Rsbc 11/5/00
Sunday Night
The Book of Isaiah
Subject- “ The Shaking of Kingdoms”
Text- Isaiah 23-11-18
Intro- The first part of this chapter deals with the distressing news that was laid upon Isaiah to declare to the nation of Tyre. The very lifeline of the nation lay on the brink of total ruin by God because of their sin against him and his people Judah.
The Phoenician city on the Mediterranean cost that was the heart of the commerce and a nation that literal controlled the sea was now coming to an abrupt end. God was going to cut them off, and as the result of cutting them off, it would put a strain upon the nations around.
As verse number 10 says pass through the land there is no more strength...when God removes a nations it is devastating to say the least..
I... THE STRETCHING OUT OF GODS HAND...VS 11
The stretching out of Gods hand wether it is literally his hand or the hand of one of his servants, it is still God doing it...As Moses did when he led the children of Israel out of the bondage they had been in for 400 years..
Exodus 14:21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
There is some deep meaning to this phrase that only God can understand, but there also some practical meanings that can be derived from the stretching out of the Lords hand.
1st. The stretching out of Gods hand in the affairs of our life as he did Job...
Job 1-8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
God working behind the seen’s and Job does not know anything about it..tonight the Lord is working behind seen and stretching out his hand in our life to bring about and do as he pleases in our life and the life of our families.
2nd. The stretching out of Gods hand in the affairs of our nation as he did in this text...
Sometimes it is hard for us to see what God is doing, in fact in most cases we cannot see what he is doing. Why would God allow such folly in our nations, he is not allowing it, he will judge it in his own time...
Page # 2
II.... “ HE SHOOK THE KINGDOMS...VS 11
Job said that God had shaken him....
Job 16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
1st. God anger causes him to shake the kingdoms of the earth..
Psalms 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
Again Listen to Samuel..
2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
2nd. Sometimes the earth is shaken at the very presence of the Lord...
Psalms 68:8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
3rd. The voice of the Lord causes the earth to shake...
Hebrews 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Tonight you can be assured that there is coming a day when earth shall melt with fervent heat, the stars of heaven will refuse to give their light, the moon shall be darkened, the sun will hide its face from all the earth, the nations of the world will tremble at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory....
III... “ THE ORDERS OF THE LORD”...VS 11
It is not he commandment of the Kings of the earth, it is not the commandments of Isaiah it is the Lord that hath given the commandment...destroy, tear down, bring to desolation.
Nahum 1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
1st. Who his commandment was against... “ the merchant city”...vs 11
Page # 3
Zech 9-2-4 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.
3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. 4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
2nd. What the commandment was... “ destroy the strong holds”
Here we see that the Lord is acting as a man of war, this is exactly what a wise leader in a war would do, destroy the strong holds and you have defeated the enemy...the word of the Lord calls God that very thing...man of war. Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
3rd. The results of destroying the strong holds...vs 12-13
a. No more rejoicing..vs 12
b. No more rest..vs 12
c. No more strength...vs 14
4th. The duration of this judgment...vs 15-16
The time is the same to that of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, after the 70 yrs then comes the singing as a harlot, sings to lure her lovers, so the city of Tyre shall sing he songs again to lure her customers back to the trade she offers.
IV... “THE MERCIFULNESS OF THE LORD”...VS 17-18
merchandise ... holiness‑‑Her traffic and gains shall at last (long after the restoration mentioned in #Isa 23:17) be consecrated to Jehovah. Jesus Christ visited the neighborhood of Tyre (#Mt 15:21); Paul found disciples there (#Ac 21:3‑6); it early became a Christian bishopric, but the full evangelization of that whole race, as of the Ethiopians (#Isa 18:1‑7), of the Egyptians and Assyrians (#Isa 19:1‑25), is yet to come (#Isa 60:5).
not treasured‑‑but freely expended in His service.
them that dwell before the Lord‑‑the ministers of religion. But HORSLEY translates, "them that sit before Jehovah" as disciples.
durable clothing‑‑Changes of raiment constituted much of the wealth of former days.