The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 50

Today's verses cover some practical aspects of fasting and godly living. There is the way that seems right to a man but then God shows where the heart of man fails and misleads.

 

"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.

Isaiah 58:1-3

Pragmatism is the name given the philosophical movement that began in the 1800s. Briefly, pragmatism evaluates ideas on the basis of the utility of an idea. If the idea "works" then it is accepted. While this particular emphasis in Europe and the United States had a tremendously negative impact on mankind's relationship to God (and they would object to this characterization), pragmatism was not a new process in the minds of men. We are creatures who look for patterns and even see patterns were they do not exist.

 

There is a danger that we will simply ask what God wants us to do and fail to learn that it is our hearts that are at stake and that God has something He wants us to be. In this chapter of Isaiah we see a pragmatic view of religion being condemned by God.

 

The next chapter and a half (to 59:13) is a poem that is meant to convict of sin and lead to repentance in the mercy of God. Those who are pragmatically seeking God do so with persistence, a focus on the right way to do it, they appear to be righteous, and they enjoy the process. The question they want an answer to is, "Why isn't this religious activity working?" and God says it is because of their corrupt attitudes and actions.

 

On the fast day they simply take a day off from their work and require work from their servants and employees. It sounds as if this might refer to the commanded fast of Leviticus 23:26-32 and refers to the "Day of Atonement".

 

This would bring the focus back to the Cross and challenge us again to consider our acts and attitudes about our day of rest. We need to be cautious in our observance of our day of rest. Sunday is not an extra Saturday for Christians.

 

We serve a Holy God and we certainly can't make the argument that we don't need to spend a day focused on Him and we can't say that Scripture is silent about how we spend the day. Fundamentally we need to move from seeking our own pleasure to seeking to be pleasing to God.

 

The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 49

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We have been studying the details of the Gospel and the atonement of Christ in many of the verses over the last few weeks. This week, God turns back to those who should have known better but didn't. These verses should be a sobering warning to us who are exposed to the Gospel that we not take it lightly and value it properly.

 

All you beasts of the field, come to devour— all you beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. "Come," they say, "let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure."

Isaiah 56:9-12

This is the picture of Israel apostate and living in apathy toward God. They don't function as watch dogs and the wild dogs are coming to put an end to them. Blending apathy, ignorance, and selfishness is a dangerous place to be. God compares it to willful persistent drunkenness. Remembering that God tells us that those who lead will be judged more severely, the leaders of Israel are without hope.

 

The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest tin their beds who walk in their uprightness.

Isaiah 57:1-2

So there is "a fate worse than death" and God prevents it here by removing righteous and devout men so they are spared from the coming judgment. God keeps a remnant but He takes home many of the saints of Isaiah's day. Their bed is peaceful and restful. That is not the case for the family of the spiritually adulterous.

 

But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

Isaiah 57:3-5

God contrasts these faithless ones with the faithful ones. He compares those in leadership at this time to a adulterous witch working in prostitution. The use of the term adulterer draws attention to the broken covenant. The prostitution draws attention to selling oneself to gain worldly possessions. The sorceress uses ungodly means in an attempt to gain spiritual power. Then God addresses their expressed attitude that reflects the heart. They are laughing at the righteous. Then God addresses their parentage. He points out that they are the second generation of transgression and lies. Then God moves to their actions. God identifies their sins with 2 false Canaanite religions. First God convicts them of participation in fertility cults with sexual rituals and then He convicts them of participation in a cult that sacrifices children. We may as well admit that our cultures participation in pornography and abortion is at least as big a sin. Perhaps the Canaanites and the apostate Jews of Isaiah's day may be able to argue that at least they were seeing the blessing of another god while all our culture can argue is that we seek our own pleasure and convenience. It would seem odd to think they should have the greater judgment, or that we are less likely to be judged, because we simply made ourselves out to be gods and didn't worship an idol.

 

Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they, are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a grain offering. Shall I relent for these things? On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifice. Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial; for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness.

Isaiah 57:6-8

Their sin runs from the valley to the top of the mountains. Even the hidden sins will be brought to light. The sins were willful and in the face (Coram Deo) of God. Even our sins of the heart are Coram Deo. That is one of the great "reality checks" in the Lord's Prayer. The phrase, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" reminds us of our failures and our need to remain faithful to turn from sin to God each day. In our sin nature we love sin. John 3:16 tells us that God loved (loved; agape; ἀγάπη) the world and gave His Son. We have probably all heard sermons on this word and we should hear sermons on this word. I've spoken on this word because it is the kind of love we need to display to the world at large. But our object is rightly God. We love God and submit ourselves a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable because of His grace. John 3:19 shows us the way we typically display agape love. It says, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." Scripture says that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart you will display a self sacrificing love, an agape love, toward the darkness. It is irrational. Think of the Children of Israel whining to return to bondage and suffering in Egypt for an onion. But that is our heart apart from God. His mercy is everlasting and you would be a smart man if you remained amazed by Grace all the days of your life.

 

You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far off, and sent down even to Sheol. You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, "It is hopeless"; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.

Isaiah 57:9-13

The word for the god Molech sounds like king and Isaiah uses that sound to make the point that all the arts, science, and strength of the people were poured out for this false god and false king. Molech was a king with no real power and a god that was not a god. The agape love for darkness spared no expense in service for the darkness. It really was a self sacrificing love. I heard an advertisement of a TV show about addiction the other day and a woman said that her "addiction was smarter than her". She was saying that her life was hopeless but not her service to her addiction. She was full of hope for the next dose of her addiction. All her skill and strength were being offered up to this false god of addiction. With sacrificial love the best years of her life along with her best planning, greatest skills, and strength were being brought to the darkness. Darkness traps the unsaved and trapped us too in various ways. "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" 1Peter 3:15.

 

And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 57:14-15

God works providentially to prepare our way for us and to develop holiness in our lives. We are long way from holy and yet God removes obstacles from our way. Many times the obstacles are of our own making. If God is removing sin from our life we may drag our feet but He continues to work. We have no place to laugh when we read that the Children of Israel spent 40 years on an 11 day trip (Deuteronomy 1:2-3). I don't think many of us would measure up any better. God is not like us because of His holiness but He is a faithful shepherd who will lead us on to the high and holy place He lives. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

 

For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near," says the LORD, "and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

Isaiah 57:16-21

God will not work faster or longer than we can stand. It is part of being the Good Shepherd. He knows we would just give up so He corrects sin and works sanctification into our lives as rapidly as we are able. He keeps the remnant and He keeps you. This is why I prefer the term the "preservation of the saints" to the term the "persistence of the saints". Preservation stresses the preserver while persistence sounds as if we get part of the glory for "hanging in there".

 

I think one of the saddest stories I've ever heard is that when Henry David Thoreau was on his deathbed and was asked if he had made his peace with God he said that he didn't realize they had ever quarreled. It was really a statement of rebellion. He knew what was being asked of him and he rejected the Atonement of the Cross. He didn't worship the God of the Bible. You cannot successfully argue with God that He was unclear about your sinfulness, His requirement for holiness, or your desperate need for a Savior. The most important "peace" is peace with God and He makes the only way. There is no peace with God for the wicked.

The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 48

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The Gospel is of infinite value and yet it cannot be purchased. The poetic expression of the Gospel in Isaiah should cause us to value it even more.

 

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.

Isaiah 55:1-4

After the revelation of the Suffering Servant in the last chapter we now have God calling the Church into existence.

 

Those who thirst and hunger in poverty are called to water, wine, milk, and bread that truly satisfy. We have the Living Water (John 4:10), the wine of Communion (John 2:10; Luke 22:19-20), the milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:2), and the Bread of Life (John 6:35). After feeding the multitude and quoting from this passage, Jesus identifies Himself as the Bread of Life. He is all these things for our thirst and hunger.

 

God commands that we be healthy and delighted at His provision that our souls may live and we may take part in the everlasting covenant with all the promises of the Davidic Covenant fulfilled in Christ who will be an eternal witness, leader, and commander for all people. These verses reminded me again of the statement that Piper made that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Ask God to keep your appetites holy so that your hunger and thirst are right appetites and not something you try to satisfy with things that are not nourishing.

 

These promises are not just for those who are ethnically Israel.

 

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:5-7

Here is our fusion with the Old Testament saints. Most of us are from nations that were unknown to Isaiah and from nations that did not know the One True God. But we were called and we ran to be part of the Body of Christ because of the Lord our God and the Holy One of Israel.

 

God, in His faithfulness, "has glorified you" or in other words has made the Church beautiful. We can't make the Church attractive (if we are preaching the Gospel) apart from what God does. He has promised to make church attractive and desirable. We need to stand against the spirit of our age that strips the Gospel out of church and makes it a club.

 

In this verse the word "seek" doesn't mean to wander around looking. It means to go to a place you know and get what you need. I hope it is falling out of style but many congregations have sought to be seeker sensitive. It is as if we want to convince fish to get in the boat with us rather than to rely on the net that God gives us and will fill for us. So what do folks do? Well some build bigger and bigger "livewells" until their boat sinks. The fish have to die. They are being moved from one realm to another on a permanent basis. There is no "catch and release" in Christ. You must die to self.

 

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). God clearly wants us to change the way we think and begin living for Him.

 

The Blood of Christ and His Cross will offend and it is a necessary offense because it is necessary to salvation. It was offensive in Jesus day and it is still offensive to those who are perishing (John 6:66). However, it will fill the net with those who God gives us.

 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:8-11

God knows what He is doing and has always built and protected the Church. The Sonoran Desert was, and is, a favorite place of mine. When it rains this time of year you know for certain that spring will be glorious. The rainfall ensures that the hillsides will be covered with flowers and grass. They have been getting rain this year and you can know for certain that it will water the earth and make it sprout. God says in these verses that His word will not fail any more than rain can fail. Every revival in the Church's history has been based on an awakening and love for God's Word producing hearts sold out to him. When God says we should seek Him then we know where to look and what to share with others.

 

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Isaiah 55:12-13

Every once in a while there is a temptation to fear that the Church will be swallowed up by the world and cease to be the Body of Christ. Certainly before the Reformation 500 years ago I think despair would have been a likely response. God has always kept a people but, as in Isaiah's day, it was a small group at times. Here we have the promise of God that He will keep us as an everlasting sign.

 

We will not be cut off and fail in a future generation. God has promised. Here too we see the truth repeated in Romans 8:18-19 that, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." When the glory of what God has done is revealed at the end of time then all of creation will celebrate. There is a sense, as revealed in Romans, in which the whole of creation longs for the last days.

 

Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

Isaiah 56:1-2

Given that the redeemed stand right now in the Lord's salvation and our full justification, God calls us to live a life sanctified or set apart in righteousness. We don't earn our salvation or deliverance (justification) but we testify to our expectation of salvation and deliverance with our behavior.

 

The Sabbath is mentioned for more than one reason here. First of all we must not think of this day of rest as something we don't need. This is not Old Testament ritual law but something we need too. We typically don't observe a day of rest as we should. I think in part it is because we often do not really find our satisfaction in God. Ask God what activities He would have you participate in on Sunday and do what He says.

 

Secondly, the Sabbath rest points forward to the rest we have in Christ from a righteousness based on our own works. It is ironic that some folks will make the observance of the Sabbath on Saturday a work that is required (in their opinion) to be holy. The point of the Sabbath rest is that our righteousness is in Christ and not in works. It is particularly odd to pick Sabbath observance on a particular day as an essential work for salvation.

 

The main lesson for us is that we need a weekly Sabbath rest in which we focus on God and glorify Him by demonstrating our satisfaction in Him. Our rest in, and meditation on, the righteousness of Christ is part of that Sabbath.

 

Listen to the next few verses, remember that the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-39) heard them, and praise God.

 

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered."

Isaiah 56:3-8

The Ethiopian would likely have been told he could never enter into the assembly at the Temple (Deuteronomy 23:1). So he would have always been a second class citizen regardless of his piety. But God promises to give him a heritage. Scripture says that he went on his way rejoicing after Philip shared the Gospel and I bet it was a glorious rejoicing too. It is important for us to keep this world in proper perspective as we live out our lives before an all powerful and merciful God. We need to live out our lives in holiness seeking to please God in all things because of the great mercy He has poured out on us in the covenant of Christ's blood.

 

Jesus quoted from these verses as He purged the temple. I pray we would seek to purge sin from our lives, not to add one bit to the justification purchased by Christ but rather to please our Father who has shown us such an amazing grace.

 

You have a living sacrifice to make to God (Romans 12:1) and you have an offering for God as well. The author of Hebrews says, "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29).