Take Hold of the Bartizan of the Word (Isaiah 66:5-9)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
5 Hear the word of the Lord, You who tremble at His word: “Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, That we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.” 6 The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, Who fully repays His enemies! 7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
Introduction
You probably heard in the news regarding the Los Angeles wildfire. I believe this was the greatest damage from wildfire in America and cost about 50 billion dollars in damages. And, about 50,000 homes were destroyed and evacuated. What is strange is that the area that received the most damage was where many famous celebrities and wealthy people lived. When I looked at this, many celebrities like Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, and many other famous actors, their homes were damaged. It also said many of their valuables and wealthy assets were all destroyed in their homes. These people went back to their homes to see what could be saved. I don’t think this was mere coincidence but I think this was all part of God’s judgment. During the Golden Globes awards, the host was talking about who was the most mentioned during the award ceremony. Most of the actors and directors thanked their cast and mothers the most but no one mentioned God. No one gave their glory and thanksgiving to God. Many people laughed when it was mentioned that no one mentioned God during their speeches. Two days after that award ceremony, the wildfires started. I think God was very patient but eventually gave in with His judgment for the corruption that is arising. We need to remember and hold onto Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.” - God said this word thousands of years ago but this word applies to this day. Many churches and pastors have started a repentance movement after the wildfires started. Before the living God, we need to have true repentance. Not only that but what we have done wrong, we need to personally repent before God. What is absolute is that we must hold onto that God’s word is living and active.
1. The Bartizan of the Word
1) Those who depart from the Word
Verse 5 - Who is God speaking to? Those who tremble at God’s word. It says that your brethren will hate you and will cast you for My name’s sake. This is talking about the Jews and even the Jews were hating against each other. When someone is living a good walk of faith, you should complement them and share a forum with each other. You must have joy within this. Those who don’t value God’s word, they look down on people who have a good walk of faith. These people do evil. When you live obediently before God, they are mocking them and they want to see how well they do when difficult times come to them. There are so many people who rejoice during the times of suffering of others. They end up criticizing them and sending them to jail. I cannot forget them. I am curious about the people who brought others down. They continue to make other people’s lives miserable. The main scripture tells us today that they will be put to shame. God will reveal their true character and will bring His judgment to those who torment others. This means that God is truly alive. If God’s word is valuable, what happens to those who don’t listen to the word of God?
2) Those who mock the Word
Verse 6 - The sound of noise is referring to the sounds of war. The voice from the temple refers to those who were tormenting others. God will start His judgment with those who mocked and tormented the believers who were obedient to God first. God was patient at first but His judgment eventually came upon them. During the Old Testament, there were many Jews were very wicked and evil but there were people who were very wicked towards Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Matthew 27:41-42 “Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.’ ” - Jesus Christ was fulfilling His three roles of Christ on the cross but there were people who were mocking Him as He was dying on the cross. The content of their mockery was that they were demanding Jesus to prove that He was the Christ as He was dying on the cross. They were demanding Jesus to show that He will save others if He is truly the Messiah. They were mocking Jesus that He couldn’t even save Himself on the cross. They were mocking Jesus that He is the King of Israel. But they were confessing that Jesus was the King of Israel. They were ironically confessing the three roles of Christ but they couldn’t understand the true meaning of the cross. The Messiah that they knew, they were wanting and expecting a Messiah like Moses and David that would be strong and help Israel become a strong nation. They were mocking Jesus Christ who came to save them.
Matthew 24:2 “And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ ” - This was what Jesus was saying as He was looking at the temple. The temple that the people were so proud of, Jesus said that He will destroy the temple completely. You know this word was fulfilled when Titus completely destroyed the temple in 70 CE.
2. The Church Established as the Bartizan of the Word
1) A new beginning
Verse 7 - Many people interpret this when the Israelites were freed from Babylon. But Calvin interpreted this differently, Calvin interpreted this as the spiritual Israel. In other words, this was the church that was built through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” - After Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected, He directly built that church once again. When Calvin interpreted verse 7 where the church is a woman and God is the Father. Within the bosom of the God, God the Father will nurture the church. The spiritual children will continue to be born through the church when they confess the name of Jesus Christ. When a woman gives birth and gives birth to a male child, this means that those who confess the name of Jesus Christ, they will be born as a child of God.
2) Growth in the Church
Verse 8 - When a nation grows, it cannot be built in one day. But a church will be built in one day. After Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mark’s Upper Room, great works arose within the world.
Acts 2:41, 6:7 “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” - How did 3,000 believers rise up? It said that they received the word of God. The people who received God’s word, great works arose. When the word is proclaimed, life comes upon people.
Acts 6:7 - When the word of God spread, great works arose and many disciples were raised. How can a nation be built in one day? We are not talking about the nation of this world but we are talking about the kingdom of God. In one day, the people of God were being raised up. How did this happen? It all happened within the word of God and through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 8 - When you look at the history of the church, whenever there was persecution or hardships, great works arose. The greater the persecution, God allowed greater works to arise.
3. Fruit of the True Church
1) A witness of Life
Verse 9 - God chooses when there is life. When God chooses those who will become children of God, God will choose that person and the time. For everyone, there will be suffering and hardships. For the church, there will be hardships and troubles. But during those times, it is the greatest time because it will be a time of rebirth and renewal. The moment you hear this word, you may resent the problem and wonder what you must do. You may have feared the word of God and wondered what you must do. How can I live? You may ask God.
Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ ” - Repent and let go of your old ways. Obey the word and follow the word of God. When you do this, then God will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. Great power and life will come upon you.
Luke 24:47-48 “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.” - Take the word of God and remain obedient towards it, and when you do this, then great blessings will come upon you. Fear the word of God. May you be a living witness of all things that God does.
2) The bartizan of the Lord's name
Those who fear the word of God, what happens to them? Your past problems will be solved.
This was what God told Abraham in Genesis 22:12 “And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ ” - The solution to problems of the past - Before this, Abraham did follow God’s word but he didn’t fear God’s word. But when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac to God, he remained obedient to God. When he was obedient to God, this was what God said to Abraham in this scripture. This was when God saw that Abraham truly feared God. All of his past problems was solved at that moment.
Genesis 22:17 “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” - The covenant of the present - Hold onto this as your covenant today. This is talking about Christ. Jesus completely abolished the head of the serpent and He will become your Lord and Master of your life. God will be with you no matter what and no matter what problems come to you, God will be with you.
Genesis 26:12-13 “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.” - The covenant of the future - We have received God’s word until now but those who keep God’s word, then God promised that He will make us prosperous. May you receive the word of God.
Conclusion
Hold onto Genesis 26:22 “And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, ‘For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.’ ” - Isaac entrusted everything to God and followed God. God protected Isaac until the end. God made it where He made room for him and made all things fruitful for him. This was the blessing of Rehoboth. May you receive the same blessings that came upon Abraham and Isaac.
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