The Beginning of a New Dominion
By Pastor Matt Black
31
December 2006
Lord's Day evening
Isaiah
10:26-11:9
Open your Bibles to Isaiah 10:24-11:9. The title of this morning’s message is “The Beginning of a New Dominion”.
Introduction: This morning we looked at how Christ breaks down the wall of hostility between us and others and between us and God. We read that “Christ Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14-16). This morning we looked at it on the level of humanity—our relationships one to another. Tonight we are going to begin there, and then we are going to see how Christ brings a totally new dominion to the world.
Our outline tonight is very simple.
Ř First we are going to look at the present dominion of wickedness on the earth.
Ř Then, we are going to look at Christ’s present and yet future dominion on the earth. Under that we are going to see
A. The Rule of Messiah, and
B. The World of Messiah
I. So first let’s look at the present dominion of wickedness on the earth. Verses 26 through 34 speak of Assyria’s dominion over other nations.
We read in the New Testament in Galatians 1:4 that Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father”.
And be not deceived—this is a vile, wicked world! This is a world that when given the opportunity crucified the Lord of glory. Jesus Himself said in John 14:30, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”
Satan is right now called “the prince of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). It is not that Satan has a kingdom separated from God, but by God’s permission, Satan exercises his tyranny over the world.
John Calvin, the Genevan Reformer said that whenever we hear this designation applied to the devil, we should be ashamed of our miserable condition that we would be so blind as to yield the dominion of our lives to such a detestable and disgusting creature.[1]
So to review:
Ř We live in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4).
Ř This present evil world is ruled by Satan, and as Ephesians 2:1-3 says (agreeing with John 14:30), we sinful creatures blindly yield dominion of our lives to him. Yet, God has full control over all sinful creatures, both humans and devils, and as we have learned in previous weeks, there is no creature on earth that can harm any of God’s plans in the least.
Ř Thirdly, Christ came to defeat sin and Satan, gave himself over to do what he would, and Christ instead crushed the head of the serpent, while the serpent only bruised Christ’s heal (Genesis 3:15).
With that in mind, let’s go to our text. In our text we have the Assyrians destroying, pillaging and plundering seemingly where ever their wicked hearts desire. Of course they think they are fulfilling their own purposes, but we must never forget that God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11). And in fact we are told very plainly in Isaiah 10:5 that Assyria is nothing less than “the rod of God’s anger, and the staff in their hand is His indignation.”
The king of Assyria said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it” (10:13). Who gave that king his strength? (The Lord!) Assyria’s boasting was like an axe boasting that it could cut down a tree all by itself (10:15)!
So when we look at this present evil world, first of all, we learned last week that:
We begin tonight with verse 26, and we see how God is going to keep this very promise. Verse 26, “And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
God will use even the evil purposes of men to accomplish His purposes, yet He does not cause sin and cannot be touched by it. “All things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) and we can say with Joseph “ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
So verse 26 really gives us a second encouragement. Not only should we not be afraid of this world…
1. Gideon: Oreb at Midian. Gideon himself slew the princes of the Midianites that had escaped from their battle with Israel.
So, there is coming a day when Israel is going to absolutely slaughter Assyria! Assyria will flee from Israel like the Midianite princes fled from Gideon! And this actually happened. We will get to that in a moment. Look at the second example:
2. The Exodus: Parting of the Red Sea. This slaughter is going to be like another great conquest of Israel. Just as Moses raised his staff over the Red Sea, and in one fell swoop defeated and utterly destroyed the massive world-dominating Egyptian army, God in the same manner will destroy the Assyrians.
Listen to the promise of verse 27: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing”. When would all this happen?
In fact it would take place during the time of Hezekiah’s rule which also coincides with Isaiah’s ministry. About 20 years after this prophecy was given in 701 BC, “an Egyptian-backed rebellion broke out in Judah and was led by Hezekiah. Sennacherib was able to sack many cites in Judah. He laid siege to Jerusalem, but soon returned to Nineveh, with Jerusalem not having been sacked. This event was recorded by Sennacherib himself[2], by Herodotus, and is also recorded in several places in the Old Testament.”
The account in 2 Kings 19:35 tells us, “Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city [JERUSALEM], nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. 35 ¶ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand [185,000!]: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.”
28 He is come to Aiath [AI], he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: 29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. 31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. 32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Listen, all the places in verses 28-30 are towns and cities in Judah. They are at the very gate of Jerusalem! Isaiah is prophesying these events 20 years before they are actually taking place. Aiath is about 30 miles from Jerusalem. Michmash is just over 7 miles! We will actually take up the actually fulfilling of these prophecies when we get to Isaiah chapters 37 and 38.
Sennacherib would invade Judah, but God put both a godly king (Hezekiah) and a fearless prophet (Isaiah) to give comfort and stir up the faith of God’s people.
Now remember in all of this that Judah and Israel are no better than Assyria. We think of Jonah the reluctant prophet. Proud Jonah thought he was better than the Assyrians. Listen, Jonah had nothing to be proud about. The only reason it was Jonah preaching to the Assyrians and not vice-versa, was the GRACE OF GOD!
As Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
So in verses 33-34, we find that God is going to utterly destroy Assyria, “Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough 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.”
When all of this is over, both Israel and Assyria are cut down. The opening verses of chapter 11 are bleak and gray. Isaiah speaks of the “stem” or stump “of Jesse”. What an evil world. What disaster and depression. But do you understand that this is why Christ came?
II. So secondly we see Christ’s present and yet future dominion on the earth.
Remember, in Galatians 1:4 that Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father”. In Adam all die. We all gave up rule and dominion to the one Adam and Eve submitted to. We all have willingly taken ourselves out of Christ’s dominion, and put ourselves under the greatest tyrant of all times. It is in this context that Christ comes and delivers us from the tyranny of sin and Satan. In verse 1 of chapter 11, we read of the rule of the Messiah.
C. The Rule of Messiah (verses 1-5).
1. His origin. “1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:” Jesse is mentioned because you remember that Hezekiah’s son is Manasseh, and even though he repents after he is captured by the Assyrians, his sins continue to destroy Judah. David’s house becomes utterly corrupted. But the promise made to David’s house will continue (2 Samuel 7:7-16)! Friends, at Christ’s resurrection, He takes seat on the throne of David, Christ sits a the right hand of the Majesty on high and rules in the hearts of men (Acts 2:22ff).
2. His gifts. “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:
3. His weapons.
a. Righteousness“4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:…
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins”.
b. His Word, “and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
His Word never fails!
D. The World of Messiah (verses 6-9)
Isaiah 11:6-9, “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. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
We will get more into detail on these verses of Messiah’s world next week, but look at all the animals! The petting zoo of the new earth will not be simply little lambs and goats, but the lion shall eat straw like cattle, and the little infant child will play with a viper! God shall make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth rightesousness!!
Conclusion: Friend, as we close and think upon the Lord’s Table, we must be reminded that Christ could come at any time and restore His final dominion on earth. All His enemies will be put under His feet!
Hymn: 241 O Sacred Head Now Wounded
Meditation & Lord’s Supper
Till He Come
1 Corinthians 11:26
The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an announcement of faith, not only in the Gospel, but faith in the resurrection and in the Second Coming.
Ř It would be appropriate to conclude the Lord’s Supper with the expression—Maranatha—The Lord is Coming! The Lord’s Table is a continual reminder of the facts that not only did Jesus come, die, rise again, and ascend to the right hand of the Majesty on high; this Table is a reminder that He is coming again.
He promised that if He went away, He would come again. On that fateful night in which the Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper, He told His disciples that He would drink not drink of the cup with them until He drank it new in His kingdom.
Ř Mark 14:22-26, “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. 25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 26 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
That kingdom will come, for Jesus will come as He said He would. The Lord’s Table is a testimony to that fact.
The Lord’s Table should always serve as an incentive to be prepared for His coming.
1 John 2:28, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
The Lord’s Supper is more than a memorial of the past; it is a celebration of the future. At present we remind ourselves of our Lord in this ordinance. We must be reminded because this world and this life so easily distract us. When He comes again we will not need the ordinance to remind us.
Do you remember the command of Christ to doubting Thomas in the upper room?
John 20:27, “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.”
The person speaking was Christ in His resurrection body. He still had the wounds of Calvary. When He comes to receive us unto Himself, we will have the perpetual reminder of His pierced hands, feet, and side. Mark it down! We will never forget the price of our redemption and the preciousness of Him who paid that price.
Conclusion: He comes again! Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
As we partake of this bread and this cup, we must remember that He may come before we are finished supping. Let’s live for that moment when we see Him face to face!
Closing Hymn: 234 Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed