1. 33:17. Which tell us about Isaiah's royal theology and what earthly kings finally can't do in a perfect way, another king named Jesus will do in its most profound ways. Restore this world in righteousness and in justice.