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Amen, so Isaiah 30 is one of those, it is a bit of a longer chapter of Isaiah, we are going to do it in one still though, so we are going to go through it in one today. I'm trying to get through each chapter in one, just where there's obviously 66 chapters to get through, so I don't want to be in this Bible study for many years. So we are going to do it in one today, we were in Isaiah 29 last time and if you remember just to give you a reminder, it does flow together doesn't it, he was warning about the impending siege coming to Jerusalem, we are going to be looking at that again, how the strangers, even the terrible ones will disappear when it comes, we looked at that. As usual there was some future prophecy in there, the final fulfilment yet to come, and we saw it was going to be like a dream, with a sudden end, seemingly alluding to the way God was going to suddenly smite the Assyrians. We then saw how God was to close their eyes, that there was an allegory of a book delivered to the learned and those not learned, with two excuses, the learned saying it's sealed, the unlearned complaining that they're not learned, which you can easily apply to the Word of God to this day, the learned don't understand it, the unlearned don't try to understand it. As I preached something that Jesus repeats in the Gospels, how their fear was taught by the precept of men, there was prophecy about the Lord's first coming, warning to the rejectors, those trying to catch the wrong word, laying snares and stuff, which obviously we saw applied to him as well, to the Lord himself. He then finished the chapter with what was also a prophetic few verse about a time coming when God's people won't be ashamed, so this is verse 22. Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale, but when he seeth his children the work of mine hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name and sanctify the holy one of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. And then Isaiah 13 verse 1 starts like this, woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, and that cover with a covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. I'd like to pray and then get started, Father thank you for your word, thank you for this chapter of Isaiah, Lord, and the many messages we could get out of it, help me to preach those that I've chosen to focus on more today, clearly accurately and boldly, help me to explain other verses just in the right way, Lord, in the way that you'd want them explained, Lord, and help everyone to have a tent of fears tonight, fill with your spirit as I do that, please, and just pray, Amen. Okay so he said, woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, and that cover with a covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. So the warning here is continuing to his people, he's continuing to prophesy of this Assyrian siege coming, where instead of seeking the Lord and his counsel, his protection, they looked elsewhere, okay, that's what the majority at least, at least some of these people are going to do. The covering is a protection that they're seeking elsewhere, but it's not of God. They may add sin to sin, so where, you know, the point here is that when going through the chastisement of God, instead of doing the right thing, they just sin more, okay, and that's something that we want to avoid, don't we, when either being chastised or just going through trials and tribulations in general, okay, life is full of trials and tribulations. Just because you're saved doesn't mean you're not going to go through them, and you are going to get chastised sometimes as well, and when we're going through those things we don't want to just add sin to sin, and who is it that they're looking for for this covering or looking to for this covering, because it said that they're taking counsel but not of me, that cover with a covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. It said that walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. So they're seeking help in Egypt, they're trusting in Egypt, and there are some pretty obvious applications here for us, okay, there's God's people. Throughout the Bible, Egypt regularly pictures the world and worldliness, okay, that's quite a clear theme I think in the Bible, being what of course the children of Israel were delivered from, which is a picture of salvation and the temptations to go back there, which they're regularly dealing with, especially as we see them wandering in the wilderness for example. The symbolism though isn't just from then, it's from earlier in Genesis, as we went through the book of Genesis we saw that symbolism with Egypt even before that exodus, still picturing the world, and just as God's people here, okay, God's people now in times of tribulation will walk to go down into Egypt, okay, that's what happens sadly, whether it's chastisement, whether it's just trials and tribulations for other reasons, often God's people will walk, as it's said here, that walk to go down into Egypt. So in hard times, in times of trouble, instead of walking to go down into God's house, which is what we should be doing, and it might be with a little driving or public transport for some of you first, okay, but that's where we should be going, where we should be traveling towards, people go the other way. And Christians do this, they continue to do this since here and onwards, God's people will, for example, nowadays, they've got some problems, they've got some trials, they've got some tribulations, so they, instead of heading to God's house, they head to the bars and pubs and clubs. They head to drowning their sorrows, is what the world calls it, don't they, drowning your sorrows. The problem is though, is that sorrows can swim. So you might try and drown them, but you ain't going to drown them, okay, they're still going to be there. Sorrows don't go anywhere. All you're going to do is just make them even harder and make it even harder to deal with and delay the inevitable. Or for some, it might be smoking weed, smoking marijuana, to numb their minds, but the sorrow doesn't go away. You're just putting it off, but you still need to deal with it. And this is what people do, and it's not just what the world does, it's what Christians sadly do as well. And you could add to that just all sorts of general backsliding, as if backsliding, as if going away from the church house, the word of God, the things that God is somehow going to solve. It just doesn't solve anything. Backsliding in whatever way, going into sin, is never going to solve your problems. And people will, you could go, okay, well not quite backsliding. Maybe you can't apply, maybe you can't really see that applying to yourself. Maybe you're not into those sorts of things, you've never been into those sorts of things. Maybe backsliding, you don't feel like it's a problem for you, but you know what a lot of people just do? That's what Christians do. They've got a problem, they've got trouble, they've got trials, they've got tribulations, it might be chastisement, so they swerve church. So oh, well I can't come to church, I've got some problems going on, I've got some issues I've got to deal with. And I'm not talking about genuine reasons you can't get into church, or illness, or something like that, but Christians will start swerving church, swerving Bible reading, swerving prayer time. But it's the exact opposite of what you're meant to be doing. You've got trouble, you've got problems, you've got issues going on in life, you should be going to God. And so many will go the other way, they'll walk towards Egypt. You hear people saying that they're having a hard time, so they haven't been in church. You hear that a lot, won't you? You're like, oh, I haven't been in for a while, I've got a lot going on in my life. They've got it completely wrong, they've got a lot going on, that's when they should be in church. That's when you need it most, isn't it? They'll go, oh, I've got all this stuff going on, so I haven't been able to read my Bible. You need to read your Bible more. You need to be in prayer more. That's the point, isn't it? They're like, oh, I'm finding it hard to get a connection with God, I'm finding it hard to pray to God because my life is, I've got problems. You need to pray to Him. That's when you desperately need to be praying to Him more. But that's the time when we should be in church, when we should be Bible reading more, when we should be ultimately on our knees praying to Him, shouldn't we? And that's what you've got to do, and we've talked about this before going through the Book of Isaiah, when it's hard times, it's tribulation, that's when you should be drawing close to God. Use those things as a reason to draw even closer. He said in verse 2, that, walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth. They haven't asked at his mouth. So you've got problems, why aren't you asking the problem solver? Instead, do you know what people do? They go to the problem causer. That's what they're doing. Instead of asking the problem solver, going to God, going to His Word, going to His house, going to Him in prayer, they're going to the problem causer. He said, woe to the rebellious children, because they're rebellious. It's rebellion. And you know what? Even regular church-going Christians, people in churches like Oz, can still often be rebellious. They're having hard times, they're having problems, so they rebel against God. So they won't open up His Word and read it. So they won't come into church, so they won't go out soul-winning, so they won't go to Him in prayer. They're rebellious children. Sayeth the Lord that take counsel but not of me, and that cover with the covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. That walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and a trust in the shadow of Egypt. Who does Pharaoh represent? The God of this world. If Egypt's the world, who's the God of this world, small g, the devil? Is that where we should be going for help? Is that where you should go for help when you've got trouble, when you've got problems in life? Go to the devil for his solutions. And what's the devil's solutions? Invariably add sin to sin. That's usually a solution, you need some more sin. I mean, that's a prescription of the devil. It's like, oh, you're in a bit of sin, you've got some problems, got some trials, add a bit more sin. Well, that's it, isn't it? Let's find some sin to cheer us up, let's find some sin to help us, you just need to let loose a little bit, you know? You need to cheer yourself up with some sin, with some indulgence. Now some of it's subtle though, so some of it's like the world's counsel and advice, the gurus. It might seem effective for a time, okay, I'm sure that the thought of Egypt coming to join forces seemed like it was a deterrent to Assyria. But eventually it will let you down, okay, the world's solutions will let you down. It said in verse 3, therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. So when God's people do that, when they go to the world for help for the solutions, like we see here, when they reject the word of God and choose the world's alternatives, they end up ashamed. With confusion here, I think being more like being agitated, rather than just don't know what's going on, okay? Basically it won't work, putting confidence in the world. He said in verse 4, for his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hainis. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. So Zoan was a city in Egypt, if you flip back to Isaiah 19 quickly, just go back several chapters to Isaiah 19, to remind you of what was significant about Zoan. We just saw here, for his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hainis. And in Isaiah 19, where Isaiah is prophesying of the coming burden to Egypt, it says this in verse 11. So Isaiah 19, 11 says, surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the council of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? Where are thy wise men? Let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts have purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noth are deceived, they have also seduced Egypt, even neither do the stay of the tribes thereof. So Zoan seemed to be where the leadership dwelt. Agreed? Okay, you've got the princes, principles, as I often remind you that that's often kind of referring to, of Zoan are fools, the princes of Zoan, verse 13, said have become fools. It talked about the wise counselors of Pharaoh, so it seemed to be where they were, and Pharaoh probably included there as well, many believe that's where a lot of the plagues were focused and some of the things that happened there, you know, at least it was focused around that, the interactions with Moses and Pharaoh in Zoan, but regardless we can see here that it looks to be where there's leadership there. So I think what he's saying, if you go back to then Isaiah 30 with that in mind, the leaders and counselors seem to stay put basically. Isaiah 30 and verse 4 said, for his princes were at Zoan and his ambassadors came to Hainis. And Hainis, being another place in Egypt, seems to be probably further south, so basically the opposite direction of Jerusalem. They didn't go up there, instead they're staying put pretty much, okay? They were all, it said in verse 5, they were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them nor be in help nor profit but a shame and also reproach. So the Egyptians discarded the people of Judah because they couldn't profit them but would rather be a reproach, is what he's saying here. And that is still how it is to this day, isn't it, with the world and God's people. The old worldly friends, they're not really going to be there when you really need them. As a general, now look, you might have like a gem somewhere, you might have a diamond amongst the rough or something, you're thinking, well I can think of someone who's been there for me, but in general, when you really need those old, these old worldly friends, those wise people, especially those ones that are trying to get you back in the world, those temptations to get you back in the world, they won't be there when you really need them. They're not going to be. And the problem is that you're just no longer really a prophet to them, you're no longer sin buddies, because that's what a lot of friendships are. Not always, okay, and again I'm generalizing here, a lot of friendships, a lot of old worldly friendships are sin buddies, they're someone to partake in sin with. And again, I'm not saying it's necessarily the worst stuff in the world, but a lot of the time it's just people that are sinful, at least have the same interests, and it's not always sometimes just vanity, partaking vanity with you and making you, you know, you feel better often though about the sin, and now you're a reproach. He said they're all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor being helped nor profit, but a shame and also a reproach. And often Christians, they just start to become a reproach to people, don't they? They get a bit, you know, the world can be a bit embarrassed around you, suddenly. Suddenly you know, especially if you've got family, you're raising family, you're dressing normally now, you're no longer, you know, women are no longer dressing like the local whores out there, you're not dressing your daughters like that and stuff, they kind of feel like you look a bit out of place, don't you? Sometimes you stick out a bit like a sore thumb, the way you behave, now you're more of a reproach. Because it's a weird thing in the world, isn't it? A lot of the time, holiness is a reproach, and I hope, you know, I'm not saying we're all the pictures of holiness, but you should be trying to live holy, shouldn't you? God did say be holy for I am holy, and if you're trying to live right, you end up being a reproach for those that don't. And with the constant picture of the end times, isn't this how it will be during the tribulation? Where you will be a reproach, you won't profit them, and they won't be there for you, you're not surviving due to help from the world, you're not getting through the tribulation because you made enough friends in the world, because you got worldly enough to try and like schmooze them and stuff, when it really kicks in and you're being hunted down, believe me, the world won't be helping you out. Said in verse 6, the burden of the beasts of the south into the land of trouble and anguish from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses and their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not profit them. So he's saying that it will just be a burden to the animals carrying the tribute, the riches, etc. into Egypt. That's what he's saying. They will carry it all there, but the Egyptians shall not profit them. He said that they will carry it into the land of trouble and anguish, Egypt. That's what he's saying here. The burden of the beasts and the beasts are the ones, that's what he's talking about, the ones, the young asses, the bunches of camels that are carrying those riches, okay. Remember they're paying tribute to these people who are then meant to come and help them. But they're carrying it to a land of trouble and anguish where basically these different predators are. Now notice how these predators are, they're all representations of the devil, aren't they? If you notice that, so we've got the young and old lion, remember the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking him he may devour, we've got the viper, he's constantly pictured as that form of serpent, the fiery flying serpent, talking about the dragon, okay. These are all different pictures of the devil and the application for us, this passage, this verse, verse 6, is that you can invest a load of time and money into the world. You can put time, effort, money into the world, you can chase the riches, you can chase what the world has to offer you in various places, you can chase the prestige in the world, you know, the respect amongst people in the world, all that stuff, the vainglory that we talked about on Sunday, you can chase all that stuff. You can invest a load of time and effort into the worldly friends, you can put time and effort and keep trying to just keep up with those worldly friends, not to preach the gospel just to kind of be in the world, to be around the world, to get what you can from the world, but none of it will profit you in your time of need. The expensive houses, the bank account, the world's respect won't deliver you when it all goes wrong, it won't deliver you in the real time of trouble, it won't deliver you in the real trials, the real tribulation, obviously it won't deliver you in the great tribulation. The worldly friends won't be there when you need them most, like I said, they're not going to be there, okay, and in fact you're more likely to be targeted by devils when you're in the world, the lions, the vipers, different names for different types of devils, the fiery flying serpents, talking about what we saw before were dragons. When you're in the world, let me tell you what, you're less likely to recognise them. When you're just around all these people, you're just in the world, your heart's in the world, your head's in the world, you're living like that, you just don't recognise them, you don't see them so much, you turn a blind eye to it because you're just chasing things of the world, you just don't see it, you're around them a lot, and what happens when you're around them, you don't have to turn there, we saw it on Sunday, problem 1320 says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. When you're walking with the world, when you're hanging around with the world, when you're constantly surrounded by the world, you're going to end up being destroyed. You get destroyed. He said the burden of the beasts of the south into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, remember that's where it all comes from the world, the viper and fiery, flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses and their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not profit them. You put all that time, effort, money into the world and it will not profit you. Four, verse seven, four, the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose, therefore have I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still, which is what seemed to happen when the Assyrians eventually came. So turn over to Isaiah 36 quickly, just forward a few chapters to Isaiah 36, where Rab Sheikhi, the Assyrian ambassador, he refers to their trusting in Egypt. So we're seeing here, Isaiah's, you know, prophesying of this, saying the Egyptians aren't going to help you, well Rab Sheikhi, the Assyrian, even says this, he calls them a broken reed. He says in verse 6 of Isaiah 36, verse 6 says, lo thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed on Egypt, whereon if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. Now this part of what he's saying is true. Now of course, you know, Rab Sheikhi, like all these, like people do, and here he's trying to demoralize, they take a bit of truth and a bit of fiction here, but that bit's true, right, because ultimately nothing comes of trusting in Pharaoh. Verse 7 says, but if thou say to me, we trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah had taken away? And again, there now he's being dishonest here, right, because the high place and the altars weren't good things. And said to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar. Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the lease of my master's servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? And the Lord said unto me, go up against this land and destroy it. So what did happen that the Teerhaka, the king of Ethiopia, and by default Egypt too at this point, being a sort of coalition, two nations there, made some sort of attempt, but it was futile against the Assyrians. So whether or not it was fought for, it probably wasn't for Judah, he probably thought it was the right time, there was an attempt to go up to battle with them. But eventually they're taken, which is what Isaiah had already prophesied, you have to turn your back in Isaiah 20 verse 5 where he said, and they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia, their expectation, and of Egypt, their glory. They'll be ashamed of them being the people that were meant to support them, it was never going to happen, and what happens is they end up eventually being taken by Assyria to some degree anyway. So back in verse 8 of Isaiah 30 it says this, Isaiah 30 verse 8 says, now go, write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. So God is saying to write it down so that it is known that they were a rebellious people, lying children, that rejected God's Word, and isn't that what the Word of God does? When it's there in black and white, it exposes the rebellious, doesn't it? The liars, it exposes those shutting their ears, yeah, the Word of God does that, doesn't it? The Word of God, it's written down, it's there, it exposes people. Here it was everything that Isaiah had been prophesying about what was to come and the reasons for it, he said now go, write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, and we still have it against all physical odds, okay? In a book, that's what you've got, and it will always be in this book forever and ever. There's a little bit of a preservation of God's Word there, isn't it? He said now go, write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, and Psalm 12 verse 7 says thou shalt keep them O Lord, talking about the Word of God, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Okay? God fulfilled his promise, you still have it in your hands today, and one of the many goals of this book is to expose sin. Psalm 12 verse 9 said this, so basically they're right, it's being written, it might be forever and ever that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, and we read this passage, okay, as believers, as New Testament believers, as churchgoing believers, maybe as Bible reading, you know, Bible believing churchgoing, maybe soul winning believers, and we think, yeah, you wicked bunch, okay, they had the Word of God preached to them and they're rejecting it, yeah, don't we sometimes, we look at that and go, I can't believe this, like they got it there, he's being preached, they've got men of God doing these miracles, preaching these things, but how many of God's children today, saved men, women and children of God, still rebel? They don't want to hear it, but they lie about the reasons, like these guys here, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, and so many people today don't want to hear the law of the Lord, they don't want to hear the Word of God, they don't want to either read it, they don't want to hear it preached, but they'll lie about the reasons, they'll come up with excuses. He said, which say to the seers in verse 10, see not unto the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. So seers were men of God, okay, prophets often who God gave visions to, so God's telling the preachers basically, the prophets not to preach right things, he's not telling them sorry, he's saying that this is what they're being, this is what they say to them, not to preach right things, don't tell us the truth, this is what they're saying, tell us smooth things, even deceits it says here. And the obvious application out there today is the obvious application, is the sort of wishy-washy, sort of namby-pamby, lardy-dardy, like liberal, just horrendous preaching out there, right, where they just avoid anything that's going to offend anyone, it's just preached smooth things, don't preach the truth, just really make people feel good, you know? And that's the obvious application, isn't it, okay? And there are many of those out there, they don't want the truth, they want the smooth, they want the deceits, they want the, for example, they want the judge not kind of parrot, they love that one, just judge not, judge not, don't judge anything in life, just don't say anything, don't make a stance on anything, that's a smooth thing for a lazy believer, isn't it? That sounds nice, here's a good one for lazy people, Calvinism, oh that's a smooth one, isn't it? I was just elect, man, you know, and believe me, believers can get pulled into at least this, you know, to some degree, right? And again, I don't believe someone who's saved is going to be preaching this stuff, teaching this stuff, that isn't for me just a false god, okay? But there'll be people that kind of, they like the sound of this, it's like, yeah, I mean, if you're elect, it'll just happen, no need for me to do anything, right? I need to go out and preach the gospel because if you're going to get saved, you're going to get saved. I mean, that is a smooth thing for a lazy, in-the-flesh Christian, isn't it, right? Or here's another one, yeah, again, this is one that is quite prevalent amongst so-called Bible-believing churches, and of course with false Bible versions it makes it easier on Romans 13 as well, where they change it, which is just obey all government, obey all authority in your life, simple, don't have to make any decisions, the government tells you to do something, you just do it. Authority tells you to do something, you just do it, because that's what a good Christian does. That's a lazy option, isn't it, that's the easy option, and don't get me wrong, we should obey government, but not when it contradicts what God tells us to do. These guys, according to their doctrine, they would have been rounding people up along with the commies and putting them in camps and killing them. According to these guys, they would have been with Mao and others, just lining people up and shooting them because the government told me to do it, and I'm a good Christian if I do what the government tells me to do, right? That's not the application of Romans 13, and we'll do that on another day. But that's smooth things for people, because it's just easier to just go, just do what the government says, right? Children that will not hear the law of the Lord. And here's the thing though, the easier application for fundamentalists like us is what we've seen there. That's the easy application for us, it's like liberals, wishy washes, easy, they don't want to hear the law of the Lord, they just want the smooth things, they don't want to hear the hard preaching, right? And yeah, there is that, right? But what about those that may be here, saying these are saying to them, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, and they're saying this to prophets, to preachers, in one way or another, they're influencing to do that. But what about those that try to influence preachers in other ways, influence maybe our types of preachers in other ways? Turn to 2 Timothy 4, maybe being all hissy-fitty when the sermon pricks them, you know, people out there like that, not just swimming, okay? But people can be like that, you know, the sermon pricks, so it's like, well, I'm going to show him I'm not happy with his preaching, is that ultimately saying, don't prophesy unto us right things, next time you'd better prophesy to me smooth things, or manipulative in, and people can do this, I'm not talking about anyone recently, but I've had this in the past, manipulative in conversations maybe, nowadays it would be coercive comments online about what you should and shouldn't be preaching, you know, those sorts of things, if people care much or are interested in the online sort of stuff. And then there will be, though, as well, think about online, there'll be God's people out there that just pick and choose sermons based on the title, and really what are they doing if they're claiming that, you know, because a lot of people will claim no church, no church, I mean we've still got people around the UK that want to, you know, and they'll make their reason, maybe they've got some justified reason why they don't want to even, you know, try and get involved in a church which is trying to do the right thing, you know, for whatever reason, right? Here's the thing, a lot of those people really, they want to pick and choose what God's got, you know, what they want to hear from God, so they don't want to just come to a church and listen to preaching and, well, let's see what the pastor's got for me today, instead it's easier to sit at home, claim, oh, no such thing as a church, no church is near me, you know, within half an hour, no church within ten minutes, so I'll just watch on YouTube. Today I'm going to go for reprobates, oh, Sunday evening, what should I go with, Jews, Wednesday evening, let's go for the sods, Sunday morning again, hmm, let's go for like liberals, liberals, you know, it's just, but really they're just, they're basically turning their ear away, aren't they, from the word of God, they're deciding what they need to hear and not letting God decide what they need to hear, right? And just because it might not be smooth to the liberals here doesn't mean you're still not seeking what's smooth to you, because some of that's like smooth preaching to us, I'm not saying it's bad preaching, I'm not saying that that's not, you know, it's like good preaching, right, you know, that stuff needs preaching on sometimes, but that can be smooth to our ear, can't it, you know, because we're not fussed about someone screaming about sods, or Jews, or false prophets, that doesn't bother us, right, that can be smooth to us, whereas someone screaming about your sin ain't so smooth, is it, you know, someone shouting about, maybe they don't have to scream, maybe they just have to talk about your sin and suddenly this ain't so smooth for your ears, right? For some, right, the smooth stuff might be, might be that hard preach your nose sings, but when it's your behavior, the ears close, right, 2 Timothy 4 here, Paul is warning of this same stuff amongst New Testament Christians, okay, so it wasn't just back then, 2 Timothy 4, 3 says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned, excuse me, unto fables. So they're turning away their ears from the truth, and maybe even that can be when you're sitting in a church, you can turn away your ear, can't you? That's when you switch off, that's when you harden up, that's when you start looking at something else, that's when your mind starts wondering, that's when you just start telling yourself, he's just thinking about me, isn't he, yeah, I know he's got me on his mind right now, yeah, it's just being me, you know, and it's like, I never even thought about you, I didn't even realize, right, most of the time, okay, but have you ever wondered when you look at this, so who's Paul talking to here? So he's talking to Timothy, who passes the church, now of course you could say, yeah, he's talking maybe of a period of time in the future, but maybe rather than it being a future time when everyone's turning away their ears, and that's kind of how you might hear people apply this, and I've applied it like that before, maybe this is also a risk in the lifetime of that church, and of all churches. For the time will come, saying to Timothy, pastoring a church, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heed to themselves, teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth which shall be turned unto fables, and you go to churches out there that have been running for decades and they'll tell you, it's like a revolving door often, yeah, there'll be some, you know, staunch, strong people that have been there from early on and will still be there, but there'll be people that come in for a bit, hear the hard preaching, hear the tough stuff, maybe sort themselves out for a bit, but then the time comes when they won't endure sound doctrine, but now they just want their ears itched instead, because it's not easy often, is it? You know, look, even writing preaching sermons and preaching sermons which you know are going to hit people and you want to try and improve people, you know there'll be people that are going to be pricked, let alone, and often just sitting there, hearing stuff preached where you know, like, man, this feels like this is getting me, you know, that's, a lot of the time people won't endure, it's enduring, isn't it? Enduring sound doctrine, sound teaching, because the Christian life to perfect and get better and get stronger can be hard, and it's easier to just find a reason to, after your own lusts heat yourselves, teach us having itching ears, turn away your ears from the truth and instead turn unto fables. Maybe they want what they've decided they need to hear, they turn away from the truth. Well, verse 9 said, back in Isaiah, in chapter 30, he said that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get ye out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us, which is what they're really saying. Ultimately, when people do that, they're saying, we don't want to hear God, just tickle our ears instead. I don't want to hear what God's got, I don't want to hear what God's got for me today, I don't want to hear the word of God today, just tickle my ears, please, just tell me something I'll enjoy hearing. And ultimately, they're saying, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us, I just can't take him reproving me anymore. But the proof is good, the proof is what improves us. Verse 12 said, wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and stay thereon, therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. So because really they despise God's word, or at least parts of it maybe, they want the oppression of Egypt, I think is what he's saying here, really, and for us it's just the world, right? A lot of people just want the oppression of the world, they want their sin, and sin is oppressing, really, ultimately, in the long term, but people want that, they want the oppression, they want Egypt, they want the world, they're rejecting the word of God, the perverseness, or we would say the error, rather than it's not talking about sexual perverts here, it's just error, they want that stuff, things contrary to God, they want to put their trust in all of that, therefore, verse 13, this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. A breach being a gap, a hole made in their defences which will collapse a whole wall and it will come suddenly, which is what happens when you reject God's word and trust in the God, the breaking will come, the shattering will come, your life will be destroyed. And that's what he then says in verse 14, and he shall break it as a breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces, he shall not spare so that there shall not be found in a bursting of it assured to take fire from the hearth or to take water with all out of the pit. So basically there will be little left, nothing of worth left of those, basically, of his people that reject his word. Think about the sadly useless believers that maybe you've known in the past, I've known some over the years, either backslidden, they're just useless now, languishing in some lame church doing nothing productive for God anymore. And it's sad, really, for those that are legitimate save people that have just backslidden out and they're just useless now, they're a useless vessel, a waste that could have been a useful, productive vessel, and instead they can't even take fire from the hearth, they can't even take water with all out of the pit, they're just useless, languishing, doing nothing anymore. He said in verse 15, for thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and ye would not. So the right thing would have been to come to Jerusalem for them here, to trust in the Lord's deliverance, that was the right thing, to come to where God wanted them to trust in God in their life, but ye said no, for we will flee upon horses, therefore shall ye flee, and we will ride upon the swift, therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. So as mentioned in previous weeks, many fled due to the approaching Assyrian army, I think we saw last week about the strangers, the terrible ones as well. Many stayed in outlying towns and cities, but safety was actually within the walls, so they felt like they were going to be coming to Jerusalem, they're going here, there and everywhere, fleeing, hiding out, but that's not where God wanted them, and God had been telling them through Isaiah, this is where I want you, in Jerusalem, in God's strong tower. That's where he wanted them, he wanted them in the strong tower. Proverbs 18 says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. That's where God wants his people, they ran the other way, but the problem is that when you run the other way, what happens is that the enemy ends up running faster. Said in verse 16, but ye said no, for we will flee upon horses, therefore shall ye flee, and we will ride upon the swift, therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five shall ye flee, till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain and as an ensign on an hill. So being that there will be nowhere to flee to, and they will be found, I think is the point being with the beacon, with the ensign, basically they're going to get found. You can't flee forever, when you're fleeing, when you're trying to run away from what God wants you to do, the enemy's going to get you in the end. The result of rejecting God's word, trying to do it your own way, eventually it will catch up with you. The sin will catch up with you, the worldly life will catch up with you, it'll all catch up with you eventually. You might get away with it for a time, it will catch up with you. Kids, it will catch up with you in the end. If you grow up and think, well yeah, I don't need to be doing all that stuff, I'm only going to get into the world, I'm going to enjoy those pleasures of sin for a season, it will catch up with you in the end. You might get away with it for a little bit, it will catch up with you, and the end will be worse than the beginning. Here we are in Isaiah chapter 30, where this chapter is now split into two from this point, with this halfway point, pretty much, being a change now from the bad news, the rebuke, etc., in case you're thinking, oh this is getting a little bit hard again, to the good news now for those that wait on the Lord. Now there's good news, there's always good news, right, with God, if you wait on the Lord. If you don't, no, the news ain't so good. Okay, and waiting on the Lord, and obviously look, if you're saved, you're saved, you've got salvation, but talking about in life, okay, in life there's good news for those that wait on the Lord, but also there is a picture with that of salvation as well. So verse 18 says this, verse 18 says, and therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all they that wait for him. Blessed are all they that wait for him. So the Lord waits, during which time there will be those that deny his word, that won't trust him, fleeing but to no safety, but those that wait for him to deliver them, to protect them, that stay where they're meant to be, in Zion, will be blessed. Verse 19 says, for the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more, he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry, when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. So first off, okay, for those of Judah here that trusted God and stayed in Jerusalem, they called out to him, okay, he answered, and although they went through some adversity and affliction, he guided them through it all. So he guided them through, obviously, the preaching of Isaiah, and it continues even through it as well. And of course that applies to us now, okay, when the adversity and affliction comes, stay where God wants you. Like I said right at the beginning, when it comes, when it comes in life, and it will come in life, be where God wants you to be. I'm not just talking about physically, I'm not saying, oh, just make sure you stay in this church, okay, and of course, look, I want you to stay in this church. But both physically and spiritually. He wants you in church, but he wants you in your Bible as well. He wants you in your prayer life, he wants you in your soul-winning. He wants you to stay where he wants you, doing what he wants you to do. He wants you in his will. He wants you living holy, he wants you getting sin out of his life, out of your life, sorry. And if you abide in him, he will guide you. So when you abide in the Lord, he's going to guide you, isn't he? That's ultimately where you need to be to be guided in life. You know, the amount of people, oh, what's God's will, and you know, I just need guidance from God. And it's like, you need to do the things he's clearly told you to do first. It's like, you're not in church, you barely read your Bible, you go on a soul-winning marathon or something once a year or something, and you know, and maybe your prayer life is kind of on and off, and it's like, I just don't know what God's will is for me in life. Why won't he tell me? It's like, how about you do the clear things at his will in your life, for your life, and then after that, things start to become a bit more obvious, don't they? Because then the things which stop you going to church, you realise that's not his will. The things that stop you reading your Bible, that's not his will. The things that stop you praying, that's not his will. Things that stop you soul-winning, that's not his will. The things that lead me into sin, that's not his will. And then it just starts to become more and more clear, more and more obvious, doesn't it? But you need to get in his will first. There are some obvious ways to be in his will. Said in verse 20, And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. Now perhaps we could apply that today, that he will give you the spiritual leaders, maybe, you could say, instead of it being a distant dream. Like a decade ago here, that was a distant dream here, okay? And just to make it clear, I'm not saying that only our kind of church counts, but the state of churches in this nation is terrible. So I'm not talking from a position of, right, it could only be our type of church, no, I'm not saying that. But in this nation, it is horrendous, okay? There's a few of us here that we're traveling far and wide around the nation just trying to find at least someone that believed the gospel. I mean, you know, that was like, can we just find someone that believes the gospel? You know, and then once you're like, I think they believe the gospel, they're a little bit shaky, it's like, okay, well, I don't know, they've got the King James, but there's no soul-winning, but at least, you know, it's like, how out of God's will are these places? But ultimately, just try to find something, okay? That's how bad it, well, it still is, right, it's still bad out there. And I'm not lifting myself up either, okay, because I know that this has all been of God. This has been of God. He's used me, okay, it's all of him, and I could never have done this on my own, 100%, okay? This isn't like, I was a man, you know, it's just like, God just works with me, and he could have worked through anyone, you know, that's ultimately what it came down to, but Ephesians 4-11 says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, why, why does he give these things to work through for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, so he works through us to guide his people in the right way? That's the whole point, isn't it? Through just willing people who are just, you know, willing to try and do it, at least, you know, to then turn his people back from the wrong way, you know, that's, you know, to get it right. This is the way. Walk in it when you turn to the right and when you turn to the left. God gives spiritual leadership for that. It's for the saints. It's for the ministry of reconciliation, ultimately, isn't it? For the edifying of the local church, because that's where it's happening. It's happening in the local church. It's not happening elsewhere. Look, yeah, you know, you might get, like before, you know, we get together sometimes, try and do a soul-winning marathon now and again, I mean, you know, what we're going to from year after year is amazing, really, in this church, isn't it, because compared with what was going on several years ago, but it's ultimately because we're trying to do it God's way, because God's blessing us through the local church, because it all comes back to the church, doesn't it, really? And I know that there are people in place where they don't have a church, but the goal has to be eventually either a church or get to somewhere where there is a church, because that's really, it's always been through the church, that's the institution of God. But instead of unobtainable teachers, you could come to the house of God and see and hear and be guided ultimately by God. It's not because I'm God, it's because I'm preaching the word of God and I believe that God's working through me to guide his people, including myself, with that, which, when it's up front and personal, should help you to get right too, because you get right a lot quicker when it's up front, when it's in your face, when you're in the house of God, than when you're kind of, you know, tuning in online, and again, nothing against people that don't have an option but to tune in online, but there's a big difference, isn't there? Being there, present in the house of God. Well, verse 22 said, You shall defile also the covering of the graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold. Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth, thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. So that is how all idols in life should be seen, okay? If you want a vivid image, and not a very pleasant image, okay, you want a vivid image of how you should see all idols in life, see them as a menstruous cloth, okay? Basically, the first part of this, they're no legitimate covering, okay, they won't really help you. You need to say, get thee hence, menstruous cloth, okay? No, I'll stop saying it if people are getting upset about this, okay, but if you idolize money, you need to be able to say, get thee hence, don't you? You need to be able to say, get thee hence, right? Be able to say that to money and just be able to mean it and say, I don't care, it's not up here, God's what's important. If you idolize your car, your home, your possessions, get that idol out of your life. Get it out of your life. If there's something that creates, becomes an idol in your life, you need to get rid of it. You need to say, get thee hence, like that menstruous cloth, you're not going to hang around with it a bit longer. Or just keep it on the side there and see how I can get on with it, you know? Sorry. It's the word of God, all right? Yeah? Okay, all right. If you idolize people, celebrities, sports stars, say, get thee hence, like something not very pleasant, okay, because that's how God sees idols, that's how he sees them. He said in verse 23, then, then, so when you get those idols out of your life, then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous, in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. So when we wait on him, we get guided by him, we get rid of the idols, that's what we've seen building up to this, then will he bless us, then will things go well for us. Now don't miss the spiritual analogies here too. Okay, so he talked about, then shall he give the rain of thy seed. What's the seed? Well, again, the spiritual application, Luke 8-11 says, now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God, okay, the seed is the word of God. The sowing, he said as well, he said, he said, thou shalt sow the ground withal. Well, and he also mentioned the bread, John 4-37, said in here, and is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth, okay, and again, you could talk about the sowing of the word, the reaping being like the bread, the fruit of it. He talked about the cattle feeding, again, you don't have to turn there, but 1 Peter 5-2, Peter tells other elders, other pastors, to feed the flock of God, which is among you taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy Luca, but of a ready mind, okay, so the cattle feeding is often, you know, a picture of the flock of God. Verse 24, the oxen likewise and the young asses that ere the ground shall eat clean provender which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan, so you've got the old and young alike getting clean food, the wheat and chaff is separated, well John the Baptist said of Christ in Matthew 3-12, his fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garden, but it will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire, and then it said in verse 25, so talking about the wheat and chaff being separated there, verse 25 said, and there shall be upon every high mountain, upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall. So the waters often represented the Gospel, being declared from the mountains and hills is a, for me, a picture of going out to all, John 4-14 says, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. So point being there, you're going, well, what's the point in the spiritual stuff, because isn't that the blessing that we should really be looking for? Look, I'm not saying that you can't, you know, nothing wrong with like wanting some physical blessings in life, okay? Wanting to be comfortable, wanting to, you know, have some other things, having some blessings, that's alright, right? But the spiritual blessings really should be what we focus on in life, shouldn't they? They're ultimately the important things, they're the eternal things, and they're the things that have eternal effect to other people in life. And really that's, that for me is what it's talking about there, it's saying, yeah, after you do all those things, and you're getting right, and you're learning, and you're getting rid of the odds of everything else, then the spiritual blessings come. And I'm sure that those of Jerusalem had a time of blessing and plenty, both physically and spiritually, after the victory against the Assyrians here, okay? However, I believe that also, though, this second half of the chapter has some future fulfillment as well, still to be ultimately fulfilled in the millennial reign, okay? Let's have a look again, we're finishing up in a minute, we'll have a look again for verse 18 where it says this, Isaiah 30 and verse 18. And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all they that wait for him. Just that waiting for him makes me think of Simeon, you don't have to turn to Luke 2.25, and behold there was a man in Jerusalem, his name was Simeon, and the same man was just in devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. So it's those that are saved here, okay, as well, this picturing, those that are saved with, you know, the coming of Christ, waiting for the Lord. Verse 19 says, for the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more, he will be very gracious unto thee. Turn over, by the way, to Revelation 7, I'm going to keep reading this verse, so Revelation 7. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more, he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry. When he shall hear it, he will answer thee. So we saw that the people dwelling at Zion in Jerusalem, they won't be weeping anymore, he'll be very gracious unto them. Revelation 7, and keep something there, keep a finger there, we're going to be going into Revelation a few times just to quickly show you these. Revelation 7, verse 17 says, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And that first one about wiping away the tears is talking about millennial reign. Verse 20 says, and though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, back in Isaiah 30, we're going to be going back to Revelation a minute, and though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and a water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and perhaps referring, I think maybe to all the prophets of old, who are also our teachers through the word of God. Just to remind you, in a millennial reign, we're going to be seeing all those guys, yeah? Well, you're going to see them when you go to heaven, but if we do live through, who knows, right? If it does come in our lifetime, the tribulation, God's wrath, you're going to be seeing the prophets of old. That's going to be pretty cool, isn't it? Verse 21, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left. I think that's perhaps because Christ will be ruling and reigning amongst us, the word of God there to guide us. Verse 22, ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold. Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth, thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. So just a reminder that you won't have the sinful flesh anymore in the millennial reign, so that will go, you know, all that idolatry will go with that. Verse 23, Then shall he give the rain of thy seed that thou shalt sow the ground withal, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that hear the ground shall eat clean provender, which have been winnowed with the shovel and with the fat. So consistent with all the many pastures we've already seen about the millennial reign, I'm not going to go into those, but you know that time where, you know, it's fat and plenteous, the cattle's feeding in large pastures, oxen likewise, young asses. We've seen that a bit through the book of Isaiah. Verse 25, And there shall be upon every high mountain, upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in a day of the great slaughter when the towers fall. Now what's this referring to when the towers fall? Well, although Jerusalem had towers again, this is first and foremost about the destruction of the Assyrians. Verse 31 says this, just if you jump forward a few verses, for through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smoke with a rod. If you turn back to Isaiah 23, Isaiah there is prophesying of the Babylonians eventually conquering the Assyrians. So back to Isaiah 23, this is talking about the Assyrian being beaten down really here. Still on the same topic here. It talks about when the towers fall. And back in Isaiah 23, okay, it's when the Babylonians, they conquer the Assyrians. Isaiah 23, 13 says in verse 13 of Isaiah 23, Behold the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness. They set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof, and he brought it to ruin. So basically, God through Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the towers that the Assyrians had raised up. Which was a time of maybe rejoicing at the time, Babylon being in cooperation for a period with Judah perhaps. I don't know how long that lasted, but if you remember Hezekiah invited them for that tour of all his stuff towards the end of his reign. But this is also to be fulfilled after the world empire, Babylon of the future is destroyed. Back in Isaiah 30 in verse 25, so that was the first fulfillment with the Assyrians. It said this, And there shall be upon every high mountain, upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in a day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall, and obviously lining up with Armageddon, followed by the streams of living water of the millennial rain. Verse 26 says, Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, and the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound. And you could say maybe that first living waters being during God's wrath, because this seems to be God's wrath here. It lines up with the fourth vial of God's wrath. So if you go back to Revelation and chapter 16, Revelation 16 and verse 8 says this, Revelation 16, 8, we've just seen that the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound. Verse 12, verse 8 says, And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. So there's some sort of vial poured upon the sun, it's scorching men, and men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which had power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory. Now again, keep something in Revelation, just so I'm rushing through these just to finish off. I want to do this. Verse 7 says, Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far back in Isaiah 30. Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy. His lips are full of indignation, his tongue is a devouring fire, and his breath as an overflowing stream shall reach to the midst of the neck to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity. There should be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Now this is definitely talking about God's wrath. Second Thessalonians chapter two eight says, And then shall the wicked be revealed in the Lord, shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, we've just seen here, and his breath as an overflowing stream shall reach to the midst of the neck, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. So the word of God ultimately is that what it's talking about, the spirit of his mouth being what consumes them, which is why it calls it as an overflowing stream. And his breath as an overflowing stream shall reach to the midst of the neck to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity, and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. That's perhaps the mark of the beast that reparated mine being that bridle, okay, they're unable to say that right thing now that they're done. Verse 29, Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord to the mighty one of Israel. Now this is celebration time, and Revelation 15 this time, Revelation 15 three says of those that make it through the tribulation, Revelation 15 three, and they sing the song of Moses. Here we've just seen that ye shall have a song, gladness of heart, it said here that they sing the song of Moses, servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy works, thou king of saints. We've just seen that they're singing a song, and it's into the mouth of the Lord to the mighty one of Israel. This is them singing to the Lord, which is, by the way, from Exodus 15. Keep something here still, last couple of bits. Verse 30 says, The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lightning down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire with scattering and tempest and hailstones, and Revelation 11 19 says, and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and Revelation 11, sorry, that is verse 19, the temple of God was opened in heaven, there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament, and there were lightnings and thunderings, and an earthquake and great hail. And we saw that there's lightning down of his arm, the indignation of his armor, with the flame of a devouring fire with scattering and tempest and hailstones. Verse 31, For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. So we're kind of back to the Assyrian, and I suppose he's saying it's through the voice of the Lord because it's been prophesied, okay, it's been prophesied, it's through the voice of the Lord, so it's going to happen. Verse 32, And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps, and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. So he's saying that he will deliver all of the places that the Assyrians conquered, who will eventually celebrate after they're shaken off, I think is what he's saying. In every place where the grounded staff shall pass, and because it was the Assyrians which smote with a rod, it's said, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps, a celebration, battles of shaking shall he fight with it, for Tofet is ordained of old, yea, for the king it is prepared, he has made it deep and large. The pile thereof is far and much wood, the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle." So, just to finish off here, okay, what's basically happened here is we've seen this warning, this woe, this chastisement of God's people, then he's gone to showing us, one, you know, this kind of victory, but secondly, it's also a prophetic of the future, of God's people ultimately, you know, going into the tribulation, God's wrath, going into then at the end of that, the millennial reign after that, okay. But then he says this at the end, basically it's ordained of old, because Tofet, it was a place where children were burnt in sacrifice to Molech. If you go to 2 Kings 23, if you want to see this, don't worry if not, but it was destroyed by Josiah in 2 Kings 23, and it said in verse 10, and Tofet's mentioned many times, but it said in 2 Kings 23, 10, just to give you an idea of where it was and what it was, and he defiled Tofet, this is talking about Josiah, we're doing good things here, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. So this is basically where they were making their children to pass through the fire, basically sacrificing them, burning them, but it seems to be used to represent the place of death, of slaughter. You have to tell them, but Jeremiah 19, 6 says, therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tofet, talk about Tofet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter, representing it seems Hell itself, which is ordained of old, okay. So Tofet is ordained of old, Hell is ordained of old, the judgment of God is ordained of old. He said, for Tofet is ordained of old, yea, for the king it is prepared, he hath made it deep and large, Hell's big enough for all, Hell hath enlarged herself, we saw before in Isaiah, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it. So it's a reminder again at the end there, it started the chapter with a rebuke, it ended with victory, but I think it ends really ultimately there with a warning to those that are in opposition to God and his people, and ultimately that's what we're seeing there at the end there, there's a warning there, there's a warning to God's people, there's a victory that will come to God's people, there's a victory that eventually will come at the very end of the world as we know it to God's people, but with that is a warning to those that aren't God's people not to reject the Lord. And that was Isaiah chapter 30, sorry I had to rush through some of those kind of prophetic bits there, but go back and have a look in your own time with those if you want the references, I'll let you know, I'm sure there's more there if you take your time and go through it. But on that we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Well thank you for your word Lord, thank you for the book of Isaiah, thank you for that chapter, thank you for the lessons, hopefully we've learned from that Lord, especially maybe specifically to rely on you in hard times, to not run away from you, to not go to the world, Lord, in affliction, in tribulation, Lord, but also to when we're here, when we're in the things of God, to not turn away our ears from hearing the word, Lord help us to just understand that that's what you've got for us, you know the word of God, it can be hard sometimes, it can be hard hearing with the proof, the rebuke, the challenges that we're given from the word, Lord, to clean up, to get right, but help us to just keep persevering, Lord, to know that ultimately we're better off that way and definitely much better off than going off to the world, than going the other way, Lord. Help us all to have a good week, Lord, help us to remember some of these lessons from tonight, and to get there if possible for the ceremony marathon on Saturday, for that to go great, for us to get many celebrations and then to return on Sunday, in Jesus' name we pray all of this, amen.