LIFE LESSONS
THE PROPHETS: ISAIAH
DR. JIM DIXON
ISAIAH 11: 1-10
JANUARY 18, 2004
Isaiah received his divine call to the prophetic office when he was 25 years old in the year 740 B.C. He describes that call in the Book of Isaiah, the 6th chapter. We’re told how Isaiah had a vision wherein he saw the Lord seated on the throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple surrounded by Seraphim saying, “Holy, holy, holy.” He heard the Lord speak, and the Lord said, “Who shall I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Here am I. I will go.” Thus, for 53 years Isaiah served the Lord as a prophet, anointed by God. He served in and around Jerusalem. Her served in the kingdom of Judah. He served during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He counseled kings. He rebuked oppressors. He warned the people and he comforted them. In this sense he was like many other prophets because many prophets of the Old Testament counseled kings. Many prophets rebuked oppressors. Many prophets comforted and warned the people.
But Isaiah was unique. He was unique because he was a futurist. He was able to see the future. Most prophets of Israel simply proclaimed the Word of God to the present or they spoke the judgement of God upon the past, but Isaiah was anointed by God to look through the portals of time and to glimpse the future. Isaiah saw two great realities that comprise our two life lessons today.
First of all, the prophet Isaiah saw the Messiah. He saw the Messiah. The Hebrew term Messiah means “the Anointed One.” It is the exact equivalent of the Greek word “Christos” or “Christ” which also means “the Anointed One. Many prophets of Israel glimpsed the Messiah and of course the Jewish people expected the Messiah but no one saw the Messiah more clearly than the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah saw two truths concerning the Messiah, concerning the Christ. First of all, he saw that the Messiah would be a divine King with an eternal kingdom.
In Isaiah, chapter 7, the prophet wrote, “A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and His name shall be called Immanuel, God with us.” In Isaiah, chapter 9, the prophet wrote, “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Father of Everlasting and Prince, Archon, Ruler of Peace. And of the increase of His kingdom and of its peace, there shall be no end.” He saw that the Messiah would be a divine King with an eternal kingdom.
In the year 800 A.D., Charles I, called Charles the Great, sometimes called Charlemagne, was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Leo III. Of course, Charlemagne conquered most of Europe and Charlemagne is considered by historians to be perhaps the greatest ruler of the Middle Ages. Now, Charlemagne died in the year 814. Before he died, he commanded that he be buried in a very special way, that he be placed on his throne with his royal crown upon his head and his royal scepter by his side and his royal mantle over his shoulder and the Bible open and placed on his lap for he was a Christian king. He wanted the whole throne with himself on it placed in the tomb in the earth, in the grave, and so it was done.
One hundred and eighty-six years later, in the year 1000 A.D. at the turn of the millennium, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a man named Otto III and he commanded that the body of Charlemagne be exhumed, that it be dug up. He had his own purposes. Indeed, they took the body of Charlemagne out of the ground. According to the report, his bones had fallen on the throne seat and the Bible was worn but it was open and, according to Otto III, the Bible was open to Matthew, chapter 16. Charlemagne, one of his bones, one of his fingers, was pointing to verse 26, Matthew 16:26, “What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Personally, I don’t buy the story, and frankly most historians don’t buy the story because Otto III had an agenda. He wanted to be viewed as the greatest emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and he wanted to be viewed as greater than Charlemagne and he wanted the people to think that Charlemagne had forfeited his soul.
This much I do believe. I do believe that his bones had fallen on the throne seat. I do believe that his body had wholly decayed. Of course, that is the way of all mankind. “All flesh is like grass and all of its glory,” the Bible says, “like the flower of the grass. The grass withers. The flower falls.” So, it is with all people—kings, queens, emperors. It doesn’t matter.
Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire for 63 years, longer than any other British Monarch. She, at least outwardly, was a committed Christian. Even in her teenage years at her coronation during the playing of Handel’s Messiah when they came to the Hallelujah Chorus and Christ was proclaimed King of Kings, it is said she fell on her knees in homage to Christ. She often said that she longed to take the crown from her head and place it at feet of Christ.
In the year 1861, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, died. She was devastated because Queen Victoria loved her husband very much. From that day forth her life was never the same. She ruled for another 40 years. She died in 1901 but she was never the same. For years she wore black and she never got over her grief. She was called the Widow of Windsor. Of course, Windsor referred to one of her royal residences. It referred to Windsor Castle. She had many royal residences. There was Kensington Palace where she was born. There was Buckingham Palace from which she reigned and ruled. There was Balmoral, her summer retreat in Scotland, and then there was her most mysterious royal residence, Osborne House on the Island of Wight. On the top floor of Osborne House there were rooms to which no one could go but her. No member of her family. Up there was one room with a locked door. The door was always locked and she never let anyone in.
When Queen Victoria died in the year 1901, her son, Edward VII who ascended the throne, went to the Island of Wight. He went to the Osborne House and one of the first things he did was to go upstairs where he had never been allowed to go. He went to the room that was locked and he commanded that the lock be broken. He went into the room, and he was stunned because he found a kind of pictorial morgue. Nothing but pictures of dead people were in the room, people in their caskets, members of her family who had died, other loved ones who had died somehow. Queen Victoria had acquired pictures of them in death in their caskets. The room was filled with these pictures. To this day, historians and psychologists debate why she would have had a room like that. Why did she have pictures like that? No one knows for sure but they believe that Queen Victoria, despite her Christian faith, was somehow preoccupied with death and she had a fear of death.
She was not the first ruler to have a fear of death. She was not the last. Maybe you have a fear of death. Maybe you’re afraid of dying. You know our life in this world is just a vapor. Our years are few. Life is soon gone. Maybe you’re afraid of death but, you see, you don’t need to be because there’s a divine king with an eternal kingdom not like any other ruler in history. Not like Charlemagne. Not like Victoria. Not like anyone else. He reigns forever and He is divine. All who enter His kingdom are given eternal life and no longer need to fear death. He is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He wants you to understand by way of a life lesson this morning that meaning and purpose and fulfillment come through serving His kingdom and not your own. Your kingdom may be a 3-room house. It may be a neighborhood business. Your kingdom may be a corporate empire. It doesn’t matter. Whatever your kingdom is, it is ultimately meaningless unless you are serving the kingdom of Christ.
I’m the youngest of three brothers. My oldest brother Gary is going to retire at the end of this month. He is 62 years old. He served Christ at Glendale Presbyterian Church in Glendale, California. He’s been on their staff. He’s retiring. My brother Greg, closer to my age, retired 4 or 5 years ago. I don’t have any plans to retire soon but I know this. I know that retirement can be hard. It can be a hard transition because some people, when they retire, kind of lose their identity, their sense of purpose in life. I know that’s not true of my brothers. I know that will never be true of my brothers because they serve the kingdom of heaven. They never retire from serving the kingdom of heaven.
My brother Greg is a member of this church. He’s here today. He tutors a young person in the Whiz Kids Program in the inner city. He serves on a number of ministry boards. He’s involved almost daily in acts of service for the kingdom of heaven and thereby finds meaning. It doesn’t matter what your age is. It doesn’t matter what your age, be you young, be you old. It doesn’t matter what you do. We all need to serve the kingdom of heaven because He’s the Messiah. He’s the divine King with an eternal kingdom and only He gives purpose.
Isaiah caught a glimpse of this divine and His eternal kingdom, but he saw something else about the Messiah, something unique, something that many prophets did not see. Isaiah saw that the Messiah would not only be a divine King, but He would be a suffering servant. He would be the suffering servant who would take away the sin of the world. I encourage you today to go back to your home and read Isaiah, chapter 53. If you want to get a glimpse of what Jesus Christ has done for us… If you want to get a glimpse of the cross, go back and read Isaiah 53. Isaiah looked through the portals of time and he saw the cross. He saw that the Messiah would be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our inequities, that upon Him would be the chastisement that makes us whole, that the Lord would lay upon him the inequity of us all, that he would be the Lamb of God, that he would be the lamb led to the slaughter, the lamb who before his shears is dumb. Go back and read how he would take upon himself the sin of the world. What a glimpse of Christ.
Of course, 66 years before the birth of Christ, a man by the name of Gnaues Pompeius Magnus brought his Roman armies into Jerusalem. Gnaues Pompeius Magnus is known to historians as Pompey the Great. He was part of the first Triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Marcus Crassus. In the year 66 B.C., he brought those Roman armies into Jerusalem and Rome conquered Israel. Israel once again became a vassal state, a subjected people, an oppressed nation. They were used to it.
Prior to the Romans they had been conquered by the Seleucids and Antiochus IV. Prior to the Seleucids they had been conquered by the Greeks they had been conquered by the Medo-Persians, by the Medo-Persian Empire and Cyrus the Great. Prior to the Persians, they had been conquered by the Babylonians and by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar the Great. For 600 years, Israel had been a conquered people. On Palm Sunday when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem and the crowds lined the street shouting, “Hosanna, Blessed is the King,” they knew He was Messiah. They knew He was the Christ.
They didn’t understand, however. They hadn’t fully read and studied the prophet Isaiah. They didn’t understand that He would be a divine King with a universal reign. They thought He would be a national King to deliver simply the Jews. They did not understand that He would be a suffering servant and that He was riding into Jerusalem that day for Passion Week, that He might die for the sins of the world, that He might die in substitutionary atonement, that He might die for you, that He might die for me and in my place and in your place.
Next month on February 25, Mel Gibson’s movie called “The Passion of the Christ” will be released nationally in theaters. I want you to see a glimpse of that movie and here is a trailer of that movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”
Mel Gibson talking. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support for my new film, “The Passion of the Christ.” I know you’re out there and your prayers and support have given me strength to face the challenges of actually getting this film out. My hope is that its message will change peoples’ lives; remind them of the enormity of the sacrifice that was made for us all. It’s a story I believe it and it’s a message the whole world needs to hear right now particularly I think.
“Hello. I’m Jim Caviezel and I play the role of Jesus in the upcoming film, “The Passion of Christ.” I want to let you know how much Mel Gibson and I appreciate your support. This film portrays the most important event in history. It is a true story that we believe is true and it’s a message the whole world needs to hear. Thanks again for helping us get the word out. We look forward to seeing you at the theater. God bless you.”
Mel Gibson is an increasingly committed Christian. Jim Caviezel who plays Christ in this picture and who also starred in the Count of Monte Christo is also a committed Christian. I trust you’re a committed Christian. I trust that you’re going to want to see this movie but I hope that you know the suffering of Christ and what He really did for you and so I want you to see another clip that I received from Bob Beltz. This is another trailer. More graphic. It might be hard for some of you to see, but this clip shows the more graphic sequences in the movie that portray the crucifixion of Christ.
More noise but nothing to transcribe. Jim talking. Now, that’s what the prophet Isaiah saw. He saw the Lamb of God, the Lamb led to the slaughter, wounded for our transgressions. Have you seen Him? Have you come to the foot of the cross and seen the Messiah, the suffering servant who takes away the sin of the world? Have you opened up your heart and have you received Him as Savior? Not simply King but Savior? Have you come in repentance and asked him to wash you whiter than snow because He died for you in substitutionary atonement?
This is the glimpse Isaiah the prophet saw. The Messiah, the Divine King, the Suffering Servant, but he saw one other reality before we close. Isaiah the prophet not only saw the Messiah but he saw the Messianic Age. He saw the world to come.
In our passage of scripture for today, we have Isaiah 11 where Isaiah wrote, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, from the line of David, and a branch shall grow out of its roots and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear. With righteousness He will judge the poor and He will decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He will smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be the girdle of His waist and faithfulness the girdle of His loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together. A little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed and their young shall like down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox and the suckling child shall play over the hole of a venomous snake. The weaned child shall place His hand in the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the oceans cover the sea. In that day, the Messiah, the root of Jesse, will stand as an end sign to the peoples and Him shall the nations seek and His dwellings will be glorious.” A glimpse, you see, of the Messianic Age, a glimpse of the world to come.
In Isaiah 14, Isaiah looks back through the portals of time into the dawn of time and he sees the fall of Satan. A double-layered prophecy, the first level of which refers to the King of Babylon and the second level of which refers to the devil himself. Isaiah saw the fall of Satan and he saw him descend to earth and he saw this darkness this world is enveloped in because Satan, the Bible tells us, is the archon and the ruler of this age. But Isaiah has also looked into the future and he has seen the Light, the one who will bring the Messianic age and the One whose light will shatter the darkness. He saw the Messiah come in glory.
One of the titles of the Messiah in the Bible is the title “The Morning Star.” In fact, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, took this title for himself. Jesus said, “Ego eimi ho proinos ho aster,” “I am the Morning Star.” To understand why Jesus as the Messiah took this title we need to take a brief look at the planet Venus. The planet Venus is the planet in our solar system nearest in size and proximity to the earth but it’s not like the earth at all. This second planet from our sun is hot, much hotter than is our earth. The average temperature on Venus is 850 degrees Fahrenheit. You can go home and look at your oven. Most of your ovens have a maximum temperature of 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus is like a very, very hot oven. Why the Romans decided to name this oven-like planet after the Goddess of Love, after Venus, we don’t know. Maybe they thought, “Nothin’ says lovin’ like something from the oven!”
But, you see, this much we know. For the Greek people, they had a different name for this planet and they called it Pronos Aster, they called it the Morning Star because, at its rising every day, it signaled the end of the night and that its rising every day signaled the dawn of the light. That is why Jesus, the Messiah, takes this title for Himself. He’s the Morning Star because He signals the end of the night and the dawn of the day. One day He’ll bring a new day. He’ll bring the Messianic Age.
Isaiah saw it and he saw that it would be a day when death would be conquered. He saw that it would be a day when the nations would dwell in peace and he saw that it would be a day when nature itself would be restored and the deserts would bring forth bloom and when animals would actually live in harmony. It would be a day of millennial perfection. Isaiah saw it. He looked through the portals of time. He saw even the new heavens and the new earth. He saw it all and you should go back and read not only Isaiah 11 but go back and read Isaiah 65 and Isaiah 66 and share with this prophet this glimpse of the world to come. It’s an exciting thing.
On the back of the dollar bill, there’s the Great Seal of the United States. You can see it portrayed there. The Great Seal of the United States established in June of 1782. You can see the great seal, both its front and its back. On its back you see the pyramid with its 13 layers representing the original 13 states. You can see above the pyramid the so-called eye of providence and beneath the pyramid the three Latin words, “Nevus Ordo Seclorum.” These three Latin words means, “New World Order” or New Order of the Ages. The founders of our nation actually believed they were going to usher in a new world. They actually believed they were going to usher in a new order of the ages, but of course America doesn’t have that power. Our nation is great but ultimately insignificant. Only the Messiah has that power. Only Christ. He will usher in that new order of the ages.
This morning as we close, I hope through the prophet Isaiah you’ve just had a little glimpse of the Messiah and the Messianic Age. If you’ve never asked Jesus to be your divine King or your Savior from sin… If you’ve never embraced the blessed hope in the world to come, you can do it today. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.