Wednesday, September 4, 2024 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

01:57

Isaiah preaches sermons for a difficult present, declaring the

02:03

Lord is the true redeemer of Israel. He emphasizes this to these children of woe, and what hope there is, is found for rebellious children in hearing their

02:17

Lord address them in the various arenas of their rebellion, whether political, religious, or social.

02:23

And in this last section of chapter one, the city's ruination is proclaimed in verses 21 through 23.

02:31

And now in poetic balance, the city's restoration is promised in verses 24 through 26 and 27.

02:40

And how that restoration is actually accomplished is detailed through the balance of the rest of the chapter.

02:46

So I want to read verses 21 through 31 for us tonight. How the faithful city has become a harlot.

02:54

It was full of justice, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers.

03:00

Your silver has become dross. Your wine mixed with silver. Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves.

03:06

Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

03:14

Therefore, the Lord says, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, ah,

03:22

I will rid myself of my adversaries and take vengeance on my enemies.

03:27

I will turn my hand against you and thoroughly purge away your dross and take away all your alloy.

03:35

I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning.

03:42

Afterward, you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with justice and her penitence with righteousness.

03:53

The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed, for they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees which you have desired, and you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens which you have chosen, for you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades and as a garden that has no water.

04:14

The strong shall be as a tinder and the work of it as a spark. Both will burn together, and no one shall quench them.

04:27

Now, the point being made throughout the first chapter is the severity of the situation in Judah, the severity of the situation in Jerusalem.

04:36

One of the key themes that Isaiah needs to get across to his audience is how bad things are.

04:43

Because they have the temple, because the walls are still up around Jerusalem, because they've had some degree of retaining some things that they think are important, they think everything is probably better than what the prophets are saying.

04:58

And perhaps he's exaggerating, but not if he uses God's point of view, right?

05:05

So it's God addressing Judah. It's God addressing Jerusalem.

05:10

God calls heaven and earth as witnesses against Judah and Jerusalem. So now the perspective is much higher, much grander, far more accurate than the ground level.

05:22

And the situation is very severe. It's important for them to know that.

05:29

The rebel in his ruin may insist that matters are not really all that bad, which reinforces his sense that he can handle the situation and solve it.

05:44

He is loath to confess that the problems are beyond him. That would mean the release of his autonomy, his self -serving determination.

05:57

A rebel must make many devastating sacrifices to the empty void of self.

06:04

And it is absolutely abhorrent to consider confessing his ruination has become an utter waste.

06:11

It's been an utter waste without value. It's all been for naught. And yet, when

06:18

God calls repentance, he says, come and buy bread without money.

06:26

Come, receive this without money, without cost. Confession, confession is what brings us into the light.

06:36

That's what God has called for in chapter one, verse 18. He has called for there to be confession of sin.

06:43

Repentance fills us with the bread of life and living water. And there is no better remedy for the rebellious creature, for the rebellious child than to be confronted with the authority and the aim and the affirmation of the one who loves them, the one against whom they rebel.

07:07

And that's what goes on in Isaiah. So it goes on here in Isaiah chapter one. I want us to consider how the authority of God, the aim of God, the affirmation of God concerning his righteousness and his plans, how these are shown in the remaining verses of verses 24 through 31.

07:28

And particularly important for this is the first two of these three, the authority of God and the aim of God.

07:36

God's authority is what Judah has forgotten, right? The ox remembers who it belongs to, the donkey remembers who it belongs to, but Israel has no clue.

07:49

They forget that God has revealed himself to them as a father and that they are his son, but they don't remember.

07:58

They don't even think about his authority anymore. He is not an active part of their thinking.

08:04

They do not think of him first or most. They don't think of him at all. And so the authority of God is what they have forgotten.

08:12

And so they must be reminded of that, that and confronted about that. And so in verse 24, we read about the oracle of the

08:19

Lord. And it is the, it is what the Lord says. It is his oracle.

08:25

Who's the Lord of hosts. Yahweh Sabaoth, the

08:31

Avir of Israel, the strong one of Israel. So what is he saying?

08:38

He's saying he's in charge of everything. He's in charge of the stars. He's in charge of the locusts. He's in charge of the foreign armies.

08:45

He's in charge of the bees. He's in charge of the hornets. He's in charge of the sheep.

08:51

He's in charge of everything. He's the Lord of hosts. And he is the strong one of Israel. He is their champion or he is their judge.

09:01

This name of God tends to show up in contexts where really big problems are met with really big promises.

09:11

This mighty one of Israel is the one who shows up when there is absolutely no way out.

09:18

And it's been made very, very clear. There's a variety of passages where this name shows up.

09:25

But the saving of God's people and the recreation of Jerusalem that Isaiah portrays throughout 66 chapters.

09:35

The saving of God's people through the recreation of Jerusalem is not the work of men.

09:41

It is the work of the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. And that's why when we read through verses 24 through 31, we have a focus on the

09:55

Lord as redeemer, as the one who acts because there is a sevenfold

10:00

I will. Not that it comes through necessarily in the

10:05

English translation. Some English translations only have three translated.

10:12

But there's a sevenfold intentionality. I will,

10:18

I will, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. And that'll get your attention if you're listening into the

10:24

Hebrew. So what goes on here? After all the things that Israel has done, after all the things that Judah and Jerusalem have done, now

10:34

God says, here's what I will do. Here's how God is going to take action.

10:42

And then we find, so these

10:47

I wills, they show up in verse 24. There's two of them in verse 24, three of them in verse 25, two of them in verse 26.

10:58

But then as we read further, the last part of verse 26 to verse 31, there's a sevenfold affirmation of shall bes.

11:09

God says, I will seven times. And then he says seven times there shall be. So what

11:15

God says he's going to do, that's what he accomplishes. So all the focus now is, so here's what

11:23

Israel did. Here's what Judah did. Here's what Jerusalem is up to. And here's all the problems. And here's the disaster that you've brought about.

11:28

However, here's how God is going to act. He says, I will do these things. And then this is what he brings to pass.

11:39

And the shall bes that show up, and you can see it in your translation, how many shall bes.

11:46

And they'll vary based on how the English is trying to smooth out the Hebrew. But there are dependent clauses connected to these proclamations that showcase the kind of salvation that God accomplishes for Zion.

11:59

And what is it? There's a whole lot that's gonna go away. And there are things that he's going to remake.

12:07

When you read about this salvation of Jerusalem, it sounds like there's a whole lot of fire involved. There's a whole lot of stuff that's gonna get burned up.

12:17

And it's going to be taken away. And there's some other things are gonna be made new and are gonna last forever.

12:28

So this section verses 24 through 27 that we're focusing in on the restoration touches on all of these themes.

12:40

But the salvation to be made manifest in Zion is going to be through righteousness.

12:49

It's going to be through vengeance. It's going to be through holiness.

12:57

So the Lord says, in order to counter the degenerate city in verses 21 through 23, here's what the

13:02

Lord does. I'm going to rid myself of my adversaries, take vengeance on my enemies. I'm gonna turn my hand against you.

13:09

I'm going to purge away your dross and take away your alloy so that he may restore, so that he may redeem.

13:17

But the things that don't belong there are going to be destroyed and consumed.

13:23

And those who trusted in them will be destroyed. And those who trusted in them will be ashamed. So there's going to be a burning, a purging, a refining, a taking away.

13:33

And there's going to be a remaking of the city into something new. So the salvation that comes about is not going to happen by finding a way around the wickedness or leaving the perversity in place and finding an alternate route where we're not going to touch it or deal with it.

13:57

We're going to allow the idolatry to continue because it, well, they seem sincere and it's so significant to their culture.

14:06

And we're going to leave it there and we're gonna find a bypass. He identifies all of the sin for what it is and takes aim at it, that it's going to go away and affirms that he's going to accomplish it.

14:22

Now, why is it so important that the sin and the wickedness and the transgressions not be circumvented, not be ignored, but actually be handled and purged and done away with?

14:31

Because the name of the city will be the glory of her Lord. The name of the city will be the glory of her

14:43

Lord. Zion shall be redeemed with justice. When God restores her judges as at the first and her counselors as at the beginning, afterward, that's the way in which you will be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city, right?

15:01

So she's gonna be named after her Lord. There's some other passages that say the very much same thing.

15:10

So in Jeremiah 23, verses one through eight, this is the same type of theme that we have in Isaiah.

15:22

And the formula is very much the same. So in Jeremiah 23, verse one, we hear this prophet say, woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.

15:36

Now, isn't that something that we just looked at in verse 23 of Isaiah one?

15:43

There's woe pronounced upon the princes, those governors, those leaders, those shepherds.

15:50

Why? Because they love bribes and follow after rewards, right?

15:55

Same here, woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture because they're acting as wolves.

16:04

Verse two, therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed my people, you have scattered my flock, driven them away and not attended to them.

16:15

Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doing, says the Lord. So he promises judgment, but I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their folds and they shall be fruitful and increase.

16:34

I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the

16:42

Lord. Remember in verse 26 of Isaiah one, he says, I will restore your judges at the first and your counselors as at the beginning.

16:50

So similar promise here. Verse five, behold, the days are coming, says the

16:55

Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. I'm gonna raise to David a branch of righteousness.

17:04

The seed of David, the son of David will come and he will be the branch of righteousness and he'll be from Branchtown, Nazareth, right?

17:13

He's the branch Nazir and he'll be from Nazareth or Branchtown, okay?

17:20

I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. A king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

17:29

In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely.

17:36

Now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness.

17:44

The Lord our righteousness. Now a little bit later on, the city itself,

17:52

Jerusalem in chapter 33, says that the city herself will be known as the

17:57

Lord our righteousness. So the king will be known as the Lord our righteousness and all those who live in his city will be known by that very same name, right?

18:08

So the need is to restore the proper king to bring in the right king who can live up to the standards that God has laid down and then he brings the righteousness and then all who are in him have his righteousness.

18:25

So verse seven says, therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that they shall no longer say, as the

18:30

Lord lives, he brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives, he brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them and they shall dwell in their own land.

18:43

So this is the initial promises and setup. The people of Israel are not going to stay scattered under the judgment of God.

18:51

They're gonna be brought back into their own land. Why? Because I'm gonna bring my king from their midst. One among them shall be a prophet like unto

19:00

Moses. One among them shall emerge from them as the heir of David, as the promised seed, and he's gonna reign over them.

19:08

So they must be brought back to the land so that the Messiah would come and that he would become their savior.

19:18

Now, Jeremiah 33 verses 14 through 26 says much the same thing. Again, this is, we're trying to figure out,

19:27

I mean, what hope is there for such a wicked, decrepit people?

19:32

What hope is there for a completely corrupted city?

19:39

I mean, we've spent a long time going through Isaiah 1 and the diagnosis is not good.

19:49

If Jerusalem were a patient, she's got five kinds of cancer and that's the good part of the news.

20:00

There's just, there is a complete and utter decrepit corruption of the city.

20:10

Now in Jeremiah 33 verse 14, behold, the days are coming, says the

20:15

Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. And that's what he says in Jeremiah 31, that good thing is he promised the new covenant.

20:27

When Jesus comes and he says, this is my body, this is my blood of the new covenant, when he comes in and says, basically says,

20:34

I am the new covenant, he is pointing back to these promises.

20:41

Verse 15, in those days and at that time, I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness.

20:48

So the same thing he was saying back in chapter 23. He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days,

20:53

Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwelt safely. And this is the name by which she will be called, the

21:00

Lord, our righteousness. Now in the days of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is this branch of righteousness of David, in his days, in his own generation, did

21:19

Jerusalem, the old covenant Jerusalem dwell safely. In his days, in that generation,

21:32

Jerusalem did not dwell safely and Judah did not dwell safely. They were wiped out by the

21:39

Romans. Now that doesn't make Jeremiah a false prophet because he's not talking about the old covenant

21:48

Jerusalem. He's talking about the one that gets remade. And he had all of Isaiah to reflect on.

21:56

He's all of Isaiah to reflect on about what this means, about what kind of city this is gonna be.

22:01

The same kind of city that Abraham looked for, the one that had foundations, whose architect and whose builder was

22:08

God. So verse 17. So, okay. So this is the name by which she shall be called, the

22:14

Lord, our righteousness. So again, Jerusalem is not her own righteousness, but her righteousness is that of the

22:22

Lord. This is the only answer we have for such a wicked city in Isaiah one. The only hope for Jerusalem is that she be remade, that she be recreated, that she have a new king and that he is her righteousness.

22:38

And then, you know, verses 17 through 26 interlaces together the covenants that God made with Noah, Abraham, Israel, and David.

22:50

And every single one of them is woven together and said, this is

22:55

Christ. So we don't have time to work our way through that particular prophetic weave, but it's significant for the hope that we have here in Isaiah one.

23:07

What's this pointing to when God says, I'm going to burn and I'm going to purge and I'm going to wipe out and I'm going to restore and I'm going to redeem.

23:17

And he's saying it all at the same time. Like, how does that even work? How do you restore and redeem in the very same place that you're burning things and destroying things?

23:29

How does that even go together? But it's significant for this hope that the old covenant

23:36

Jerusalem must be burnt like chaff for the new covenant Jerusalem to be made evident.

23:45

There is a, Isaiah will speak about a heaven and earth that passes away so that he makes a new heaven and earth.

23:54

The old must die and lay down. The old must be crucified and given up.

24:01

What's the hope for rebellious children? The rebel must die. That's the hope.

24:08

The hope is for the rebel to die so that the repenter may live. No matter what the cost or what the crisis is, only

24:16

God saves, the mighty one, only he saves. Death and resurrection is the way of redemption.

24:24

There has to be a death. There has to be a passing away so that all things may now become new.

24:31

And this pattern of death and resurrection is placed deeply into the narrative of scripture going all the way back to Genesis with a conception about what happens because of sin but what happens in salvation, something that Romans 8 picks up on.

24:59

So that's just kind of an overview of verses 24 through 31, the point of the hope.

25:08

Because when we begin to look at verses 24 and 25 about God's revenge and God's refining and so on, we have to keep in view the ultimate goal of resurrection.

25:24

He has something in mind through this holy fire. Okay? Let's turn our attention to prayer requests.