FIRST QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #4
MARCH 27, 2021
“REBIRTH OF PLANET EARTH”

 

Memory text: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17.

 

This week we look at Isaiah 65 and 66, two chapters which bring us to the end of time where God is vindicated and where sin and suffering are no more. Isaiah 65:17-19 leads us into the theme of our lesson and this Sabbath School Insight, “17“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” As I saw the lesson title and read through the passages in Isaiah and the comments made by the author, the last chapter in the book the Great Controversy by Ellen White, “The Controversy Ended,” came to mind and certainly as we review the book of  Isaiah, the great controversy theme is very prominent and so this is where we will spend our time in this Sabbath School Insight as we contemplate the chapters today and look back over the quarter. In order to do this, we will start at the beginning of this wonderful book back in Isaiah 1 where, as E. J. Waggoner states, “a trial in court is in progress” {January 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 4.3}. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." Isaiah 1:18… "Come on now, and let us plead together, saith Jehovah." This is the language of the courts, and is in harmony with the German, Swedish, and Danish translations, which have it, "Come now, and let us go into court together, saith the Lord." This is a strictly literal rendering of the Hebrew. The expression is the same as in Job 23:7, where we have unmistakably a court scene. In no place in the Bible is the Hebrew word that occurs here used in the sense that is ordinarily conveyed by the word "reason," and in no other place than this is it so rendered in our version. It occurs in Genesis 31:37, "Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both," where the idea of a decision of a case at law is clearly indicated. {January 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 4.2}. He continues in the next paragraph, “The idea that a trial in court is in progress is indicated in the very first verse of the prophecy: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth." The call is for "Silence in the court;" for a great case is on, which involves the whole universe. {January 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 4.3}. So right from the start, Isaiah takes us to a view of what is about to unfold in his book and the part that each person plays in the controversy.

 

E. J. Waggoner says that “The whole book of Isaiah is devoted to one great purpose, namely, that of showing who God is. Recall the opening words of the prophecy, where God contrasts His people with the brutes, who know their lord, while His people do not know Him. Since the prophet is sent to those who, through lack of consideration, do not know the Lord, it is self-evident that he must be commissioned to make God known to them in the clearest possible manner, and to bring forward the most striking evidences of His existence and character. Let the student take special notice of the frequent occurrence of the statement, "I am God," and the continual contrasts between the true God and the gods of the heathen.” {October 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 627.16} “The book of Isaiah, more than any other in the Bible, is based on the idea of a case in court. When one has learned the fact that the whole universe is a great court, in which a case is continually being tried, and God, the angels both good and bad, and all mankind, are concerned in it, the prophecy of Isaiah, and indeed the whole Bible, can be read with a great deal more pleasure and profit than before.” {October 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 627.17}

 

At this point I want us to use our imagination. Ellen White uses that word on page 83 of the Desire of Ages, so it is a totally fine word. Let us imagine that we are spectators in the gallery and this “great case” is on and we were fortunate to get a seat. It has been announced and the trial is finally here. What is the issue? God’s reputation is at stake. God called Abraham to raise up a nation to help Him recover a people who were lost through a misapprehension of the character of God. “Has God indeed said?” … “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1, 5. So God gives Israel a mandate, I want Gentiles to come to your light, the true light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:3. They were to be a light and to reveal the character of God, His mercy, His kindness, His self-emptying love for all people. Instead, they wandered after other gods who they presumed to be better. Here is what Isaiah records in Isaiah 1:2-5 as he laments the failure of God’s chosen witnesses to the world of His character. “2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; 3The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” 4Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity. A brood of evildoers Children who are corrupters They have forsaken the Lord They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel They have turned away backward. 5Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more… Isaiah 1: 2-5. And this, from our chapter this week, Isaiah 65: 1-3, “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by My name. 2I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts; 3A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face…” Isaiah 65:1-3. Their greatest sin? Idolatry. “17They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear.” Deuteronomy 32:17. What was the problem with idolatry? Two passages of Scripture are helpful here, one from Psalms and the other from Romans, Psalm 135:18, “18Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.”  Romans 1:23, 25 is even more clear. “23And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 25who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.” They had become like the gods they worshipped and perceived God to be just as enslaving and unkind. The character of God was marred in their minds.

 

A rebellious people. How does God deal with rebellion, rejection, and disappointment? We who are sitting in the gallery are eager to know. Satan has already stated the way he does things in Isaiah 14:12-17. He exalts himself and uses slander (see Ezekiel 28:16, 18, the word “trading” which is peddling, or trafficking lies). How does God solve this problem? Exhibit A: Isaiah 9:6 “6For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We all sit in rapt attention as this is played out in the court. What will that look like? Unto us a Son is given? “9But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone… 14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:9, 14-17. All heaven was forever changed for us rebellious people. Here in Isaiah 9:6, the prophet begins to explain how God will win His case. He will become one with us and take upon Himself our fallen sinful nature and be forever one with us. God actually gave Jesus to us forever. Verse 6 further explains their thinking. “The government will be upon His shoulder. The principles of Their government will be laid out for us as we see the incarnation unveiled before our eyes. A government that lives to bless, give, heal, and benefit another. A government whose principles will lead the “given” Son of God, to death, even the death of the cross.

 

Isaiah 53:3-6 is Exhibit B, where Jesus gives the ultimate demonstration of the government of heaven which was on His shoulders. “3He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Self-exaltation versus self-emptying love. This is what it takes to end the controversy and have a restored earth and a new heaven. Beings who are willing to relinquish all and deny self forever if need be. And as it says in one of my favorite songs, “when He saw in full just how much His love would cost, He still went the final mile so I (we) would not be lost.”

 

Isaiah 63:1-9 gives us the full picture of how Eden is restored, the planet reborn, describing the dual result of the death of the cross, salvation for some and death for those who choose to be lost. This is a scene of the final judgement in which an end is made of sin. God is left with no choice but to let them have their choice. “Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, This One Who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—“I Who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” 2Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger and trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. 4For the day of vengeance is in My heart and the year of My redeemed has come. 5I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me. 8For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So, He became their Savior. 9In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.” In this passage we see the garden of Gethsemane experience, Calvary and finally the destruction of the wicked.

 

No trial is fair without witnesses and so Isaiah even includes these in his book. 10“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. 11I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God”. Isaiah 43:9-12.

 

E. J. Waggoner says this, “The character of God is therefore on trial. God calls upon men to come into court and prove their charges against Him, and His only defense is the revelation of Himself to them, - the setting forth of His whole life before them. In Isaiah 1:18, where we have, "Come now, and let us reason together," the Hebrew literally rendered is, "Come now, and let us go into court together, saith the Lord." He has been charged with unrighteousness, and His people take up this charge as an excuse for turning away from Him; but God rests His case upon the fact that He forgives sin, and cleanses from all unrighteousness. He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and this He will do though they be as scarlet. "He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." 1 John 3: 5. He never committed a sin, and is not responsible for sin, yet He takes it upon Himself in order that it and all its consequences may forever be removed. The Judgment is for the purpose of making this clear before every being in the universe; and when that is done, every mouth will be stopped.” {October 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 628.4}. Praise God.

 

He continues, “The trial is now progressing; the Judgment will be merely the summing up. The Judgment will reveal no new feature that all men may not learn now, or else it would then appear that all men had not had a fair chance. In this present time, while the case is before the jury, which is composed of all creatures, God makes a perfect and complete revelation of Himself and His character, manifesting Himself in all the things that He has made for the benefit of mankind, but chiefly in Jesus Christ Whom He has sent. There is no need for anybody to be ignorant of the true character of God. Even the most degraded heathen are "without excuse." Romans 1:18-20. When in the Judgment men are made to see that to which they have so long willfully shut their eyes; when everything that has been done by men, and by God for men, since the creation, and even God's tender provision for men before the creation of the world, and also the underlying motive of all the acts that have been committed, are set forth before the universe, there will not be found a soul, no matter how malicious and hateful, who can open his mouth to say another word against the love and justice of the Creator and Redeemer. Everyone will be compelled by evidence that cannot be evaded, to confess to God, and to bow the knee in token of His right to rule. Even Satan himself will at last be forced by the power of love to acknowledge that "the Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works." Psalms145:17. {October 5, 1899 EJW, PTUK 628.5}

 

I pray our imaginations worked in the courtroom scene portrayed in the book of Isaiah, in which we were seated, that we were able to see through the eye of the imagination the incarnation, Gethsemane, and Calvary. For Ellen White did say this, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.” {DA 83.4}

 

I want to end with Revelation 21:1-5 which is very similar to Isaiah 65:1-5. My prayer is that as you read this as I read this, that it will dawn on us afresh, the supreme sacrifice all heaven made for us. “1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5Then He Who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Revelation 21:1-5.

 

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him Who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.” {GC 678.3}

 

~Andi Hunsaker