Isaiah 29. Now, we look at the
Old Testament types quite a bit, don't we? We've studied these.
We've studied them for years. And why preach these Old Testament
types? Well, number one, it's God's
Word, and all Scripture is profitable. Profitable. Bible that the apostles
preached from, the Old Testament, the types. Our Lord preached
one time from the types to two disciples on the road to Emmaus,
remember that? And they couldn't get enough.
They begged Him to not stop, to stay with them. And He opened
up the Scriptures to them. He might have preached from this.
The Old Testament speaks of Christ and points to the true Christ. This is how you know that Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ, because He is revealed unto us by these
types. And like parables, our Lord spoke
in parables, didn't He? And the disciples asked Him one
time, why do you speak in parables? And he said, because it's given
to you, he had to tell them the meaning of it. And he did. Every
parable he revealed to them. But he said it's hidden from
them, as are these Old Testament types. Many of you were in religion
and told me that you came here and when you heard like Noah's
Ark, Ruth, and on and on, you thought, I've never heard that
before. No. Look at Isaiah 29, verse 11. It says, The vision of all has
become unto you, and he's speaking to the world. The vision of all
has become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which
men deliver to one who has learned it, saying, Read this, I pray
thee. And he saith, I cannot. It is
sealed. You don't understand it. Look now at verse 18. And in that day shall the deaf
hear the words of the book, Eyes of the blind shall see out of
obscurity, out of darkness. The meek also shall increase
their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice
in the Holy One of Israel." And I hope tonight that you will
indeed rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Solomon is a great
type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now go to 1 Kings. And one reason
we preach from these types is because when Christ is revealed
to you in a type you've never seen before, you marvel in your
glory, don't you? You say, oh, it's just... And
then you say, when you see Him so clearly, just so clearly,
you say, He is the Christ. No doubt in my mind, this is
God's Word. This is God's Word, and so I
believe I am His and He is mine. He's revealed this to me. And
many other reasons why we preach from the titles. 1 Kings 4, look
at verse 20 and 21. Judah and Israel were many, as
the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking
and making merry. Solomon reigned over all kingdoms. from the river under the land
of the Philistines, under the border of Egypt. And they brought
presents and served Solomon all the days of his life. Our Lord
Jesus Christ spoke of Solomon. And he said, a greater than Solomon
is here. He was talking about himself. He reigns and rules among the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. He
reigns over more people than just Israel. The Scripture says
in Psalm 24 that speaks of the King of Glory. And we just read
about Him, didn't we, in Psalm 72. These are companion Scriptures,
you know that. I've got Psalm 72 marked because
I'm going to continually refer to it. But these go together. David wrote Psalm 72 before this. It was a prophecy. And he said,
they're going to bring presents to the king. They're going to
bow down. He's going to reign over all.
But this is speaking of a greater than Solomon. The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns
and rules over every creature. As Martin would say, everything
that writhes or wriggles. He's the King of kings and Lord
of lords. It's said of Solomon, he reigned
over all kings. And our Lord reigns over all
kings. He's King of kings. It says that
all these people that Solomon reigned over were eating and
drinking and making merry. Why? Because Solomon had provided
for them. Look at Psalm 104. Psalm 104.
Solomon and his Wisdom and in His goodness and
in His mercy provided all that everyone needed. And look at
Psalm 104, speaking of a greater than Solomon, our Lord. Look
at verse 10 through 14. He sendeth the springs into the
valleys which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast
of the field. The wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the
heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
He watereth the hills from his chambers. The earth is satisfied
with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow
for the cattle. Herb for the service of man,
that he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that
maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine,
and bread which strengtheneth man's heart." Look at verse 24,
"'O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made
them all. The earth is full of Thy riches.'"
Verse 27, "'They all wait on Thee.' And that Thou mayest give
them their meat in due season, that Thou givest them, they gather.
Thou openest Thy hand, and they are filled with good." Oh, how
the Lord giveth us all things richly to enjoy, like Solomon
did, in a much greater way. They served Solomon, it said.
Oh, Israel and Judah served Solomon. All men serve the Lord. All human
beings serve the Lord. All creatures serve the Lord.
All persons, all places, all things serve the Lord. Scripture says all things were
created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. So all things serve Him, whether
they know it or not. Aren't you glad? That's our peace.
That's our comfort. He reigns. Look at his provisions,
verses 22 and 23. Not for himself, but for the
people. In one day are thirty measures of fine flour. That's
nearly ten tons of fine flour. Sifted flour. Refined flour. For what? I don't
know. Fine baked goods. The finest
of pastries. Biscuits. Something. And then
he had this meal that was 20 tons for everyday bread. Corn, maybe. Barley. I know it
was barley. But it was apple. Apple bread. You see that? The first thing
it mentioned that he provides is what? Bread. He gave every man his daily bread. and in abundance. All you need
to do is come and you'd be filled as much as you'd want. That's
Solomon's provision. Listen to Psalm 50. Let me just
quote this to you. Psalm 50. It says, Psalm 50. It says, Every beast
of the forest is mine. And the cattle upon a thousand
hills, all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field
are mine." He said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't ask you. You don't feed me, I feed you. And what does that say about
all these false preachers that say, God needs your money, and
God needs you to do this, and God needs you to do that. God
says, no, He doesn't need us, but we need Him. That's the God
of the Bible. And He provides for all. His
tender mercies are over all His works. Look at verse 24. He had
dominion over all the region on this side of the river. All
the kings on this side of the river. And He had peace on all
sides around about Him. Verse 25, Judah and Israel dwelt
safely. He had dominion. He had peace.
Judah and Israel especially dwelt safely. Doesn't the Scripture
say God is the Savior of all men? But especially them that believe.
In other words, people live and move and have their being because
God says so. He preserves life. He gives life
and He takes it. But He preserves it as long as
we live. As long as anyone lives, the Lord God keeps them living. But He's the Savior, especially
of the souls of His people. Judah and Israel will dwell safely
forever. They'll be saved forever with
an everlasting salvation, the Scripture says, while the rest
of the people perish. Nevertheless, God, His tender
mercies are over all. He watches over all. He does.
And whatever happens, He allows or directs. Judah and Israel
are God's chosen people. It says, they dwelled in safety
as long as Solomon lived. Verse 25, every man under his
vine and under his fig tree from Dan to Beersheba, all the days
of Solomon, as long as Solomon was living, They were safe. Right? He was their salvation. He's their sovereign ruler. He
made peace round about. He ensured peace round about
them. He was their sovereign ruler,
their sovereign provider, and their sovereign Savior as long
as He lived. When Solomon died, and Israel was split, But here's our salvation, a greater
than Solomon. He died alright, but he said,
I live forever. And our salvation is, he said,
because I live, you shall live also. As long as our Lord Jesus
Christ lives, we dwell safely. How long shall he live? As long
as forever. He said, I live forever. Behold,
a greater than Solomon is here, reigning and ruling. And it says
that they had peace round about. Listen to this. Oh my, don't
you love this? In Isaiah 9, it says of His government
and His peace, there's no end. And then in Psalm 72, listen
to this. We looked at it last week. In
His days, shall the righteous flourish, an abundance of peace
so long as the moon endureth." In His banner, He is our salvation. Christ is our peace. He made
peace for us. Now look at this. This is where
the title of the message came from. You will enjoy this. I
hope you've enjoyed it so far. Every man, Judah and Israel that
is, Not the world, not Egypt, but Judah and Israel, every single
man dwelled safely under his vine and under his fig tree. I used to quote this wrongly.
I used to quote this from a bad memory, and I would say, every
man dwelled under his own vine and own fig tree. It doesn't
say that. It says, under his vine and his fig tree. Whose vine? Whose fig tree? Solomon's. He planted them. If you'll read another portion,
it says he made trees of cedar to be like grass. He planted them. They were his
trees. And he planted them for his people
to dwell under. Under his vine. and his fig tree. Now, go with me to John 15. John's Gospel, chapter 15. John's
Gospel, chapter 15. Every man dwelled under his vine
and under his fig tree. Look at John 15. The Lord says
in verse 1, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. He planted me. Planted me. And whatever the Father plants,
it's not coming up. Verse 5, I am the vine, you are
the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, ye
can do nothing. You know, the branches get all
of their nourishment and their life from the vine, don't they?
The root. If a man abides not in Me, he
is cast forth as a branch." He's dead, he's withered. And men
gather them and cast them into the fire and they're burned.
That's those outside of Christ, cast into hell. If you abide
in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and
it shall be done unto you. Like Solomon's day, he was so
magnanimous, such a large heart. Every man dwelled under his vine
and his fig tree. I used to have a pergola, an
arbor, grape arbor over our deck at another place we lived in,
about 12 by 12 deck. And I transplanted a vine from
a French wine grape that a woman gave me that was at the time
35 years old when I planted it. And I planted that vine. And
it was such a fruitful vine, it totally covered that arbor. One vine. One vine completely
covered that arbor. One year I got fifteen gallons
of grapes. One vine. One vine. And it completely covered that
arbor, that pergola, and it was a place of beauty. It was so
beautiful. It was a place of rest. It was
a place of repose. It was a place of shade. It was
a place of pleasure. Mindy and I and the birds and
everybody just enjoyed it. Well, Christ said, I am the vine. I am the vine. When you think
of a vine, you think of English ivy or something. This is that
vine. This is a portion of that vine
I cut. Four or five of us men could
hang on this thing. Christ is the vine for strength,
for beauty, for fruit, for repose, for shade, for relaxation, for
enjoyment, for pleasure. in the secret place of the Most
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and nothing
shall make them afraid." Nothing. Christ said, I am the vine. Every
man dwells, every one of God's people dwells under His vine,
under His vine safely. These are shaved. The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Under his fire. And under his
fig tree. Under his fig tree. You can't
believe how many times a fig is mentioned in the Bible. So
many times a fig. It must be important. Where do
you suppose the first mention of the fig is? Anybody tell me. Go ahead. Adam and Eve. All the way back
in the garden. The first mention of a fig tree
was Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together. They sewed fig leaves. In fact, I think the tree they
ate was not an apple tree. I think it was a fig tree. I
think the tree of life was a fig tree. And I'm going to tell you
why. But at any rate, sinned against God, they tried
to sow fig leaves together to cover their sin, to cover their
nakedness. They sinned and they sowed these
fig leaves, and after they sinned, God cursed the ground and cursed
everything. It comes from the ground. Curse
it. And when our Lord came to this earth as a man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He cursed one thing, one plant. What was it? The fig
tree. Why? To show us that we've sinned
against God, we're under the curse, nothing we do can remove
that curse, can cover it, Why do people talk about when somebody
tries to change their ways, they turn over a new leaf? Where did that come from? Alright,
so Christ came. He's the tree of life. He was
made a curse for us. He was made a curse for us, like
that fig tree. But now His leaf will never wither. And the leaves of His tree, Revelation
22 says, are for the healing of the nation. His fruit, His
leaves, His righteousness will cover. Figs are mentioned by Moses. I mentioned in Deuteronomy 8,
he said, the land of promise will be full of vines and fig
trees. The land of promise not only
speaks of heaven, but speaks of the church. The land of promise,
you're in it. You're already in it. You're
already in the kingdom. And it's full of vines and fig
trees. In other words, wherever the
gospel is preached, wherever Christ is preached, wherever
people meet in Christ's name, that's a vine and that's a fig
tree. Or you can do it. Moses wrote of him. Abigail. Abigail. Got your attention. Abigail brought David's men bread
and wine and figs. Figs. And David accepted all
that on her behalf. and didn't destroy the people
because what she brought to Him was an acceptable sacrifice. Christ is all of this. He's the
fig tree. He's the figs. He's the fruits.
He's the acceptable sacrifice that we bring by faith to the
Lord our God, and He accepts us in Him. Isaiah. When Hezekiah was sick nigh unto
death, Isaiah said, let him take a lump of figs and put it on
him, and he was healed. Christ is our healer. The leaves of his tree heal the
nations. And do you remember Nathanael? Where was he found? under a fig
tree. That's the first place of the
Lord, because every man is going to be under his fig tree. That's
where you're going to be found. That's where He's going to call
you and place you, under His vine and His fig tree. Let me
give you some amazing things about figs. Some things I didn't
know. Fig trees don't blossom. They
don't blossom. About every tree I can think
of, fruit tree I can think of, blossomed up. Every fruit bearing
plant you can think of blossoms. Fig trees don't blossom outwardly. But they say the blossoms on
the inside of that pollen. It's not seen to the naked eye. Did you hear that? Crying when
he came, there was no beauty about him that we should desire.
He had no form or comeliness. Oh, on the inside, he's the rose
of Sharon. A fig. If you cut a fig open,
what's it full of? Seed. Just like the pomegranate
is. Two principal fruits mentioned
in Scripture. Figs and pomegranates. You cut open a fig and it's full
of seed. Thousands of seed in one little
fig. Thousands. You can't count, they're
innumerable. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. And He is the seed, the incorruptible
seed. And this book is Christ through
and through. And you cut it open, it's just
seed, the incorruptible seed of God's Word. And any one of
which can grow life. Just one little seed, one little
word, in season, will bring forth life. Full of seed. They say
that the ancient athletes of Greece and Rome would eat pigs
when they were going to run a race. Are you with me? Let us run a
race. Let us run, therefore, this race,
looking unto Jesus. They would eat these pigs for
strength. Give them strength, vitality. And there's nothing
sweeter than a pig. My parents are from Alabama.
They've been eating pigs as long as I can remember. Pig preserve.
And if you want to give them a present, they might get ten
tons of pigs, but somebody can give them some pig. Pig preserve,
they love them. But for sweetness, there's no
rival. In Christ, under his fig tree,
Christ who is the seed of life, hidden beauty, life-giving seed,
strength, nourishment for the weak, for the faint, sweetness.
That's Christ. Every man dwells under his fig
tree. John and Irene went somewhere
to a farmer's market and brought me back a bag of figs. Mission
figs. And every day I eat one or two
of those figs. And I think of Him. And I think
of them. And so does our Lord. Think of
us. And so should we. Think of Him. Look at verse 26. Solomon had 40,000 stalls of
horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He had a huge army.
Yes, Judah and Israel grew up safely. But there was not one
battle fought in the days of Solomon. Not one. Not an arrow
didn't fly through the air. It was peace. He had adversary,
but there's no record of battle. Isn't that a picture? Our Lord
has made peace. But he has his army. And those officers, verse 27,
provided victual for King Solomon. How many officers did he have?
Look at verse 7. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. How many officers did
our Lord command? Twelve. Twelve apostles. To do what? Provide rituals. He said to Simon Peter, feed
my sheep. This is the charge. In verse
28, the last line, every man according to his charge. This
is the charge. He gives His angels charge over
us, and they are innumerable. But He gives His people prophets,
apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to do what? Feed.
Lead. Minister to His people. Every
man according to his charge. And the charge is, feed my sheep. Preach the Word, Timothy. In
season and out of season. That's how you know they're His
officers. That's how you know He's officers. Christ's officers. They feed His people. What did
they feed them? Food that they loved. What did we eat? Sheep food. Christ Himself. Christ Himself. There were twelve officers. And
I look at verse 5. As arise, son of Nathan was over
the officers. If you read some of these names,
Benaiah, verse 4, son of Jehoiada, man, he was a mighty man, a mighty
man. He did all of Solomon's bidding
and he was mighty, fearless, like David's mighty men. Azariah,
the son of Nathan, but look at this, this man named Zabod was
the son of Nathan. He was a principal officer. Nathan
the prophet, I believe. And he was a principal officer,
a preacher's son. And he said, he's the king's
friend. He's the king's friend. Boy,
wouldn't you have liked to have been Solomon's friend. Oh my, I've got news for you.
You are the king's friend. That's what he said, didn't he,
to his disciples. He said, I call you friend, because I tell you
everything. I let everything be known to
you. So Zabud was his friend. Stephen, you know what he called
Zabud for short, his friend? Zabud. He called him Bud. But every man provided victuals
for all of God's people. And it says in verse 27, I'm
not going to pass over it, Mack, it says, "...every man provided,
and they lacked nothing." They lacked nothing. One time our
Lord said to His disciples after three years, and they walked
everywhere, They didn't work a job, they had no money. Remember
the Lord sent them out and said, don't take any food, don't take
any money. And after three years, Amy, he
said to them, while I was with you, did you lack anything? And every man, twelve of them
said, nothing. We lacked nothing. What about
you? You and I have not provided for
ourselves one thing. The Lord has provided for us.
And another time the Lord sent out seventy. Seventy men, and
before they left they said, don't take a sack of bread. Don't take
any money. Don't take an extra pair of shoes.
Don't take anything. Seventy men. And they came back
later. Lacking anything? Not a thing.
What are we worried about? Brethren, a greater than Solomon
reigns over us. We lack nothing. Never shall.
And look at verse 29. God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding
exceeding much, exceeding all others. more than all the wise
men, and named several of them. We don't know who they were.
They're forgotten, but Solomon had more fame, more wisdom than
them. Oh my, the Lord gave him wisdom
and understanding exceeding all others and largeness of heart. And it says, like the sand is
on the seashore. Largeness of heart, understanding,
wisdom. Well, Christ, greater than Solomon,
the Scripture says of Christ, He doesn't just have wisdom,
He is wisdom. He didn't have understanding.
Proverbs 8 says, I am understanding. And largeness of heart, that
means He was big hearted. He had a good heart. He had a
righteous heart. In all His ways, He had a great
heart like Bunyan's man. A great heart. He was full of
love and mercy and kindness. Well, no greater than Solomon's. Scripture says of our Lord Jesus
Christ, He's merciful and gracious. Full of mercy. How much? Like
the sand in the seashore. Gracious, slow to anger, plenteous
in mercy. How much mercy? Plenteous. Someone made this illustration
years ago that trying to exhaust the mercy of God in Christ should
be like a bird flying and picking up one grain of sand and flying
across the Atlantic Ocean and depositing it in Europe and come
back and get another grain. Will He ever get all that sand? No. Will it ever end? No. Because the people are the sand
of the seashore, and our Lord has a place in His heart for
every one of them. His people, innumerable by man,
but numbered by Him. And He has a place in His heart
for every one of them, and at His table. Why does He have so
much food? Because everybody that wanted
to could sit at His table. Everybody. Didn't our Lord say
when He stood in that great day, Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Whosoever believe it,
didn't He say, if any man thirsts, come unto Me and drink. How much? How much do you need? How thirsty
are you? Hungry? Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. You reckon anybody would go away from Solomon's
table hungry? What if one of them asked him
for more bread? He would have just been delighted.
Who do you think was serving the people? You say his servants. I guarantee you Solomon would
get up and walk around that table. and just delighted to serve.
Good to have you. Nice to have you. Doesn't the Lord, doesn't
the Scripture say, He shall gird Himself and serve us individually? Oh, my. And then in closing it
says He was wiser than all men and Ethan and all these other
so-called famous fellows. Oh, people, there's nobody worthy
of any recognition with the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there verse
32? He spake 3,000 proverbs. His songs were 1,005. That's
a lot of songs in it. Well, people, there have been
more songs written about the Lord Jesus Christ than all songs
put together. More songs have been written
about Him. He spake of trees, from the cedar
trees in Lebanon to the hyssop. Next springeth out of the wall
a beast, and fowl, and creeping things, and fishes. Solomon spake
of these things. All these things speak of Jesus
Christ. He spake about trees. The trees
of the fields speak of Christ. They clap their hands. They talk
about Him. The birds speak of Him. Solomon spoke about these things.
Christ created them all. Solomon had wisdom, where did
he get it? From Jesus Christ. Not greater than Solomon, sir.
And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
Out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven,
all the kings of the earth, when they heard, when they heard,
when they heard of his wisdom, they humbled themselves. Can
you imagine how humbling it was Read for yourself the story of
Sheba. Queen of Sheba, chapter 10. Every now and then we say,
she just thinks she's the queen of Sheba, meaning somebody. Oh, when Sheba came to prove
Solomon with hard questions and bring him gifts and so forth,
thinking she was somebody, thinking she knew something. When it's
all over, it says, she had no more spirit left in her. She
was like a child at His feet, marveling and watching Him ascend
up to His throne and watching His people serve Him. And she
said, the half has never been told. And how happy are the people. God loved Israel. He made you
king. And since God loved His people,
He gave them the most glorious, the King of glory. The King of
kings and the Lord of lords and every single one of Judah and
Israel dwells safely under His vine and under His victory and
peace round about as long as He shall live. Amen.