Wednesday, Aug 21, 2024 PM

And a quick announcement. Next week, we're not going to have the first Wednesday in September, and that's when we're going to start up Truth and Grace, TAG, our children's program. But so next week, next Wednesday, if you show up, you're welcome to hang out in the parking lot.

We've got a really cool backyard back here, but most of us won't be here, just so you know. So Isaiah chapter 1, as we continue looking at this poem that details the lows, the present lows, and the future highs of Ziom.

Start with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the day. Thank you for the meal, the fellowship, the time we get to spend together. I pray that you would take all of it and use it for our good, conforming us to your Son, Jesus Christ, filling us with your spirit, bringing glory to your name.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Isaiah chapter 1, we'll begin in verse 21. Nor does the cause of the widow come before them. Therefore the Lord says, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, I will rid myself of my adversaries and take vengeance on my enemies.

I will turn my hand against you and thoroughly purge away your dross and take away all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward, you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.

So we are looking at verse 23 currently, and thinking about in this section, the city's ruination proclaimed in verses 21 through 23. Isaiah is showing the complaints of the Lord against his city. Where he had chosen to place his name, but his name is not being borne well.

They are bearing his name in vain. He is bringing charges against them for being so full of corruption, so full of injustice. It's a real disaster. And so, as he showcases their ruination, there's the lament in verse 21, where God is talking to heaven and earth, the witnesses, and saying, look at what has become of the city, how she used to be, but what she is now.

And then in verses 22 and 23, eight lines of poetry, four couplets, in which the complaint of the Lord is stated, and then the degree of it intensified, one after the other. And so, we're looking right now in verse 23, at the middle two lines.

So, we've looked at verse 22, your silver has become a dross, your wine mixed with water. We've looked at verse 23, your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. And so, last time we were talking about how, when the magistrates are rebellious.

And Isaiah is using a saying here. It was a saying they had. It's alliterated, it's rhyming, princes rebel. And this is something they would be walking around saying. Yeah, well, what are you going to do?

The law keepers are unlawful. That was just the saying that they had. That's how corrupt the society had become, how bad Jerusalem was. And so, we talked about how we don't go to the well of unfaithfulness to try to find faithfulness.

We don't draw up from the political swill, healing water. The answer is obviously not in the magistrates. There's not a political solution to this. It has to be that God is going to get involved, and he's going to bring repentance.

He's going to bring a change by his own divine power. So, we've looked at the ruler's character. The princes are rebellious, and they're companions of thieves. The ungoverned and the ungovernable are governing.

That's the character, but look at their corruption. So, it says, everyone loves bribes. Everyone, meaning all the princes, all of these magistrates. They all love bribes and follow after rewards. And so, they're governing their duties as magistrates.

The way that they make their judicial decisions, the way that they direct the city, the way that they give their orders and everything is bought and paid for. Their whole agenda is something wherein somebody with the money has told them how they should rule, how should they act, and what should happen.

We don't find that very surprising. Nobody's jaw dropped. I didn't see anybody like, oh my goodness, that happens? So, this corruption is not unique to Israel. We see this very same corruption widespread, hard to find, and honest politician today anywhere.

So, this corruption is not unique to Israel's day, but they are in unique covenant with God and bear extra concern and responsibility before the face of God in their situation. So, let's consider this corruption.

It really helps if you're a prince, if you're a magistrate who loves bribes, and you just love getting paid, then it makes sense that you would be very companionable with thieves. They've got a lot of free money floating around.

They've got money coming in by the droves because they're getting it dishonestly, stealing from whoever they can, however they can, and thieves tend to be creative. And so, hey, look at all this free money.

And so, they love bribes. They follow the rewards. And so, in a sense, the thieves that are flush with the cash are telling the magistrates what to do and how to act because the magistrates are just going where the money goes.

And we have the thieves. They benefit as well because they're flush with this ill-gotten gain, and they need political cover for their bloody ways. So, they have their get-out-of-jail-free card in their back pocket because it's bought and paid for.

So, this is how corrupt everything is. And so, we have these magistrates, and, of course, the commandment to not steal is very closely— you'll notice how closely it's located to do not murder because these things hang together, as Solomon warned his son in Proverbs 1, that stealing and murder go together.

And so, who are the accessories to murder? Who are the accessories to theft? The judges, the magistrates. Do you get the picture how corrupt, how deeply corrupt this whole system is? And so, we've already seen them being charged with murder in verse 21, that the city is full of murderers.

Now, this whole idea of bribery is very clearly forbidden by God. It's like he knew that this was going to happen. So, when he gave instructions to his people in Exodus 23, he had some instructions that were designed to preserve standards, preserve justice, preserve righteousness in the society.

And these are the things that they are not abiding by. So, in Exodus 23, in verse 1, speaking to the rulers, the magistrates, this right here, Exodus 23, verses 1 through 9, is really the instruction manual for the magistrates, for the elders sitting in the city gates, for the princes of Judah.

This is what they were called to and why. This is what they have failed to live up to. I think it's important that we put our eyes on it and see for ourselves. This is not corruption simply because we feel like it's dishonest.

It's not just corruption because we've had experiences where corruption has hurt us. This is corruption, this is covenant breaking because of what God said, here's the standard to which they're rebelling.

So, Exodus 23, verses 1 through 9, You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

So, don't spread lies, don't bear false witness against your neighbor. Don't partner with a wicked man to be his backup, because every word was supposed to be established by two or three witnesses. So, don't get involved in being a witness for hire.

And don't let the crowd tell you what right and wrong is. Isn't that wise? Don't you see the wisdom of Exodus 23, verse 2? Isn't it wise that magistrates, that judges, that people in leadership should not, just whatever the crowd is clamoring for, that's what I'm going to go with.

Verse 3, you shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. Now, you can understand why you would show partiality to a rich man, because he could benefit you. I mean, if you side with him when he was probably expecting to lose, he's going to have you over for a real nice dinner afterwards.

There's some way he's going to pay you back. But this is saying, don't show partiality to a poor man in the dispute. What would be the motivation for showing partiality to a poor man? What makes you look good, right?

Yeah, there's a different type of reward that you're aiming for. It's the same reward that the Pharisees were looking for when they blew a trumpet before they gave the money to the poor man, right? They were hoping to gain virtue, right?

Virtue signaling is not new. It's very old, very old. Do not side with a poor man in his dispute. Just kind of give him partiality. Verse 4, if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

This is just basic good society wisdom and principles. Verse 5, if you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

Even if you don't like somebody, if they're your neighbor, you should help them. You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. Keep yourself far from a false matter. Do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.

And in verse 8, and you shall take no bribe. So along with everything else that we're hearing about the way in which God is calling for a just society, including in this verse 8 very specifically, and you shall take no bribe.

Why? For a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the word of the righteous. Which is why, you know, when there's like some institution, some Christian leader who seems to be on the level and everything's going along fine, all of a sudden they just turn squish, like, whoa, what happened?

And lo and behold, all you have to do is wait for the truth to come out and then you just follow the money and like, oh, there was a huge donation here. And all of a sudden they're squish. Why should we not take bribes?

Because it blinds the discerning and it perverts the words of the righteous. Also, you should not oppress a stranger if you know the heart of a stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

So several folks are identified here, and we're going to talk more about that in our studies in this section of Isaiah. I think it's an important theme, especially given certain rampant teaching in the American church in recent years.

We have all sorts of people being identified as being especially identified as there's a concern that there should be justice done, not partiality given to them, but justice done for them. Why are they being highlighted?

Because it's so easy to prey upon them and use them and oppress them and side against them. So God is making special notice of those who are especially vulnerable when it comes to the issues of social governance.

The same thing is said in Deuteronomy 10, verses 17 through 19, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. So the Lord is establishing his holy character as the basis for those who are made in his image how they ought to operate.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. So verse 18, he administers justice for the fatherless and the widow.

Now, what does that mean? That means the orphan who has no father to stand before him in the city gates and defend him, the widow who has no husband to stand for her in her place at the city gates and to contend for her, God says, I'm doing that, so don't mess with me.

What is he preserving? What happens when the orphan and the widow, as we talked about, pass through your vineyard to get the grapes that you were supposed to leave, the figs that you were supposed to leave on your tree, the corners of your field, the gleanings and the rows and so forth.

But what if you went over the second time and took the last of the figs and you took the rest of the grapes and you did all of that? That was all supposed to be there for the poor to come and work and labor and fill their bellies by good, honest work.

But let's say you didn't leave it like you were supposed to. Who are they going to complain to? They go to the magistrate, they go to the city gate and say, we went there and we know from others that there was nothing left and we're going hungry because the system's not working and you're trying to complain, but then what judge is going to listen?

What are you going to do? It's like, yeah, well, it's like, he's my golf buddy. What am I going to do? Or maybe one of the elders at the city gate was the one who went a second time over his vineyard.

Who's going to stand there and point the finger at the magistrate and say, thou art the man. You did the wrong thing. Well, if the widow has no husband and the orphan has no father, to do that for them, God says, I'm going to take care of it.

Well, that would get your attention if you're a magistrate. It's like, oh, I'm accountable to God. So the easiest cases where I could be unjust, I must be most cautious and most careful to be precisely just.

Now, we've already said not to be partial to them, but to be just concerning them. Do you see the difference? We've been told time and again, no partiality, no partiality, even if they're poor, but just.

So that's what's being talked about. The stranger also has no standing in the society, has no standing in the city. They're an outsider, so who cares? They're not one of us, right? Another opportunity to be unjust to them and get away with it, to take their stuff and then say, you know, get out of here.

Deuteronomy 16, verses 18 and 19. You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You see how those two go together? If you show partiality, no matter who it is, what their background is, what their reasons are, if you show partiality, what is it?

You pervert justice. I'm bringing this up because in today's evangelical parlance in the United States of America, very often what is being shouted out as justice, justice, justice is actually partiality, partiality, partiality.

And they're saying that partiality is justice when the Bible time and again is saying, showing partiality is injustice. Now, we'll come back to that confusion in a moment. Also a great story is in 2 Chronicles 19 when Jehoshaphat restarted the magistrates and the princes and the judges and told them, here's how you're supposed to judge.

We're going to bring justice back to our society through a proper judicial system. Okay, so why is that happening? Why is it happening that for, I don't know, at least five, if not longer years, there's just been this constant refrain and push saying that justice means that you have to show extra partiality to various groups identified by sexual identification and skin color.

And this is justice. You have to show favor impartiality and do things in such a way that gives them far more than you would somebody else. And that's justice. Well, where did that definition come from?

It didn't come from the scriptures, right? It didn't come from the scriptures. It came from Marxism. It comes from Marxism, wherein every single social interaction of any sort, anywhere, anytime, must always be seen in light of oppressor and oppressed.

There's always somebody who is stronger, has more privilege, or so on, and they are always the oppressor, and whoever they're engaging with is always the oppressed, and there's always injustice going on, always.

Those are the presuppositions. Therefore, to do justice in the Marxist presupposition is to always give some sort of favor impartiality and boost whoever is the oppressed so that you make everything even Stevens.

This has been going on for a long time. This has been taught throughout all of our schools and our churches and our politics. It's the Frankfurt School of Cultural Marxism, and it's very popular. It's very popular in our seminaries.

It's very popular in all of the most famous churches and so forth. But let's just read the Bible. What does it say? Don't show partiality. It's like, yeah, but they're suffering. Look, these people have all sorts of problems in their life.

That's great. Preach Jesus to them. Encourage them to repent from their sins. So often the sins that they have been told are their identity, so embrace their sins are the sins that are causing such havoc in their lives and destroying their lives.

So encourage them to come to the Savior and repent of their sins and find in Christ deliverance and salvation because he's the Savior of the world. Also, if you have a heart of compassion for people who are in dire straits, then guess what?

You get to be not just. You get to be merciful. And you get to be generous. And you get to be kind. And you get to give. And you get to do all sorts of wonderful, nice things for people. And do you know what?

Not a lick of anything that you would do that's kind and generous and gracious. None of it, none of it is just. And that's good news. That's really good news. Remember that Jesus said, And you may give to them and help them freely whenever you wish.

Whenever you wish. Okay? So I wanted to talk about that particular issue because it's going to be really hard to read Isaiah when he starts talking about justice and talking about widows, orphans, poor, and refugee.

And if we have all of this liberation theology, which is the mixture of Christianity and Marxism, if we have that rolling around in our heads when we read Isaiah, we're going to end up in some strange places.

So I wanted to kind of clear that up before we move on. All right. Let's turn our attention now to our prayer requests.