We see therefore in this book of burdens that the address of God is to all the nations of the earth. So the purpose of the calling of Israel and the purpose of the delivery of the oracles of God to Israel was that Israel might be the great missionary and teacher of the covenant relationship of God to the whole world. Now a priest represents a man to God and God to man. And in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus, God said to Israel, “Thou shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”. But the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus comes before chapter 20. The covenant was in the Ten Commandments: “Do this and thou shalt live”. They were placed in the ark of the covenant. This is an opening, a nakedness of the character of God, the Ten Commandments. In the twentieth chapter of the Book of Exodus, there is listed for us the oracles and the covenant of God called the Ten Commandments. This is the purpose of God in Israel, that they might be a teacher of and a missionary to, all the families and peoples of the earth. His heart went out to Samaria, but God was no less interested in Nineveh, the capital of the great empire of Assyria. This is the lesson of Jonah which was difficult for Israel to learn. No, the same Lord God that guided the destiny and judged the future of Israel is the same Lord God that guides and judges the nations of the world. In the revelation on the pages of the Scripture, because it came through Israel, we are inclined to think that the heart and grace of God were centered in Jerusalem and in Judah alone. Just to look at it, immediately we are sensitive to the revelation of God that He is the Lord of all the nations of the world. Isaiah 23:1: “The burden of Tyre”-the great maritime city of the ancient world. Isaiah 22:1: “The burden of the valley of vision”-Jerusalem seen in the Kidron Valley. Isaiah 13:1 begins, “The burden of Babylon.” Isaiah 15:1 begins, “The burden of Moab.” Isaiah 17:1 begins, “The burden of Damascus.” Isaiah 19:1 begins, “The burden of Egypt.” Isaiah 21 begins, “The burden of the desert of the sea”. And it is this book of burdens, this weight of the Word of the Lord, to which we address our souls today. There is a book of Immanuel there is a book of woes there is a book of comfort there is a book of burdens. In the Book of Isaiah through which we are preaching, there are sections, divisions. This is the pastor bringing the message entitled The Book of Burdens or The Weight of the Word of the Lord. On the radio and on television you are sharing the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas.
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