(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Anyway, we're there in Isaiah 22, and the total for the sermon comes from verse number 1, obviously. It says, the burden of the valley of vision. The total for the sermon this morning is the valley of vision, the valley of vision. Now, if you've been following, going through the book of Isaiah, you've probably noticed that every time a prophecy of Isaiah begins with the burden, you know, a burden's not a good thing. Like, obviously, we all have burdens in life, and burdens add complexity, difficulties in life. They're not always a horrible thing. Like, going to work is a burden, but that's a positive thing. We need to work, we need to earn money, we need to cover our costs, pay our bills. That burden in and of itself is not some horrible thing. But obviously, as Isaiah is preaching these burdens to these different places, we know that this is the judgment of God falling upon this nation, and it's never going to be a positive thing. Now, something positive can come out of that burden. Like, if the nation can learn to love the Lord and to love His commandments, and learn that, and of course, they can have a new beginning, a new start with God, and this burden also now comes upon the valley of vision, you may not fully understand what that valley of vision is. You say, well, pastor, what valley is this burden falling upon? Again, by the time you get to verses number 8, 9, and 10, it explains what God is speaking about. Look at verse number 8. It says, And he discovered the covering of Judah. So we see that God is speaking about Judah, the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah. You have seen also the breaches of the city of David. Now, the city of David is either Bethlehem or it's Jerusalem. Now, drop down to verse number 10, it says, And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem. All right, so verses 8, 9, and 10 tell us who this burden is falling upon. So we start with verse number 1, The burden of the valley of vision is speaking to the city of Jerusalem. And, of course, to the whole nation of Judah, but the capital city of Judah was Jerusalem. Now, why would it mention a valley? Because the city of Jerusalem is built upon seven hills. And so, of course, there's going to be areas where there's valleys. One of the valleys that is the most wicked valley that you read about in the Bible is the valley of Hinnom. Also, the transliteration of the valley of Hinnom to Greek is the word gehenna, which often in the New Testament is then translated as hell. So just comparing the valley of Hinnom as a place where God will pour out His wrath for all eternity as hell, and, of course, in the valley of Hinnom, the reason we're so wicked is because many times people would offer sacrifices, human sacrifices. They would pass their children in the fire when they had turned against the Lord, and the valley of Hinnom was one place they would often do that. And so I'm not saying that the valley of vision here is referring to that same valley, but obviously Isaiah's received a vision and his thoughts are regarding this valley, and we're going to keep going, and we do see a little bit of what Isaiah is meaning as we go through this chapter, but continuation there in verse number one, it says, What aleth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? So we know this is dealing with the city of Jerusalem, and so Isaiah is looking in this vision, he's seeing prophetically the future to come, and he's seeing the people of Jerusalem hiding in their housetops, okay? They're not down, and again, this is a judgment of God. As I've been reading this, it appears to be about Assyria, but it also appears to be about Babylon, and then there's no doubt whatsoever, you can't avoid this, it's also speaking about the end times events, okay? Because in end times events, the city of Jerusalem is also going to be under siege by the armies of the antichrists, and you just, you can't, as you keep reading this chapter, it becomes so obvious, Assyria is the problem of the day, but also God's future judgment will be Babylon, okay, the kingdom of Babylon, and then all of a sudden, we're dealing with future events, and again, you can't avoid these three areas, so it's really interesting how God can see, or God can give Isaiah this one vision, and yet somehow it's all connected one toward another. Let's continue then, verse number two. It says, thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city. So he's saying here, normally the city of Jerusalem is a lively city, all right? There are people coming and going, people are going to the shops, people are buying, people are visiting one another, you know, he's talking about the city just being a vibrant, lively city. And then he says, thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. So it says, look, the city that was lively is not lively. It's like your men have been slain. It's kind of this idea, it almost looks like that you've gone to battle, you've lost the battle, and the mothers and the children are all mourning for their men. They're mourning for their husbands, dead husbands, they're mourning for their dead sons. But he says, they're not slain with the sword. This is not what's happened. It's quiet, it's not lively, it's like you're all hiding in the rooftops. It's as though you're mourning, but there's been no battle. And of course he's speaking about the fear that the city of Jerusalem is experiencing in the future, fear of Assyria for sure, fear of Babylon for sure, and of course the future fear, you know, when we talk about the future events, there's a seven-year period to come, and from the midpoint, the Bible says, I'll show you this later on, that the city of Jerusalem is going to be trodden underfoot of the Gentiles for the next three and a half years. That's the end times events, and so again, all of this stuff is connected, and the people living in the city at this time are afraid for their lives. It's gone quiet, it's no longer lively. Verse number three, all thy rulers are fled together. They left the people to fend for themselves. The kings, they've all run away, right? It says, they are bound by the archers. All that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from her. Therefore said I, look away from me, I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. Now verse number four is Isaiah. He says, therefore said I. Isaiah is saying these words, again, symbolically of the city of Jerusalem. He says, look away from me, don't look at me. And again, it's a personification of the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem's not doing well, it's full of fear, the leaders have run away, they're afraid of this coming judgment of God. And when we look at that phrase, look away from me, it really rings a bell for me, because not long ago at New Life Baptist Church, I went through the book of Song of Solomon. Now we're in Isaiah 22, and so what is the 22nd book of the Bible? The Song of Solomon, okay? So keep your finger there and come with me to Song of Solomon chapter one. Come with me to Song of Solomon chapter one. Now, the Song of Solomon is a book that is written for marriages, okay? It's for husbands and wives. And I would just say to married couples here, I recommend, this is my recommendation, okay? You don't have to do it, but this is my recommendation. The Song of Solomon is not a long book, really. You can read it in one sitting, okay? So I reckon for your next wedding anniversary, for those that are married, for your next wedding anniversary, open up the Song of Solomon and read it together as husbands and wives, okay? I think if you do that every year on your anniversary, it's going to help you start that new year, you know, knowing the standards that God has set out for marriages, and it's going to enrich your marriage 100%, okay? God's word, if you apply God's word in any capacity, it's going to enrich your life, all right? And the Song of Solomon is this song of songs. It's the most famous song in the land of Israel, and it's a husband speaking to his wife, and the wife is speaking back to the husband, and we learn a lot of things about marriage. Now, remember when Isaiah, speaking on behalf of Jerusalem, says, Look away from me. Well, in Song of Solomon chapter 1, look at verse number 6, the wife says, Look not upon me, because I am black, because the son have looked upon me. My mother's children were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. So what we see here is the insecurity that wives will often have, okay? Her insecurity is that she's black, and by black she's not saying that's her color of skin, like that she's a darker complexion. She's saying here that she's been tanned, all right? Now, again, in, look, maybe not Sydney, but on the Sunshine Coast, because it's mostly white Europeans, the women there want a tan, okay? That's what they're looking for, all right? But in the days of Israel, it was not seen as necessarily being attractive, having a tan, okay? So she says to her husband, Look, don't look at me, I've got a tan. And then she says this, because the son have looked upon me, right? The son's been shining upon her. She says, My mother's children were angry with me. I don't believe they're angry with her. She's upset that they've put her to work, because then she says, They made me the keeper of the vineyards. So she was there helping in the family business, working in the vineyard, in the hot sun. And she got a tan, okay? But then she says, But my own vineyard, have I not kept? She says, I was looking after other people's vineyard, but I've not looked after my own vineyard, my own appearance, okay? So something we learn with Song of Solomon, husbands is that your wives are going to have insecurities about their appearance, okay? Why? Because they got tanned? I don't know, why? You know, they're going to be self-conscious about their looks, about their hair, about their age. As they get older, after they have children, they're going to have insecurities. And one thing that you learn from the Song of Solomon is that men, we need to come along and tell our wives that we love her, that she's beautiful to us, that she's the best looking woman that we've ever seen. Okay, we need to praise our wives, and that's going to help her in her insecurities. But it's interesting that she says, Look not upon me, because she thinks of herself as not attractive. She thinks of herself as not to the standards that she would think her husband would want to see in her beauty. Okay? So when we go back to Isaiah 22, and we think of these two aspects, you know, we have Isaiah now saying, he said in verse number four, Look away from me. Okay? Because the nation of Judah, but the city of Jerusalem, has gone to excessive wickedness where God's judgment is about to fall. Like, the city of Jerusalem does not appear as beautiful in the eyes of God as it should be. And so Isaiah's doing that personification about Jerusalem, Look, we should be loving the Lord, we should be serving the Lord, we should be beautiful in His eyes, we shouldn't be facing the wrath and the judgment of God, but this is the situation that they find themselves in, okay? Because they've turned away from the Lord, God has brought judgment on these people. And as we continue there in verse number four, He says, I weep bitterly. Again, we see a strong preacher like Isaiah when he sees people suffering. You know, he can't help but be overwhelmed by those emotions. He goes, Labor not to come for me. Look, just leave me to weep because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. He says the ladies of Jerusalem, not only is God's judgment going to fall, but those that are going to come and take him away like Babylon, they're going to potentially just rape these women, take them away for their own pleasures. And so Isaiah's seen all this stuff in a vision, he's just been overwhelmed by the disaster, the heartbreak of seeing people, especially people that should know God as their God, suffering in such a terrible way. Verse number five, he says, For it is a day of trouble and of treading down. I want you to remember that. It's a day of trouble specifically and of treading down. Now, when we think of end times events, we often speak about great tribulation to come, and the word tribulation means trouble. Many times the Bible would use the word tribulation or affliction, but many times the word trouble, you know, trouble as times comes up speaking of this time. And so when you think about this, of course, we don't want to leave the present tense judgment of God upon this nation, but we start looking, just by those words, we start seeing there's a connection with end times events, especially the fact that Jerusalem is going to be trodden down. It says, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains. All right? So as Jerusalem is being destroyed, people are running to the mountains, they're running to the wilderness, and they're crying out about the destruction that has come upon their land. Now, I want to show you the connection, just from verse number five, I want to show you the connection with the end time events, okay? So keep your finger there and come with me to Revelation 11. Come with me to Revelation 11, please. Revelation 11. Revelation 11. All this is fresh in my eyes because I'm going through the book of Revelation with New Life Baptist Church. But Revelation 11, verse number one, this is speaking about the second half of that seven year period to come. It's the second half, so it's three and a half years long. It says in Revelation 11, verse one, Look at this. And the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months. So in Isaiah 22, you've got the treading down of the city of Jerusalem, and here we have the holy city, and if you do a word study for the holy city in the Bible, it's always Jerusalem, okay? It says the holy city shall be tread underfoot forty and two months. So it's three and a half years, speaking of the second half of that seven year period. Come with me to another passage in Luke 21. Come with me to Luke 21, verse number 24. Luke 21 and verse number 24, please. Luke 21 and verse number 24. Luke 21, verse number 24, the Bible reads, And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, that's speaking about the people of Jerusalem, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. So Luke 21, 24 is even clearer, and if you know the context of Luke 21, again, it's speaking of end times events, okay? But you can see there, it's clearer that the city that is going to be trodden down by the Gentiles is Jerusalem, and then this is until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and you know the times of the Gentiles from Revelation 11 is 42 months. It's three and a half years when you compare the scriptures together, all right? So you can see the same language that Isaiah is speaking about in Isaiah 22 is also applied to Jerusalem in end times events, okay? So you just, you can't separate these two judgments. It's like God sees it all, and you've got the concerns of Assyria, you've got the actual judgment that comes from Babylon, but then you've got this final judgment that falls upon that city from the hand of the Antichrist. And come back with me, actually keep your finger there in Luke 21, we'll come back shortly. Come with me back to Isaiah 22, Isaiah 22 and verse number 6. Isaiah 22 and verse number 6. It says, And Elam bared the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Ker uncovered the shield. It's just speaking about the city of Jerusalem being surrounded by these armies, these chariots of horsemen. Verse number 7, And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. So Jerusalem, the gates of Jerusalem are going to be surrounded by these armies, okay? Now notice it says in verse number 7, And thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots. And so if Jerusalem is a city built on seven hills, then you've got these several valleys that come off the city, and those valleys are going to be full of these chariots, these armies of this conquering army. Alright? Now, come with me to Luke 21, just want to show you another comparison there. In Luke 21 verse number 20, Luke 21 verse number 20, it says, And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Okay? So again we see, from the midpoint of the seven year period to come, that Jerusalem is going to be surrounded by these armies. These armies are the armies of the Gentiles, and as you look at Revelation, we know that those armies are coming from the Antichrist, okay? He's taking over Jerusalem, he's conquering Jerusalem for his own purposes. Now I want to show you another interesting passage. Come with me to Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14 verse number 1. Zechariah, chapter 14, I'll give you a moment to turn there. Zechariah 14. So as you're turning to Zechariah 14, if Isaiah is seeing the valleys of Jerusalem full of the horsemen, then the title for this prophecy makes a lot more sense. The burden of the valley of vision. The vision that Isaiah is getting, that the valleys are full of these armies, full of these horsemen, ready to conquer the city of Jerusalem. And so this is a burden that falls upon the city of Jerusalem. Now in Zechariah 14 verse number 1, I want to show you this. Zechariah 14 verse number 1, it says, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Now look, these are the words of God. God is the one saying these words. I will gather all nations, remember the trot on the foot of the Gentiles, against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished. That was Isaiah's concern. The daughters of his people being ravished. And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then look at verse number 3. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. Now I don't want to keep going on about that. You can read that in your own time. But I want to show you that this is, this Zechariah 14 is a future prophecy. It lines up perfectly with the book of Revelation. And so as a judgment on Israel, God is sending these Gentile nations to conquer that city. But then God, he says, that he himself will come down and fight against these armies. And of course, when you get to Revelation 19, that's where we have Jesus Christ coming on his white horse. He stands on the Mount of Olives. He creates a new valley, okay, as he breaks that mountain in half, as it were, and then he goes and conquers these armies of the Antichrist. And so again, what I'm trying to show you in all of this, if it's gone a bit over your head, I'm sorry, but what I'm trying to show you is that the Bible has this amazing connectivity. It's not this book where it's just these random stories. What, what valley of vision? What is it talking about now? It's all so connected, so deeply connected. And while we read these things, we may look at passages like the Old Testament. You might say, Pastor, why are you going through the book of Isaiah? This stuff happened long ago. Jerusalem was taken into captivity by Babylon long ago. They had the fears of Assyria long ago. Yeah, but we still have learnings for us today because there are events that have not yet played out. And if those past events played out, and they did, you know, even secular history acknowledges those events. It doesn't matter what history says. The Bible says those events played out. Then we know these future events to come are going to play out as well, and the more information, the more knowledge we have of the coming events, the better prepared we can be as God's people for difficult times to come. Back to Isaiah 22 and verse number 8. Now we are going to talk about end times again a bit later on in the sermon, but verse number 8. And he discovered the covering of Judah. The he there, I believe, is speaking about the Assyrians. Probably the armies are coming through. They discovered the covering of Judah, and now let's look in the day to the armor of the house of the forest. So the covering of Judah is described there as the armor of the house of the forest. So it's like the armories or the barracks, okay? So as the Assyrian armies are coming through, they're looking at the nation of Judah. They're saying, okay, what defenses does Judah have? Like, how is it covered? How is it defended? And they're looking at the army in the forest. They're looking at the army barracks and going, look, they look pretty weak. The soldiers look weak. You know, their weapons look weak. They're just doing an assessment as they're going through the land, and they're going, you know what, we can conquer this place. We can overcome them. Verse number 9. You have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many, and ye gather together the waters of the lower pool. So they get to the city of Jerusalem. They have a look at the city. They look at the walls, right? The walls are meant to be a defensive wall of protection. They look at it, and they say, well, they're breaches. There's openings. It's broken. We can easily march through. We can easily destroy this wall. We can easily come through this way. You know, they're thinking strategically, how do we take over the city of Jerusalem? They go, man, this wall's not even that great, right? It's got problems. There's weak points to the defensive wall of Jerusalem. Verse number 10. And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. So they go, wow, look at the houses. Look how the people live in the gold on. Even the houses are deteriorating. The houses have missing pieces. And then it's like, oh, wow, it's missing pieces. It's missing walls. It's missing concrete or whatever it is, right? Because they've used it to fortify the wall of Jerusalem. Okay, so obviously, when you look at this, we can see that the nation of Judah, they're not doing very well. Like, you know, they're not doing very well economically. Like, God's judgment's fallen upon them. They're falling apart. The city's falling apart. It's kind of like, you know, when you see roads, and it's full of potholes, and it's like, how can our council, how can the government not fix, you know, our crumbling infrastructure? It's because sometimes there's just no money. They've wasted it all, right? They've prioritized the wrong things and not the right things. And so this many times can be a judgment. It's just the deterioration of the nation. You know, they don't have the materials to secure the wall, so they're just ripping apart people's houses. Verse 11. Now, I read verse 11, I don't know how many times, and I just couldn't, I couldn't fully grasp what they're referring to exactly. Okay, exactly. I was going through different passages in the Bible trying to make sense of it, but even though I don't know exactly what they're referring to, I believe I understand the sentiments of this vision, okay? So as they're trying to, as the people of Jerusalem are trying to fortify themselves, get themselves ready for the battle, okay, getting ready to face the judgment of God, that they've somehow destroyed the water of the old pool. Like, you know, like the houses. They're breaking up houses to fortify the wall. Well, somehow they've also destroyed the old pool. Now, if you can come with me to 2 Kings 20, I just want to share some thoughts here. Come with me to 2 Kings chapter 20 and verse number 20. 2 Kings 20, because if we're talking about the Assyrians at this point in time, then we know we're talking about King Hezekiah. Once again, King Hezekiah is the king over Judah at this period of time in history, okay? And in 2 Kings 20, King Hezekiah, once again, was a very good king. He's one of my favorite characters in the Bible, okay? He loves the Lord. He restores the temple of God. He restores worship of God. He destroys the idols of false gods. But Hezekiah also had many flaws, okay? Just like you and I, just like a normal human being, okay? You can love the Lord. You can want to serve him, but the flesh is weak, right? Jesus Christ says, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. King Hezekiah is the same. He has moments of weakness as he leads the people of God. But one good thing that he does in 2 Kings 20, look at verse number 20, 2 Kings 20, 20, it says, So this is speaking about the acts of Hezekiah and his might, speaking in a positive sense. This is something good that Hezekiah did for the city of Jerusalem, that somehow he got this extra water to come through into the city, which is necessary, right? You know, having running water coming through a city is absolutely necessary for hygiene, you know, for drinking, for washing. This is something great that Hezekiah has done. And so, once again, when it comes to King Hezekiah, being a godly king, trying to lead his nation to love the Lord, trying to lead his nation to serve the Lord, opening the house of God all over again, that's when the nation of Judah was, again, at one of its peak, doing well. And so that pool represents the blessings. It represents productivity. It represents a love for God, you know, looking after the people of God. But the fact that now the city has fallen apart, now even the pool has not been used for the purpose of King Hezekiah, symbolically represents how far they are now again, away from the way that Hezekiah had first initiated the nation to love and serve the Lord. And so that's what I believe the symbolism is, is that something that was productive, something that was great, has now been destroyed. And as it's said there, back to Isaiah 22, and verse 11, it says, Neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. I should have read it a little bit earlier. But ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof. The Maker of the pool was Hezekiah. They're like, look, you've not gone to Hezekiah. It says, neither had respect. You don't even have respect for Hezekiah that fashioned it long ago. Hezekiah did it to help the city. And you guys don't even care what Hezekiah has done. Now, how can we apply that today? How do we apply, even though I don't fully understand the whole idea behind this, I get the sentiment, I get it, okay? But we can often, maybe young children, maybe you can say, hey, my parents raised me to love God, my parents raised me to go to church, to read the Bible, to walk in God's ways, not to make my life difficult. They did it so I can live a life that pleases God. I can live a life with minimal problems, that I can live a life where God is blessing me. And then children might say, you know what, forget that. I hate that kind of life. I don't want to live godly. I don't want to live how my parents raised me to live. It's that same idea that you have not looked unto the Maker thereof. You've not looked at the things that your parents have raised you to be. Neither had respect unto Him that fashion long ago. It's like you just don't respect the people that have come before you, that have loved you, that have guided you, that have helped you to love God and to walk in His ways. You're like, forget about it. I don't care. That's a horrible attitude to have. I said on Thursday that one day I would love for Blessed Help Baptist Church to have a full-time pastor. Men, think about it. The qualifications in the Bible. Sometimes people say to me, I believe the pastor has a higher standard than other families and other men. I don't believe that at all. What we read about as far as the qualifications, being the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not being a novice, not being a striker, not being a brawler, not being covetous, not being a drunkard, holding the word of faith. Are we honestly going to say, God does not expect that for any other man or any other father or any other husband? That's ridiculous. When it comes to the standards and the qualifications, it's the standard for every man. It's just that once you've met the standard and if you now have the desire, then that is the person that you ought to be looking for that can become the bishop of the church. All right? But it's the same standard. It's just that obviously you must maintain that standard in order to continue in that office. What I'm trying to say is this. We're going to call Pastor Bob. We'll say Pastor Bob is leading. It's always Bob. Let's choose another name. Pastor Roger. Okay? Pastor Roger Jimenez. Let me think of another name. Does someone have a name for me? Tony. Tony. Tony's here right now? No. All right. Good. Pastor Tony. That's kind of like Anthony, though. Anthony. Tony's short for Anthony, isn't it? Anthony, Anthony, Tony. Anyway, Pastor Tony is leading Blessed Hope Baptist Church. He started the church, wants to bless the church, preaching God's word, preaching from the King James Bible, doing his best to serve the people of God, and then we bring in Pastor Tony Jr. Pastor... We'll call him... No, we'll call him... We'll call him Pastor Judas. All right? Pastor Judas then steps up, and he becomes the pastor of the church, and all of a sudden he's like, you know what, guys? We're going to go back to the NIV. We're going to go to the NIV. You know what, guys? So we're in. Don't worry about that. Let's forget about preaching the gospel. What a waste of time. We'll reach more people if we just start dropping tracks in people's letterboxes instead. All right? You know, meet in three times or two times a week here. You know, we don't need to worry about that. We're preaching 40 minutes to an hour. Let's just do a 20-minute pep talk, and instead let's just have some entertainment. Let's bring in the rock band. Let's bring in the purple lights. You know, Hillsong works. They've got thousands of people. Let's just go the Hillsong route because that's going to bring more people to the church. Look, at that point, you can also apply this. It's like, have you not looked at the maker? Have you not looked at the one that had fashioned this church long ago? And many churches are like this where they started well. They started with the King James Bible. They started preaching the gospel to the lost, and before you know it, that's it. We need to move on from that. Well, you know what? And here's the thing about this. I'm not trying to elevate a man because at the end of the day, the church is the body of Christ and Christ is the head of the church. And if Christ has fashioned Blessed-Up Baptist Church a certain way, then we must always look to Jesus Christ and say, Lord, how do you want this church to be led? You know, from 50 years from now, 100 years from now, however long the Lord allows this church to continue. But look, we cannot say, okay, well, that was our foundation. That was our start. We need to move away from that. No, the Lord has blessed with that foundation, with that method, and we must continue with those same methods according to God's Word, how He outlies a church to be. I'm going to quickly read to you from Ephesians 5, 26. That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself to a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. The Bible says that Jesus Christ wants to wash this church, wants to wash you and I, each one of us, with the water of His Word. And I see the symbolism there, with Hezekiah trying to bring those pools of water into the city for washing, for cleansing. Well, God has given us the Word to cleanse the church. What if a future pastor says, forget the Bible? And there are churches like that, or they read one verse, and then it's just a man, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and you walk away. Oh, that was a good sermon. I feel better, I guess, but I don't know any more about God's Word. I don't know any more about God. I don't know what His standards are. I don't know what God expects from me, but I feel better about myself. Look, obviously those are not churches that have continued in the ways of the Lord. Back to Isaiah 22 and verse number 12. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to boldness, and to girding with sackcloth. Boldness, when they mourn, they would often shave their heads. So it's saying God is calling His people of Jerusalem. Can you start mourning? Can you start having a broken heart about your sins and your wickedness? Okay? Like, they're so prideful. They've turned their backs on God. Their sin is falling apart. God is about to bring judgment, and God is warning them through Isaiah. It's not like they're not getting warnings. Warnings from Isaiah, and then later warnings from Jeremiah. God has used prophet after prophet after prophet to warn the city. Come on, guys. You're wicked. You're far from the Lord. Get right with Him. And so God has given them time. Can you mourn for your wickedness? And instead, what's their response? Verse number 13. Sorry, verse number 13. And behold, joy and gladness. They're like, can you please be broken about your wickedness? And they're like, we'll just party. Woo hoo! Joy and gladness, slaying oxen, killing sheep, eating flesh, just banqueting, partying, and drinking wine. So this is their response. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. It's like they're mocking Isaiah. Isaiah's saying, look, judgment is coming. You're going to be destroyed. They're like, oh, well, if we're going to die tomorrow, let's live it up then, if we're all just going to die. Instead of going, you know what? God's given us time. God's given us a warning. God's given us a message. God loves us. Hey, guys, let's fix ourselves. Let's fix our families. Let's go back to the word of God. Let's go back to church. They're like, ah, who cares, just let's eat it up, like mocking, ah, we die tomorrow anyway. If you can come with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. You know, this attitude exists in Australia. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. I've seen it. I've seen it more often lately, actually, as I go door to the soul with him. There was a man who I knocked his door, and he said to me, well, you know, if God wants to send me to hell, then, he goes, look, he's old. He said to me, look, I'm an old man. I don't need to work. I have everything I need. I have my children. I have my grandchildren. I've got a good family. You know, I'm retired. He goes, I'm living a great life. Why do I need God? And so, if God wants to send me to hell, then so be it, because I'm living a good life now. That attitude exists. Just yesterday, not from someone else's door. And I asked him, you know, the question we asked, would you be 100% sure that you would be going to heaven, or would you have some doubts? He said to me, I'm pretty sure I'd be going to hell. And he goes, but I don't care. I was like, what? And I just said to him, look, thanks for your honesty. Because he's been honest. He knows where he's going, but he doesn't care. He's got the same attitude. Let us eat and drink, and drink for tomorrow we shall die. Who cares? I'm going to laugh at the message. Look, when they're burning in hell, they're not going to be laughing anymore. You know, when they're burning in hell, they're going to be regretting their decision. I should have let that person at the door just say something. I should have let them talk. I should have let them give me the gospel. I mean, what did I have to lose? It was a free gift. So God is seeking them to be broken-hearted. I think I asked you to turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Did I? Yeah. 1 Corinthians 15, verse number 32. This phrase, for tomorrow we shall die, comes up again in 1 Corinthians 15, 32. Paul says, if after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageeth it me if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. What he's saying here, when he talks about having fought with beasts at Ephesus, we know that as the Apostle Paul was going from city to city, town to town, he was often at odds with the Jews or the people of the land. And the beast, he's just always having these arguments and they're seeking to kill him and get him out of the city. So the beasts are just other people that he had arguments with. He goes, but if I'm going through this suffering, I'm trying to preach God's word and people hate me for it. I'm being persecuted. He goes, well, what advantage is it to me if the dead rise not? Like, Because this was a topic there in the Treasure Corinth. There were some people saying that there is no resurrection or that the resurrection is already passed. And he goes, well, if there's no resurrection, what's the point? Like, we're all just going to die and we're never going to live again. We're never going to rise from the dead. What's the point of all this? Like, again, if there is no resurrection, why are we here this morning? Don't you have something better to do? I'm sure there's some TV show you probably want to catch up on. Probably there's some sport activity that you want to get involved in. Probably some friends and families you want to catch up with this morning. I'm sure if there was no church there, you would find something to do. Okay? But why are you here? Because we know there's a coming resurrection of the dead. We know there's eternal life. Not just eternal life in the soul, in the spirit, but one day God is going to give us an eternal life body. A body that can never perish. Okay? And we're going to be your God face to face with these eyes, in new, clean, sinless bodies. Okay? We have an eternity to live for. And because we have an eternity to live for, we're not just going to live for today. We're not just going to destroy our lives with pleasures and the world. We want to seek God. We want to please God. We say, Lord, you've given us not just salvation. You've given us so many promises to come. You've given us eternity to look forward to. And so we're going to do our part to live lives that please you. Not to be saved. We're not salvations of free gifts. But as a service, as a gratitude, as a just love in the Lord. Lord, we want to be in your house this morning to love you, to serve you, to thank you for the great salvation that you've offered me. Otherwise, brethren, yeah, let's just eat, drink. Right? Like if we can, the Bible's not true. There is no resurrection. Then guys, we're just wasting our time. What are we doing here? We're just wasting our time. It's not true. There's no resurrection. There's no eternal life. Just forget about it. Go live your life and be as wicked as you want. That's not how we ought to be. The word of God is true. There is a resurrection. There is a God who judges. And so we can see how we can apply this even today in our churches, knowing full well that God expects us, desires of us to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Back to Isaiah 22, verse number 14. Isaiah 22, verse number 14. So they're saying, ah, let's just eat, let's just drink until we die. God is saying, yeah, surely you are going to die like that. Okay? And that's with the Babylonian takeover at the end. After a few generations later on, the Babylonian takeover, many of the people of this city perished at the hand of the Babylonians. Verse number 15. Now the treasurer, you got the king, you got King Hezekiah. The treasurer is pretty much second in command. The treasurer is the one who's got the finances of the city. Okay? Here's the one you got to go through to get confirmation and to check how much is left. Do we have enough funds to do this project? Do we have enough funds for this and for that? Okay? Now we already saw that the city is falling apart. The treasurer is not doing his job properly. Let's put it that way. Okay? So God begins to judge the treasurer, which is Shebna. Because Hezekiah is doing the best he can. But he's surrounding himself with bad people like Shebna. Okay? Wicked people like Shebna. And even today, when you think of our prime minister, when you think about politics and you think about who's the most powerful man in Australia, you'd think of a prime minister. Okay? Unless you're kind of conspiratorial and you say he's a puppet of whatever. But anyway, you know what I mean, just in general. Our prime minister is the most powerful man on the land. But then you say, well, who's second and most powerful? You definitely would say the treasurer. The treasurer is often in the media. And if the prime minister people often expect that the treasurer will be the one that would next lead that party. Okay? Or even in our states, the treasurer often has as much say about things that are developing in our state as much as the premiere. And so Shebna is someone that is up there. He's high in the chain of command. And now Isaiah is going to preach against him. It says in verse 16, What hast thou here? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast hugely had a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him had a sepulchre on high, and that grave and habitation for himself, himself in a rock. So he's saying to him, Shebna has made himself a grave. And in these days, the kings were all buried together. The kings were given a royal, you know, funeral, a royal funeral, a royal burial. And Shebna had come along and made sure that he had created a sepulchre, a grave for himself amongst the kings. Because he sees himself as mighty. I'm one of the kings. I'm up there. He's full of pride. That's why it's like, what hast thou here? What are you doing here? And whom hast thou here? Who do you belong to? Like the kingly line was part of a family. Shebna's not part of the kingly line of families. Like what are you doing here? Why are you making a tomb for yourself so you can be remembered and honoured for all generations like he's lifting himself up? Verse 17. Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity and will surely cover thee. And I believe that's referencing the Assyrians. Because the Assyrians did have a level of victory over Judah but not a complete victory. Verse 18. He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country. There shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy Lord's house. He says, you want to die in Jerusalem? You want to be buried with the kings? You're going to die in a foreign land. You're going to be taken away into captivity. Verse number 19. And I will drive thee from thy station. He goes, you're going to lose your position as a treasurer. And from thy state shall he pull thee down. Verse number 20. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call thy servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle. And I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. So God is saying to Shebna, Eliakim's going to take over your position. I'm pulling you down and everything you have is going to be given to Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. He's going to have your robe. He's going to have your authority. He's going to have the government into his hands. And in verse number 22 it says, and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder. So he shall open and none shall shut. And he shall shut and none shall open. That's like the key of the treasury, right? You've got the treasury box. You know how much the nation has. If the nation needs to spend money, you open, you've got that authority, all right? It's going to be given over to Eliakim. Verse number 23, and I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. So God is saying he's going to be the permanent treasurer of the day, okay? He's going to be a glorious throne. His whole house, his whole family is going to be honored because of the work of Eliakim. And then verse number 24, and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring of the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons. So the vessels of cups, vessels of flagons, basically they're saying they're going to rejoice. They're going to have a party. They're going to have a celebration that Eliakim has been made the treasurer over the nation. And they're going to rejoice. They're going to have cups. They're going to have flagons. They're going to have drinks. They're going to celebrate. And again, you don't need to turn there, but this brings us back and I'll read it to you very quickly. So in Solomon chapter 2, verse number 4, the wife speaks here. He says, he brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons. There's the flagons mentioned. Comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love. She says that her husband is bringing her to the banqueting house. There's going to be a celebration, a rejoicing. And it says, and his banner over me was love. The reason we're celebrating with all these people is to celebrate our love. It's kind of like a wedding anniversary. They invite all their friends. They invite all the people. Hey, what are we celebrating, king? We're celebrating my love for my wife. And we're going to drink apple juice. We're going to have flagons, which is like just vessels of juice. We're going to celebrate and rejoice. Well, we see the same thing play out with, what's his name? Eli Kim, right? That his family's going to rejoice. You've been made treasurer. You've been promoted. Praise God. Let's celebrate with our friends. Let's pull out, take out the flagons. Let's take out the drinks. Let's celebrate your new position as the treasurer over the nation of Judah. So, we see that good times are going to return under Eli Kim. But Shebna, the treasurer, was a wicked man, full of pride, probably corrupt, probably silly money, because the whole city's falling apart, right? Under his leadership. And then back there Isaiah 22, verse number 25. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the short place be removed? Now, we saw that Eli Kim was going to be a nail in a short place, but obviously the nail that is fastened that will be removed is Shebna. He's speaking of Shebna here. And be cut down and full, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off, for the Lord has spoken it. So, we saw that this was the burden of the valley of vision. It's a burden. Well, it says, the burden that was upon it shall be cut off. So, as soon as Shebna's removed, the burden's removed. Shebna's the main problem, okay, over the nation of Judah at this point in time. All right. Now, keep your finger there if you want, and come with me to Revelation chapter 3. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. But I remember reading, when I would read Isaiah 22, and I had a stronger understanding of the book of Revelation, I couldn't help but see that Shebna and Eliakim are symbols or types of the Antichrist and Jesus Christ. The Shebna representing the Antichrist, and Eliakim representing Jesus Christ. Because when you see Shebna lifting himself up, he goes, what are you doing here? Who are you, right? It's kind of like, if you know in the end times, when the Antichrist comes back from the dead, he's going to claim to be God. You know, the God above all gods. Like, who are you? That's not your position. And he's going to try to take over the entire earth. Like, that's his goal. He's full of pride. He's stepping into a position that does not belong to him. Look at Revelation 3.7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia writes, These things save he that is holy, he that is true. That's speaking of Jesus. Look at this. He that hath the key of David. Hold on. In Isaiah 22, Shebna had the key, and that key was given over to Eliakim. Well, who's got the key of David now? Jesus. Okay? And then it says here, He that openeth, and no man shuteth, and shuteth, and no man openeth. Where did we read that? Isaiah 22. That Eliakim has that ability. Well now, Jesus Christ has that ability. Jesus Christ as it is, is a treasurer of God's kingdom. Verse number eight, I know thy works, behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. So God says, speaking of Jesus here, that he opens and he closes. You know, sometimes we often pray, Lord, if you want to lead me in a certain way, can you open the doors? You know, can you close certain doors, and open certain doors, so I know which way you want me to go? Well, that's a biblical concept, coming from this idea. God, you've got the key. You know exactly where I want to go. And I pray this prayer quite often. Lord, which direction? I've got option A, I've got option B, I've got maybe option C, D, E, and F. Lord, can you make it clear which way you want me to go? You know, can you close the doors? Can you open doors? And God does it many times. He closes certain doors, and there I am trying to open that door. Why isn't this working out for me? You know, why isn't this door opening? I want to go this, what's wrong, God? And I forget why I pray to God. God, can you close certain doors, and can you open other doors? But I forget. It's like, I don't know, maybe you've had that experience like I have, okay? Well, Jesus Christ is the one who will be the treasurer of the kingdom of God. He opens, he closes, okay? And again, you know, God has given us an open door here at Blessed of Baptist Church to serve him, to do our work, to preach the gospel, okay? And let's try our very best to continue walking through this door that God has opened for us. Now, come with me to Isaiah 9-6. Isaiah 9-6. I don't know if you still have a finger in Isaiah. Isaiah 9-6. And while you turn to Isaiah, don't forget how the burden that will fall upon the nation of Jerusalem, and I showed you how that ties in with the end times, and that ties in with the Antichrist trying to take over the, or essentially he does, take over the city of Jerusalem for three and a half years. And then Jesus Christ says, he's going to come and destroy the armies of the Antichrist. And if you know the book of Revelation, he destroys the Antichrist himself. And then what happens? Jesus sets up his kingdom for a thousand years, okay? So the Antichrist was trying to take over the entire earth, but the one that ends up taking over the entire earth is Jesus Christ. Whatever the Antichrist was trying to do, Jesus Christ is the one that does it. And so that's kind of the similarity that we see with Shebna and Eliakim. Everything that Shebna's trying to do, trying to elevate himself, where God says, I'm going to give all of those efforts over to Eliakim. He's going to be the one people are rejoicing about, okay? And when you go to Isaiah 9, look at verse number 6, it says, for unto us a child is born. We know it's a prophecy of Jesus. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. Now what did it say about Eliakim? I think I lost the passage there, but let me see if I can find it. It says in verse number 22, in Isaiah 22, 22, and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder. And so when we see this prophecy of Christ, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, look at this, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Notice that Christ is called the Everlasting Father. Well, what is Eliakim called when he begins to rule as a treasurer over Judah? It said in verse number 21, and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. Okay? So when we see that the government is put upon the shoulders of Jesus, and we see the symbolism with Eliakim, we see that Eliakim is given the title of a father. And so, you know, not that I want to go over oneness all over again, but when we see now that the Everlasting Father, we see that this is a title that is given to Jesus when he begins to rule over the entire earth in that millennial reign. Okay? And then it continues there in verse number seven, of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Okay? There'll be no end. Now, about Eliakim, God said, verse number 23, and I will fasten him as a nail in a shore place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And so Jesus Christ is the one that is like a nail, a fastened nail, in a shore place, and as he rules over the earth, he's going to give glory to his father. Okay? Jesus Christ has his father, and just like we see here, with Eliakim, you can see the parallels with Jesus and Eliakim, and then it continues there, and upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So, Isaiah 22. I don't know if you read it throughout the week and thought about what it contained, but it's such, I find it just so interesting, so amazing, how God can speak prophetically through Isaiah about Assyria, and then, because they don't fix their ways, God uses Babylon to wipe them out, and yet God somehow, in his infinite wisdom, is able to speak of events of that very day and speak of Jesus Christ and his promises to come. What we learn here, brethren, is that these burdens are going to continue until the day of Christ. You know, we see the burden, we see the different nations, the burdens of different nations, the burden or value of... Brethren, life is full of burdens. Life is full of problems. No politician, no treasurer is going to fix this world. The Antichrist is going to give it a shot, and he just makes it worse. The only answer to our society, to our world, to our governments, to our nation, the only answer is Jesus Christ. He's the only answer. He's the only one that's going to fix this world. He's the only one that's going to bring true peace on this world. What are you saying, pastor? What is this one saying? Your political leaning is not the answer. I don't mind about your political leaning. I don't care. I have political leanings too. You know, I have ideas of how the government should be run. But that's not going to fix our nation. Jesus fixes the nation. And what can we do about it? Simply preach the gospel. Bring more people to Jesus Christ. Bring people that understand their sinful condition before a holy God. Instead of taking the view, I'll just eat, drink, and die, whatever. Tomorrow you die. When we go door to the soul, we're not just living for tomorrow and today. There's an eternity. Are you right with God? Are you in Jesus Christ? Have you been forgiven for your sins? And boy, the more people we see coming to Jesus Christ, or at least, the more people, if you don't see someone saved, if you can just introduce to them a fear of God, a fear of eternity, a fear of judgment, okay? Then, obviously, that's going to soften people's hearts. Like the seed of God's word can do a work in that person's heart. You know, the true answer to peace on this earth is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And one day, its full fruition is going to come through when Christ takes over this entire earth and rules for a thousand years. The title of the sermon was The Valley of Vision. Alright, let's pray.