[Music] shalom and welcome to via hafta 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 zehra 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 loveisreal.org now here's baruch with today's lesson when one studies all the scriptures he will find that god speaks a great deal about judgment judgment is one of the central themes of the scripture and not just the old testament scripture but also within the new testament fact if one truly studies what yeshua taught they will find that he spoke a great deal about judgment and when messiah returns again i'm speaking now about his second coming he is coming for the purpose of judging this world obviously for those who have received him that judgment is going to bring about our vindication it is going to be a blessing for us because the outcome of that judgment is the establishment of the kingdom of god and there within that kingdom of god we can experience the goodness of god the blessings of god we will see the fulfillment of the promises of god and all of that is an outcome of god's judgment so if you are in a congregation where the leader seldom speaks about judgment well that individual is not giving you all the revelation of the bible in fact one of the things that must be understood about judgment is that that there is an inherent relationship between judgment and the message of the cross so if you speak the cross specifically within the confines and the context of the word of god you in order to understand that cross i'm speaking about the cross of messiah you have to understand god's judgment well take out your bible and look with me to the book of isaiah and chapter 33. now we have to be careful because many times people will pick up a chapter and they will rely upon what others say for example the most predominant position and interpretation of this passage is that it is against assyria speaking about assyria in the days of old but when we look at this passage we see that it has far more implications for the the last days the end times and this will be something that is brought out in greater detail and clarity next week when we deal with the second half of this chapter but in this lesson this week we're going to deal with the first part the first 12 verses of isaiah 33 and once again what figures predominantly in this passage is god's judgment before we begin realize this with god's manifestation of himself god taking charge of his creation we're going to see that god begins this process by means of his judgment being poured out now god has always suffered but the question is is he going to exercise that sovereignty at all times and the answer is no he does not he is the king of kings the lord of lords he is almighty god but many times god allows humanity to continue on in disobedience and god's judgment does not come but be assured one day that judgment will be manifested look with me to verse 1. now again we're going to pay close attention to word order to the grammar the vocabulary so that we can have a proper understanding of what isaiah was saying when he gave this message some 2 800 years ago and its relevance still can be found in this text for his covenant people today i'm not just speaking about the old covenant people but also new covenant people those who have a kingdom expectation rooted in the word of god so we read here this familiar word hoy speaking about how awful something's going to be and we're speaking about the outcome of god's judgment upon his enemies and when i look at this passage of scripture i see that this is a great glimpse prophetically speaking of what god's going to do in the last day to the antichrist and to those who follow him who are part of his evil and wicked and blasphemous empire that will indeed experience not only god's judgment but god's consuming wrath so he says here hoy how awful and then he speaks and uses the word show dead and sho dead the simple meaning of that word is one who stills and not just taking a little bit but one who robs in a great way meaning he takes a lot he is not at all bound by anything other than his desire for profit and his commitment to what he wants to receive so it begins by a warning and the one that he's depicting here is one who is spiritually out of control and he has made the foolish foolish assumption that he can steal and he can act in a treasonous way betraying others and not suffer the consequences and this is exactly what the antichrist is going to believe this is also the mindset of satan satan that he is not under the authority of god and will never be brought under his authority that is false so we read verse 1 hoy how awful it will be o robber and you you are not stolen against meaning you're not not plundered yourself and the idea here is that he thinks he gets away with it that he will never have anything negative happen to him and then we have another word not the word for stealing or plundering or robbing but the one for acting in a treacherous way one that is a betrayer and this is what we see about the antichrist he takes and he is not at all faithful he cannot be relied upon trusted he is one who betrays and acts in a treasonous way he is full of treachery and here in the second part of this verse it says and the one who is a betrayer one who behaves in a treacherous manner they will not betray him so if you have individuals who are part of your empire part of your your authority working with you and you are not faithful you behave in a treacherous way you are a betrayer and everyone's out for their own interests that's what brought them into your empire do not you think that that eventually these same ones are going to betray you and it says here that they will betray him now the message here there's a change in the the number of of the pronoun meaning it's not you but him and it's speaking at times in this passage and what makes us unique in some bibles just ignore this and and translate it in a defiant way against what it literally says because it's not easily understood and the message is this sometimes isaiah is speaking directly to the antichrist to this enemy other times he's speaking about him to the people the people of god and what he says here you need to know that he is going to ultimately betrayed why it's what messiah said a house divided against itself will not stand if my loyalty to one is only based upon me getting what i want when he's not able to deliver that to me and if he had no intent he's a liar then that empire is going to crumble and that's what god is saying look at the last part of verse verse 1 and when there's an end to his stealing he shall be stolen meaning he will experience theft against him and when comes to a completion his treacherous behavior they will be treacherous against against you meaning against this antichrist so what we find in no uncertain terms that something's going to happen and what is that what messiah has promised what the prophets speak of and that's this the measure that you measure out with is going to be measured back to you we find that the prophet ovadya obadiah says it this way the sword that you use to stab others that same sword is going to be used to stab you in other words there is retribution there is coming a day of rendering and that's what this first verse is speaking to speaking to the enemy of god's people who i interpret because of different timing and what we're going to see is the most fitting time for this prophecy i see it as relating to the in and the leader of evil and that is the antichrist and the one who dwells within him and that is satan look now to verse verse 2. oh lord you be gracious to us now we see a difference we see one is going to suffer something that is awful it is the judgment of god that's going to destroy but there's another group here and this other group is seeking god's grace and if you're not seeking god's grace and you're not a recipient of that grace then you are going to experience the consuming judgment of god there's no position in between so we read in verse 2 o lord be gracious unto us for we have hoped now this word hope it is the same word many of you know the place of immersion is called a mcveigh and this is the first time this word appears in the scripture it's about the garden of eden where those rivers came together in one place the waters were assembled now the message and why that relates to hope is this because it's when we assemble together the promises of god what god has said his covenantal obligations what he wants to do to his people when our hope is based upon those promises we've assembled them together they've come together in one place where's that one place right here in our heart so we who hope in the promises of god now there's a big difference between hoping in what you want your desires what you think would be good for you what you think is going to make you happy that's not hope that leads to idolatry so when it says in verse 2 we have hoped that hope is rooted in the promises of god that's been gathered together and one of the greatest promises of god and we could say the greatest is what it speaks about here word says he will be their arm and we know in isaiah's prophecy this word zeroa is is translated arm but it comes from the same word for seed like the seed of abraham and normally this word can speak of an extension and it can be translated not just an arm but also as a male offspring as a son and usually when this word appears in isaiah's gospel in isaiah's prophecy excuse me it speaks of messiah the arm of the lord the offspring of god the son of god and so we have a person saying we are seeking grace and that grace we have hoped in it's rooted in us receiving grace as the necessary element for us to take hold of the promises of god and then it speaks about how he he will be their arm for the mornings now mornings this word boker usually speaks of revelation bringing things into clarity seeing it properly that's why we know that the resurrection although messiah resurrected in the nighttime the empty tomb was manifested in the morning morning whether it's still dark or not morning time in the scripture has to do with revealing something bringing clarity to it and this is what we're seeing in this verse that messiah will manifest himself clarity this arm of the lord and notice what's parallel to this arm of the lord it is even our salvation in the time of trouble now this tells us that messiah is going to be manifested in the time of trouble first of all the time of trouble for believers and also the time of trouble for israel what it has to do with the rapture when he's going to come in the midst of intense persecution against believers and messiah is going to take us out when before the wrath of god but it will still be a time of trouble but we won't experience the wrath of god secondly for the second coming for israel they are going to be in the midst of trouble as jeremiah says ezra gila yarkov a time of trouble tribulation hardship for jacob meaning israel but god's going to deliver this remnant out at the end so he is going to be our salvation in the time of trouble look at verse three mi ko hamon now from the voice or the sound and the word hamon is a great number a multitude an exceedingly large number and people have interpreted this to mean the the pronouncement in the heaven for god to bring about judgment and vindication of his people and when it says that there's this great call for god's judgment or the sound this abundant sound of god's judgment coming notice what it says it says peoples and this is a word reflecting to the nations of the world they are going to and this word has to do with with wandering about aimlessly it is a word of confusion not knowing where to go not having any clear direction why because these individuals the nations who came up against israel in the last days when they see that their leader has been defeated that their hopes have been misplaced that god's judgment his wrath is falling it is going to bring about great confusion among the peoples and he says when you are lifted up and this lifted up is god when you are lifted up it says the nations parallel to amin peoples the are going to be scattered so being confused being scattered all of this is language scripturally speaking that speaks about an upcoming a pending defeat look now to verse 4. verse 4 still speaking about judgment and we're going to have a couple different words appear that relate to to locus now in the scripture we see about four or five different words used to describe different locus plagues we know that locus according to the traditions found in the gemara in masaket khulin we find that some locusts are kosher to eat that's what john the baptist ate and some some are not because there's clearly different types but look at verse four it talks about being gathered your plunder your spoil now what it's referring to is this these things that this wicked ruler this enemy and here again the scripture is not specific who what enemy who is this enemy what enemy are we talking about but but next week when we look at this scripture the second part of chapter 33 i believe clearly it puts it in a end times context and therefore we have to be talking about the antichrist and his empire but setting that aside whoever it is it says that that their plunder what they took what they robbed what they stole from others he says it is going to be gathered and it is going to be the collection the gathering of what the locus as and this next word speaks about the sound of of a multitude rushing to a place and we know for example it speaks about the sound of locusts coming and devouring what's there and that's what it's being spoken of that god is going to gather all the plunder that was taken stolen away from people individuals his covenant people and there's going to be this rushing of locusts and they are going to rush against it rush against this plunder meaning this enemy this this one who is defiant against the things of god and the people of god that stands in opposition to the covenant of god this one is going to become the target of god's judgment and as this judgment is being poured out upon him notice what it says about god look at verse five this this word nisga means to be lifted up it's being lifted up for the purpose of manifestation god's glory is going to be lifted up manifested so the lord will be lifted up for he dwells in the heights and he fills zion with justice and righteousness now this is in my opinion one of the most important verses because it helps us understand something it helps us to understand that the outcome and don't miss this because this is foundational too having a right theology it is god's judgment the pouring out of his wrath that is going to manifest him lift him up that is manifest his greatness to all the world for he dwells in this exalted place a different word their first one niska the second one marom two words means higher and in this manifestation of god's glory his his being lifted up by means of the outpouring of his wrath it says zion is going to be full of justice and righteousness that is zion being full of justice and righteousness means the kingdom's going to be established and that's why individuals who who profess to be bible teachers that never speak about god's judgment or say that that's a thing of the past that's all gone messiah took all that it's over and done with they are simply misguided they are not informed properly they are not speaking the truth of scripture their understanding of god and the work of messiah when he returns again they're confused about it they're incorrect so god by means of judgment is going to be lifted up he is going to be high up and he is going to fill zion with justice and righteousness and then look at verse 6. still speaking about god it says and it will come about faithfulness in your time so god is going to show himself he's always faithful never time that god's not faithful but his faithfulness is going to be manifested in a most discernible way through his judgment and the outcome of his judgment what his judgment breaks about so he says and it will be your faithfulness in the times in your faithfulness in your time and it's going to be power and salvation and it's in the plural salvations and wisdom and knowledge and the fear of the lord it is his treasure now again there are certain things that we should emphasize all of the scripture is vital all of the scripture contains the revelation of god but there are certain things that that can just speak to us a little bit deeper and for me this statement so easy to understand the fear of the lord it is his treasure so god think of this god who is almighty god who is everything meaning there's nothing that he lacks anything that he wants he speaks it into being and it tells us here for us if we fear the lord giving him priority this is his treasure unto us fear me this is my treasure what an important truth and that's why if we're not teaching the fear of the lord and one aspect that that that instills the fear of the lord into us is a proper understanding of god as judge so we read and it will be faithfulness in your time power abundant salvation wisdom knowledge the fear of the lord it is his treasure verse 7. behold and beginning here we see that israel even though they will experience god's deliverance it's not going to come about easy we're going to see that the enemy wants to destroy the holy land why that word holy land can be understand understood as land with a purpose what purpose the purpose of god so verse 7 behold their heroes or mighty ones valiant ones speaking about those that belong to god they are going to cry out outside most of the rabbinical scholars see that this has to do with exile that there's going to be a time of exile now we know that in the last days for example in the book of revelation and chapter 12 we see that israel is going to go out into the the wilderness for three and a half years during this time of of jacob's trouble now there will be a remnant that's not cut off from jerusalem but the majority is going to go into a exile in the wilderness so behold your valiant ones your your heroes your mighty ones they're going to cry outside and the angels of peace they're going to weep bitterly now all of this has to do with the sadness of jacob's trouble verse 8 and the highways these are the pathways that people could travel in and through israel it says they are going to be made desolate and the guest is is going to cease to travel meaning that that what's going on in israel in the last days is going to be so severe the persecution this time of jacob's trouble and again the source of this is not god's wrath the source of it is the persecution the hatred against the jewish people that will be led by the antichrist and those who are part of his empire so the highways will be made desolate the traveler will cease to to travel and he who voided the covenant now this is the one who transgressed the covenant and who is this this is the antichrist who made a covenant but he's going to transgress it and he is going to have total loathing he will loathe the cities and he will not give any consideration to humanity so he's not like god who looks down with mercy and compassion upon humans knowing that we're simply dirt dirt that was formed by god whom god breathed in life that we have an aspect a connection with him but we're just dirt nevertheless god is going to have pity and mercy but but this one the antichrist he will not have any regard for life human life verse 9 but miserable is the land this can be the land of israel or the entire earth and he says he will make uh despicable shriveled up lebanon lebanon is seen as a fruitful place all the forests the trees and such a fertile place of of of nature and he says it is going to be at that time that which is made despicable and shriveled up and sharon will be a desert here again this is the fertile land along the mediterranean sharon will become as a desert bashan which is up in the golan heights and carmel which is in haifa part of the carmel mountain rains the lebanese mountains to come into israel it says they're going to be to be shaken but if you do a good study of this word it speaks of bashan and carmel being high places and the word here in modern hebrew speaks about land being stripped away sometimes by by wind sometimes by water sometimes by ice but the effects of nature causes the land to simply erode well this is not going to be a natural erosion but is going to come about because of the enemy these goodland bashan and carmel are going to be eroded to to to that which is is sad verse 10. now who's speaking here god is speaking and he says now i will rise up says the lord and the lord will say i will rise up and now i will be lifted up and now i will be lifted or raised up so three times we have three different words the word for lacum to rise up or the word romem to be lifted up or the word leset which is also to be lifted up raised up carried up and it all speaks about god manifesting himself at this time when we look at the land and the land is destitute and here we're clearly speaking about the land of israel that which around israel when we talk about the the sharon and the bashan and the carmel god says now i will stand up said the lord now i will be lifted up and now i will be raised up verse 11. and now he's going to proclaim judgment and destruction upon this enemy he says you conceived look at verse 11 you conceive chef now the chaff is what is discarded the grain is kept in this this act of threshing and sometimes threshing is is depicted symbolically as judgment so god says you've conceived the chef and you gave birth to to stubble this is a word for for hey and your spirit meaning your desire your objective he says is going to be a fire fire that consumes you so what do we have here we have an example of one who is plotting conceiving things wanting to carry them out and what is it gonna do it's gonna backfire upon them their desire for wrath upon the people of god in the fines of god himself it is gonna come back and devour them that is what god is saying and now let's look at our last verse verse 12 and the people meaning the people that have no covenant the people that are with the antichrist in that evil empire it says the peoples they will be and it's word for fire but it's simply the word burning up that which has been burned up it will be like lime or white wash that that is mixed with thorns and with the shavings or the the grass that was clipped by for example today a lawnmower so the gas that was cut down all of these things are easily and notice the last word with fire they will be ignited so when we look at verse 11 he says the people they are going to be like that which has been burned up with fire they are going to be like whitewash that is mixed with thorns and and the cuttings of grass all very combustible that which is easily uh lit on fire flammable he says they are going to be ignited with fire fire so frequently spoke enough so frequently spoken of in the last days as god's judgment so we're going to close now with the end of verse 12 we'll pick up where we left off next week and we'll see greater hints and clarity in the scripture that rightly understanding chapter 33 as a last day prophecy until we pick up next week may god richly bless you 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 you