The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb
By Pastor Matt Black
17
December 2006
Lord's Day evening
Isaiah
10:14-11:6
Open your Bibles to Isaiah 10:14-11:6. The title of this morning’s message is “The Lion Shall Dwell with the Lamb”.
Tonight we are going to cover much ground in a short amount of time. We are going to see how the Lordship of Christ conquers all.
I. First Boasting of man is always foolish.
We see first it is foolish to boast about anything. Listen to the King of Assyria Boasting! Verse 14, “And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.” He says—it’s been so easy to conquer Israel—like finding an empty nest. No one said a word. I didn’t hear a peep, or a mouth opened, or even a wing move. They were frozen with fear!
Have you ever found yourself boasting about something? It is foolish. Why?
Then we come to the second reason it is foolish to boast about anything.
Ø Should an axe brag that it cut down a tree all by itself? Who made the ax?
Ø Should a saw boast of what a big tree it cut down? Who made the saw?
Ø Should a club glory that it really was able to defend itself against its enemies?
Ø Should a rod (or staff) of wood boast that it lifted itself up and forget that it is simply a piece of wood? Who made the staff?
Should we boast and glory and brag forgetting that we are but dust?! Who made you? David asked in Psalm 144:3, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” We are nothing! We have nothing to boast of!
II. Though God may use the wicked for His purposes, He will judge them. (Vs. 16-19).
Before we look at our text about Assyria, we need to ask ourselves a hard question. How can evil exist in the world of a God who is total goodness. Let’s look at three passages to explain it.
A. The crucifixion. The crucifixion of the Lord of Glory was the most sinful, vile act in the history of all creation. Yet, in Acts 4:27-28 Peter gives us the Holy Spirit inspired account of the crucifixion as he prays. He says to the Lord, “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”
Here you have wicked men doing whatever there wicked hearts wanted to, and yet at the sam time they were doing “whatsoever [God’s] hand and [God’s] counsel determined before to be done”.
Peter said earlier on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:22-23, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”.
The word “counsel” in this verse is referring to God’s unalterable decree. Wicked men did what they wanted according to their free agency. God constrained them in no way whatsoever! God is not the author of sin! Yet God’s purposes were not hindered at all and were perfectly fulfilled since Christ was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”.
Paul speaks of how God opens people’s eyes and taking away the blindness by giving a spiritual wisdom and illumination. But he says in 1 Corinthians 2:8 that this was a wisdom which “none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. These men acted according to their darkened imaginations. God had not illumined their minds with the truth. Had that been the case, they would not have crucified Christ.
Yet, it is not simply events concerning Christ that God has control of. Turn to Genesis 50:20.
B. Joseph said to his brethren after they sold him into slavery in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
C. God’s promise to believers in Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
D. Of course we know that Ephesians 1:11 tells us that God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”. Paul was most probably referencing another verse that is in Isaiah 46:10, that God says—I declare “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure”.
So God will do His pleasure, and the evil actions of men do nothing to hinder even the tiniest of God’s plans. In fact, as our passage in Isaiah makes clear, God will even use wicked pagan people to accomplish his plans. If God can open the mouth of a donkey to speak to Balaam (Numbers 22:28), then God can surely work even the rebellious actions of men to be good for His people and to bring Himself glory in the end!
So we turn back to Isaiah 10:16, and we come to a portion of Scripture that assures us that even though He will work all things after the counsel of His own will, and even use the pagan wicked, rebellious Assyrian nation to destroy Israel, that does not negate all men’s responsibility for their own actions. Though God may use the wicked for His purposes, He will judge them. (Vss. 16-19). Look at verse 16 - 19 of Isaiah 10, “Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.”
God fattened Assyria up to conquer Israel. He strengthened them, gave them wisdom. This should not surprise us. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). You see “of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). Assyria was alive by the very power and sustenance of God. Every breath we breathe is the breath of life from God Himself. Colossians 1:17 tells us that Christ is “before all things, and by him all things consist.” Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus Christ is “express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power”.
Since everything we receive is a gift, the way we use God’s gifts will be judged. God says to Assyria, I made you fat, but now I’m going to send you “leanness”. I’m going to take away your power!
We see in verse 17 that God calls Himself “the light of Israel”. I love this because Jesus in the New Testament calls Himself “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). But as we look at verses 16, we see that God’s light to His people is a light of knowledge and understanding. It allows us to see that which before was in the darkness. We understand Him and love Him and submit to Him because “the eyes of our understanding have been enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18). But to those who do not know the Lord, His light is like a burning fire of judgment! Verses 17 and 18 say it clearly, “And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.” God says every one who is wicked will be judged. He’ll get the lowly briars and the mighty forests. No one on earth is exempt from God’s judgment. Today people might get away with crimes because of the power or connections or wealth, but no one can use human influence to get off the hook with God! God will judge evil.
Assyria will waste away like a sick man. Slowly but surely they will lose prominence and come to nothing. As verse 18 says, God “shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body”… and then the Lord adds “and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.” God is declaring that the Assyrian nation will cease its very existence. They will no longer have a standard-a flag. And that is exactly what happened. Assyria gave way to Babylon and never existed as a nation again.
God will judge the wicked! He’s judged nations—look at how bad Assyria is judged. Verse 19, “And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.”
Next, we come to some beautiful verses.
III. The remnant of Judah will turn to the Lord! Look at verse 20, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay [DEPEND] upon him that smote them; but shall stay [DEPEND] upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
Verse 22-23 says “the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
The consumption is the destruction of most of the unrighteous people of the land, but those left in the land will turn to the Lord. God will destroy the wicked. He will give us all a just recompense for our works.
IV. Israel is brought to nothing! (verses 33-34)
For sake of time we are going to skip to verse 33-34 “Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough [HUGE BRANCH] with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.” The only thing left in Israel is going to be a stump. This seems like the end of the world! Yet remember that when all is darkness, God can do the impossible. In John 1, we learn that Christ is a light that shines out of the darkness and “the darkness comprehendeth it not”. The darkness cannot stop God from doing something amazing!
V. So our final point, is that in Darkness, God shines the brightest! Look at Isaiah 11:1-6, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem [STUMP] of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 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 of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
The description of the stem, or the “stump” of Jesse is a strange one. It is as if God backtracks all the glory of David. God acts as if the glory of David is not even worth mentioning! It seemed as if all God’s promises to David were gone! But out of this stump would come the Lord of all! God with us!
And God the Son did come into the world. We read in Luke 2:10-14, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Such peace will Christ bring to earth, that one day as verse 6 of Isaiah 11 says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
Conclusion: Friends, as we learned this morning, Jesus Christ is our peace! We fight and war like the Assyrians, but we don’t realize that the only war that matters is that Jesus Christ wins! Are you on His side?
Closing Hymn: 639 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus