[Music] shalom and welcome to via israel a hebrew phrase which means you shall love israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr baruch shares his expository teaching from the bible dr baruch is the senior lecturer at the zara avraham institute based in israel although all courses are taught in hebrew at the institute dr baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in english to find out more about our work in israel please visit us on the web at loveisreal.org that's one word love israel.org now here's baruch with today's lesson how would you describe yourself spiritually would you say that you have a high degree of interest in spiritual matter spiritual issues are you someone who is passionate about the things of god if you are you are going to be someone who shows a commitment to truth but what about one who is indifferent uninterested in spiritual things such a person god is speaking to in this chapter of isaiah so with that said take out your bible and look with me to the book of isaiah and chapter 29 now if we were to describe the people of israel at this moment in the message that isaiah has for the people in his day it would be a message against spiritual indifference being uninterested and unwilling to encounter the truth of god why because they do not want to change so let's begin isaiah 29 and verse 1. notice what he says he writes hoy ariel now hoy is a hebrew word that says in its current condition it is heading for disaster that god's judgment is upon the horizon and if there's no change in what change are we speaking about repentance if there is no repentance if people do not turn once more to god then the outcome the results the future is going to be one of utter disaster and we have to ask ourselves daily does that describe me am i passionate am i committed am i doing the things that relate to god's will am i under and recognizing god's authority in my life am i studying and applying the truth of god to my situations using his word as the source of discernment for every aspect every nuance of my life i bring it under thee the will and the truth of god if that doesn't describe you if you are spiritually indifferent then isaiah has a lot of words to share with you in this chapter so we begin with the phrase woe arielle now ariel most scholars see this referring to a a nickname so to speak for jerusalem but the rabbinical scholars ariel from a tradition of judaism speaks about the altar at the temple of god that god is looking at the altar and specifically what is done there the offerings the sacrifices that are made and looking at the hearts of those who bring them those who work there and what in fact is offered up to him and this is how god responds not by as we'll see simply what the people say but what their worship what they're offering what their sacrifices say about them and their understanding their commitment their interests in god and in this chapter these things do not speak well for the people of israel so he says woe to rel ariel and then it has a phrase the the city that david the campton and this is simply a synonym for david dwelling there so we know we're speaking about jerusalem we know we're speaking about the place where david established the kingdom and in other words the fact that david is used here that name speaks about a passage that has kingdom implications and it begins not in a good way that phrase woe as we've learned how awful the future is going to be if there's not a change look at the second half of verse 1. we read they add year unto year and what that is saying to us is year comes year goes but there's not any change in the people they're not growing they're not maturing they're not growing in their their knowledge of god their life does not reflect the passage of time so again we need to make this personal to each of us as i grow older as the years pass by is there spiritual change in my life am i growing in my understanding of spiritual truth am i maturing in behavior am i becoming more useful more committed more effective in serving god here there is no change and then it ends by the statement hageem is a word for festivals but here again the rabbinical commentators because of the name ariel which they interpret relating to the altar and now the chagin relating to the festival sacrifices not just the festivals themselves but the sacrifices that are made and this word literally according to commentators like rashi and others it speaks about the festivals being cut off being brought to an end not continuing and we know something we know from what the prophets teach that that many of the festivals they were not observed during the time of the kings we remember that isaiah prophesied during the time of several kings of judah and the worship the sacrifices the work the function of the temple going up to jerusalem for the festivals all these things were were being set aside the people were embracing idolatry not spiritual truth so in one sense things are being brought to an end things are not continuing as god would have them to do and therefore what is god going to do what is his response look now to verse 2. it's a word of distress so he says i will distress ariel i'm going to bring about suffering i'm going to bring about pain discomfort why because he's teaching a spiritual principle a spiritual law when you are spiritually indifferent that indifference that lack of commitment that uninterests and the truth of god is going to bring about it's a spiritual law no different that if you jump off a a ladder you're going to fall these are lost they happen because of the condition we're in nature one the same way that there are natural laws like gravity there are also spiritual laws and this is what he's going to share with us primarily in this first half of chapter 29 that their spiritual laws and because of how the people of god his so-called covenant people their indifference their lack of interest in the truth of god their unwillingness to to behave in a way that shows a proper commitment to god all of this is going to bring about a disastrous outcome they are going to encounter the punishment of god they are going to begin to suffer experience pain both emotionally physically and spiritually the enemy when we are spiritually indifferent we are empowering the enemy so god says i will bang distress to ariel and there shall be and we have two words for mourning that there will be utterly a feeling of grief and sorrow that comes about because of death so when we are spiritually indifferent we are inviting death not just spiritual death but physical death these spiritual laws they just don't have spiritual implications but implications in regard to every aspect of our being so being dead spiritually will bring about physical death things will begin to die so he says in the second half of verse 2 and there shall be utterly mourning and it shall be to me as ariel meaning this ariel is a word that describes the worship that took place specifically primarily at the altar and the people they were not acting in obedience and therefore because of their disobedience because of their unwillingness to serve god god was displeased by that and therefore he says as i am being displeased with you you are going to experience displeasure he is going to bring upon them the feelings he has for his people they are going to know them by god's judgment god's response to them verse 3. and i will encamp and the word here probably means on on the side meaning that god is going to to do something he's going to box the people in there's not going to be in other words an easy escape you're not going to avoid this what god is saying is going to take place and think of it this way there are spiritual laws and the violators of these laws are not going to escape their consequences that's what he's saying god is going to encamp he's going to be present in every location and he says i will set siege against you and the next word is basically building first some bibles will say a tower but it's probably better for that which is established and this is a a siege mound so he's going to begin to lay the foundation for the city to be laid siege against now why is this important because this is what the people would dread having this city being set a siege against her it brings about distress that is slow in coming and it simply gets worse and worse and there's really no outcome other than to go out and fight and the reason why they didn't go out and fight and the siege wall was laid was because they understood that they were inferior that the enemy's armies were stronger than them they were going alone they did not have god's blessing so he writes here in verse verse 3 i am going to to encamp basically on every side against you and i will lay siege against you and then he speaks about this this siege mound being being set and i will raise up against you a siege so the people are going to experience a long a painful and a fearful experience from god why this is what spiritual indifference brings about this is when we are careless with the things of god again the whole passage that we're going to be looking at speaks about israel and what they're offering up to god their worship unto him and they're casual they are irregular with it they are are sometimes missing out entirely they're not interested in worship and therefore they're going to experience the the outcome of such casualness in regard to the worship of god verse 4. he says here you will be made low now this is a word for for bringing and causing one to be humiliated publicly god is going to show visibly publicly his displeasure with the people they are going to be spiritually humiliated and it's going to have physical implications and it says i you will be brought down [Music] to the ground and from the ground you're going to speak and from the deaths you are going to be made low your words so he says you're going to be put down very low and this is where you're going to speak from he's going to knock them down from their self-exalted positions and many here interpret this to mean that they have exalted themselves financially that they are enjoying prosperity and this prosperity has turned them away from the spiritual they are focused on the physical what their wealth can can bring to them so god is going to bring them low being low speaks of humility as we spoke of but also it also speaks of emptiness so they're going to be crying out to him from a position of being humiliated and then he says and it shall come about as and this next word the the hebrew word oath speaks about one who is a an enchanter a sorcerer one who is perhaps a better way to translate it is a medium and this is one that consults the dead now right there we should see something why would we want to have contact with those that are dead they have have cease they are are down low and the point is israel is going to be like a medium's voice that comes up from the lower parts of the earth this is how far he's going to bring them down and the word here speaks about their spiritual condition of consulting mediums and enchanters and sorcerers rather than the two prophets so it says and it shall come about as a medium from the earth your voice from the the dust your words will will chirp and this is like the chirping the word here actually speaks of the sound that birds make and the point here is that it's not desertable you hear a bird and he seems to be saying the same thing no matter what the situation is what day of the week what time of the year they have their own song and in the same way god is saying what you're going to be speaking to me not going to desert it it's not going to to in any way in the same way that that birds chip chirping away every day doesn't cause us to behave differently we don't hear that and understand it and respond differently god is not going to respond to to us are our cries are going to be simply as the chirping of a bird verse 5. and it shall come about as fine or thin dust and what's going to be that the multitude of your foreigners now what this is laying the foundation for is the enemy foreign enemy coming and being brought against the children of judah specifically and also we we can see this in regard to the covenant people in a broader sense those who say i know god i'm his servants but in reality they're not living that way so god is saying as the fine dust of the ground meaning it's many there's lots of fine dust it's small therefore when you see dust it's a lot and he's saying that the enemy your foreign enemy is going to be a multitude and in the same way that the the chef passes by the wind draws it and when someone is threshing it just continues one shaft after another after another and this is what he's saying here the is going to come and pass through again and again and again and there will be a great multitude will be those who are tyrants against you and he says this shall be suddenly and he uses two different words that mean basically the same thing one coming suddenly and one coming without any type of of indication so it will happen quickly and it will happen without any type of indication so the people are going to be going along with they think are fine things are good we have financial stability there's prosperity there's happiness and then suddenly without any type of indication other than this prophetic revelation the people are going to find themselves experiencing the army coming again and again and again bringing in stability instability will destroy the prosperity and the people will find themselves in great need verse six now how is this coming why is it happening well notice the source verse six it is from the lord of hosts and he says you will be visited and this word for being visited in this context is that you will be punished and this punishment punishment's going to come in a very visible a very discernible manner he says like the the thunder like an earthquake like the great sound of a storm or a hurricane and it's going to be like flames of fire that devour so when fire is going through you can hear the destruction the fire consuming so god is using here rich language in order to tell them how serious how devastating the the outcome of spiritual indifference is going to be for the people verse verse 7. and it shall come about as a dream as a night vision a multitude of all the nations and its nations that have armies that are warring nations will be upon ariel and all of her her armies and her stronghold her fortresses what does it say here that there's going to be distress to her so her armies her fortresses they're all going to experience distress this same word for pain suffering turmoil it's a word of of displeasure this is what spiritual indifference brings now that shouldn't surprise us because when we are committed to the things of god when we serve him faithfully what's the outcome of being a faithful servant joy gladness but when we are spiritually indifferent we will find ourselves experiencing sadness sorrow grief that's the message of this this text verse 8 and it shall come about just as the one who has hungry dreams and behold one who goes to bed and he's so hungry you know what he'll dream about he'll dream about food and this is what it's saying here because of this intense need the people are going to be dreaming about this this provision that which brings a change they're going to be dreaming about something very different than their reality and it's all a dream look again in verse 8 for it shall be just as the one who is hungry dreams and behold he eats in the dream but then he wakes up and there's emptiness to himself just as the thirsty one dreams and behold he drinks but he wakes up and behold and the word here is iaf now there's a difference between modern hebrew and biblical hebrew there's a strong correlation but there's differences and this word in modern hebrew iaf means to be tired exhausted sometimes it's just a word that says i'm tired and i want to rest i want to lay down i want to go to bed at night but this word in the bible oftentimes relates to one who is dying one who is perishing now in modern hebrew we use the word goses for that but in the biblical language we have here the word iaf so behold this one is is dying and his soul is is full of sorrow of affliction of distress thus there will be this multitude of all the nations and these are wary nation army nations upon har sion mount zion what we find is this spiritual indifference brings attack against the kingdom of god meaning this we need to understand it in two ways one of which is this the kingdom of god is not going to be established in the midst of spiritual indifference just that simple god is not going to move to fulfill promises and percy own the the mountain of zion relates to the location of where the promises the excellency of god uh dwells where it's available so he's saying this type of behavior brings war against the promises of god it pushes them far away so it's an attack against kingdom things when you are spiritually indifferent you're not going to have a kingdom character you will not be kingdom minded and you will not be be receiving the blessings of the kingdom verse 9. verse 9 speaks in clearer terms about the spiritual condition of the people he says in verse 9 some of the modern translation has a pause but it's a waiting now this word in rabbinical language speaks often times about waiting with expectation for for messiah for him to fulfill the promises of god and it's used here because the next word when we see this waiting and then it's a word for being a mace people are waiting for a future a good future a kingdom future but they're going to be amazed because that is not what they're going to experience god is going to behave very differently let me give an example i watch frequently here in israel a rabbinical network and what you hear by and large the the leading voices the most public voices for for judaism some of the leading rabbis here is that things are going to get good and not just good but great they are telling people that all the sorrows for example jacob's trouble this has been cancelled out all these prophecies in regard to the last days of of distress and sorrow and wars and stuff all of this they say have been canceled out and we in just a moment that same type of thought of suddenly without any type of indication goodness is coming messiah is going to manifest himself and bring to us the promises of god the good things well this is not at all what is the reality the future reality is that people are waiting for that expecting that but unfortunately they're going to be amazed and maybe a better way to translate this is that they are going to be shocked with the reality and then the next word is you have two primary ways that that the rabbinical scholars understand this one would be blinded they are utterly blinded that word appears twice so when the same word appears back to back in a unique construction they work together we would translate it in english being utterly blinded but but others point out that it's not a word for for necessarily being blinded there's other indications where it has to do with screaming out crying out so we could translate it this way the people are going to to be waiting waiting with an expectation but that expectation is not going to be fulfilled they are going to be shocked at the reality and they are going to be crying out screaming out and the other interpretation is that they were blinded to the things then we read they were drunk but not drunk with wine they they staggered meaning they moved they were wobbling in in weakness back and forth but not to or because of strong drink so they were not staggering and confused and and wandering back and forth and weebling around because they were drunk that wasn't the influence that put them in this position what was it they were following incorrect prophecy they had been deceived they were following improper leadership their lives did not reflect the truth of god but they were indifferent to the things of god but they were passionate about the things of this world so he says look at verse 10 for i will pour upon them and who is this the lord so the lord will pour upon them literally it's upon you isaiah is speaking to the people the lord will pour upon you a spirit and this is a spirit of of slumber now the word here can speak of a trance but it can also speak of for example one who's about to have surgery they receive anesthesia in order to to put them to sleep so it's a a false sleep it's not a sleep a normal one but it's a spiritual sleep meaning this when you're asleep you don't know what's going on and that's what he's saying they have been in a trance based upon wealth based upon prosperity they are are confused and that's really what it's speaking about being utterly confused and not knowing how to respond because these things have blinded you these things have caused you to become dull for the things of god and then he says that he will close your eyes you won't have any type of perception or revelation with the prophets he's against these false prophets and the heads of the the seers these are the ones who supposedly have visions and they were supposed to be true visions but god says kisa which is he's going to cover up their heads and this is an idiom which means these seers as well as the prophets they're going to have no revelation there's not going to be anything from god given to the prophets or the seers everything's going to be silent from him there's not going to be any instruction why because it's a time of punishment it's a time of judgment verse 11 and the vision of everything that will be to you it will be like words of a book that are sealed so god anything that's spiritual is going to be like words of a book that are sealed which are given to one who knows the book meaning knows how to read saying read please this and he says i will not or i'm unable because it is sealed so he's not wanting to because it's sealed well what do you do you open it up you break the seal now this is talking about not like in the book of revelation that book that was sealed that no one was worthy this is a normal way it's a new book open it up there's a new message that god has for the people and the fact that he says i'm not able to because it's sealed the context says he's uninterested he's unwilling he's not willing to do the normal which is to break the seal you would do that if you're interested in what's in the book look now to verse 12. and the book is given to one who does not know and the implication is the book how to read saying read please this and he says i do not know how to read now there's always what there's always an excuse now in this situation the people are being likened to those who are indifferent who are un caring who are are unable to receive god's revelation they are not behaving based upon the truth of god now look at verse verse 3. verse 13 and adonai and the lord said but it's a word that speaks about his lordship it's not that you'd have hey the typical word for the lord but it's word literally written out not enunciated but written out and annunciated adonai the lord he has said because that the people this people approach me with we would say their mouths but people singular his mouth but it's the mouth of the people and with their tongues literally his tongues they they they honor me so the people come forth with words and they want to honor god with the lips so they say outwardly but he says but their hearts are far from me so they may be saying things they may be mouthing things but the heart the real indicator of their thoughts are far removed from from god he says and will come about their fear of me is not a fear when god discerns it it says the commandments of men they're taught now i think that is so significant god is saying oh they say nice things but their heart is far removed from me and the fear meaning fear is synonymous with behavior what fear is going to to produce action if you're scared of something you're going to run away if you see something as a threat you may fight but there's going to be a response and it says the response of the people are not based in god revelation no their commandment their way of of behaving is based upon the commandments that men have taught them not god and this is going to lay the foundation of what such behavior brings about and what god is going to do a faithful god to bring about that change that must be in order that the promises of god the will of god ultimately will be fulfilled but once more it's only going to be fulfilled for that remnant most of the people are going to remain indifferent unrepentant and not interested in god's revelation only that remnant is going to learn they are going to experience this this sorrow this this affliction this punishment and is going to move them to acknowledge their sin to change their indifference and move towards commitment and that remnant is going to see god renewing by means of redemption his covenantal relationship his kingdom promises and his will ultimately this remnant will know will you be in that remnant or not shalom from israel well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love israel.org again to find out more about us please visit our website love israel dot o-r-g there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the lord bless you in our messiah yeshua that is jesus as you walk with him shalom from israel [Music]