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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible Department podcast. Powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Let's be honest, a lot of us are still treating digital ministry like it's a backup plan from 2020. But discipleship isn't just happening on Sundays anymore. People need gospel centered connection every day of the week. And if you're stuck juggling five different platforms, one for giving, another for sermons, something else for events, it's no wonder engagement feels off. That's not ministry. That's a mess. Subsplash changes that one platform. Everything you need. Media, giving, events, messaging, your app, your website built specifically for churches. No hacks, no workarounds, just clarity and simplicity. Because every day you wait, families scroll past your sermons, new guests click away from clunky sites, and real people miss real moments with Jesus. Don't waste another summer stuck in digital survival mode. Use it to get ahead, simplify, upgrade, get back to what matters. Head to subsplash.combible-dept and schedule a free no pressure demo. And let this be the summer your church gets focused and fully equipped family. Welcome to day 208. We are in Isaiah, chapter 60 to 62. And man, I feel like I say this every day. I just love these chapters of the Bible. I am seriously falling in love with the book of Isaiah. I would say prior to doing these episodes, Isaiah would not have been one of my favorite books of the Bible. It has become one of my absolute favorite books of the Bible. I love the character of God that's revealed in this book. I think it's poetic, I think it's beautiful. And I didn't realize how familiar I was with this book. But you know, you're familiar with verses or passages, not necessarily aware of where they all come from, and then you realize, oh my gosh, all this content comes from the book of Isaiah. This is incredible. Obviously what I even became aware of is if you're familiar with the New Testament, Isaiah gets quoted so much in the New Testament that most of us are familiar with the content, even if we're not familiar with the context. Which is why I always start off every single day with context clues. So if you've done the reading for today, if you've already read Isaiah, chapter 60, 61 and 62, then all of the things that I share context clues, nerdy nuggets, and our timeless truth will make sense. If you haven't done the reading, then you're going to be in the dark. So pause the audio, stop the video, and go do the reading. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful reading today. All right, let's dive into context clues. Okay, the context clue, or just the context, is more of, like, the mood of the people. Okay. The people have come back from Babylon, they have come out of exile, and they are back in the land. The temple is rebuilt, but there is disillusionment and discouragement. You may not realize this, but when the people come back after exile, I don't know if you've ever hyped something up in your head and then when you actually got the reality, it just failed to deliver. And so I actually wanna read a passage of scripture to you from Ezra. Cause Ezra and Malachi are both written during the same contextual moment in time as this last section of the book of Isaiah. So going to Ezra and going to Malachi would actually be really, really helpful for us to go. Oh, got it. Like, we're in the post exilic part of the book of Isaiah. For those of you who are also still orienting yourself, no worries. Okay. The prophets all fit into either pre exilic, exilic or post exilic. Okay. So the prophets are gathered around where they fall in relation to the exile. They're either prophesying before the exile, which means they're prophesying about the exile, predicting that it's gonna happen, or they're prophesying during the exile, or they're prophesying after the exile. So actually Isaiah, it hits all three boxes. Okay, so Isaiah spans hundreds of years of actual history. And so we're actually going to go to Ezra and Malachi to get some context clues or what I would call just contextual understanding. Like some. Some texture, you know, like just some understanding around what's the general mood? Like, what's the vibe like when they're back in Jerusalem? Ezra, chapter three, verse 11. Okay, this will. I think this will be an eye opener for you. Ezra obviously is back in Jerusalem. Ezra is post exilic. And Ezra, chapter 3, verse 12 says this. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads who had seen the former temple, that's Solomon's temple, the first temple, who had seen the former temple wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple, second temple, Zerubbabel's temple, when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. So Zerubbabel's temple is not impressive compared to Solomon's temple. Okay, so the people who are there in the book of Ezra, they are comparing their memories of Solomon's Temple to the reality of Zerubbabel's temple. And although the prophets prophesied, you're going to get to go back to the land, exile is going to be over. Like, that sounds awesome. And then the rubber hits the road and they're standing there looking at this dinky temple, like, the old temple was better. And you may not have context, but that's actually the verse. Like, this actual scenario is where we get the Bible verse. Do not despise the days of small beginnings. Okay? That's where that Bible verse comes from. It's people coming back from exile, back from Babylon, remember, by the way, Babylon's like dope in terms of architecture, in terms of just like living in a dope city. Okay, so Babylon's Tokyo. All right? Feels like you're living in the future. Like, Babylon's got multiple ancient wonders of the, like, multiple wonders of the ancient world. Like, Babylon is beautiful. Now you're in captivity, you're enslaved. Like, you are in exile. Like, I'm not trying to make it seem like exile's awesome, but like Babylon. The reason that the Babylonians brought people to Babylon is they would be impressed. Actually, during the time of the exile, God says, all right, I've defeated the Babylonians with the Persians. Cyrus is going to let all the people go back. And there are some Jews that decide, nah, homie, we've been living here for like the past 70, 80 years. Like, we staying in Babylon. Also, if you didn't know the Bible verse that says if you seek the peace of the city, like, you'll also have peace. Like, seek the prosperity of the city so that you will prosper. That is from Babylon. Like, that's a bab. The people are in exile in Babylon. And the prophets have to say, like, hey, I know you're upset that you're in exile, but seek the prosperity of the city. Well, because if the city prospers, you will prosper. Okay, I'm giving lots of context. So they come back from Babylon, they're now back in a burnt, broken, like, jacked up Jerusalem. I mean, and it's just gonna require work now. It's amazing. Like, we talk about rebuilding the walls and rebuilding the temple, and that's just a phrase for us, but they're literally back in their homeland and it's bittersweet. The sweet part is we're back home. The bitter part is our homes are burnt and we're standing on rubble, okay? And it's ruined. Like, they're literally having to pick up the broken pieces of life. And so they build Zerubbabel's temple. And the older generation that remembers Solomon temple literally weeps. Now here's the interesting thing, and I can't wait to preach this one day. Verse 13. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping because the people made so much noise and the sound was heard far away. So there were people who didn't know what Solomon's Temple looked like. They had no context, and therefore they were happy. And, man, there's a lot that can be said about that, but we'll leave that for another day. Malachi, chapter three. Okay, I wanna take you to Malachi chapter three and just paint a little bit more of the picture of what it feels like to be back in Jerusalem after exile. Malachi, chapter three is a verse that gets quoted in church a lot because it's a passage about tithing, okay? And so Malachi, chapter 3, verse 7. Ever since the time your ancestors have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord God. But you ask, how are we to return? So you've returned to your homeland, but you haven't returned to me, okay? And so they're like, how do we return to you? Verse 8. Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me, but you ask, how are we robbing you in tithes and offerings? Verse 9. You're under a curse, your whole nation, because you're robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out such a blessing you don't have room enough to. To store it. So why are the people having trouble being faithful with tithing? Well, it's because Jerusalem sucks. Like. Like they're rebuilding the temple, they're crying. Like, the older generation who can remember Solomon's temple are literally like, this temple. This is the new temple. And they're weeping and they're not tithing and they're not giving because they're not happy. Because these people are kind of like, ah, we've looked forward to coming back home, but we didn't realize that coming back home was gonna require this much work. And they are delusioned. Like disillusioned. Disillusioned and discouraged. And so Isaiah is now prophesying In Isaiah, chapter 60, 61 and 62, to a people that are just not happy about walking in the promise that God actually promised them, ain't that life, man? You're in exile, you can't wait to get back home. Then you're back home and you're like, this ain't what I thought it was going to be. And life can become a series of just hoping for the next thing instead of being content where you are, instead of being happy and full of joy, instead of choosing. I'm going to be excited about where God has me right now. That's so much of life. And, man, that should probably be my timeless truth for the day. I'm stealing my own thunder. But when you follow the trajectory of these people, it's like they're not happy no matter where they are. And no matter where they are, something's not right. And God then responds to the prophet Isaiah to help them understand, like, to help them adopt a mentality that is wise, that is helpful in the middle of whatever they're going through. It's not that what they're going through isn't hard. I think God says, yeah, the way that you feel about this is legitimate. Exile is hard. Coming back to a land that's burnt and ruined is hard. But although it is hard, there's a perspective you need to have. Although it is hard, seek the prosperity of the city while you're in exile. Although it is hard, hey, don't despise the day of small beginnings. Okay, so God acknowledges what's difficult, but the thing that's difficult is our own human emotions. But the thing that's difficult is us. Actually. It's not always the season that's difficult. It's how we perceive the season that's actually difficult. Family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of Scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I Think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller? I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. 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Use code DEPARTMENT10 at checkout to get 10% off your entire order. All right. That's a lot of context. If you read Isaiah chapter 60, 61 and 62 through that context, it's actually very, very helpful because now let's go to Isaiah chapter 60. You can see why Isaiah starts, arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Okay, so Isaiah chapter 60 is going to get quoted by John in the book of Revelation. Because now Isaiah has to create a vision of Jerusalem's future. I know you're upset about Jerusalem's reality today, but I don't need you to be focused on the reality of today. I need you to have a hope for the future. Okay, so all of this language is future bound. Foreigners will rebuild your walls and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you in favor, I will show you compassion. Your gates will always stand open. The glory of Lebanon will come to you. The juniper, the fir, the cypress, together to adorn my sanctuary. Okay. Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. Okay. And on and on and on and on and on and on and on, okay, so Isaiah chapter 60 is going to get picked up by John the Revelator. And John is going to use this. Okay, John is going to say this. He's going to pick this up straight out of Isaiah. This is Isaiah, chapter 60, verse 17. Instead of bronze, I will bring gold. And instead of iron, I will bring silver. Instead of wood, bronze, wood, bronze. Instead of stones, iron. Verse 19. The sun shall be no more your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give you light. But the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. John's going to read this stuff and go, that wasn't fulfilled in Herod's rebuilding of the temple. That wasn't fulfilled in Zerubbabel's temple. Actually, that was not fulfilled in our lifetime. Actually, God was talking in Isaiah chapter 60 about the new Jerusalem that is going to come at the end of time. And so Isaiah tries to get the people out of the drama of their present circumstances by giving them a promise of the future. Hey, don't focus on what's happening right now. You got to get a vision for the future. And I love that the Bible says without vision, people cast off restraint. That it's actually easy to walk through today. However imperfect or dramatic today is, it's easy to walk through the drudgery of today with discipline and with joy and with grit. When you got a vision of the future, when you're excited about the future now, God doesn't tell you, yeah, this future is going to be thousands of years later, but it's still a future. So this is gonna get taken up by John in Revelation, chapter 21, verse 23 and 22, verse 5, as a picture of the new Jerusalem in eternity. This connection has led many interpreting these prophecies to be spiritual in nature rather than physical. The New Jerusalem in Revelation is said to be the church, the bride of Christ coming down from heaven to earth. So. So these original New Jerusalem prophecies have also been interpreted as being fulfilled in the church. Okay? So when the people are discouraged about today, God gives a vision of an eternal future. And that leads perfectly into our timeless truth. Well, before we get to our timeless truth, I just wanna drop one more nerdy nugget on you. Isaiah, chapter 61. Okay, Isaiah chapter 61 is kind of considered a mini servant song. You know, we went through the servant songs in the last couple of days. This is seen to be a mini servant song, not because it prophesies about the Messiah, but because Jesus the Messiah quotes it so much the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me. Because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness. And release from darkness for the prisoners. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion. Why are they grieving in Zion? The grieving in Zion? Because it's not everything that they hoped it would be. To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of spirit of despair. That Bible verse gets quoted in church a lot. I don't know that we know the context of it, but here we go. Instead of despair, a garment of praise. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. I Love this. Verse 4. They will rebuild the ancient ruins. There's a certain grace that's on your life to rebuild ancient ruins. Here the people are literally standing in ruins. They're standing in a Jerusalem that's been burnt down and destroyed. But God says they will be. They'll. You'll rebuild ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated. They will renew the ruined cities that have. Remember a couple days ago we said, I think it's 46 cities that Sennacherib destroyed, burnt to the ground. And then Nebuchadnezzar is going to burn Jerusalem to the ground. So 47 cities. They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and vineyards, and you will be called priests of the Lord. You will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. So I don't think that Jesus only meant the first couple of verses. I think he's actually. What we know of how Jesus quotes scripture is that he quotes the first verse or two, but really he has the whole chapter in mind. And so anytime where Jesus is quoting Isaiah, chapter 61, verse 1 through 4, I want you to actually go back and read the entire chapter of Isaiah, chapter 61, and then put it back into Jesus's mouth, into Jesus's words and go. He probably read this entire chapter, not just the first four verses. All right, that was my Last dirty nugget. And now we get into our timeless truth. I'm stealing this really from the book of Jeremiah, but I think it's really, really helpful for us as we're studying Isaiah. And it's our timeless truth. So it doesn't have to be bound just to this context, but the context has inspired it. And that is God says, I've come to give you a hope and a future, and I want you to see how hope and future go together. If I'm dealing with discouragement, that means I'm focused on the present. But if I'm dealing with hopelessness, that means when I look into the future, I don't see anything worth living for. Okay? So hopelessness is always attached to how you see the future. And so the way that God gives you hope is by giving you a future. So the reason that God In Isaiah chapter 60 would talk to a people who are discouraged about the present and hopeless about the future, and the reason that God doesn't mention their present circumstance, but just says, let me tell you how this is all gonna play out in eternity is because the thing that we need when we're struggling with hopelessness and discouragement is we need to know about the future. You need to get a vision of the future. You gotta get pregnant with a vision of the future. It can't just be, yeah, I know it's all gonna work out one day. No, it's. I can see it, I can envision it. I'm living for it. I'm not living for today. I'm living for the future. I'm living for something that God is going to do. You wanna know something, man? Faith really helps to, like, get a lot of things done in the kingdom today. But hope, Hope's just good for your soul. Hope says, you know what? The latter things are gonna be better than the former things. Also the context of that verse, that the latter things are gonna be better than the former things. That verse comes out of exiles looking at the temple and going, the last time was better than this temple. And the prophets have to prophesy and say, no, latter things are gonna be better than the former things. Stop focusing on former things. Focus on the things of the future, not the things of the past. But the people are mad about the present because they're comparing it to their past. So whenever people are dealing with discouragement, I need you to know this. This is not just for Isaiah. This is not just for the context of the Bible, but this is for you and I today. Whenever you're dealing with discouragement and hopelessness. I want you to remember that there is a future that God has secured for all of us. And you need to lift up your eyes, get your eyes out of whatever the present circumstance is and start to really be engaged with the vision of the future that God has for you. Because it is that vision of the future that is actually gonna give hope to your soul. That's our Thomas truth for the day. I'm so glad we got to spend time together. Tomorrow. It's going to be amazing. We end the book of Isaiah tomorrow. Tomorrow is day 209. We are in Isaiah chapter 63 to 66. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Isaiah. It's going to be so sad. Although we've come to the end of the road I still, I still can't let go. Is that the words? I don't know. Anyway, I'm so sorry boys to men that I don't know the words to your song. Okay, tomorrow we got day 209, Isaiah 63 to 66. It's going to be amazing. I'm so proud of you, especially if you're on a streak. I love you so much. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department Podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.