Wednesday, November 6, 2024 PM

The Lord Takes Away Judah’s False Sources of Security

Zion to be, this is how I want Jerusalem to be, and both of those are prophecies and metaphors of the new covenant. Why do we need a new covenant? Because the stewards of the old covenant are forsaking God and thus they are forsaken.

And that's essentially what verse six in chapter two is all about. And then very quickly in the form of an obituary, verses seven through nine goes very quickly through the problems of Judah trusting in things that they should not be trusting in.

In fact, they have very specific instructions in places like Deuteronomy and even Leviticus saying don't trust in these things. They're not going to sustain you. And great examples of how these things are not trustworthy in books like Joshua and Judges.

Nonetheless, after listing them, then Isaiah in reverse order begins to deal with them at length. The pride of men, their idolatry, and military is listed here in verse seven, but it's an extension of political power as a whole as we're going to see in verses one through 12 of chapter three.

Judah needs to get their focus right. They need to stop trusting in themselves or trusting in their resources or trusting in their recent history and track record, and they need to turn their attention to the Lord.

Rather than think of their wealth first and most, they need to think of the Lord. Rather than think of their idols first and most, they need to think of the Lord. And rather than think about how strong they are in the political sense, they need to trust in the Lord.

Isaiah 3:1-12 and the Politics of Disaster

So let's look at Isaiah three, verses one through 12. For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of 50 and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan and the expert enchanter.

I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, every one by another and every one by his neighbor. The child will be insolent toward the elder and the base toward the honorable.

When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father saying, you have clothing, you be our ruler and let these ruins be under your power. And that day he will protest saying, I cannot cure your ills for in my house is neither food nor clothing.

Do not make me a ruler of the people. For Jerusalem stumbled and Judah is fallen because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them and they declare their sin as Sodom and they do not hide it.

Woe to their soul for they have brought evil upon themselves. Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

As for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over them. Oh my people, those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths. How does this sound? All we really need is a halfway decent political power change to achieve a slowdown and get our country back on the right track.

Sound familiar?

How often do we have these ideas and statements rolling around in our heads? As long as our military remains strong. As long as we have President so and so. As long as our disaster relief programs are in place.

As long as we can hold local politicians accountable and keep putting in quality candidates. How much attention do we give to political strength, political systems, political candidates and so forth? I wrote this for October 23rd, by the way.

Just happened to be, I'm running late on getting these lessons out. Now, when we read the book of Proverbs, we meet a variety of characters, but three of them are somewhat related. We meet the naive, we meet the simple, and we meet the fool.

And the naive just doesn't know yet, but once they know, they're gonna be on the right track.

Okay?

The simple might know, but they don't have the wisdom to put it into action. So they need to see how to develop what they know into actual practical approach to life. The fool knows better and does it anyway.

That's why there's hope for the simple, there's potential for the naive, and better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

Okay?

Because the fool knows better, but does it anyway. So, when we have that in mind, a fool says in his heart, there is no God, a fool rejects instruction, we have the profiling of the fool throughout the book of Proverbs.

Now, Proverbs 26, verses six through 12, is I think probably a great passage to think about in terms of, speaking about political candidates in general, I'm not saying exhaustively, I'm saying in general.

Mr. Smith goes to Washington or whoever we're sending up there to go say something. Proverbs 26, verse six, he who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. Verse seven, like the legs of the lame that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

You ever listen to political speeches? Like one who binds a stone in a sling is one who gives honor to a fool.

Ouch.

That's coming back to hit you in the head.

If you don't know.

Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools. The great God who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. God's just being nice.

God's being kind. As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Now that description, you just run through it, catches the majority of politicians.

I'm not saying every single one, I'm saying it catches the majority of politicians right there, just grabs them all. There's no reason to put trust and hope and confidence in politicians or the political system that is filled with fools.

Fools who know better and do it anyway. Fools who deny God. Fools who continually promote themselves and pursue their own gains and their own goals. Fools who believe in their own power. This is God's message to Israel in chapter three, verses one through 12.

They have a lot of confidence in not just their military, but those who are running it and those who have power and strength in their nation. And God says, no, I'm just gonna take all that away from you.

I'm gonna take all that away from you. The growing threat of Assyria, which is where in the first 35 chapters of Isaiah, the difficult present that Isaiah is dealing with is the threat of the Assyrian empire.

And that growing threat of Assyria causes Judah to consider her situation and what are they going to do? How are they gonna find confidence? How are they gonna sleep at night? How do they know that things are gonna be okay?

Why plant in your fields if the Assyrian threat is so great? Are we even going to see a harvest this year? Now, Isaiah insists that their confidence should be in the Lord and the Lord alone, but Judah is tempted to assess her chances of success in the middle of the violent and tumultuous world she finds herself in.

She's going to think about her chances of success like the other nations. How are we set up? Let's compare ourselves with other nations and let's see how we're matched up and then we're gonna see how well we think we're going to perform in the coming year and years.

Judah is all grown up now, so she can be independent. She's like the other nations. She got her king just like the other nations. She has her system just like the other nations. She has idols just like the other nations.

She's all grown up. She's just like the other nations. And so it's time to compete and win. But all the reasons that she has for confidence, God is taking the task and showing as bogus. True maturity would be dependence, not independence.

When it comes to our relationship with the Lord, the more mature we are, the more dependent we are upon him. We grow in dependence in our Christian maturity, not independence. Israel needs to remember that she is in special covenant relationship with the Lord and she needs to start acting like it.

The Lord is to be all her hope, but rather she's trusting in self and idols and political power and economic wealth. And so we have the politics of disaster in verses one through seven. The politics of disaster in verses one through seven.

And in these verses, we find that the Lord takes, the Lord gives, and he keeps taking and keeps giving until nobody wants it anymore. So in verses one through three, the Lord takes. For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah, the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread, the whole supply of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder, the captain of 50, and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan and the expert enchanter.

So Judah's not paying attention to the Lord. She's not thinking about the Lord. She needs to pay attention to the Lord. And so the Lord seeks to get her attention by taking away all of the ingredients for political stability and political power.

Takes it all away. Notice the Lord takes away the stock and the store, the supply of bread, the whole supply of water. Now, why is that important to have those reserves? Why is it important? Well, because what if a siege comes against them?

What if Assyria besieges their city? Will they have enough water? Will they have enough food? What if famine comes? What are you gonna do in the case of a famine? And then the people begin to get weak and then you don't have a strong military.

If you have hungry, emaciated soldiers, you don't have any way of defending yourself. So what if a famine comes? You have to have political stability. So you have to have reserves that keep you strong even in bad situations.

But not only does the Lord take away all of that supply, but he also takes away the warriors who could defend them in the first place. He takes away the mighty man. Now, that's not exactly a position in the army, but you remember David and his mighty men.

They were champions who could stand up and stand with the soldiers and lead the way. He takes away the mighty man and the man of war, the one who knows how to conduct warfare, the one who is intelligent enough to pursue a military campaign and come out on top and succeed.

The mighty man is gone. The man of war is gone. The captain of 50 is gone. All of these different individuals, these types of people who could defend against enemies are taken away. So the external security is going away.

The long-term security is going away because your stock and supply is gone. The water is gone. The food is gone as far as your supply. So you don't have long-term stability. You don't have external security.

And then also the Lord takes away the judge and the prophet. We see the elder. He takes away the counselor. All the rulers who could provide direction and law and order are taken away. Now, you don't have internal security.

You don't have internal law and order. You have no way of defending your borders and the interior is now in chaos. And then the Lord also takes away all of the cultural leaders. He takes away the prophet, the diviner, the elder, the skillful artisan, the expert enchanter, everyone who they would look to provide and motivate social cohesion.

Everyone can agree on and be led by these cultural leaders. Lord could take away all of those. And of course, some of the leaders they were depending on like the diviner and the expert enchanter were evil in and of themselves.

They were idolatrous fixtures. The Lord takes away. He takes away all of that. Well, what does he give? He says, I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by his neighbor.

The child will be insolent toward the elder and the base toward the honorable. So in other words, the Lord says, I'm gonna take away strength and I'm gonna give you weakness. Now, why is he doing this?

Israel is in covenant relation with him. They're not listening to him. They're breaking the covenant. So God is bringing the curse upon them. He's bringing scarcity. He's bringing frailty. He is shattering all of their confidence.

So they have nowhere else to turn, but back to the Lord. So he takes away strength and he gives weakness so that Judah can no longer point to deep pockets. They don't have a reserve anymore. Does anybody remember the scarcity that suddenly was on everybody's minds in the 2020 lockdowns?

Remember that?

How quickly did that happen? Everybody was thinking about scarcity all of a sudden. Right, how fast was that? And that wasn't even really serious. The Lord is taking away all these things that could give them confidence.

He takes away the deep pockets. He takes away the deep bench. Well, this cultural leader or this judge or this military leader got sick and died, but that's okay because we've got a deep bench of other people who are well-trained and are competent and they can really serve well in these areas.

No problem. Next man up, we're fine. But they don't have a deep bench anymore. God takes away all of that. All the first string are out and the freshmen are coming in. They're coming to play and they're all one-star recruits.

It's really bad. When children are in charge, when babies rule, something has gone terribly wrong. Now, good King Josiah was eight years old when he started the reign. How did he end up being the king when he was eight years old?

Anybody remember? Because his dad, son of Manasseh, reminded the people so much of Manasseh, they just up and killed him. They're like, no more Manasseh, please. Manasseh, 52 years of bloody tyranny and his son was just like him.

And after a few months, they're like, no, you're gone. And they just killed him, got rid of him. And now Josiah, an eight-year-old, is now king.

That's not good.

Now, Josiah was a good king, but it's not good when your king is eight years old. When children are princes and babies are in charge, something has gone terribly wrong. And that's a great metaphor that describes all those who ought not to be in charge or somehow in charge.

When that happens, something has gone wrong. How has authority been delegated to fools? That's the question. So when we're looking at the breakdown of these normal structures of society, also included is that the children are insolent to their elders.

Rude and terribly disrespectful to their elders. That's across the board, not just children and parents, but just all across the board. When the lowly beggar, when the base, meaning the beggar, the one who was very, very lowly, when the base is insolent towards the honorable, right?

You know, some beggar flipping off the business owner and he's eating out of the dumpster and he's mad at the business owner for not throwing out the good stuff, right? Well, that's normal. That's not good.

That's not a good society. That's not righteous. Something has gone wrong. When the natural structures of human society deteriorate, it is in concert with oppression. Therefore, all the people are being oppressed.

People are oppressed by one another, everyone his neighbor. And so the Lord takes away strength and he gives weakness till nobody wants it anymore. So you have this little scenario in verses six and seven where, you know, there's nobody in charge.

Who's in charge here? Oh, nobody's in charge. Well, hey, that guy, he has a full set of clothes on him. Let's make him ruler. That's the only requirement. The bar is set so low. That guy is clothed and I think he's in his right mind.

We'll have him be in charge now. It's the bar so low. And the man's like, I don't want the job. I don't want to be ruler over these ruins. You can keep it. Don't make me responsible. Don't put the bullseye on my back.

The politics of disaster are in view here. This reminds us of the chaotic days of the judges where every man did what was right in his own eyes. Their solution to solve the chaos of the days of the judges was what?

We want a king like all the other nations.

Bad idea.

Remember Saul? When they looked at Saul and they said, hey, hey, you be our king. You know, you have a set of clothes. You're walking and talking. You're a little bit taller than the rest of us. Let's make you king.

And Saul says, I don't want it. They finally had him become king and immediately they experienced oppression. So the man rightly refuses. He's no savior. He says, I cannot cure your ills for in my house is neither food nor clothing.

Do not make me a ruler of the people. Now it makes sense. The man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father and saying, hey, you do it, you do it. You rule. But he's like, no, I can't.

It's not gonna work.

So the politics of disaster, you see the breakdown of their society. What we are relating to here is not that America is in covenant with God like Israel was. That's not what we're connecting with here.

What we're connecting with is that the covenant that Israel had with God reflects what it means to be made in God's image. And that's what we're relating to. That's what we're connecting with. We sense the need to live in a certain way.

Certain needs need to be provided. And we can see the folly all around us of a society that is disordered. We're relating to these symptoms and this passage because we are witnesses and participants in a late stage empire and her flailing attempt to retain power, prominence and position.

There is the temptation to trust in political power, but we need to resist that temptation. When the wicked rule, the people groan, this is true. We should desire better rulers. However, the Lord may provide.

We could work towards having better rulers and we ought to, but our trust should never be in the politicians or in the political system itself. We have a ruler. We need to remember that we have laid hold of a brother in our father's house, our elder brother in our father's house, the one with whom he is well pleased.

And he is King of Kings and he is Lord of Lords. As Christians, we are a kingdom amongst the nations. As Christians, we are a brotherhood amongst families. And wherever we are, with Christ as our King and honoring him, we work and we strive to bring his authority to bear in every area of life.

And any nation and any family is that much more blessed as they recognize that authority of Christ, confess it and agree with it. And that's what we want. That's what we want. So I'm glad Trump got reelected and I am.

And I'm glad for some of the people he's bringing on. But I'm not holding my breath because we're not supposed to hold our breath. We're supposed to use our breath to pray, right? And we don't have anything in the Bible that says thou shalt vote.

We do have in the Bible is thou shalt pray for all men in whoever, no matter who they are, if they're rulers, they have power, political power, whatever it is, you pray for them. And that's what we're supposed to do.

Prayer for Rulers and Christian Responsibility

So we should do that tonight. We should pray for...