.JPG)
The Bible Breakdown
Bible reading plan and SOAP guide: www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter: www.brandoncannon.com
The Bible Breakdown
Isaiah 07: God's Got This
Feeling unworthy of my daughter's confidence taught me a powerful lesson about the shift from self-reliance to faith in something greater. During tumultuous times, especially when our own confidence starts to wane, where do we turn? This episode explores the profound strength that comes from trusting in God's sovereignty, drawing inspiration from Isaiah chapter 7. As Isaiah communicated God's unwavering message to the people of Judah amidst their political chaos, we are reminded that divine assurance does not depend on our human doubts or the circumstances surrounding us. Through the story of King Ahaz, we learn the importance of embracing God's plans with steadfast faith, knowing that He is at work in our lives.
Moving beyond mere appearances, we dive into the concept of genuine confidence rooted in faith. The age-old adage "fake it till you make it" pales in comparison to a foundation built on God's goodness and strength. By embracing our strengths and acknowledging our weaknesses, we prepare ourselves to lean on God, who fills in our gaps. Reflecting on Isaiah 12:2, we discover the liberation of trusting in God's victory and presence, whether in triumph or failure. Let's venture together to exchange superficial confidence for unwavering faith, ready to face any challenge with the knowledge that God is consistently with us and for us.
SOAP Bible Study Method- https://www.brandoncannon.com/soap/
Bible reading plan- http://www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible/
Free weekly newsletter- https://www.brandoncannon.com/
Social:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebrandoncannon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandoncannon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandoncannon
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theBrandonCannon
The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Isaiah, chapter 7, and today's title is God's Got this. God's Got this. Have you ever tried to act like you had confidence that you really didn't have? You know, you got that comment. Fake it till you make it right. Well, I don't know if you've ever thought about this before, but I think sometimes, without meaning to, we almost feel like God's like that. We're like, hey, you know God, are you, are you sure you got this? Are you like not so sure you got this right? We're going to talk about that in just a moment and how God's got this, you know. But before we do that, I want to make sure that, if you like what we're doing here, Make sure you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure that you are subscribed to the YouTube channel. We are on our way to 3,000 subscribers and I would love just to add as many people to this community where we are just reading through God's word and just finding out more about the God who loves us so much. And also, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love for you to go to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook, because, man, the more we dig, the more we find, and especially as we're on this treasure hunt through the book of Isaiah and reading and learning about the different prophecies, about Jesus and how God is our salvation, even in troubling times. Well, if you have your Bibles, you wanna open up with me to Isaiah, chapter seven.
Speaker 1:Remember that when Isaiah was alive, it was during a time of political, of social, of just all kinds of hub evil in the world. At the time, Part of the kingdom of Israel, the majority tribes of Israel, had already been overtaken by the Assyrian empire and they were threatening the nation of Judah. And there was all of this uncertainty and all of this political turmoil, and alliances were being made and broken and all of this stuff. In the midst of it, God calls Isaiah to call the people back to him. Even though God went ahead and told Isaiah he's like listen, most of these people are not willing to listen. They're not gonna come back to me, though I want them to so desperately. But that's not what needs to stop you. You need to keep on telling them that I love them, Keep on telling them that I wanna save them, so that those who are willing to listen will listen. And can I tell you that's still our goal, Even if we don't feel like it, even if we don't know how God's gonna do it. We just have to trust that God's got this instead of sometimes how we feel Like.
Speaker 1:It reminds me one time I was getting ready to go and I had this honor of going to speak at a church and because of the week that I had had and everything leaning up to it, I just I wasn't feeling as confident. I mean, I was confident in God's word. I just wasn't that confident that I was going to say it. Right, you know. And I remember, as I was getting ready to leave to travel to where I was going to be able to speak, one of my daughters said dad, don't you worry, you've got this. And I'd never felt so unworthy of somebody's confidence in that moment. And I was like, yeah, baby, you know I do, you know Dad's got this. And I left going Daddy, don't got this. But from the moment I left until the time I got there, I realized it's not about whether or not I've got this, it's about whether or not my confidence is in the Lord and that the Lord. I got there. I realized it's not about whether or not I've got this. It's about whether or not my confidence is in the Lord and that the Lord has got this. And he did, and it turned out to be a wonderful weekend and it was awesome. And that's what Isaiah 7 is all about. It's not about what we've got, it's about what God's got and our trust in him. So let's read this together and let's see what God's word will have to say to us today. You ready.
Speaker 1:Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 1. This is a message for Ahaz. Here we go, Verse 1. The king of Israel set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan. The news had come to the royal court of Judah Syria is allied with Israel against us. So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
Speaker 1:Then the Lord said to Isaiah Take your son Sherjashubah and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where the cloth is washed. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn't need to fear the fierce anger of those two burnt out embers, King Rezan of Syria and Pekah, son of Ramaliah. Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying we will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves, Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah's king. But this is what the sovereign Lord says. This invasion will never happen. It will never take place, For Syria is no stronger than the capital Damascus and Damascus is no stronger than its king Rezan. As for Israel, within 65 years it will be crushed and completely destroyed. Israel is no stronger than its capital Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its capital Samaria and Samaria is no stronger than its king Pekah, son of Ramaliah.
Speaker 1:Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm. And then listen to this. Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz Ask the Lord, your God, for a sign of confirmation. Ahaz, Make it as difficult as you want, as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead. But the king refused. No, he said I will not test the Lord like that.
Speaker 1:Isaiah said listen. Well, you, royal family of David, Isn't it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right. The Lord himself will give you a sign. Now listen to this, okay? This is where we get one of the big messianic prophecies, and we'll explain what this looks like in a little while. Okay, but here it is, verse 14. All right, then the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.
Speaker 1:By the time the child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey, For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear will both be deserted. Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation and your family, unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah, and he will bring the king of Assyria upon you. In that day, the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like fleas and bees. They will come in with vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves and thorny places. A farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone, because so few will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. And in that day, the lush vineyards now worth a thousand pieces of silver will become patches of briars and thorns. The entire land will become vast expanse of briars and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briars and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep and goats will graze there.
Speaker 1:And before we say anything else, remember that this is apocalyptic prophecy literature, which means that it's always using a lot of allegory and a lot of symbolism to make a point. So, God, he didn't literally whistle for the nations of Egypt and in Assyria. Hey guys, he didn't do that. What he was saying is is to whistle, is to call someone, and they are in a subordinate position. You whistle for someone hey, what's up? Guys, Come over here. And so what he's saying is God is in complete control and he calls them as though they belong to him, because he does. So he's saying God, from a position of authority, will call these things in. And so, remember, he is saying that this is going to come on you. Now let's go back to this and then we'll finish it up.
Speaker 1:What exactly is going on? Because, on one hand, you've got a Messianic prophecy, but it also looks as though he's talking about something that's happening right away. Well, in prophecy there's something called the already but not yet. Can we say that again Already but not yet? And what would happen many times and we see Jesus doing this in Matthew 24, Matthew 25, many times, and we see Jesus doing this in Matthew chapter 24, Matthew chapter 25, is there will be a time when God will give a prophecy to someone that is going to have both near future ramifications but then far future ramifications. For instance, in Matthew 24 and 25, most scholars believe when Jesus was talking about the destruction and all these things. When Jesus was talking about the destruction and all these things, it was talking about the destruction that was coming to the temple just 30 years later, in 70 AD. At the same time, he was also talking about the destruction at the end of the age. He was talking about both at the same time the already coming soon, but not yet coming from afar.
Speaker 1:Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament is definitely looking the same way, and so what Isaiah is saying is is he is using this allegory to say that there is this coming leader who is going to be so passionate about God that we will want to call him by the nickname of Emmanuel, and he will have all these different things. And so there'll be these allegories to describe this coming future ruler, but then, in the far future, talking about Jesus, this is going to be exactly what's going to happen. So, for instance, the near future leader could have necessarily maybe have been Hezekiah, who would have been known to be someone who was a leader who really restored the nation back to him. However, Hezekiah, who would have been known to be someone who was a leader who really restored the nation back to him. However, Hezekiah was not born of a virgin. That was an allegory to say he was going to be born innocent. However, when Jesus was born, he was born of a virgin and he was actually fulfilling these prophecies in an exact sort of fashion. And so we're going to see that, as we continue to look throughout the book of Isaiah, there are going to be these prophecies that are going to look like they're going to have near fulfillment, but they also have far fulfillment when it comes to prophesying about Jesus. And so, if you want to do more research on this, look up online the already but not yet prophetic symbolism and you'll be able to see much deeper what a lot of that is about. And that's one of the things, by the way, as we get ready to end our time together, I look forward to doing once we finish going through the Bible and we start going through the Bible again. We're gonna go through it even slower and we're gonna stop and we're gonna talk about some of these deeper theological issues to really help us just continually broaden our idea of who God is. But to finish this, remember when I said God's got this. Do you know? I really and this is my opinion, you're welcome to disagree I really don't like the phrase fake it till you make it.
Speaker 1:I used to. I used to live according to that. I've always looked more confident than I actually felt. Right, Always right. But here's the problem with faking it till you make it. You're basically trying to lie yourself into the truth. That's what. Fake it till you make it means you fake feeling a certain way until you actually start feeling that certain way. So you're trying to lie your way into truth. Well, can I tell you, it doesn't work that often it can help you to get through a difficult time, but it's not really a good lifestyle plan. And so what happens? If we're not going to fake it till we make it, then we have to find where true confidence comes from.
Speaker 1:And true confidence doesn't come from positive confession. It comes through knowing where your strength is, knowing I can do this and I can't do this. That's what confidence is, is having an adequate idea of your strengths and limitations. And what we're talking about today is God's word came to the king and he said I need you to stop worrying. I need you to quit being so afraid and quit worrying, because I, God, am going to stop all this. And he said in verse 9, unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm. So, in other words, he's saying here's my plan Stop acting like you got this and start trusting that I got this, and don't put your confidence in what you are acting like you can do, but put your confidence in what you know I can do.
Speaker 1:And that's my hope for all of us today, as we get ready to end our time together, is all of us are painfully aware of our strengths and our weaknesses. Some of us we don't know all of our strengths. We've never tried to see if we were good at things, but many times we're very aware of our weaknesses, very aware of our fears. Very aware of our fears, very aware of our limitations, and that's what brings us fear, is we're also not sure where else we may be weak, where else we may not know. And that can bring us this need to try to fake it till we make it. Well, I want to encourage you to maybe try something different, and that is don't try to fake it till you make it.
Speaker 1:Trust in the goodness of God. Trust that God knows where you're weak and he knows where you're strong. Now, we always do our best to try to get better and be the very best version of ourselves we can possibly be, but instead of having an empty confidence, have a confidence that we may not have this, but God does. What would it look like in your life today If you walked into every environment going God, I'm going to be as prepared as I can and I'm going to do the best I can, and I trust that for every place in my life where I'm weak, you are strong and whatever happens today, you are more than enough to help me take every next step. So if I have success today, I'm going to give you glory. If I have failures today, I'm going to give you glory and I'm going to realize, no matter what happens today, you've got this, and so I'm asking you to maybe exchange shallow, fake confidence for founded, solid confidence in God and watch what happens.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together today, God. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, Lord, that you are with us and you are for us in every way. I'm so thankful, God, that not only are you for us, but you're making a way for us. And, God, while we want to be confident in the things that you've given us the ability to do, ultimately let our foundational confidence come from knowing you. I celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen, and what God's word says in Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 2, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and I will not be afraid. The Lord, God, is my strength and my song, and he has given me victory. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Isaiah, chapter eight.
