 Good morning everyone and welcome to the class on Christology, before we begin looking at chapter 4, can one of you please lead us in prayer please, anyone? Sri Radha, can I ask you to lead us in prayer? Can you hear me faster? Yes. Father God we thank you for this time, for this wonderful morning and we surrender everything in your hand past her. Selena will take the class and lead her by your Holy Spirit, give us the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that we can understand your word and everything God. We surrender every student in your hand in Jesus' name we pray amen. Amen. Thank you Sri Radha. So last week we began looking at chapter 4 and chapters 1, 2 and 3 we looked at the deity of Jesus Christ, we looked at various scripture passages, we established from scripture that Jesus is God, we looked at various other verses in the New Testament which we studied and we established the fact from scripture that Jesus is God, he is deity. Now chapters 4 onwards you know the chapter 4 and the subsequent chapters will examine the humanity of Jesus Christ. And in chapter 4 we basically began looking at you know the prophecies, some important prophecies, there are many prophecies regarding the coming of Jesus Christ as the incarnate one, God taking the human form. We are not talking about the second coming but in chapter 4 we were discussing about some important prophecies. We studied, we looked at those prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus Christ coming of the Messiah as the incarnate one as the one God taking on human form, God becoming a human being. We looked at various prophecies and we look at the last one today and then we'll move on to chapter 5. So the last prophecy that we will be looking or studying and considering is Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1, verse 6 and verse 7. So we look at Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1, verse 6 and verse 7. We looked at other prophecies, there are many prophecies we did not study all of them but we looked at a few important prophecies that establishes the fact that you know God had already foreordained or foretold us that God would become man or the coming of the second person of the Trinity who is Jesus Christ as the incarnate one as God taking on human form. So we looked at couple of them last Wednesday. We look at the last prophecy which we will be examining today that is Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1, verse 6 and verse 7. So can one of you please read these verses please from Isaiah chapter 42. Are you able to hear me? Yes. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. I the Lord have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the Gentiles to open blind eyes to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. Thank you Nina John. So Isaiah chapter 42 is one of the four servant songs that we find in the book of Isaiah. So in the book of Isaiah we find four scripture passages that are called as the servant songs which is talking about the servant here is referring to Jesus. How do we know that the servant is referring to Jesus? We look at Acts chapter 3 verse 13. But before that just to mention that there are four servant songs in the book of Isaiah where Isaiah is prophesying about the coming of the Messiah, coming of the servant. So it's clearly mentioned in the Old Testament that the Messiah would come would not just be a king who would in terms of fighting the battles for the Jewish race, the Jewish nation and giving them deliverance and rest and freedom from their enemies. It's not a political Messiah, but this is somebody who is a spiritual Messiah. And that is why the Jews failed to look at all the Old Testament prophecies interpreted in context, see it and look at Jesus as the Messiah who was God incarnate, who is the servant and not this political Messiah who they were looking for. So they interpreted it in their own terms in their own context in the way they wanted to see this Messiah in the way that would benefit them in their present physical situation than their spiritual. So they were looking at somebody who would give them deliverance from the Roman rule because the Romans were heavily taxing the Christians. They were putting taxes on every little thing even for religious things. They were paying huge tax, that was one thing. The second thing was there was severe persecution for the Christians and also there was a lot of the culture, the Roman culture that was getting into the religious system that had already gotten into the religious system. And things that the Jewish people were not happy about. So they were looking and it was a very, you know, it was a Kairos time. It was a fullness of time because here was the Romans were, sorry, the Israelites were looking for the Messiah and Jesus came at the Kairos movement at the fullness of time. But they failed to see him as that spiritual Messiah that was foretold in the Old Testament. So here we see that Jesus is referred to as a servant and the servant here mentioned in verse 1, behold my servant. And if you look at the servant, it's a capital S and it's referring to Jesus Christ. So how do we know it's referring to Jesus Christ? Let's look at Acts chapter 3 verses 13. So one of you can please turn to Acts chapter 3 verse 13. Someone else can turn to Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 to 3. They can read from Isaiah 61 verses 1 to 3 and someone else can turn to Luke chapter 4 verses 18 and 19. So it's Acts 3, 13, Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2 and 3 and Luke chapter 4 verses 18 and 19. So can somebody please read Acts 3, 13 please. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his son, his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. Thank you. So here in this chapter of Acts chapter 3, Peter is preaching a sermon and he's referring to Jesus as a servant here. He says, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus Christ. As I mentioned his son, but mentions his servant Jesus Christ and Peter is saying whom you people delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate and was crucified and dead, but he rose again. So the servant that Isaiah speaks about is Jesus, which Peter refers to or whom Peter refers to as Jesus. Okay. Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2 and 3. Can somebody please read that? Can somebody please read Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2 and 3. To preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable ear of the Lord and the day of vegans to comfort all who mourn. To counsel those who mourn in Zion to give them beauty for ashes. The oil of joy for mourning. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they may be called trees of righteousness. The planting of the Lord that he may be glorified. Thank you. Amen to that. So here we see that the servant who is referred to as Jesus Christ who, you know, Isaiah is writing about. He says that, you know, God says I have put my spirit upon him. Okay. So the servant who is Jesus Christ, God is saying, you know, I have put my spirit upon him. And we also read this in Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2 and 3. Where, you know, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me, which is talking about the Messiah who would come and who would, you know, declare these words. You see, it was fulfilled when Jesus came. You know, he went to the synagogue. He opened the scriptures and he reads from Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2 and 3. Let's look at chapter 4 verses 18 and 19. Can somebody read that please? Because he has anointed me. To preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set out liberty to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Amen. Thank you. So here when Jesus leads us out in the hearing of all the people who have gathered in the synagogue, he says the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Okay. So, you know, he's quoting this. He's reading from Isaiah 61 verses 1, 2, 3. And he says, you know, that the scripture has been fulfilled or what God has, you know, foreordained or what God has prophesied or revealed to his prophet Isaiah that, you know, the Messiah would come. The spirit of the Lord God would be upon him. And Jesus says, I am that Messiah and the scripture, what was prophesied has been fulfilled in your hearing. Okay. So we see that Jesus who is a servant was referred to as a servant and who was spoken of as one whom, you know, God's soul delights in and on whom he has put out his spirit. We see that also in, we read about this also in Isaiah 61 verse 1, 2, 3. And Jesus declaring it or reading the scripture passage, which we look at in Luke chapter 4 verse 18 and 19. And Jesus says this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing or this prophecy has come true. And so we will move on with what we looked at the servant song that we're looking at in Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1, 6 and 7. It says that, you know, he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. So, you know, that we look at that in detail, but the servant who will come, the Messiah would come with bring forth justice to the Gentiles. I'll explain that and you'll understand what it means. It also, the prophecy goes on to say that I the Lord have called you in righteousness and I will hold your hand and I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people. So, the servant who would come, who is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the incarnate God in human form, he will make a new covenant. He will be a light to the Gentiles. He would open blind eyes. He would set the captives free, deliver people from strongholds, demonic oppressions and those who sit in darkness from prison house. So, we see all of these things, you know, fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ while he lived here on this earth or in his three years of ministry where we see that, you know, he came as a servant. He washed his disciples feet. He came to minister to people and he was not that political king or Messiah they were looking for. And on him was the spirit of God and we see that Jesus says this has been fulfilled in your hearing. He comes to bring justice to the Gentiles. We study that in detail. And also he, we see that through his, you know, the miracles that Jesus did, we see that he opens blind eyes. He makes the mute speak, the deaf hear. He raised people from the dead and also those who were in demonic oppression or bondage. He set them free. Now, we'll look at, you know, three important things that we can, three important facts that we can learn about the servant or we can, three important facts. That we can notice about the servant who is Jesus Christ. The first thing that, the first fact that we can learn from this, this prophecy that Isaiah says in the Isaiah chapter 42 verses one, six and seven. The first thing is that, you know, the servant was to be given as a covenant to the people. Okay, so the covenant here is referring to the new covenant with Jesus who Jesus with, you know, it was established when Jesus came when he died on the cross, and he established this covenant by his blood. Okay, so all covenants that were made in the Old Testament was a blood covenant because that was the culture in that time. Also, it meant that this covenant, you know, meant life for life. It was a lifelong commitment and the person did not keep this covenant, you know, the other person can demand his life. So it is a life for life. It is, you know, it is also that, you know, it's a covenant which is something that cannot be broken. An unbreakable covenant, a promise that you cannot go back on because your very life depends on it. So we see all of the covenants that God made in the Old Testament was true. You know, the sacrifice of an animal, it was the animal that was slain and the blood that was shed. But in the new covenant, it was established by the blood of Jesus. Jesus himself, sorry, Jesus himself dying on the cross and, you know, shedding his blood through which he initiated or brought about the new covenant. Okay. So the first fact that we will look at in this prophecy is that the servant who was referred to as Jesus Christ was given as a covenant to the people. So Jesus established a new covenant. He established it in his blood. But notice what, you know, this verse talks about the servant that the servant himself was to be given as a covenant. Look at what it says, I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people. So the, you know, I will keep you, the you is referring to the servant who is Jesus Christ and give you as a covenant to the people is again, the you here is referring to Jesus Christ. So Jesus himself was given as a covenant to the people. But in the Old Testament, you know, God required an animal to be given as a sacrifice, the blood of the animal on which was established a covenant that God makes with mankind. But here, in the new covenant, which is much greater than the old covenant, which is built on better promises is because it was established on the blood of Jesus Christ. So scripture teaches us that Jesus is the one who established the new covenant. And, you know, he is also the priest. As we read in Hebrews chapter nine verse 11 to 15 talks about him being the priest who officiates, which means who oversees or performs the duty in this new covenant by the sprinkling of his blood. So Jesus Christ is the one who established the new covenant and how did he establish the new covenant through his own blood, which he shed on the cross, giving his very life. And the other thing is scripture also reveals to us that Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the servant, you know, is the priest who officiates that means who performs or oversees the duties of a priest in the covenant by the sprinkling of the blood. So look at Isaiah chapter 52 verse 15 and Hebrews chapter nine was 11 and 15, 11 to 15. So can somebody please read Isaiah 52 verse 15 and somebody else can read Hebrews nine verses 11 to 15 please. So shall he sprinkle many nations? He shall shut their mouths at him for what had not been told them they shall see. And what they had not hear they shall consider. Amen. Thank you. So here we see that so shall he, which is talking about the Messiah, the Jesus Christ, sprinkle many nations. It does not mean that God can, you know, so powerful that he can take or have nations at the tip of his fingers and just sprinkle them like that. It's not referring to giving us that idea. It's here he's saying that, you know, he will sprinkle many nations, which means, you know, through his blood, you know, he will cleanse many nations. He will make people righteous. Now, you know, this word sprinkle was very a word that was common or a ritual that, you know, was common to the Jews. You know, the priest would sacrifice the animal and then he would take the blood and he will sprinkle it all the, you know, the equipment or the vessels in the tabernacle. And when it is the blood is sprinkled, it just signifies that all of them are sanctified and made holy and set apart for, you know, holy purpose that is to serve God. Also, the blood will be sprinkled on the people, which, which also, you know, signifies that, you know, the blood is has cleansed them that, you know, that they're covered with the blood. The blood that of the animal covers their sins. And they will not incur the wrath of God. But more importantly is, you know, once in a year when the high priest enters the holy of police, he would sacrifice, you know, an animal and make a torment for his own sins. And also, you know, for the sins of the entire the people of Israel, and then he would enter the holy of police and, you know, he would take that blood of that animal and he will sprinkle it on the, you know, the Ark of the Covenant. He will sprinkle it between those the two cherubims with their wings. That is called the mercy seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant where the two cherubims are like this and then there is the place the mercy seat and the mercy seat is the place where, you know, God will come and would meet with man. You know, God who is holy, who is pure, cannot, you know, come near us as sinners, but this blood that is sprinkled over there on the mercy seat, which, which refers to God having mercy upon us and him, then, you know, the presence of God will come on the tabernacle. And, you know, God would speak to the, the priest so that sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat would actually give access to a man to come before the throne of grace, to come before the holy presence of God to meet God. So the sprinkling of blood was something that was very significant in the Jewish religious system and they knew this very well and also they knew that just sprinkling on the blood would, you know, sanctify them, give them access into that holy place where God would meet with man. That is why when Jesus died on the cross, you know, shed his blood, the, the, the curtain of the temple tore into two, which, which gives us now, you know, because of that blood that was shed and the officiating of this new covenant was established on the blood of Jesus Christ. You know, mankind now has access, you know, into the presence of God. God can meet, a man can meet with God. They have that access into the presence of God. They can approach the mercy seat of God and, you know, they can receive grace and help in their time of need. And so this is what is, you know, talking about social, he sprinkled many nations. And also we see that Jesus Christ, you know, not only establishes the new covenant, but he's also the priest who officiates, which means, you know, now he's seated at the right hand of God, but he's as a high priest, you know, intercede, not just interceding on behalf of us, but officiating on behalf of us by performing the duties of overseeing the covenant, but the sprinkling of blood, which means that every time we sin, you know, we incur the wrath of God. So God, who is just, who is right in what he does, you know, as soon as he sees sin, there is judgment that is fast. But Jesus Christ is a high priest in the heavenlies before the throne of God, you know, it reminds God of the sacrifice that he has made, the new covenant that he's established in the blood by his blood. And hence, what we receive is not the wrath of God, but we receive the grace of God. And hence, you know, our sins are atone for our sins are covered. We are forgiven and we do not, you know, we do not immediately receiving the punishment. And so Jesus is the high priest on behalf of us who is officiating the new covenant by the sprinkling of his blood, which we read in Hebrews chapter nine, verses 11 to 15. So can one of you please read his verses in Hebrews nine verses 11 to 15, please. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a hypha sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, offer himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Amen. Thank you, Nina John. So here we see that, you know, when the blood of bulls and goats, which, you know, is like sacrificed, which would make them, you know, would sanctify them, purify them in the presence of God, so God can come and speak to them. God's wrath does not come upon them, you know, their sins are atoned for, but it was just a partial covering of sins. It was not a permanent covering of sins. And that is why they had to offer sacrifices again and again and again. Every time they sinned, you know, they had to offer a sacrifice, but we don't have to offer sacrifices every time we sin because of Jesus Christ, who's God incarnate, God who became man and who made the full sufficient and perfect sacrifice and who redeemed us, you know, from the sins and, you know, brought us into this new covenant in which we receive mercy and grace by faith. So, you know, and Jesus continues to officiate this new covenant. So he's the one who establishes this new covenant. He is the one who continues to officiate, even though he is, you know, he rose again, he ascended, seated the right hand of God, but he continues his role as our high priest who is officiating the new covenant. Okay. And this is something that we can celebrate with something that we rejoice, something that we can be mindful of every day that, you know, God gave his very life for us. And even as we are part of this new covenant, you know, covenant is between two people and covenant is life for life. That means when God gave his whole life for us, you know, and we come into covenant. Covenant relationship, which means we also, when we're saying yes to that new covenant and we become part of that new covenant, it means that we give our whole life. So you don't draw back anything. We don't retell anything, but in everything, whether it's in our thoughts, our desires, our motives, our choices, our decisions, the words we speak, our actions, everything. You know, is what we commit to holiness and righteousness and uprightness because we are making this covenant, which where God gave his very life. And it, you know, he's asking for our lives as well. All he's asking is our lives. So we place our whole lives on the altar. So if when we place our own lives on the altar, we receive, like this word says in the last part of verse 15 says a promise of eternal inheritance. That means we receive eternal life, not something that we will enjoy only in the future in heaven, but it is something that is a realized eschatology, which means it is a truth that eschatological hope, which means something in the future. But it's something that is realized now, which you can experience. Now we can experience that eternal life, that fullness of life. We can live it here now in the present. But if you are not willing to, you know, give our own whole lives at the altar, we incur, you know, eternal judgment, eternal debt. So it can be either eternal inheritance or eternal life, or it is eternal debt because it is life for life. And so we need to be so conscious of, you know, what we are part of, who we are, what we have partaken. You know, the moment we said yes to Christ, we've accepted him as our Lord and Savior, which means we're saying we're part of that new covenant. And it requires us to give our entire lives, our whole being, not telling anything from him, which means being, honoring God, being holy in every aspect of our lives, every fiber of our being, every cell, every thought, everything that we do has to be holy and pleasing. All of us are not perfect, you know, but we are, you know, we need to work out our salvation. That is what we need to do on a day-to-day basis. And also as the part of this new covenant, he is the testator, which means a testator is somebody, is a person who dies leaving a will or a testament in force. Which means, you know, if the person makes a will while he is living, that will does not come into effect when he is living, but it comes into effect once he is dead. So when he is living, he is still the owner of all of his finances, his bank account, his money in the bank, the property that he owns everything. But once he dies, you know, the will that he leaves or the test, or it's called a will or testament, that he leaves comes into effect, comes into force. And those who, you know, whose names are there in that will or in that testament will receive or be benefactors of all that this person has left. So Jesus is the testator, although, you know, he's the one who died on the cross. And when he died on the cross, you know, he made this new covenant effective. So the new covenant became effective, which means all of the blessings, all of the promises that we can inherit because of this new covenant that Jesus made in his blood, which was effective after he was dead. You know, we become, and we become part of, we are the benefactors. We receive everything that Jesus has established by his blood in the new covenant. So, you know, when we become part of the new covenant, it's not something that, you know, we are just giving in and we don't receive, but it's something that we wholly give of our own selves. But we receive more than what we just give. We receive every spiritual blessing, every physical blessing, emotional blessing, everything, you know, supernatural blessings as well, because we are part of this new covenant. Because Jesus Christ is a testator, he's the one who died to make this covenant effective. Look at what Isaiah chapter 53 was 8 says. Can one of you please read that please? Isaiah 53 was 8. Isaiah 53 chapter 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people, he was stricken. Amen. Thank you, Jack in. So here we see that Jesus was taken from prison and from judgment. Prison basically means, you know, when he was brought before Pilate and he was, you know, Pilate was questioning him. They were, you know, him and all of that. So that's talking about prison and, you know, the judgment that was passed on. And who will declare his generation? Basically, it's referring to the fact that Jesus had no, you know, children because he was human. But, you know, in spite of being human, he did not have children. But, you know, through the covenant that he made, we become part of that covenant as sons and daughters of God and part of that covenant. And, you know, he says he was cut off from the land of the living, which means he died for our sins, for the sins of the people, for the transgressions of the people. He was stricken, he was beaten and he died and hence he established the new covenant. Okay. Also, we can look at Hebrews chapter nine was 16 and 17. So can somebody read that piece? Hebrews nine, 16 and 17. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while that test, test a tour lives. Amen. So here it says that there is a testament, means testament, which I said will. Okay. In our context, we speak as we refer it to as will. Okay. So here it's referring to as testament. There must also of necessity be the death of the testator, which means, you know, the person who's writing the will or the testament, you know, only after he dies that will or that testament comes into effect. It comes into effect and people who have been mentioned in that testament or will, you know, become the benefactors of the will that has been left behind by this person only after he's dead. So here it says for a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. So here again, as we looked in Isaiah chapter 53 verse eight, Jesus was cut off from the land of the living, which means he was dead. He died and to his blood he established a new covenant. He left a will not talking about leaving a will in the terms of leaving it for his children, because here it says who will declare his generation. That means he did not have children. There's nobody after him to declare his generation, but you know, it's talking about he left his will in the sense of a spiritual, spiritual children that, you know, he will inherit because he's God and also because of what he has done on the cross. So he's not talking about physical will in terms of property, physical benefits, monetary benefits, but it's talking about a spiritual will that he left because he did not have any generation. So if people ask you, you know, how do we know that Jesus did not marry, did not have any children? Well, you can, you know, talk about the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53 verse eight and talk about how we are his spiritual inheritance. Okay. So that is Hebrews chapter nine verses 16 and 17. And also from this verse that we are studying from, you know, Isaiah chapter 42. We also see that he himself is the covenant, which means Jesus is the new covenant, which means a new covenant is embodied in him, which means all of what this new covenant is, is expressed, is represented, is personified, is symbolized, is exemplified in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ, you know, did not just officiate or bring about the new covenant, but he himself is the new covenant. It is embodied in him, which means it's expressed in him, represented in him, exemplified, personified, symbolized in him, even as we look at his life and his ministry here on earth, we can understand what are the benefits that we receive in the new covenant, because it is embodied in the Messiah. The second fact that we can learn from Isaiah chapter 42 is that the servant was to open blind eyes, bring prisoners out, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. And we looked at the scripture passage where Jesus says, you know, declared that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me and he says the scriptures fulfilled in your hearing. We also see in various places in the scripture where, you know, where he heals the sick, raises the dead, you know, makes the blind see and the deaf hear and the mute speak. So, and also set those in bondage of the evil one and deliver them, set them free. We look at another passage in scripture, Isaiah chapter 9 verse 1 and 2. Can one of you please read that, please? Isaiah chapter 9 verses 1 and 2. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. And afterward, more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them a light has shined. Amen. Thank you, Jack. So here, you know, we see the prophet Isaiah, you know, prophesying what is going to happen to, you know, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, those living by the sea of Galilee. And he says, he begins this verse by saying nevertheless the gloom, basically gloom is, you know, is what he has been talking about in verse chapter 8 of Isaiah. This was what we read now was chapter 9. Basically gloom means despair, misery, darkness. So the gloom that carries over from what he's been talking about from Isaiah chapter 8, where in Isaiah chapter 8, he's basically warning Judah of, you know, of the invasion of the Assyrians. And then verse 22 of chapter 8 of Isaiah, he says, and they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness. So he's basically talking about the people living in Judah, you know, they're going to see misery trouble, great trouble. And, you know, to the point of darkness and, you know, where they can't see any hope, they can't see any light because the Assyrians are going to come and invade them and destroy a whole of Judah and take them captives. And he says that, you know, it will be very terrible for the Jewish people, especially for those in the northern regions, the land of Zebulin and the land of Naftali, which is, you know, referred to as the land of the Promised Land Zebulin and the land of Naftali. So the northern regions of the Promised Land around the Sea of Galilee, which here is referred to in Isaiah chapter 9, which we read, verse 1 and 2, where it talks about, you know, the Galilee of the Gentiles is basically referring to Zebulin and Naftali. These two tribes living by the Sea of Galilee were the tribes that incurred most of the wrath of the Assyrians when they, you know, when the Assyrians invaded the north part of the Promised Land. You know, these two tribes living in that portion of the land were severely ravaged, they were beaten very badly, they were destroyed, the devastation was really bad, there was much ruin and plunder. But, you know, God is promising through the prophecy that he gives to Isaiah that even though these two places in the Promised Land were ravaged, were, you know, destroyed completely and there was terrible destruction that happened, but, you know, and there were plunder terribly by the Assyrians. He says that, you know, these, you know, people living by the Sea of Galilee will one day have a special blessing, okay. And we see that, you know, Matthew quotes, you know, this passage, even as he speaks, in Matthew chapter 4, verse 12 to 16, can, you know, one of you please read Matthew chapter 4, verses 12 to 16, please. Because this promise which Isaiah foretells in Isaiah chapter 9, you know, we see Matthew referring, speaking about it, and we see that this prophecy that these two, this portion of the land of northern, the northern region of the Promised Land which was really devastated because of the Assyrians, even though they saw darkness and bloom, God is promising that there will be a time when they will be, will receive special blessings because, you know, they're going to see the light of the Messiah. Because in God's mercy, you know, even though they suffered so much, but in God's mercy, there will be the first to see the light of the Messiah and Matthew quotes this passage as clearly fulfilled in the Galilean ministry of Jesus because most of the ministry that of Jesus, a majority of his ministry took place in the northern area of Israel around the Sea of Galilee and God certainly did have a special blessing for this once, you know, destroyed part of the Promised Land which was northern Israel. So, Ken, one of you please read Matthew chapter 4, verses 12 to 16, please. Now, when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee and leading Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naftali, that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naftali, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. Amen. You know, it just shows us that even though God is, you know, a righteous God, a just God and has to punish sin, there's no way about it because that's his nature. He can't go back on his nature which will cause him to cease to be God and because he's God, he's righteous and just and he's a God who punishes sin, who condemns sin. But at the same time, we see that, you know, he's a God who is also the other side of him is, you know, he's a God who's gracious and compassionate and slow to anger and forgiving and a God who abounds in love. So sometimes when we, you know, suffer because of the consequences of our sin and, you know, because of our sin, we go away from God and the protection of God is away from us and we incur, you know, suffering and pain and sickness and whatever, you know, we can be mindful of this fact that, you know, this God that we serve, we are in covenant with, you know, who established this new covenant is a God who will also, you know, show mercy and grace and in love and a God who restores. You know, that's so wonderful to see that, you know, when we come back, God restores us. The reason why he punishes us also sometimes why we face consequence with sin is also we will come back, we will be reminded of the fact that your sin is causing so much of chaos and pain and suffering in our lives that going back to God is going to restore us and he will take us back and put us in a place where he, you know, he envisioned for us where he has kept for us, where he positioned us to be and we can receive his grace and mercy. So this land which suffered greatly the northern part of Israel will also be the one who would receive special blessings as and we see it was fulfilled in what Isaiah prophesied, God told him to write about prophesied. We see, you know, Matthew talking about it and says that this is clearly fulfilled in the Galilean ministry of Jesus. Okay, we'll stop here, we'll come and look at the third fact after break. Thank you everyone and I'll see you after the break.