Women of Ease

Complacency, Prosperity, and the Warning of Isaiah 32

Amen. Well, please turn in your Bible to Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, we'll be looking at this passage beginning in verse 9. Please stand when you have Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, beginning in verse 9. Rise up, you women who are at ease.

Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech, and little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women, for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease.

Shudder, you complacent ones. Strip and make yourself bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briars.

Yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city, for the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted, the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks, until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field, and the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places, and it will hail when the forest falls down, and the city will be utterly laid low.

Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We ask that you would lead us away from complacency and into a true zeal and a fear of you.

God, I pray that you would use your Word to accomplish its purposes in our hearts today. In Jesus' name, amen. So this passage here is about complacency, about complacency. Complacency, complacency, it's like apathy, basically it's a lack of concern about something.

Yet God has called us not to complacency, a lack of concern, but He has called us to be concerned, to be very concerned for His kingdom. In the beginning of Luke, it speaks of those who were awaiting the consolation of Israel.

This is the heart of God's people, is to not be, we are called to be content with what God has given us, but we are also called to desire that which He has promised that He has not yet given us. There is a healthy discontent that we are called to have as we await for what is to come, as we despise our present situation and the sin, the evil that exists in the world, and to desire something more, something that God has promised but has not yet given.

Wealth, Prosperity, and the Danger of Indolence

But why is it that people become complacent? Why is it that people are satisfied with their current condition? Well, oftentimes it is wealth, it is having everything you need. John Calvin once wrote that, well, regarding this passage, he wrote that those who experience, that have wealth and prosperity can hardly keep from being indolent, indolent meaning extremely lazy and complacent.

It is very difficult to be anything other than indolent when you have much wealth, when you have everything you need. Now, we go door to door in this neighborhood and tell people about this church, tell people about the gospel, and what is one of the most common things that we see is that people are simply complacent.

They don't care. Why would this be? They have everything they need. We live across human history, we live in a very prosperous time where people just have far, far more than they had even in the wealthiest societies that existed in old.

And then on top of that, our country is especially prosperous. On top of that, this particular valley is especially prosperous. This is a great danger for anyone who lives here and now. There is so much wealth, it is hard not to be complacent.

It's hard not to just be satisfied with what we have as though that is enough. It's like in the Odyssey, if you've ever read that book, the lotus eaters. You know, they go to a particular island, they find the lotus, this lotus flower they eat.

It's like a drug, and it satisfies them, it makes them happy, and they don't desire to finish their quest to return home to their wives, etc., because they are happy from the lotus. This is what wealth does.

It dulls the mind and the senses, the spiritual sensibilities to what is truly important, because it makes you feel satisfied in the here and now. But of course, there is something more important in the here and now, and that is what God has prepared for us.

And that is something we should care for. We should care for deeply. I mentioned how much of a problem this is in our own generation, in our own country. Some of you may be aware that our unemployment rate is at an all-time low, it's 3 .5 percent.

Many of you may also be aware why it's that low. Do you know why? That is because that number is based on how many people are looking for work. The number of people who are not looking for work, men between the ages of 25 and 54, working age, who have no desire to even seek work and aren't working, has risen to 13 percent.

Thirteen percent. We are in an age that is able to make choices like these, has so much prosperity that it's able to just not only stop caring about the things of God, but even to stop caring about the kind of fruitfulness even the world desires.

And so as we look to the world and the complacency that exists in it, you should also look to your own heart and realize that among those that have existed in human history, is it not the case that complacency eats away at our own heart and our own spiritual sensibilities and takes away the zeal that we ought to have for the things of God?

So look to your own heart and consider whether or not you are affected by the wealth and prosperity of your own society. You might look to yourself and you might think, well, I'm not that wealthy. Even still, we live in a prosperous age and just the ability to enjoy the things that exist in our century might be sufficient wealth, is sufficient wealth, to make many men and women very complacent.

Women of Judah, Household Ease, and Intergenerational Discipleship

And speaking of women, that is who it speaks of here. It says, "'Rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech.'". Now, this speaks of the women of Judah, the women of Judah who are specifically the women of Jerusalem who are very wealthy, have everything that they need, and are not aware of the coming disaster.

So far, the people has made do by making alliances with Assyria. They do not realize that very soon Assyria will turn on their alliances, that they will not continue accepting bribes but will finally come against the people.

And as that is the case, everything will be taken away from them. It says, "'In a little more than a year, you will shudder, you complacent women, for the grape harvest fails. The fruit harvest will not come.

All these things will be taken away.'". Now, why does it speak specifically here of women? There is a special way that women may become complacent. It's true that both men and women become complacent, that wealth affects each one of them.

But there's a special way that it affects women because traditionally, the way that women typically live is in their own home, taking care of the home. Now, if you live in a wealthy society that has servants and things like that, it's very easy to become at ease.

And even in our own culture, you see this. Why is it that daytime television programming is so full of soap operas, right? It's because many women have the leisure time to just sit around and watch these sorts of things and to entertain themselves in this way.

This is evidence that women are affected by complacency in a special way. And it is good to be specific. It is good to think through specific applications and understand yourself either as a man or as a woman and the particular weaknesses or strengths that you may have and to recognize that this is true.

When you hear specific applications either from the Bible or just from the preacher making applications on the pulpit, don't take it personally. Understand that it's important to think through these things very specifically.

And so it is important for women to consider this. You know, Proverbs 31 speaks of the virtuous woman. It says, her arms are strong. That's always a surprising thing to read because Proverbs also say the glory of young men is their strength.

You don't think of women as being especially strong. But because housework could tend towards a sort of laziness as you're not worried about what others might think if you have your own home to yourself, it could become a very lazy situation where you aren't working.

But the virtuous woman, her arms are strong. And it is important for women to interact with older women in order that they might be encouraged in this. And it's important for older women to interact with younger women that they might encourage others.

I was in an online forum recently, and someone had asked what resources they would recommend for learning how to take care of their homes and love their husbands better. And the Bible gives a very direct answer to this.

The answer is not a particular book other than the words of Scripture. The answer is, older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderous or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

So, and then it goes on to speak of this of men, too. So this truth applies to both sexes. But it is especially important for women to interact with those who are not of their age group. If you're a young woman, you should ask yourself, what older women am I interacting with on a regular basis that would be teaching me these things?

And if you're an older woman, you should be asking yourself, what younger women am I interacting with on a regular basis in order to teach them these things? Because this is a responsibility for you as well to be engaged in this sort of relationship.

You know, I think the reason why many churches find themselves in unhealthy positions is not necessarily because what's coming from the pulpit is unhealthy, but because there are so many other avenues of teaching that are supposed to be happening in regular church life that simply aren't happening.

It's not enough for all the teaching to come from up here. It must come from down below as well. Older teaching the younger, older men teaching younger men, older women teaching younger women. And so you should be asking yourself right now, which am I in that relationship?

And maybe you're both. Maybe you're someone who is able to teach others, and maybe you're someone who is able to receive from others. And so ask yourself, what relationships are you in? And then what relationship should you be in in the church to encourage or be encouraged in this way?

Because this is a fundamental part of discipleship, of healthy church life. It's not enough to receive your teaching on your own from the scripture. It's not enough to receive it just from the pulpit.

But God has commanded that even there be mentoring relationships between the older and younger in the church. So do ask yourself these things and very specifically answer them to yourself. It continues on here.

He says, In a little more than a year, you will shudder, you complacent women, for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. And so it will be the case that as Assyria comes, the crops will fail because the people aren't able to work on their crops.

They don't feel comfortable enough going out in the field because the effect of war will harm the crops. And all these things will be taken away, and people will want everything back again. They will want what is normal.

Fear of the Lord, Wisdom, and the Need for the Spirit

But considering this issue, this issue of complacency, of the complacency of the heart and how wealth keeps the heart complacent, is this not in many ways a great blessing to have things taken away that you might be woken up?

The Proverbs say in Proverbs 7 -9, it says, It says, Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only what is needful for me. Otherwise, I might become poor and steel, or I might have too much and say, Who is the Lord?

Forget you. You know, you do not want to become so rich that you forget these things. It is good to have precisely what the Lord has determined for you so that you might not become complacent. I remember the beginning of the pandemic when everyone started talking about the return to normal and what it would look like for everything to return to normal.

I very frequently was thinking in my head, you know, this is normal. This right here is normal. Before, when everyone had their spiritual senses dulled by all the eases of the world and all the comforts that it has and weren't thinking about spiritual things, that is not what normal should be.

Normal should be people being aware of the pain and death in the world, people being concerned about the state of their own soul. The new normal is the better normal, in my opinion. In a lot of ways, obviously, there are some things that are quite awful.

But it is good to be reminded of our need, of our spiritual needs, that we might deal with them rather than just having our physical senses so overstimulated that our spiritual senses become kaput. And all this lasts so short.

The vine, the harvest, all of it lasts so short. This world that we live in, it will be taken away from people. All the wealth that they enjoy, it will be taken away. It's not useful on the day of judgment.

God cannot be bribed. He has everything He needs. It all came from Him. In the first place, it will all be taken away. It is temporary. You know, if you considered all the pleasures that you enjoy and just how temporary they are, how many of them would you continue pursuing?

You know, God has given us good things in this world, and I would never suggest that we should all become ascetics that don't enjoy the good things that God provides. But there are so many pleasures that people enjoy not thinking about just how temporary they are.

There are so many things that people pursue not thinking about how temporary they are. And if you thought about how temporary they are, would you pursue them? You know, if you think about the property costs around here, people are willing to pay that much money because they know that they will have this house permanently.

It will be a good investment. But if someone tried to sell you a property at half off one of these underpasses where many people do live, in fact, and you knew that eventually the government would come and kick you off of this because it's not really yours, would you bother investing even half price of what the property is worth in that, knowing that you would be taken away from it?

But you wouldn't bother. It's this case with many of the pleasures that the world enjoys. If they knew that what they were pursuing would be taken away, if that were in their mind, everyone knows that death will come for them, but if that were in their mind, would they pursue these things?

You know, catalog the pleasures that you enjoy and determine how many of these are truly a healthy way of enjoying the goodness of God, reminding yourself of him, and how many of these are causing you to forget him, to forget who he is and say, who is the Lord?

As it says in Proverbs 30, verse 11 says, Tremble, you women who are at ease. Shudder, you complacent ones. Strip and make yourself bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. The answer to complacency, the answer to complacency is fear.

We must fear the Lord. Proverbs say that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why is it the beginning of wisdom? Because it is only when you fear something that you will treat it rightly. You cannot act wisely if you do not fear what ought to be feared, if you do not fear something that is truly dangerous.

You know, if someone thought that sharks were just like any other fish and they went and swam in an area that had a big sign that said, sharks here, beware, you would think, very ignorant, this person who is swimming around with sharks, he has no fear.

We must fear the Lord. The Lord, he is good and he is kind, but he is also just, and he will bring to judgment everyone who has sinned against him and does not have an answer, who does not have a means of justification.

You know, if we do not have, if you do not have Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will not be able to stand before the Lord. There is, there is no hope, but if you fear the Lord, and in fearing him, run to him for safety, knowing that there is full safety afforded in his Son.

This is a wonderful, wonderful solution that he has provided. The answer to this is fear, and I will add to the, to the children, you know, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Just think about how wise you can be compared to people far older than you, if you have this one simple bit of wisdom, if you have this beginning of wisdom that they do not have, the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 119, excuse me, Psalm 119, 99 says, I have more understanding than all my teachers for your teachings are my meditation. If you meditate on the Word of the Lord, if you fear the Lord, you can be smarter than many, many adults.

It is, it is important to have this understanding, and it begins with a fear of the Lord. So how do you, how does one fear the Lord? One fears the Lord, first of all, by not rejecting his warnings. You know, these women, Isaiah had been warning for many, for years at this point, and people continued rejecting him because they didn't see the danger as imminent, and it's becoming more and more imminent so they can't do anything about it.

And what happens as you reject the warnings of the Lord, as you hear his warnings in Scripture, as you hear his warnings echoed by God's people to you, your heart hardens against them, you become more spiritually senseless.

You know, it's a big theme in Isaiah, the spiritual senselessness. So you cannot respond to these things the way that you are supposed to. You will continue just being, just becoming more and more senseless.

I would also say that you should not, once again, you should limit your pleasures so that they are only healthy pleasures, so that they are things that help you appreciate the Lord and not things that overstimulate your senses so that your spiritual senses are dull.

There are a lot of people who think that they can go about this way. They can, let me give you an illustration from the fourth commandment. The fourth commandment does not begin with saying, set aside one day for the Lord.

Fourth commandment begins by telling us what we are to do on all the other days. It says, six days shall you labor and do all your work. And a lot of people think they can kind of half work on five days, and on that, on a sixth day, just be as lazy as possible.

And then on that seventh day, they expect to be ready for rest in the Lord. That is not how God designed us. If you do not treat those six days the way He has given to us to be treated, if you are overstimulated during those days, you are not going to be spiritually sensible on Sunday in order to receive what the Lord has for you.

Now, I'm not saying, once again, that you can't enjoy the good things of God, but I'm many people live their lives in such a way that they are so overstimulated during the week, and with the plethora of time our modern world gives us to use for our own purposes, that they are unable to receive what the Lord has for them because they are so overstimulated.

Same is true with parents raising your children. Your children, it is so hard for them to think long term. They're so young. They're not thinking about death, typically. Their spiritual senses are so young and fresh to allow them to be overstimulated, as many parents do, allow them to be overstimulated with all kinds of entertainment.

You are keeping them from being able to have the spiritual senses necessary in order that they might receive what the Lord has for them from His Word. So be very careful with the way that you're raising your children as well.

Christ Bears the Curse, and God Gives the Fear of Him

So this is the right response, but the alternative to this is not the fear of the Lord that is the true respect for Him and the running to Him, but a fear that is a godless grief. It is a grief only over the consequences, and that's what it describes here.

Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briars. Yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city. He's commanding the women to mourn all that's going to happen, and this is what will come to all who do not have that salvation in Jesus Christ, who have not risen up, as it says in the beginning, rise up, who have not awakened to what God has called them to.

Now you may ask, how can I fear the Lord? You mentioned these other things about not overstimulating, about responding to these warnings when they are given. But can anyone truly fear the Lord? What hope does one have of fearing the Lord?

There is, once again, just a wonderful answer in the gospel. God provides forgiveness for the lack of the fear of God. If you are one who has not feared the Lord as you ought, which is every single one of us, there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ because He was crucified as one who did not fear the Lord.

What was the penalty that He was given? He was considered a blasphemer of God, one who did not fear the Lord, and He was crucified as one who did not fear the Lord. We are the ones who did not fear the Lord, and so the penalty that He paid counts to all of us who are actually guilty of that crime if we are in Him, if we are in covenant with Him, if we have trusted in Him.

And who was He killed by? He was killed by those who had no fear of God. It is a wonderful thing that God has provided in Him. And in that covenant, it says in Jeremiah 32, 40, I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from doing good to them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me.

How does one fear the Lord? Well, these things I described are excellent ways if you are in covenant with Christ, if you are in that new covenant, to increase your fear of the Lord. But none of these are sufficient without the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God is necessary in order to fear Him. If your heart is set against the Lord, the Spirit of God must give you a new heart. You must be born again. But God has provided this. If you are struggling with any sin, maybe you're struggling with great sin or some habit of lifestyle that you want to fix and you just don't think it's possible, you don't know if it's possible.

It is possible because in Jesus Christ, you may have the Spirit of God who changes your heart. You may have that new heart that fears Him. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever, it says in the previous verse.

And then in Jeremiah 32, 40, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn away from me. That fear is available to you through the Spirit of God. Do not become fatalistic and decide that there is no point in trying anymore or anything like that.

In Jesus Christ, there is every hope, every hope of defeating the trials that you come against. Continues on and says, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briars, yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city.

What is the significance of thorns in Scripture? Thorns in Scripture show up in Genesis 3. They come up because of the curse on man, because of man's sin. And this is what is going to come on the people.

A curse is going to come on them for their sin. But once again, this is precisely what Christ has borne on our behalf. He has borne the curse. He was crowned with the crown of thorns. Why? Representing that curse that He bears for us.

If you have Him, you have all the salvation you need. You have this guilt wiped away. If you do not have Him, then you will grow in your spiritual, your spiritual senselessness. You will grow in indolence so that you will be like these women who are told to rise up, but do not rise up, who one day have all their joy taken away from them.

You know, the wine representing joy, all of this taken away. But if you call out to God, He will give you that heart of fear. He will assist you in the rising up, you not being able to rise up yourself so that you might pursue the things that He has called you to, so that you might be content with what He has given you, but have a healthy discontent knowing what He has planned to give us.

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, as we come to You in prayer today, I ask that You would give us hearts not of complacency, but of great zeal, that we might desire Your things and that we might pray for them fervently with an eager spirit, eager to receive Your good things.

In Jesus' name, amen.