Wednesday, April 17, 2024 PM

That was a Baptist 30 seconds. All right. Well, let's open our Bibles and turn to Isaiah, chapter 1. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the day. Thank you for your provision to us, the fellowship and the feasting.

We thank you for your word. We pray that you would help us to rejoice in its truth, to understand it, to appreciate it, to apply it in our lives. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ.

And it is in his name that we pray, amen. We have been thinking about the historical background to the book of Isaiah. Lately, we have had an extended study on what is a prophet. This was, I mean, Isaiah is like the golden era of the prophets.

We're going to talk about some of his contemporaries tonight, but you can't help but, when you read the book of Isaiah, you can't help but be incredibly impressed with his giftings, with the way that the Lord uses him, the impact that he had, the variety of his writing, the depth of his writing.

And more than one person has denoted Isaiah as the Romans of the Old Testament. And it is truly a marker of the golden era of prophets. So we've been talking about what a prophet is, the calling of the prophet, the nature of the prophet, the concerns of the prophet, the main goals of the prophet, and so forth.

Isaiah’s Prophecy in Its Historical Setting

And now we're going to talk about, coming kind of back on track, to talk about this period of time. So you'll notice in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 1, the vision of Isaiah, son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

So we're taking this first verse, seeing that the significance of Isaiah's prophecy is really embedded here in the first verse. It really does a good job of getting us up to speed very, very quickly if we just meditate on it.

And we're taking it in reverse order. We're starting with the latter part of the verse and saying, okay, what is the chronological time period here? What is the scope of time in which Isaiah is preaching, ministering, where his concerns were being heard for the first time?

And we find it's during the days of these kings, these four kings that are mentioned. And tradition holds that Isaiah was murdered by Hezekiah's son, King Manasseh. So we threw him into the mix and thought about those kings already.

We talked about those kings of Judah. And of course, right along with them were contemporary kings of Israel because, of course, the nation was divided. There was the northern kingdom called Israel, sometimes Ephraim, sometimes Samaria.

And there was the southern kingdom. It was called Judah. And these two nations were separated under Rehoboam, Solomon's son. And so there was a different arc of history for each of those nations. They were often intertwined in political affairs.

Sometimes they were at war with each other. But the kings of Israel, we've looked at those kings that were contemporaries with the kings of Judah, though they fizzled out really fast. And then we also thought about the kings of Assyria because when we went through the book of Jeremiah, the big bad world power was Babylon.

But in the book of Isaiah, the big bad world power is Assyria. And of course, Babylon's on the horizon being prophesied about, but they weren't a present reality like in the days of Jeremiah. Assyria was the present world power defeating everybody in Isaiah's time.

So we thought about the kings of Assyria, and that's when we came to the prophets, the different prophets who were serving during the reigns of these kings. And when we look at these different prophets, Amos and Hosea and Micah, they were preaching at the same time that Isaiah was.

They were ministering at the same time Isaiah was. So when we find in their writings, and their writings are much shorter than Isaiah's, they're part of those minor prophets, the shorter prophets. But they do share some common themes, and often some direct quotes are shared between the prophets.

And so we can kind of hone in on some of the crucial matters that were going on, not only in the southern kingdom, but also in the northern kingdom. We do read here in verse 1 of Isaiah that Isaiah's ministry was focused on the southern kingdom.

He does address the north, but mainly he's just working in the southern kingdom. Though Amos preached to both north and south, and Hosea was ministering to the northern kingdom, and Micah was probably Isaiah's best friend, I think.

I imagine they shared hummus together, I bet. About once a week, I think they must have got together. I think you'll see why. But we're going to start with Amos. Amos was, because he started a little bit earlier than the other two, Amos was from about 676, well, reverse all those integers, 767 to about 753, which means he served during the first eight years of Isaiah's ministry.

So, there wasn't a whole lot of overlap, but he was a contemporary of Isaiah for about eight years. And Amos was not a professional. Isaiah was a professional, he was extremely well-trained, he knew what he was doing.

Amos had no idea how he, it's like, I was just, I was minding my own business, was basically the way he would start his biography if he had written one. There I was, minding my own business, and now I have to mind everybody else's business, and tell them, thus sayeth the Lord.

And in Amos chapter 7, verses 14 and 15, the priest of Bethel is angry with Amos. Oh, come on, Amos, why are you making the priest mad? Notice he's the priest of Bethel. Now great name, house of God, right?

Great name. What's at Bethel? Jeroboam's golden calf, that's what's at Bethel. So the priest of the golden calf at Bethel is upset with Amos, and he's telling him, get out of here, leave the north alone, go south to Judah, leave us alone.

And basically, the priest at Bethel is giving Amos the cancellation treatment. His account has been suspended, nobody can see his posts anymore, he's being fired from the job, and so Amos responds to this warm reception of his message in verse 14.

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheep breeder, and a tender of sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, go, prophesy to my people Israel.

Now therefore hear the word of the Lord, you say, do not prophesy against Israel, and do not spout against the house of Isaac, therefore thus says the Lord, your wife shall be a harlot in the city, your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, your land shall be divided by survey line, you shall die in a defiled land, and Israel shall surely be led away captive from his own land.

We can tell why Amaziah didn't like Amos very much. But Amos was a country guy, he was from Tekoa, he cultivated fig trees and harvested figs, he bred sheep, and he tended sheep, that was his business, that's what he did, and now he's having to preach and proclaim in a land desolate of righteousness and the word of God.

Amos was accustomed to the wide open country south of Bethlehem, so he was, being up in Israel, I mean, Amaziah was saying, go back home, that's what he was saying, like, what are you doing up here? I can tell by your accent, you know, go back home to Judah, get out of here.

Amos was in the same wide open country west of the Dead Sea, he was in the same stretches of wilderness where David kept his flock, and later on was always one step ahead of Saul, remember those stories, where Robin Hood came from, you got it from David's stories.

David on the run, that's where Amos was at. Just minding his own business, but now he's preaching the word of the Lord. So in the book of Amos, you're going to find eight burdens that are pronounced in two chapters, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, here's the burden of the Lord about this nation and that nation, and included amongst the eight wicked nations that he has a burden against are Judah and Israel, they make the list.

They're just like the other nations, you see, they've become so wicked and so degraded in their idolatry, in their immorality, and in their injustice, that they get listed right along with the other pagan nations, because that's how far gone they are.

And throughout chapters one and two, Amos has a way of saying things. Every preacher, every teacher has their idioms and their way of saying things, and Amos was famous for saying, for three transgressions, end for four.

You kind of remember the turn of phrase in Proverbs, three things the Lord is against, four he hates, and so on and so forth. This is a similar way of bringing attention to these number of things. And in chapters three through six, he preaches three sermons where he shows how the judgment is deserved, and then how the judgment is decreed.

So he says, here's the wickedness of the people, here's all the nations that are under the target of God, they really deserve the judgment, and here's the judgment that has been decreed. And then the book concludes in chapters seven through nine with five visions, which have a variety of metaphors and word pictures and symbolism that really capture the attention.

But Amos has the same concerns that Isaiah does. So if you look in Isaiah chapter one, and verses 15 through 17, you hear the Lord's complaint against this very religious people. Because when you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.

Now, that might be interesting to note that this is not the only place, by the way, it happens in Jeremiah as well, and other places. Folks generally have the idea that God is on call, and even back and call, for all humans everywhere at any time.

You know, he's just chomping at the bit to do something for us, because after all, he is our biggest fan. People get the idea that that's the way God is, he's just on the edge of his seat saying, come on, ask me to do something, I'll do something for you, I promise.

And here, as in other places of the Bible, he says, you might as well stop praying, I'm not listening to you. That's kind of a surprise to find in the Bible. But this is a reminder that God is God-centered.

He's not man-centered, he's God-centered, and by the way, he made us to be God-centered. He made us in his image. So, he says, why is it that God's not listening? I'm not going to pay attention to your religious goings-on and your prayers.

Why?

Because your hands are full of blood. So, they're out there doing wickedness, doing iniquity, and so on, and then going and doing the religious rigmarole, and God says, no, that's not going to cut it.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Those were covenant obligations of Israel. And if they were going to continue to break covenant with their God, then he was going to respond in judgment and curses upon them, saying, I'm not going to listen to you.

So, he's calling them to repentance. Calling them to repentance. Well, Amos had the very same concerns as he was preaching. In Amos chapter 5 and verse 22, he says, though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

Take away from me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments, but let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. So, again, God reminds them of their covenant obligations.

So, they've got the Psalms, they've got the Psalter, they've got their musicians, and I don't know, maybe they had their fog machines and laser lights or the equivalent thereof. They could put on a good show.

It could get really loud and be very exemplary in their talents. And God says, I'm not listening. I'm not listening, because you haven't repented. You haven't turned to me with your heart. So, it really doesn't matter what you're doing in your worship, because you're not really worshiping me.

All right.

They probably enjoyed the songs. Music and culture is great. Do you know that you can be moved aesthetically and not be moved religiously? There's a difference between the aesthetic feeling and the religious feeling.

One being moved by art, which is fine in and of itself. Being moved by art is a real deal about being human, but it's not the same thing as getting moved by truth. So, they kept on doing these things because they enjoyed them, but they weren't really seeking God.

So, that's in a similar interest. And in Isaiah chapter 3, God has a concern about how the prosperity of Jerusalem and Samaria. So, Isaiah is talking about the prosperity of Jerusalem, and Amos is talking about the prosperity of Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom.

And the folks had gotten the idea that because they were prosperous, they were secure, which is nothing unique to that generation or to ours. When people are prosperous, they consider themselves secure.

I think it's in Proverbs that says that the wealthy man's riches is like a high wall in his mind. A lot of wealth, and you feel real secure. Well, in Isaiah chapter 3, in verse 16, moreover the Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet, therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts.

In that day, the Lord will take away the finery, the jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets, the veils, the headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands, the perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings, the nose jewels, the vestal apparel, and the mansels, the outer garments, the purses, and the mirrors, the fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

And so it shall be. Instead of a sweet smell, there will be a stench. Instead of a sash, a rope. Instead of well-set hair, baldness. Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth, and branding instead of beauty.

Your men shall fall by the sword, and you're mighty in the war. Her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground. So the daughters of Zion become this metaphor for the entirety of the city of Jerusalem.

And Jerusalem is decked out in finery. Everybody likes to go out and show their best, and it's a sense of, like, life is good, and we're living it up. However, God is saying, in this, you're ignoring the warnings that my prophets are bringing, and ultimately, all this is going to go away and be utterly reversed, and judgment's going to fall, and it's going to be utter desolation.

Because they're trusting in their outward appearance, and trusting in their wealth, rather than trusting in the Lord. That's going to be a theme that goes all the way through Isaiah. The same thing happened with Amos, as he was preaching in Amos chapter 6.

In Amos chapter 6, verse 1,. Woe to you who are ease in Zion, that's Jerusalem, and trust in Mount Samaria. So there's the northern capital. Notable persons in the chief nation to whom the house of Israel comes.

Go over to Calna and see, and from there go on to Hamath the great. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? Meaning, learn from those who have already fallen.

Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who caused the seed of violence to come near, who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall.

If you were eating lots of meat, that meant that you had no fears about the future. That wasn't normal to just eat meat all the time. You save that for special occasions. But if you're eating up the flock, you're saying, it doesn't matter, we have so much.

Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David. Who drink wine from bowls and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

So rather than pay attention to the problems, they put far off the day of doom. Oh, the problems are not going to fall upon us. And they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. They're saying, don't pay attention to that, let's party.

Let's just party. Let's get the music going. Let's butcher the calves and the lambs. Let's get the wine going. Let's just party. We're not going to pay attention to the problems. We're just going to enjoy life.

So, so Amos says in verse 7, Therefore they shall not go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquet shall be removed. The Lord God has sworn by himself, the Lord God of hosts says, I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his palaces.

Therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it. So the things that Jacob prides himself in, the palaces, the city, the wealth, and everything that Jacob or Samaria would be pointing to saying, you know, look at, look at our pride.

Look at all the wonderful things that we have. God says, I hate all that. And so just like in Isaiah, those who felt very secure in their wealth are going to be taken away as slaves and everything taken away from them.

So there's some similarities with Amos and Isaiah. Also, Hosea, Hosea actually preached throughout the entirety of those seven kings of Israel that we talked about. Remember that they, they went through seven kings in quick succession as the instability of the latter days of Israel was on display.

Sometimes there was a king who only reigned for a month as king after king ended up getting assassinated by another dynasty and everything was falling apart. But Hosea saw it all. He was there for the whole thing from the first to the last king.

And while Isaiah was preaching to the southern kingdom of Judah, Hosea was preaching to the northern kingdom of Israel. And in the first three chapters of the book, the entire Israel story is captured in symbol as Hosea is instructed by God to go marry a prostitute who was bound to be unfaithful to him.

And she was having children whom he progressively named with certainty, not mine, no mercy, you know, things that you would never name your children. And then after a time of separation, there is a reconciliation between Hosea and his wife, Gomer, and they are brought back together.

And that's really the Israel story where God went out and got Israel when there was nothing inherently worthwhile in this people. And he was faithful to her and he did everything for her. And then she became idolatrous and was going around to every nation, all the other gods.

And then God has compassion on her. And even though things are a mess, he goes and gets her and brings her home anyway. So that is in symbol is the whole story of Israel there in the life of Hosea right there in the first three chapters.

Hosea’s Marriage, Israel’s Sin, and God’s Covenant Love

And then the rest of the book contains Hosea's preaching about God's perspective and his relationship concerning Israel, kind of breaking out the meaning of that symbol, the meaning of that metaphor that just occurred.

So we see in chapters four through seven that Israel's sin is intolerable because God is holy. That's the way Hosea puts it. And in chapters eight through ten, Israel is going to be punished. Why? Because God is just.

And then in the last chapters, 11 through 14, there are promises that Israel is going to be restored because God is love. When we go through the book of Hosea, and we'll end with just looking at some key verses.

And the next time we'll begin to look at the crossover between Hosea's preaching and Isaiah's preaching. But Hosea is the longest of the scroll of the 12. The 12 minor prophets all in one scroll. Hosea has pride of place.

It starts there, not because he was the first of the minor prophets to write, not because he was the most ancient, but because the material that he writes is the largest. And it kind of serves as, it establishes some themes that are going to be important for all the rest of the minor prophets.

So there's many famous passages in Hosea. But in Hosea chapter four, in Hosea chapter four and verse six, there is a verse, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. You may have run across that verse before, not in the knickknacks on your kitchen walls, but you may have run across it before.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me. Like the whole nation served as a priest corporately. A nation of priests is what God originally conceptualized the people of Israel as.

Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children, which is a way of him talking about the coming exile. And then Hosea chapter six, in verse six, I'm going to read my translation.

And if you've got something different on the key word, you can just tell me what it is. But Hosea chapter six, verse six, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

So when he says, I desire mercy, do you have any other translation?

Loyalty.

That's because this is the Hebrew word hesed. Yeah, that's right. And you have a variety of translations for it. But hesed is talking about covenant faithfulness. Okay, so what God is saying is, look, we have the sacrificial system, but the point is not to make a whole bunch of sacrifices.

He says, the point is, you're supposed to be a faithful covenant servant. He's saying to his people, you have a job to do and you're not doing it. He says, I want covenant faithfulness, not sacrifices.

I don't need a lot of oops, sorry, here's my pinch of incense, I'll just move on, right? He says, God says, I don't want that. I said, I'm interested in covenant faithfulness. And he says, I desire the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

In this particular servant, Israel, he did not find in them mercy. He did not find in them loyalty. He did not find in them hesed, covenant faithfulness, but he would in a later servant who would fill that role in Israel's place.

Speaking of which, Hosea chapter 11 and verse one, when Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt, I called my son. Out of Egypt, I called my son. And so when we come to the Christmas story in Matthew chapter two, Joseph and Mary having evaded the murderous intent of Herod, taking the child down to Egypt, when it came time to return and they returned to the land, Matthew takes the time to stop and say, thus this was to fulfill what the prophet has spoken.

Out of Egypt, I called my son. One of many places in the Bible where the apostles point at something that the Old Testament says about Israel and says, that's Jesus, that's Jesus. And so there's no hint at the moment when you're reading through Hosea and you come to Hosea chapter 11, verse one, you have no inkling on Hosea's own terms that this is about Jesus Christ, about that one particular verse.

However, the broader reading of the prophets that we're gonna see in Isaiah and so forth, the broader reading of the prophets continually shows that all of the promises to Israel as a whole, as a nation, concentrated in their hopes of a king, ultimately rest on whether or not the Messiah is going to come.

And of course, they were hoping that in waiting for and trusting that he would come and that he would bring to pass all those promises that God had made to them. So this first in and of itself, you don't see why it would be about Jesus Christ, but in the aggregate throughout the prophets, you're going to see that what the Old Testament says about Israel in their role, in their purpose, the New Testament says about Jesus Christ.

Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah on Shared Prophetic Themes

Next time we'll talk about where Hosea and Isaiah preached about some of the same themes and there's going to be some connections that Hosea makes that Amos didn't. So there's gonna be some connections there.

And then we'll look at Micah and Micah and Isaiah shared notes okay, there's just, there's no way around it. They, I'm pretty sure Isaiah wrote it and was sharing and I think Micah said, oh, that's good stuff, can I use it?

So we'll talk about that, but Micah is like Isaiah in miniature. Don't have time to read all 66 chapters of Isaiah, just read Micah and you'll get the gist of Isaiah pretty quick. So, all right. Well, let's go ahead and close with a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you for the time that you have given us in your word. I pray that it has been encouraging and helpful to us. I pray that you would continually help us to trust in you and to rejoice in your truth.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.