Flowers Emerge 1-13-19

Overview

Flowers Emerge: Grace Amid the Desert of the Prophets

The prophetic books from Isaiah to Malachi unfold across a desert landscape—one shaped by God's righteous judgment against sin. Yet that very starkness reveals beauty: the unswerving holiness of God, His abhorrence of sin, and His faithfulness to His Word. Before rushing to comfort, we do well to linger in the desert long enough to see the glory of a God who never compromises His character.

A few bearings help us read the prophets well. Distinguish the writing prophets from non-writing prophets like Elijah and Elisha; remember that "major" and "minor" refer only to length, not importance. Then ask where a given prophet stands in relation to three pivotal moments: the Assyrian invasion and deportation of the Northern Kingdom, the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and exile of Judah, and the release under Cyrus of Persia—"Cyrus the tolerant Persian"—who sent the people home. The prophets themselves understood their primary task not as predicting the future (though they did) but as preaching the Word and calling God's people to repentance.

That call exposes the barrenness of the human will. Scripture and our confessions describe the heart apart from God as stone or brick—bound, not free, in the things above. Luther's Bondage of the Will echoes this: we are born enemies of God, with no native inclination toward Him. Conversion, then, is never our work but God's. As Paul writes, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" 1 Corinthians 3:5-7. Isaiah confesses the same: "I looked, but there was no helper… so my own arm brought me victory" Isaiah 63:5. Pastors and people alike are mail carriers; the Spirit alone changes hearts and deserves the glory.

Against this desert backdrop, flowers suddenly emerge. Isaiah opens with God's indictment of a rebellious people Isaiah 1, then promises a refined and redeemed Zion. The mountain of the Lord's house will be lifted up, the nations will stream to it, and swords will be beaten into plowshares Isaiah 2:2-4—a spiritual peace, secured by the Word going out from Jerusalem and consummated when Christ returns. After more rebuke comes the brightest bloom: "For to us a child is born… Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9:1-7. Isaiah even names Cyrus and Persia generations before they arose—evidence of Scripture's reliability. Working alongside Isaiah, Micah names the very town of the coming Ruler: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah… from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel" Micah 5:2.

The pastoral application is direct. Loosening the desert image to the difficult seasons of our own lives, look for the flower. God's grace breaks through, often as suddenly as the angels appearing to the shepherds. "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, who are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28. End each day by reflecting on the moments of grace you received—a kind word, an unexpected blessing, strength in adversity—and give thanks. Like the memorial stones of old, those remembered flowers ground our confidence that grace will bloom again tomorrow.

Transcript

We studied last week in our walk in this class called Flowers in the Desert. 0s

And specifically, we're taking a look at the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi. 5s

And as you walk through that landscape of Holy Scripture, you really have a desert setting. 13s

You've got the desert of God's judgment and wrath with regard to sin. 20s

And the desert we were talking about last week amidst the desert are these little flowers that emerge. 25s

Sometimes it's a whole gardens of it. 32s

We spent last time looking at the starkness of the desert and to see the beauty that is in the desert itself. 35s

So not to immediately rush to the flowers, but to see the beauty that is found in the desert where God is so clear with regard to his judgment on the desert. 45s

And sin with regard to his wrath because you really see in a special way the holiness of God, the righteousness of God. 55s

And even God in his wrath, there is a beauty to it because you see the unchanging, unswerving nature with regard to God, God's abhorrence with regard to sin, God's faithfulness to his word. 66s

And so we spent some time in our first time together in examining the starkness of the desert and the beauty that can be found even amidst the starkness. 81s

We saw how God's judgment against Israel was righteous, that God was indeed preserving his honor in terms of the truthfulness of his word. 93s

When we look at the prophets, we have to distinguish between writing and non-writing prophets. 105s

So when you look at, for example, prophets like Elijah or Elisha, they are non-writing prophets. There are no books here that bear their names. 112s

And there is also a distinction between major prophets and minor prophets. Sometimes people will think that major prophets are of lesser importance. 123s

No, it just simply means that their books are shorter. And so your major prophets of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Jeremiah also wrote lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel. 134s

And then you've got the 12 minor prophets. So when you hear the distinction between major and minor, minor is no less important than simply reflecting the fact that they are shorter in nature. 147s

Also as we go through the prophets, it's always helpful to find your bearing in the prophet with regard to what is being talked about. 161s

A good way to do that is God used two nations in particular to punish and to discipline his people for their rebellion. 170s

He used the Assyrians and he also used the Babylonians. And so a question to ask is, where is this falling in association with God's judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel or the Southern Kingdom of Judah? 182s

In association with Assyria regarding the North and the Babylonians with regard to the South. He also used a kingdom to bless his people. And that's the kingdom of Persia. 199s

So sometimes you can get lost in the desert in the prophets. And so a way to get your bearings back is to say, where is this in relationship with the two nations that God used to punish his people? 213s

A way correlated to that, that you can look at this is there's basically three time periods in which the prophets are dealing with. 231s

The first period is before the Assyrian invasion of the North and the deportation. Remember you've got Israel and the North and Judah in the South. 243s

So one way to look at that is, is when is the prophet prophesying? Is it before the Assyrian invasion and deportation? 255s

The second is the Babylonian captivity of the people of God and before that the destruction of Jerusalem. 265s

So you ask yourself, is this dealing with the North of the South? Is this dealing with Assyria and the North in terms of the invasion and also the deportation of the people in the North? 276s

Or is this dealing with the Babylonians and their destruction of Jerusalem and then the exile of the people into what is called Babylonian captivity? 289s

And then the third nation that wraps up is Persia. And it's through Cyrus the tolerant Persian, is kind of a little nickname. 304s

He's gotten over the years in the church. Cyrus the tolerant Persian who released the people then to go back to their homeland. 314s

So you've got major prophets, you've got minor prophets. Major is simply their longer minor, their shorter books. 324s

You've got two nations that God uses to punish Assyria and Babylon and a way to ask yourself where you're at is where is this in relationship to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the exile or the return of the people back to their homeland. 332s

The prophets understood their role in preaching the Word of God. Their role was to call the people to repentance. 354s

So often when you think of prophecy you think of future events and is that there in Holy Scripture? Most definitely. 368s

What we're going to see some of that today. But the majority of prophecy that you see in Holy Scripture is people speaking to the people at the time and calling them to repentance. 375s

And so the prophets understood this role. They understood the barren ground of the human will. It's so interesting that the human will can be elevated in our day to have such freedom with regard to it. 390s

But remember God gave us freedom with regard to the human will in what is called things below God. In other words, when I got up this morning I said do I wear the black cleric or the gray? 414s

I had freedom of will because they were both clean. So in the freedom, and you can thank me for that. In the freedom of my will I chose the black today. 430s

Did I have free will in that? Absolutely. Could I have chosen the gray? Absolutely. I could have. 445s

When we are born things above which are the things of God we don't have freedom of will. Our will is bound. 451s

Remember Luther wrote a great great book on that. The bondage of the will. Luther said reflecting Holy Scripture that we're born enemies. We want nothing to do with God. 461s

Our hearts are bound. Our Lutheran confessional writings describe our hearts as bricks, as stones. There is nothing in us that has an inclination toward God. There is no freedom of the will with regard to God. 473s

The will has to be transformed into the yes. So when the will is elevated in our day and you see these rooted in theologies. 491s

When the will is elevated as if it is the freedom of the will to choose God or not to choose God. And that God is somehow on His throne crossing His fingers, hoping that somehow we're going to come through and choose Him to where God is beholden to our will that is a departure from Scripture. 504s

Because you see if it is our will that transforms us into a believer in the end if it is our yes to God that indeed then God says, sure I'm glad you made that decision. 532s

Then the will has replaced God on the throne hasn't it? And God is beholden to us. 547s

No, Scripture says God is at work and God's spirit blows where God's spirit blows and God turns people into believers where and when it pleases Him and so the total credit for our conversion is God. 559s

Because if you maintain a freedom of the will with regard to conversion then in the tiniest of ways the only work that we have to do that contribute to our salvation is to believe. 580s

And you have turned faith into the work. The prophets understood what their call was and their call was to proclaim the truth, call people to repentance and they understood the hardness of the human will. 597s

Out of the ground in the desert we see flowers emerge and it is always God that causes the flowers to bloom. 620s

Always. So when someone comes to faith, when someone repents it is always the work of God and God is always the one that gets credit. 633s

I get, oh well, I'll be blunt, I get irritated. When I'm in a meeting with pastors and a pastor will say, I got X number of converts this year. 648s

What do you mean you got the converts? You know, is God sitting on God's throne saying, good job, good job. Or is he looking at that pastor and saying, you're nothing but a mailman, you understand that right? 667s

Not to diminish the profession of mailman at all, but our role is simply to deliver the mail. And once we start to take credit any of us for a conversion who then gets the glory. 687s

It's the person saying, I got X number of converts this year. And God says, really, you did? You did? Really? No. 704s

Who's the one that changes the heart? You see the prophet understood the beariness of the will and that it is solely by God's grace that growth happens. 715s

Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians, the 3rd chapter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans. 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 6. 730s

And Paul gets it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, let's go to 5, it gives us more of a context. 746s

What then is a Paulus? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord assigned to each? 762s

I planted a Paulus watered, but God gave the growth. I planted a Paulus watered, talking about the seed of the gospel, but God gave. 772s

The growth. We see it in Isaiah, chapter 63. A good way to find Isaiah is to go to the book of Psalms and then start moving to the New Testament. 789s

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Son of Solomon. And then you hit Isaiah, you hit Jeremiah, you've gone too far. Isaiah 63, verse 5. 800s

I looked, but there was no helper. I stared, but there was no one to sustain me, so my own arm brought me victory and my wrath sustained me. 825s

The flowers that we see are planted and bloom by God's grace alone. And as we're in the prophets, we're going to find ourselves jumping from the Baroness of the Desert into these gardens that pop up. 836s

Okay, if I don't get out of the introduction today, we're never going to get to the class here. 855s

So let's start in Isaiah. Isaiah began his ministry, 740 BC. Isaiah is not typical of the other prophets. In that, really around every bend you see a flower arising in Isaiah. 860s

So it's not typical of the other prophets. Interestingly, you've got 66 books in Isaiah and really it's a little, a little Bible because you've got, remember, 39 books in the Old Testament. 880s

And so the first 39 books of Isaiah is really focusing on the immorality and the idolatrous nature of the people. And then the last 27 books really focuses on the comfort of the Messiah and the hope that is ours in the Messiah. 895s

So people have termed Isaiah as a little Bible. Same number of chapters as there are books in the Bible. And when you see the shift in verse 40 of Isaiah from 39, it's a very interesting, interesting shift. 916s

As you begin with Isaiah, you run into the desert landscape. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1, verse 1. 934s

So here's the desert landscape. God's judgment on sin, his wrath with regard to sin. 948s

The vision of Isaiah, son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah, Jaffam, Ahez, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 960s

Here, O heavens, and listen, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 971s

The ox knows its owner and the donkey, its master's crib. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. 983s

Catch the power of three there. There's a word picture, isn't it? The ox knows its owner and the donkey, its master's crib. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. 994s

For all sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged. 1009s

So he starts out right at it and we are right in the desert, aren't we? A flower soon appears, verse 24. 1032s

Therefore says the sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. 1044s

I will pour out my wrath on my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you. I will smell to weigh your dross as with lie and remove all your alloy. 1050s

And I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning. 1063s

Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. 1070s

Zion shall be redeemed by justice and those in her who repent by righteousness. The rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 1076s

You see here in the midst of the desert this flower emerges that indeed God is still on his throne and he would purify his church. 1090s

But right after the flower, the desert of God's complaints come back. 1103s

When you go to chapter 2, there's this big beautiful flower in chapter 2, picking up in verse 2. 1111s

In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills. 1122s

All the nations shall stream to it. 1132s

Many people shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. 1135s

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 1151s

He shall judge between the nations, shall arbitrate for many peoples, they shall beat their swords into plough shears and their spears into pruning hooks. 1157s

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 1168s

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. 1176s

Here's the prophecy that the word of the Lord is going to go out. 1184s

It's going to go out from Jerusalem into the world. 1188s

Here acts what we are studying from this morning, right? 1192s

You witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, into the ends of the earth. 1196s

So the word goes out from Jerusalem. 1201s

It is this word that will create peace. 1205s

The rulers of the world will see evidence of God's work and indeed some will come to faith and they will put away weapons of war. 1208s

This is a spiritual peace based upon God's love. 1220s

Interestingly, this verse is outside the United Nations. 1224s

It's utilized to communicate a political peace. 1229s

But the scripture communicates it's a spiritual peace. 1234s

And it's not until the Lord comes again when indeed the hostility and conflicts evident to use the imagery from Romans, 1238s

evident in groaning in travail will cease. 1250s

What we have here then is the prophecy of spiritual peace and the ultimate peace at the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1256s

And it emerges right out of the desert. 1266s

Well by the time we come to the end of chapter 8, we walk through a fair amount of judgment sections. 1272s

And at the end of chapter 8, Isaiah rebukes the people of Israel. 1281s

Let's go to Isaiah 8 verses 19 to 22. 1287s

And here we read, now if people say to you, consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter, 1299s

should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living for teaching and for instruction? 1309s

Surely those who speak like this will have no dawn. 1319s

They will pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry. 1323s

When they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse. 1327s

They're king and they're gods. They will turn their faces upward or they will look to the earth. 1330s

But we'll see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish and they will be thrust into thick darkness. 1335s

So here is this move or even dabbling into the demonic here that is absolutely, absolutely condemned all the way throughout Scripture. 1347s

But then what do you see right around the corner? You see a flower. 1362s

Let's go to Isaiah 9 verse 1. 1366s

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. 1372s

In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulin, the land of Nafdali, but in the later time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 1376s

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. 1389s

Those who lived in the land of deep darkness on them, light has shined. 1393s

You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. 1400s

They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest as people exalt when dividing plunder. 1403s

For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 1411s

For all the boots of the trampling warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 1420s

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders. 1428s

And he's named a wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 1437s

His authority shall grow continually, and there should be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. 1444s

He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 1455s

Here it mits then the condemnation of the people, the absolute acknowledgement of God in terms of their rebellion and their idolatry comes this beautiful flower of a kingdom like no other that God is determined indeed to keep his covenant. 1466s

And that indeed a Messiah will be born. 1486s

After this prophecy, guess where we go again? 1490s

It's right back in the desert again. 1494s

Do we see the pattern? 1497s

It's this desert and then you come across this absolutely glorious flower and the flowers appear with no more warning than when the angels appeared to the shepherds. 1499s

On that day that Jesus was born. 1514s

Now think of your own life. 1518s

I want to loosely, we're tying a desert here, we're tying it to judgment in God's wrath. 1521s

Let me loosen it here just to make an application. 1529s

When you think of the deserts of your life or the difficult times of your life, always look for the flower because the flower of God's grace and his promises will come forth. 1531s

Remember the promise we talk about in the sermon today, applying it to the situation in Acts. 1552s

It's the echo of the promise in Romans that all things, all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose. 1558s

All things. 1569s

So amidst the beariness of which can characterize aspects of life, there is always the flower that blooms and always the grace of God that emerges. 1571s

And so one of the things to ask yourself when you are going through the desert or the times, the difficult times is to say, 1586s

I anticipate indeed the grace of God that will bloom forth. 1596s

And I look forward to when that flower will emerge. 1604s

And I promise you, based on the promises of God, that indeed it will emerge. 1608s

Here, back to the use of desert in terms of judgment and sin, here indeed we have these beautiful flowers that are emerging and they oftentimes emerge suddenly. 1616s

We can be tempted to say, I had a really lucky day today, right? Or we can say, there's the flower when we realize the flowers and the touches of God's grace in our life. 1631s

Remember what Scripture says, all good things come from above. 1651s

All good things come from above. 1656s

Well, Isaiah lived in the days when the Assyrians took the Northern Kingdom into captivity, but Isaiah looks into the future. 1664s

About 150 years after this Assyrian deportation into the Northern Kingdom, when the Babylonians would then destroy Jerusalem and most of Judah's population. 1672s

What you then have in Isaiah is you have the prophecy with regard to the release of the people from Babylonian captivity, and Isaiah names a kingdom that was not historically in existence at the time he named it. 1689s

Persia didn't exist, and not only did Isaiah by the operation of God name the very kingdom, then that would release the people from Babylonian captivity to go back to Jerusalem, but he even named the king Cyrus that would do it. 1710s

And so the question we ask is, is Scripture reliable? Indeed, this is but one example of indeed where we read in Scripture about a kingdom that doesn't exist and a king in the kingdom that doesn't yet exist that are going to release the people, and here's the king that's going to do it. 1732s

You see there's the flower that emerges amidst the time. 1754s

Micah lived and worked alongside Isaiah. 1761s

So let's go to go to go to Micah. If you're in Isaiah, turn toward Revelation. 1765s

He'll hit Jeremiah, lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and then he hit Micah. Micah chapter 5 verse 2. 1771s

So Micah lives and he works alongside of Isaiah, and Micah foretells of a ruler who will be born in Bethlehem. 1791s

Verse 2 of chapter 5. But you are Bethlehem of Ephraath who are one of the little clans of Judah. 1804s

From you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel whose origin is from of old, from ancient day. 1811s

Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth, then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 1822s

Hear this beautiful prophecy of the coming of Messiah and indeed naming Bethlehem itself. 1832s

There are other writers of this period that worked during the time of Isaiah and Micah. 1841s

You've got Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Nehem, Amos, and Hosea. 1847s

And as you go through them you see flowers. Flowers emerge. 1853s

Desert flowers. The beauty and trustworthiness of holy scripture and the flowers of his grace. 1861s

As you reflect today on your day, and sometimes it's just simply helpful to do that. 1872s

By reflecting on the day, in praying to the Lord of just saying, here's the day, you're not telling the Lord anything new. 1880s

You're just reflecting on the day and to reflect on the moments of grace and the flowers that you experience during a day. 1891s

Because there are always flowers and there's always God's grace, even amongst the most difficult times in life. 1902s

There's always flowers and always grace there. 1910s

And so when you end the day and you reflect on God's touches of grace, maybe it was a word that you received from someone. 1913s

Maybe it was a word that you were privileged to do to encourage someone. 1923s

Maybe it's this wonderful blessing that all of a sudden seems to fall in your lap or maybe it's God sustaining you through it's the difficult time of adversity. 1932s

Whatever it is, see the moments of God's grace in your life and give him thanks for the flowers. 1942s

Because why did the people of old, why did they plant the memorial stones at significant events that happened? 1951s

They planted it so it would be a reminder. 1958s

So that when they looked backwards, they indeed remembered the goodness and graciousness of God and it reminded them of then how they could approach the future and the day. 1960s

And so look back on the day, see the blessings of the day, reflect on the flowers in the day and what does that give you confidence for? 1977s

It gives you confidence for the dawn, doesn't it? 1990s

It gives you confidence that just as flowers emerged today, they'll emerge tomorrow. 1994s

Well, we're going to continue next week. 2004s

We're going to look at some of the most rugged parts of the desert, Jeremiah, Zekiel, Daniel, Habakkuk and Zefania. 2006s

If we thought we've really seen desert before, wait till we see this landscape next week. 2014s