Class Outline:

Wednesday March 30,2022

Standing firm requires complete dependence and fidelity to God and His way. A divided heart cannot stand.

 

MAT 12:22-26

Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts He said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?”

 

After the reign of Solomon, Israel experienced a civil war, the seeds of which were planted by Solomon who was greedy for developing grand building projects. Solomon’s son was an idol worshipping man-child who flung Israel into war with itself and two split kingdoms never united. We must be sure to know that it was God’s will that they be united.

 

Ezekiel was told to take two sticks and write on one “Judah” and on the other “Joseph” (representing Ephraim the Northern Kingdom) and the prophet was to unite them as one stick. When the people asked Ezekiel what the sticks were he was to say:

 

EZE 37:19

Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."'

 

Ezekiel is prophesying in Babylon. By this time both kingdoms of Israel are gone. The north would not return, but the south would return to Judah and rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they would never become a sovereign kingdom again; that is, not until the Messiah returns and makes them one kingdom. So, God continues to tell Ezekiel that in the future, God would bring His people Israel from distant lands and make them one unified nation.

 

EZE 37:22

they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

 

The point we are making today is that God will not stand for divided allegiances. Divided kingdoms, cities, homes, and souls will not stand. We are to stand against the schemes of the devil and that demands complete fidelity to God as one undivided soul submitting to one undivided Trinity.

 

Another fine example is found in multiple battles in the OT narrative where God sends the enemy a confusion in which they cannot tell friend from foe in the fray. The enemy loses by attacking themselves.

 

Our main example of this today is in Isa 28 in which Assyria from the north east is threatening the Northern Kingdom as well as the Southern Kingdom (Judah). God has warned Israel and Judah of this threat. God has openly revealed to them that He Himself is the one sending them to destroy the nation and take her away captive. It hasn’t happened just yet, and so the people of both kingdoms still have the opportunity to repent of their evil, idol-worshipping, lawbreaking ways, and rely on God alone for defense.

 

:Picture: [background to Isa 28 - Assyrian aggression against Israel who were sent by God to discipline the idol worshipping nation]

 

In the seventh century B.C. when Assyrian aggression was about to gobble up the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah feared the same, Judah made a pact with Egypt for help. The great prophet Isaiah warned them not to do it, and when they did anyway the prophet foretold the failure of the pact with Egypt and pronounced their discipline.

 

Israel could not stand by means of alliances with other nations. They would stand if they depended on Yahweh Elohim alone.

 

ISA 28:1-4

Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,

And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the fertile valley

Of those who are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent;

As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,

Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,

He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.

3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.

4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the fertile valley,

Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer;

Which one sees, And as soon as it is in his hand,

He swallows it.

 

The greatest sadness to this is that Ephraim (Northern Kingdom) should have been beautiful and strong; and so should every born-again believer.

 

ISA 28:14-18

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers,

Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death,

And with Sheol we have made a pact [by choosing security with Egypt they were signing their own death warrant].

The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,

For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception."

16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,

"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,

A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

17 "And I will make justice the measuring line,

And righteousness the level;

Then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,

And the waters shall overflow the secret place.

18 "And your covenant with death shall be canceled,

And your pact with Sheol shall not stand;

 

We must rely on the Lord alone and that means nothing less than obeying Him even when, to sight, it seems risky.

 

The costly cornerstone (vs. 16) is the foundation of the spiritual house. Fast forward to Eph 2 and we find that all believers in this age are stones in the walls of that very house. That house is a holy temple and it contains a holy priesthood.

 

EPH 2:20-21

Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord;

 

1PE 2:5, 6

as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood … "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."

 

Notice in ISA 28:17 that justice is the measuring line and righteousness is the level. That means perfect divine justice and righteousness (breastplate). Hence, the strength from God and the putting on the armor depends on our faithfulness to God and His word.

 

Goodness, happiness, strength, etc., cannot be separated from holiness and righteousness. If they are they cease to be.

 

All of Ephesians is summed up in the final part. Who we are in Christ, our salvation, and what we are in Christ, new selves, mean being inducted into a new life, a new kingdom, a new house, a new priesthood, all of which is based upon the costly cornerstone who is holy and righteousness. People, even Christians, want to believe that happiness and prosperity of soul can be had without being holy. It is a lie. It is a scheme of the devil. Happiness and all that goes with it are based upon the source who is God. Separate your behavior from His and you have separated yourself from happiness.

 

Some think that Jesus’ rule over all things is only one that anticipates the future, meaning that when He comes again then He will establish rule. On one level this is true, if we mean visibly ruling and forcing His will by direct discipline on those who break His laws. But the blanket statement that Jesus will rule in the future is not completely true because He is ruling now.

 

1CO 15:25

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

 

“must reign” - present infinitive = describes a continuous action. He is in the process of ruling until everything is subjected.

 

Christ rules now. He is allowing the temptations and the schemes to continue until the time set by the Father. Therefore, we are standing against an enemy who is already in the position of defeat, and we sit with the Victor in the heavenlies. This truth should give us every boldness, not to bind the devil, or seek him out, or cast him out (and whatever other various things are dreamed up), but to stand firm against him while we also fight the good fight of faith.

 

We should remark that Jerusalem, the Southern Kingdom did not perish at that time, but they were witnesses to the Northern Kingdom’s complete destruction. It was made clear through the prophet that the South was behaving the same towards God as the North. Still, though the Assyrians came to Jerusalem’s doorstep, the holy city was spared by the angel of the Lord. The question for them remained, would what they saw be taken to heart, or would they continue in their unfaithful way? The OT narrative reveals that new generations don’t heed the warnings given by God to their parents. It wasn’t long before the population of Judah forgot the Lord’s incredible deliverance of Jerusalem. Hence the importance of God preserving His word for each generation. Both testaments are necessary.