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So, as you can tell, we are starting a new book, and the book of Isaiah is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament, and there's 66 chapters, so we're going to be in this for over a year, so at the same time next year, we should still be in it, but I love the book of Isaiah, and actually, the book of Isaiah, you may know this, you may not know this, but the book of Isaiah is one of the most quoted books in the New Testament. It's actually only second to the book of Psalms, and so, if you look up all the prophecies and just stuff that's said in the New Testament, Isaiah is number two, and so, I remember doing this study, too, where I was trying to figure out, okay, how many was in Psalms and Isaiah to see if that was true, and it's kind of hard because some things are alluded to, and Genesis is way up there, too, so it's kind of like Psalms, Isaiah, Genesis, but some things are just like talking about Noah, and it's like, well, is that a quotation? I mean, it's talking about him, so it's kind of hard to really nail down, okay, well, how many mentions or how many times does it quote it besides where it says as it is written or spoken or whatever, but the interesting thing about the book of Isaiah, and I'm just kind of giving you an introduction to this book, first of all, is that it has 66 chapters, and the Bible has 66 books, and you may have heard the thought process here as far as how Isaiah is kind of like a mini-Bible, and if you've ever read through the book of Isaiah, you've probably noticed that stark difference between chapter 39 and chapter 40, and if you know, there's 39 books in the Old Testament, and there's 27 books in the New Testament, and there is a good divide there as far as what's being said. Now, there are scholars out there who say, well, that shows you that there was two different Isaias, and the book of Isaiah is actually written by two different people, which is hogwash because Jesus actually quotes from both sides of it, from the front half, if you will, and the back half, and he calls them Isaiah and both of those, so Jesus debunks that. Now, but all that to say is that as we go through here, if you think about it, if it is kind of like a mini-Bible, then chapter 1 would be associated with what book? Genesis, right? Chapter 2 would be Exodus, and obviously chapter 66 would be Revelation, and you know, you would correlate the number with the order of the books, and I believe they do correlate. Now, you know, I may not pick up one, I may not show you anything in there, it doesn't mean that there isn't, there's some that are just so obvious, okay, but there's stuff that's quoted in those books that's actually in that chapter, and so it's kind of uncanny how that works, and you say, well, why would it be that way? Well, probably to show us that, hey, it is the 66 books, that's the word of God, and we didn't need, it's no more, no less, right? It's not like, well, this book shouldn't have been in there, or we should have had this other book from the Apocrypha or something like that. Isaiah's kind of showing us, hey, this was the structure, you know, way back in Isaiah's day, kind of showing us that that would be the finale or the totality of the Bible, but all I have to say is that I want to get into, okay, well, where are we at, you know, with Isaiah? And it's kind of cool because we went through the kings, you know, we did that whole series on the kings, because you should remember some of these kings, and so in verse one there, it says, the vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Now this gives you a lot of information as far as where is he at, who's he talking to, okay? So when you're reading through the book of Isaiah, he's not a prophet of the northern kingdom, okay? Elijah, Elisha, you know, there was other prophets that were up there in that northern kingdom and prophesying, you know, with those kings and everything, but Isaiah, he was down in the southern kingdom, he was in Judah, and you don't even see the mention of any kings in Israel during that time, it just mentions the kings of Judah, and it also says, you know, the vision which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, okay? So when you're looking at this, you know, what you're going to see is that chapter one to chapter five, you're going to be dealing, or even chapter six, you're going to be dealing with Uzziah, because in chapter six, it's in the year that Uzziah died, it specifically says that in chapter six, in the year that Uzziah died, okay? And then chapter seven is talking about in the days of Ahaz, okay? So Ahaz, in the days of Ahaz, you know, you kind of skip Jotham a little bit, right, because you have Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, but at the same time, we also know that Jotham reigned during the end of Uzziah's reign, okay? So even though Uzziah died in chapter seven, really Jotham was reigning at that time, because the last two years of Uzziah's time, he was a leper, and he was abiding in a several house, or a separate house, right? So actually, in Isaiah seven, Jotham is really the one that's kind of sitting on the throne, even though his father's still technically alive, okay? So it gives you a little timeline, because it kind of gives you an understanding of what's going on at that time, you know, why is he talking to Judah about this, you know, who's reigning, but from chapter one to chapter seven, you're dealing actually with good kings, okay, for the most part. Obviously, Uzziah messed up, and he became a leper at the end of his life, because he was trying to do the office of a priest, and you know that story, we already touched on that, but you're still dealing with good kings at that time, okay? Ahaz, different story. Ahaz was a wicked, you know, he wasn't a good king, and then Hezekiah was a great king, okay? And so it gives you a little context about some of the stuff that's being said at that time, but also kind of prophesying about what's going to happen based off what future kings are going to do, whether it be a judgment based off of like what Ahaz is going to do, or what the people are doing, or it's going to be prophesying maybe about what Hezekiah is going to do in the near future. And a lot of times when you see these prophecies, there's things that are going to happen in the near future. It's kind of a shadow fulfillment of kind of the big prophecy, which is going to happen in, you know, the later future, if you will. You know, like with prophecies about Jesus, or whether the prophecies about the end times. But a lot of these prophecies have basically a place in the near future, dealing with events that are going to happen with kings in the near future, or countries in the near future, but really the true fulfillment is way later. Now, and just to give you an idea, so you have your king charts, but Uzziah reigned for 52 years. We don't really see, you know, I don't think that he started prophesying at the beginning of Uzziah's reign, you know, or anything like that, but if you think about Jotham reigned for 16 years, Ahaz for 16 years, and Isaiah is preaching about Hezekiah in the 14th year of his reign in Isaiah 36 to 39. Okay, so you at least have 32 years of Jotham and Ahaz, and then you have 14 years on top of that, so you what, so that would be 46, right? 46 years of prophesying that we know of for sure, okay? That's what we know for sure, okay? That's entailing that he's coming at the very tail end of Uzziah, like the last year, okay? But all that to say is that gives you a little idea of, you know, the timeline here. Now, let's get into what's being said here. Like I said, he's saying this vision is concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and actually at the very beginning of this chapter, I believe he's talking about Israel, that northern kingdom, but he's talking about them to tie it into Jerusalem, okay? And if you know, when did Israel get taken captive? Who is king of Judah during that time? Do you remember? It was Hezekiah. It was kind of at the beginning of Hezekiah's reign. I think it was the sixth year, sixth or ninth year. I'm forgetting off the top of my head here, but that's when Israel was taken captive. So in Uzziah's day, was Israel still a nation, the northern kingdom? Yeah. And Israel, now when you get to chapter 36 and 37, when Assyria is coming after, you know, Judah, then at that point, Israel's gone, okay? But what I believe is talked about here in Isaiah 1, verse 2, and going down to verse 7, is God talking about the judgment that's going to come on Israel, okay? About how they're going to be completely annihilated and they're going to be completely taken out, but then He's basically saying, hey, but Judah is going to be left, okay? That's what's being said in this chapter, really. Judah's being left, but then He's also saying, Judah, you need to watch out, you know, at the same time. Like, the only reason that Judah wasn't destroyed when Israel was destroyed is because there was a righteous remnant, and that's where you get into, there was a left, a remnant, and you know, and all the stuff that's being said here. Now, obviously, there's way future and spiritual applications dealing with that remnant, which we're going to get to, and but at the same time, you know, just the simple future of what's being said here is that Israel's going to be destroyed and completely taken out. Judah's only going to be left, but Judah needs to get right with God, okay? That's what's being said in this chapter. So just kind of give you a bridged version of what's going to be said here. But in verse 2 there it says, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. Now, to go back to that whole idea of 66 books, 66 chapters, what's the first thing that's said in Genesis? In the beginning, God created the what? Heaven and the earth, and this whole book starts off, and it starts off saying, Hear, O heavens, and hear, O earth. Not to mention Sodom and Gomorrah is brought up, and where's Sodom and Gomorrah found? And that's kind of a predominant thing that's being said in this chapter as well. So just a little thing, some of these things are really uncanny on how it correlates perfectly with that. But anyway, there's kind of your little nugget of, okay, here's how it ties into Genesis. But going on from there it says in verse 3, The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. So you see how he's comparing, he's like basically an ox knows his owner, and an ass knows his master, but you don't know, and you don't even try to consider it. That's what he's saying about Israel, that you're basically just like an animal that doesn't even know who his master is. And verse 4, Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Alright, so, but notice that he says in verse 3, But Israel doth not know. Now, honestly, obviously Judah can be talking about, when you're talking to Judah you could be calling them Israel, right, because obviously Judah is a son of Israel. But I believe they're showing a difference here. Verse 8 I believe is showing you, okay now we're going to be talking about Judah, okay. And what I believe is stating here is just basically showing you the state of Israel. Because we went through all the kings of Israel, I mean, barring Jehu, they were all wicked. And even Jehu didn't follow the Lord. But they were from the very beginning with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, worshipping these golden calves, and worshipping other gods, and sacrificing their children in the fire, and he's basically just stating that. Now notice verse 5 there, it says, Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it. But wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers as a besieged city, okay. Now fast forward to Isaiah 36 where Assyria is trying to besiege Judah, and it's this remnant of Israel that hasn't been taken out yet. Now you say, well it says it is desolate, talking about in verse 7 there about Israel, and your cities are burned with fire. Well at that point they haven't been completely taken away, right. We're still in Uzziah's day around that period of time. Well it's just like this, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. You know he calls those things to be not as though they were, but when he uses that present tense like that, you know what that means? It's going to happen, okay. It's going to happen. And what's interesting about this is in verse 5 there it says, why should you be stricken anymore? And you think about this, it's kind of like the chastisement, God's like bringing the rod on them, bringing the rod on them, and he just keeps hitting them with that, but it says, going on after that question, he says you will revolt more and more. He's like, why am I even trying? It's basically what's going on there. He's like, why am I even trying to chastise you? You're just going to keep going more and more. And what this gets into is they're going to be suddenly destroyed and that without remedy. Notice it, you go to Proverbs chapter 29, Proverbs 29, and this I believe is talking about Israel at, you know, kind of opening up this chapter, and then it's going to be tying into talking about Judah and Jerusalem, okay. Now if you think this is talking about Judah and Jerusalem, that's fine. Obviously that would be a future application of Judah and Jerusalem, but I more so think he's basically pointing at their sister, right, because in a lot of these prophets what it does is kind of compares Israel and Judah as sisters and basically saying well Israel did all this and Judah's doing it too, kind of like, you know, comparing it to siblings doing things after each other. Now in Proverbs 29 verse 1 it says, he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. And that's what he's getting to here is basically like, you know, why should I even, basically why am I trying to deal with you anymore? And, you know, you're just going to keep doing more and more. The more I try to get you right with God, the more you go after other gods, the more you go after and do all this wickedness, and he's just going to be throwing them out of his sight. Now Judah's going to eventually have that same thing happen to them with Babylon, okay, and you don't have to turn there. I want you to turn to 2 Kings 17, but that same thing's going to happen with Judah eventually with Babylon because when Judah's taken out it says this in 2 Chronicles 36 verse 15, and the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up the times and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place, but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy. So it's going to happen to Judah eventually, but I believe what it's talking about here is that, hey, you know, he's basically, you know, been coming at them with prophets and trying to get them to get right with God and just nothing doing, you know, just not working at all, and he's basically saying, why should you be stricken anymore? You're just going to, you know, keep doing it more and more. Now in 2 Kings 17 this is talking about Israel being taken out, and I just want you to see some similar language, you know, with he that being often reproved and hardened with his neck shall be destroyed and that without remedy shall suddenly be destroying that without remedy. Notice in verse 13, 2 Kings 17 verse 13, yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying, turn ye from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers which I sent to you by my servants the prophets notwithstanding they would not hear but hardened their necks like the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the Lord their God. So you see that same language, they hardened their necks, and this is when they've been taken out. Now you can look at all this stuff as far as just, you know, for sake of time we don't necessarily have to read all this about what they did, but in verse 17 the thing that really is kind of the catalyst to where it was just a line that God just like, all right, you're done, is when they started sacrificing their children. That's what it was, and notice in verse 17 it says, and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire and used in the nation and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil on the side of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only, and Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made, and the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight. So notice that kind of the same thing is said in Isaiah 1, right, you're kind of dealing with Israel being completely annihilated, but then it says, and the daughter of Zion is left, like a cottage in a vineyard, right, and same thing here is that he completely removes Israel out of his sight. It says he rejected all the seed of Israel, so there was no remnant in that northern kingdom. They were all completely scattered, taken out, but there was left the tribe of Judah only, okay, and I believe that's where you get into this remnant that's being spoken about is basically saying, hey, you would have been all taken out if there wasn't a righteous remnant that was there, and that righteous remnant was in Judah, okay. That's where there was actually people that believed in the Lord. That's where he actually had some good kings, right, and going back to Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 9, that's where you see this being said in verse 9. So Isaiah 1 verse 9 says, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Now, just think about that, what he's talking about. Well, in Genesis chapter 18, what was the conversation between Abraham and God? It was about, well, if there be 50 righteous, there's 45, there's 40, and it went all the way down to 10, and guess what, there wasn't 10, and so when he says very small remnant, it could have been as much as 10, right, that or it would have been, but I'll say this, I almost guarantee it was more than 10, because then it would have been Sodom and Gomorrah, and that's what he's basically saying is that there needed to be a righteous remnant. There needed to be saved people there. Go to Isaiah, or I'm sorry, go to Romans chapter 9, because this is quoted in Romans chapter 9, and as we go through this book of Isaiah, we're going to be seeing a lot of quotations. We're going to be seeing a lot of stuff that's in the New Testament, because it's very much quoted in the New Testament, so that's why I'm really excited about the study. I'm excited about the study, but at the same time, it's a daunting study, because there's so much in the book of Isaiah that I don't want to just miss stuff. I don't want to just lazily go through this. I want to make sure that I'm hitting it right. I'm hitting it good as I go through this, so anyway, I'm excited about it. I think there's going to be a lot of fun stuff to see in the book of Isaiah. Now in Romans chapter 9, verse 27, it says, Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. So when it talks about this very small remnant or the remnant, because where that's quoted in Isaiah, it talks about a remnant shall return, but we know the spiritual aspect of this. We know the physical kind of near future aspect of it as far as like they're going to come back and God's going to bring them back into their place and all that stuff after the Babylonian captivity, but we know the spiritual aspect that though there's a lot of people that even confess to be saved in the realm of Christianity, only a few are actually saved, right? Or few there be that find it. Are there few that are saved, that remnant that's small, but keep going there. So and that also shows you too that all the Israelites in the Old Testament, they weren't all God's people spiritually, because they weren't all going to heaven. It actually covers that in Romans 9. For sake of time, I'm not going to it, but it basically talks about that the children of flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. Now verse 28, it says, for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodomah and been made like unto Gomorrah. So here we see that in the New Testament it talks about a seed, which if you know Romans chapter 9, what are you talking about? Which who's that seed? You know that in Isaac shall that seed be called the children of promise and thy seed, which is Christ, you know, the fact of where if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So that seed is talking about believers. Okay. And those are the saved. And so all that ties together spiritually. But this also shows you too, in the New Testament, when it says Sabaoth, we're not talking about the Sabbath, because when you cross-reference that to Isaiah 1, what did it say instead of the Lord of Sabaoth? It said the Lord of hosts. So there's actually two places in the New Testament where it says the Lord of Sabaoth, and it's just the Lord of hosts. It's just another word for the Lord of hosts or hosts, the word hosts, right? And hosts can be talking about stars. Sometimes they can be talking about the angels as far as the host. It's just kind of a more broad term of like, kind of like things that are surrounding some, you know, like the stars are in the universe surrounding everything. And then the angels are obviously in heaven surrounding the Lord. But going on from that, go to Romans chapter 11, Romans chapter 11, because Elijah in his day, there was a remnant. There's always a remnant. You know, there was a remnant back in the day that we're talking about in Uzziah's day with Isaiah. There's a remnant of people that believe there was a remnant I'm going to show you in Elijah's day. There was a remnant in Paul's day. And guess what? There's a remnant in our day. There's always been a righteous remnant, okay? But when it comes to this, you know, if that righteous remnant isn't in your country, then woe unto that country. You know, judgment's coming because the Lord will spare a country a lot of times because of that righteous remnant. But if you kick out that righteous remnant, and a lot of these nations are kicking people out for being Christians and being saved or being righteous and not being for debauchery, not being for sodomy, then, you know, judgment's coming because you just got rid of your only safe haven. Your only saving grace was the fact that you had righteous people in your country and then you're going to throw them out. That's what's going to happen. Now in Romans chapter 11, in verse 1, it says, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What's he not what the scripture saith of Elias? How he maketh intersection to God against Israel saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and dig down thine altars and I am left alone and they seek my life. But what set the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Notice in verse 5, even so then, at this present time, also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. So he's saying, listen, there was a remnant in Elijah's day and there's a remnant right now because he just got done saying that in chapter 10 and even in chapter 9, talking about, you know, though Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant is going to be saved. And then he got done saying that, you know, I've stretched out my arms to, you know, rebellious and gainsaying people. And then he's saying basically going to the Gentiles. But he's making a point saying, listen, even today of those that were of Israel in his day, there was a remnant. And he's like, I'm proof of it. Right. He's like, I'm an Israelite. I'm of Abraham. I'm of Benjamin. And guess what? He's saved. But it's not just because you're a Jew. It's not just because you're of Abraham or of Benjamin. It's because he's a believer. And he talks about whom he did foreknow. And that's obviously talking about who first trusted in Christ. Those that trust in Christ God foreknew from the foundation of the world. Now, yeah, and then obviously, according to the election of grace, what is that talking about? And if by grace, then is it no more of works? Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace? Otherwise work is no more work. See how he's linking Elijah's day with that remnant to his remnant where it's by grace, not by works? Put that in your pipe and smoke it, dispensationalists. Because in Elijah's day, guess how they got saved? By grace, not by works. How did Paul's, you know, that remnant get saved? By grace, not by works. How did they get saved in Isaiah's day? Because I think I remember in Romans chapter nine that they stumble at that stumbling stone, which is the fact that they're trying to get to the righteous by the law and not believing on Christ. And so, Romans is just a hammer when it comes to dispensationalism. But we see that that righteous remnant, and we can see how that ties into the fact of Genesis chapter 18, and the fact that there wasn't a righteous remnant. That's why Sodom and Gomorrah was completely annihilated. But since there was a righteous remnant, God took out that northern kingdom, but he didn't annihilate the southern kingdom. And even the southern kingdom, after when they were taken captive, he promised to bring them back. He never promised that to the northern kingdom. He completely took out that seed and said they're taken out completely, and all the seed of Israel is going to be taken out, talking about that northern kingdom. But obviously, he brought back some people. And then we know that that seed is really Christ, and so that seed, that nation stayed in place until Jesus came. And now Jesus is the king of kings, as far as the king on the throne of his father David, physically speaking, and that's a whole other summer for another day. But going on there in Isaiah chapter one and verse 10, so he just got done saying, you know, talking about the daughter of Zion. Now who's the daughter of Zion? That's talking about Jerusalem. Zion is Jerusalem. It's the city of David. And sometimes you'll see Bethlehem being called the city of David, but Bethlehem is kind of like if you're thinking of Morgantown and Westover. Westover is kind of like a little outskirt of Morgantown, but technically you would put Morgantown usually as your address. I put Morgantown as my address, and I'm completely outside of town. But all I have to say is that when you're talking about the daughter of Zion, you're talking about Jerusalem, and where is Jerusalem in Judah, in that southern kingdom? So that's who we're talking about, and he says that you would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah if it wasn't for the fact that you had a righteous remnant. But notice in verse 10 there, notice what he calls Jerusalem in Judah. Verse 10 it says, hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Now I don't know if you remember this, but Sodom and Gomorrah, they've been out of existence for a long time. It's at this point when he's saying this to them, there is no more Sodom. There is no more Gomorrah. It's in ashes. It's completely decimated. So what's he doing here? He's comparing them to Sodom and Gomorrah. He's basically saying you would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah if it wasn't for a righteous remnant, but you know who you're like? Sodom and Gomorrah, okay? And so he is comparing them to that and this isn't out of the ordinary. I actually go to Revelation chapter 11 because today in Revelation, Jerusalem is called Sodom, okay? But I want to prove that to you. But you may not have known that actually in the Old Testament, even while Judah was still a nation and Jerusalem was still a city there and even before the Lord Jesus Christ came, God likened them to Sodom and to Gomorrah. And notice in Revelation 11 verse 8, it says, And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom in Egypt. And you're like, well, what great city are you talking about? Where also our Lord was crucified? In case you just, I mean, there's no way of getting around that. Where was Jesus crucified without the gates of Jerusalem? And it says that it's spiritually called that. So when he says ye rulers of Sodom and it says ye people of Gomorrah, he's spiritualizing it. Obviously, it's not literally Sodom and it's not literally Gomorrah like the physical place, but what is he doing? He's likened him unto that because of what they do, because of the wicked stuff that they're doing. Now, go back to Isaiah chapter one. You say, well, you know, is it still Sodom? Well, I don't know. Tel Aviv is the number one gay, LGBT, queer, you know, friendly city in the world. Number one. Number one. And so, yeah, I think they fit that bill still. And you'll be like, well, what about Jerusalem? That whole nation is in it together. I mean, Tel Aviv is like that city. It's kind of like the San Francisco of America. But Tel Aviv beats San Francisco, if you want to believe that. So, and I always don't want you to look it up, okay, because you look up a site trying to find this and they have all this garbage stuff you got to see on there. And so I would, you know, you know, if there's a time where you just want to take my word for it, this is the time, okay. But all I have to say is that you could probably just look it up and there'll be a list and you don't have to see all the garbage pictures that they try to put up on these sites, because these sites are not fundamental Baptist sites, okay. It's not like this is the new IFB saying, Tel Aviv, because, you know, because we're not Zionists, we want to prove our point here. No, this is queer sites citing this, you know, that they're saying it's friendly and they're basically giving them their travel plans of where you should go visit if you're a queer, okay. And so, yeah, I mean, back then they were acting like Sodom and today they're number one, number one. No marvel that YouTube and, you know, the Jew media and, you know, everything that's on TV, Hollywood, Jew York, you know, like everything is run by the Jews, Hollywood, you know, all the Broadway shows, all that stuff, and what are they always incorporating? A bunch of sodomy. And so, yeah, I mean, it's not that out of the ordinary that, you know, Israel would have the capital city of, you know, the queers. So, you know, things haven't changed. But going on from that, he's making a point here because they're doing all this weakness. And if you remember this, and I know we went through all these kings, so you're not going to remember every little thing that we talked about with these kings, but Uzziah was a good king and his son Jotham was a good king. Now Ahaz wasn't, but Hezekiah was a good king. And the kings before that, you had some good kings, right? You had Amaziah, you had Joash, and you had some different kings. You remember Asa, Jehoshaphat, and you remember that they would even Asa and Jehoshaphat got the sodomites out of the land, if you remember. But at the same time, do you remember what they didn't get out of the land? All the idols. And it kept, it keeps being brought up. I mean, if you looked at Uzziah, it'd be like he did right in the eyes of the Lord, but the high places weren't taken down. And then you get into Jotham, he did the right in the side of the Lord, but the high places weren't taken down. Ahaz, he takes it up a notch and starts putting up some more idols, you know. But then Hezekiah, on the other hand, he, remember he repairs the house of God, gets all the people to come down, they start doing the Passover, and then they get on fire for God, and then they go back into their countries and they, they burn all their idols. And they get rid of it finally, okay. So he's basically, this is a revival, this is a, you know, a wake-up call to Judas. What's going on in the rest of this chapter? He's basically given a wake-up call, and he's, and he's, I believe, giving a near future prophecy that this is going to be taken care of, okay, with Hezekiah, I believe. Now, but obviously, you can see the wave future with Jesus, right. So you can obviously see when things are set right, you can always apply that to where Jesus is going to set things right in His kingdom. But in Isaiah 1 and verse 11, it says, to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats. When you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. The new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth. They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you. Make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow. So he's basically preaching to me like, you need to get some things right. And instead of giving me all these sacrifices, you need to get right with God. And this goes into, you go to Hosea chapter 6, I'm going to read to you 1 Samuel chapter 15, dealing with Samuel and Saul. Because that's a famous passage, but you can go to Hosea chapter 6. But in 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 22, it says, And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Now, you know, that that's a famous passage, obviously dealing with the fact that he was offering up a sacrifice, which was supposed to be Samuel's job. And he's saying, isn't obedience better than sacrifice? You know, God would rather you just keep his commandments than to give all these offerings unto him. I think of like the Catholics, especially with Mardi Gras and like, you know, all that stuff that comes up, and they basically kind of give up something so they can sin over here. Right? They have what they call Fat Tuesday. And it's not because they're eating donuts. They're basically using a day to sin and do promiscuous acts, you know, that day, that night. And then on Wednesday, they put ashes on their face and pretend like they're serving God. And it's this idea of like, doing all the sinning and then coming over here and like trying to give an offering to God. I mean, it's like reading the Bible. I mean, where it says, isn't it better to obey than sacrifice? You know, isn't obedience better? Well, Hosea chapter six, and verse six, For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant. They have, or I'm sorry, there have they dealt treacherously against me. And you remember what Jesus, he says this, he says, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Go learn what that means. Right? He told the Pharisees that because he didn't finish the sentence there. He didn't finish that whole phrase. He's like, go figure out what that means. So go back to Hosea where it says, but they, like men, have transgressed the covenant and they have dealt treacherously against me. That's what he wanted them to go figure out. You know, what am I talking about there? But all I have to say is that they have a lot of sin that they have problems with. And a lot of these idols had to do with a lot of fornication. You know, they would, fornication and idolatry were working hand in hand, and especially in the New Testament, you saw this where fornication, flea fornication and idols and all those things worked hand in hand. And you think fornication is outdated today in the world that we live in? No, it's not only, you know, something that is done a lot in the world today. It's actually promoted. It's actually elevated as being good. Actually, sodomy is now elevated as being something that is brave. And, you know, you just saw just I don't know if you watch the news or anything. I don't really watch it. But you see clips and stuff like that. You see people posting stuff. But we have, you know, a queer running for president. And he just recently brought a nine year old on his stage to basically say that he's coming out to be gay. That's what our country is like today. And listen, if it wasn't for a righteous remnant in our country, the hammer of God would be coming down on this country right now. We would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. But, you know, it's just like Josiah and the kings that we have, the righteous kings that you see in Judah that stayed the hand of God for a little bit, even though there's weakness that was going on. But God's warning about it. He's saying you don't get this stuff right. You know, you're going to be just like your sister Israel up there. You're going to be completely annihilated. And by the way, Hosea was written during the same time period as Isaiah. So if you want to see, you know, major prophet, the minor prophet, that's what you're dealing with right there. By the way, Hosea is mentioned a lot in the New Testament, too. You know, actually, you know, wrong with chapter nine where we were seeing that quote right before that was Hosea, right? So it's mentioned, it's actually quoted a lot in the New Testament as well. But if you looked at the beginning of Hosea in chapter one, it would say in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. So it'll tell you that, hey, he was prophesying during that same time. So, yeah, it makes sense that these same type of things are being said in these books. But he also says that I won't hear you. You know, it says I'll hide my eyes. You know, in Isaiah one verse 15, it says when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. It says I will not hear. Why? Because your hands are full of blood. So he's not going to hear you if you're doing wickedness and you're just living in sin and not doing what you should be doing. And I'm talking to believers right now. Okay. If you're if you're a believer and you're just disobeying God and you're not doing what you should be doing and you're living in fornication, you're living in adultery. I mean, I mean, you know, just things that you don't even want to mention as far as like what what could be ruining your life. But just all these different sins that you'd be getting into, if you're doing that and you want God to hear your prayers, good luck with that. Do you think this has changed? The fact that God is going to hear your prayers when you're one of his children that's just out doing all these sins and not obeying what he's saying. Now, I believe it still applies to us. Okay. Now, are you still saved? Of course. Once saved, always saved. You have eternal life. But you know what's going to be coming on you is chastisement. He's not going to be hearing. He's not going to be answering the prayer that you want to be answered. You know what he's going to be doing? He's going to be spanking you. He's coming after you with the rod because you need to get that stuff right. And then then you can bring your request unto God. Yeah, because it talks about how we can bring our request unto God and we know that he hears us. You know, why? Because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. That's what it says in first John chapter chapter three and then first John chapter five and this is the confidence we have in him. You know, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. But you have to have all those elements. You got to be keeping his commandments, doing those things that are pleasing in sight and asking according to his will if he wanted to hear you. But you know, Isaiah 59 actually touches on this as well because what we're going to get into is actually that very famous passage in Isaiah 1 which is the fact of though your sins be as scarlet, you know, and though they be red like crimson, they're going to be as white as snow, they're going to be as wool, that very famous passage. But you know, he leads up to that as far as, you know, you need to get right. It's not like there's no hope for you. You can get this cleansed. But at the same time in Isaiah 59 verse one, it says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you or have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Okay, that's what we're talking about here. He's basically saying, I'm not gonna hear this because your hands are full of blood. You're doing all this wickedness, I'm not gonna hear you. And you know, the nation, our nation today, you know, like, when bad things happen, or like, why would God do this? Why wouldn't you do this? Why wouldn't he let it happen? That's the question you should be asking yourself. Why are we consumed? That's the question I want to ask. You know, all I see is when things are going good, I'm like, man, God's long suffering. God is a long, he is a long suffering God. And the patience he has to not just wipe everybody out, it amazes me when you see the stuff that's going on. And, you know, I'm glad God is long suffering. You know, obviously, I'm glad he's slow to anger. But being slow to anger and being long suffering doesn't mean that it's not coming eventually. Okay, slow to anger doesn't mean he's not going to be angry. He's angry with the wicked every day. You remember, and he said that I, you notice that he said about those feasts, he says, my soul hateth. Can you think of another place where it talks about his whole soul hating something, you know, the wicked, and then that loveth violence, his soul hateth. You know, the Lord tried the righteous, but the wicked, and them who love those who love violence, his soul hateth. So, you know, obviously, you know, you can see this, this is a wicked nation that you're dealing with there. But who do you think he's talking to here? Do you think he's talking to the degenerates, or you think he's talking to the saved people that need to get right with God and turn this stuff around? Who do you think God's talking to most of the time in the Bible? He's talking to the saved. So, you know, yeah, we need to apply this to ourselves, because just like Hezekiah, how did he turn that country around? Not only the country of Judah, but even Israel and those that were still up there in those areas, how did he turn it around at the very beginning of his reign, even before Israel was taken out? He turned it around by repairing the house of God, by getting them to do God's commandments, and to keep the Passover, and to get rid of all the idols, and then they got rid of all the idols. And so it's going to start with a righteous, Bible believing remnant that goes out soul winning, goes out and knocks every door, goes out and tries to teach everybody, and then try to get them in the church to observe all things, and for that to grow to the point where, hey, you say, well, how are we going to get good people in government? How are we going to get all this? How about we get people saved and you get more people that believe like us? That's the only way that you're going to have a good nation anyway. You know, even if you got, if you had a benevolent king, you know, that was right and did everything that the Bible said, that's not going to make the nation righteous. You know, you can't just force righteousness on everybody like that. And you know what? Uzziah is an example of that. Jotham's an example of that. Even though you had some righteous kings, you still had wicked people, and that's who he's addressing here. You know, even though those guys were good kings, you know, you still, you can't just force everybody to be righteous. You know, they need to make up, they need to make that choice, and that happens from the house of God. Now in Isaiah 1 and verse 18, famous verse here, it says, come down, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. So this is a very famous verse, and a lot of times we associate this with salvation, which I'm not against. I think that it applies to spiritual salvation, but go to 1 John chapter 1, 1 John chapter 1, I believe it's more so talking about getting right with God, getting back in, you know, where we've been separated by our sins, meaning that we're out of fellowship, okay. Again, you're talking to believers here. You're talking to people that are already saved. Their sins have been washed away, spiritually speaking, and you think about in Revelation chapter 7, dealing with those that came out of great tribulation. It says, these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. You know, how are your sins going to be made white as snow? By the blood of the lamb, okay. But it's kind of saying, you know, they're red like crimson. That's what the sins are, but guess what? That red blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to make them white, and it's going to make your garments white as well. But just as much as that applies, spiritually speaking, we've been washed by the blood of the lamb. It says that in Revelation chapter 1. It talks about how he purchased the church with his own blood, and so there's a lot that goes into that, spiritually speaking. But, you know, even physically on this earth, you know, we need to be constantly getting our flesh washed, meaning that getting right with God physically, you know, walking in the new man, but how do you do that? Well, in John chapter 1, or first John chapter 1, I'm sorry, in verse 5 there, it says, this then is the message which we have heard of him, and I'm sorry, this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Sound similar? You know, basically our sins have separated us from him, and we're walking in darkness, he's in the light, so obviously we're not walking in the same area there. Verse 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Notice this, in the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So what are we talking about here? We're obviously talking about the flesh, right? If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That's John saying that, okay, and he's putting himself in that category, but then chapter 3 says, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. So you're obviously talking in chapter 1, you're talking about the flesh, and he's going to state here in verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So I link that to, hey, come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And then he gets straight and he says, if you be willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good in the land. Because in another place in the Old Testament, and this is where, you know, the repentance of sins crowd are going to take you, where you need to confess and forsake your sins. But that's talking about the relationship, that's talking about being in fellowship with God, that's talking about how we're separated from our Heavenly Father when we're in sin. You know what's separating you? The flesh. But when you walk in a new man and you're doing what you should be doing, that flesh, you're being clothed with the new man. There's no more separation at that point. But what it's stating, though, is that you need to confess those sins and you need to basically start walking in the new man. If you want to be walking in the light, you got to walk in the new man. You say, well, you're saying you got to be willing. Well, you got to do it. So obviously, you got to be willing if you're going to do it. So that's what it's stating there. So I believe Isaiah 1 18, in context, is more so dealing with like 1 John 1 5, or I'm sorry, 1 1 8 and 9, where, hey, we've sinned, we're walking in darkness, we want to have good fellowship with them. And if we confess our sins, he's going to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By what? By his blood. And that's talking physically. So again, your soul and your spirit is perfect without sin. If you died right now, you go to heaven, whether you were in sin or not physically. But we're talking about walking in this world and being in fellowship with God. Okay. And where I'm at on time here, so almost done. So go back to Isaiah 1, Isaiah 1. And just one thing I wanted to point out here is what it's stating that's going on. So obviously, they're doing sins, and he's rebuking for that. He's basically saying you need to turn from that you need to get your sins covered, get in good fellowship, start walking in the light, and be in fellowship with God. Don't let your sins and your iniquities separate you from God to where he's not going to hear you. Now, in Isaiah 1 verse 21, it says, how is the faithful city become a harlot? It was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderer. So it's basically saying, hey, that city used to have good judgment, used to have righteousness, but now it's a bunch of murderers. Remember he said you have blood on your hands? So a lot of injustice is going on, a lot of murder, a lot of, you know, you could probably think fornication, adultery, all these different things are going on. And he's saying, hey, it used to not be like that. Now it's like a harlot. And you can think of that physically, but you also think of that with the idols, right? Because a lot of times you want a whoring after other gods, you know, so you're kind of like being a harlot. And, but then it goes on, it says, thy silvers become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and follows after rewards. They judge not the followers, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. So you think about all the law and you say, well, they loveth gifts, you know, it's talking about to not take gift, to pervert arrest judgment. Okay. That's what it's talking about. It's basically people taking bribes and, you know, injustice is going on. And I think about this where Habakkuk, in Habakkuk chapter one, he kind of, he starts off his book with this, as far as like, you know, just injustice, you know, Lord, you know, will you see this, you know, like what's going on here? And I'll read this goat. I want you to go to Psalm 119 and verse 126, Psalm 119 verse 126. But in Habakkuk chapter one, verse two, it says, Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and thou will not hear, even cry out unto thee of violence and thou will not save. Why does thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance for spoiling and violence are before me and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked and judgment doth never go forth for the wicked doth compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Okay. So he's basically complaining to the Lord. He's like, you know, all this stuff is going on, wrong judgments going on, which is exactly what's being said in Isaiah chapter one. They're not judging the cause of the fathers or the widows are taking bribes pretty much. They're, you know, the resting judgment, they're murderers, all this stuff's going on. What this, I love this verse right here. That's why I want you to see it. And Psalm 119 verse 126, that's what it says. It is time for the Lord to work for they have made void thy law. I love that because that, that should be a verse that we have memorized. It should be a verse that we're thinking about today and a prayer that we should have today that Lord, it's time for you to work cause they're making void your law. And you know, that was Habakkuk, you know, he's kind of saying the same thing, you know, that wrong judgment is going forth. You know, the, it's either judgment is not going forth or it's wrong judgment that's, that's proceeding. And so it's not like there's nothing new under the sun. You say, wow, all this stuff, you know, there's no, there's, there's wrong judgment going on. Yeah, it was going on back then. And so, but another thing that you see there too, is the fact that, and listen, the, the wicked people in the world, they're mocking God at that because judgment isn't going forth right now. You know, they're not getting judged for their crimes right now. And you think of Malachi chapter two and verse 17, it says, you have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, wherein have we wearied him? When you say everyone that do with evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighted in them, or where is the judgment or where is the God of judgment? And today, isn't that the truth? You know, they, they basically say, you know, sodomy is great. It should be praised. It's not an abomination. You're brave and beautiful because you do it. That's what our world is saying today. Now, obviously that's, I don't believe that's the mass is saying that. I believe that's the, the loud math mouth minority, wicked Hollywood and the people that the elites that are trying to run our country. That's what they're saying, right? But then they're saying, where's the judgment? Where is that God of judgment you're talking about? You know, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, right? You know, you think about these mockers and scoffers and, but you know, it's common. But I also see the fact that it keeps mentioning the fatherless and the widows. And you know, the New Testament talks about that. Actually the pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. So what's pure religion? You're like, I'm against religion. Be careful about that. You know, like these, these ultra spiritual people that think they're being cute with their words. Be like, ah, it's not about religion. It's about relationship, bro. Well, pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows. That's pure religion. And so I'm not against pure religion. I'm against, you know, false religion. And I'm against, you know, the typical religion of getting to heaven. I'm not for that to get to heaven obviously. But we, we do need to visit the fatherless and the widows and they're not doing it. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him in his sin. So, but the end of chapter here, really, this is where God steps in and says, so you can imagine saying, look what, look what Israel is going to become. This is what this chapter is saying. Israel is done. Their cities are on fire. And obviously that hadn't happened yet, but at the same time, he's speaking, knowing that it's going to happen. And he says that Judah, you're left like a cottage in a vineyard. Okay. But it's basically saying, listen, if it wasn't for the fact that you had a righteous remnant, you'd be completely decimated too. But you need to get right with God. Do you need to get, you need to cleanse yourself, wash you, make you clean. That's what it says in the chapter, right? But then after he talks about it, it says like how you get right with God and how you need to get these things straight. Then he says, okay, here's what I'm going to do. You remember, you remember, you know, it's time for you to work Lord. And this is where the God, where God's basically stepping in and saying, here's what he's going to do. Verse 24, it says, therefore set the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. Ah, I will ease me of mine enemy, mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies. And I will turn mine hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin. And I will restore, restore thy judges as at the first and thy counselors as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness and the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together. And they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed for they shall be ashamed of the oaks, which you have desired. And you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen for you shall be as an oak whose leaf faded and as a garden that has no water and the strong shall be as toe and the maker of it as a spark. And they shall both burn together and none shall quench them. Now, you can obviously take this passage and say, Oh, millennial reign. I mean, that definitely applies. And actually, you know what's interesting about that chapter two? What's the first thing to mention? Spoiler, millennial reign. Okay. But at the same time, think about Hezekiah. Hezekiah hasn't come on the scene yet. But what happens in Hezekiah's day? Just utter revival. And the fact that it's not just Hezekiah, but the whole nation gets on fire for God, gets rid of all these idols and gets rid of the people. If you remember, do you remember that when we read about that, how they got rid of the priests and just destroyed them? So this is, I believe, kind of a near future prophecy of what's going to happen with Hezekiah when he becomes king and gets things settled there. But you could also go to the far future with the Lord Jesus Christ when he puts the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire, destroys all his enemies and all that. Or you could even go all the way to the new heaven, new earth, where the last enemy that's going to be destroyed is death. So you see how it has many layers to it. But I definitely think there's a near future application to it with Hezekiah. And I think there's a, or even if you wanted to go to Josiah. Okay. Because that obviously happens with Josiah as well after Manasseh messes up, but you can definitely see the future with that. So, but I want to end it there. We're going to, you know, obviously get into these other chapters and, and it's not always just continuing the story. That's the difference between this and kind of going through the gospels or through Acts is that some of these are just like, well, this is to this nation over here, or this is talking about this over here. So it's not necessarily a continuation of the story, but like I said, there's a lot of cool stuff in the book of Isaiah and I'm excited to get into it. And so just a lot to learn, even in this first chapter, as far as just getting right with God and getting good fellowship with God and cleansing our hands, cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded and draw an eye onto God and He'll draw an eye onto you. And just a lot of, just you say, well, that's the new Testament. No, that's been there. It's been there. It's in the Old Testament too. And so it's, it's nice to see it in all places as well. So let's end with a word of prayer. We thank you today and thank you for your word and just pray to be with us as we go out there the rest of this week. And Lord, just pray to be with us through this study, through the book of Isaiah. I know it's going to be a long one with all the chapters, but just pray that you would fill me with your spirit as I study through this. And as we go through these lessons that we can pull out a lot of great information and ultimately, Lord, that the information we learn, we can use it to glorify you and to better our lives and to see more people saved. And Lord, we love you. I pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.