Sunday, July 28, 2024 PM

Thank you, Lori and Jeff. Jeff said he didn't have much to do with that, but, you know, it's, I'll tell you, Jeff's quiet, but he's very appreciative. And we thank you, Lori, for taking that extra time.

You know, there is something special, isn't there, about memorizing passages, extended passages, memorizing, to hear those children quoting that favorite psalm. Well, thank you so much for that. It was very encouraging.

Isaiah 1 and the Call to Confession

And now let's turn our attention to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1, as we continue to consider the question that we are posed in this first chapter, what hope is there for rebellious children? The depths of Israel's rebellion has been explored.

The arenas of their rebellion are being surveyed. All throughout, there is a question about what hope is there? How will Israel and Yahweh be made right? What changes can occur? What actions can be taken?

An inventory of their religious life has been taken. They have been weighed and they have been found wanting. Though they gather at the altar and make many sacrifices, though they gather at assembly there at the temple for their special feast days, though they make many appeals to the Lord, God says of all of it, I don't want that.

It isn't that He is against praying and praise and sacrifices per se. It's that they continually gather and go through these motions with no repentance. They don't acknowledge their sin. They don't see the situation God's way.

They're not in agreement with God in their hearts, in their minds, in their ways. They take up the formal actions of worship. They engage in a litany of religious activities, but their hearts are far from God.

And so God has called for a cessation of all this religious activity. In a sense, it could be considered hyperbole, an exaggeration with a point. His point is He wants them to draw near to Him through confession.

He wants to have them draw near to Him through the acknowledgement of their sin, and they're looking unto Him for their forgiveness. And so we come to verse 18, where God says, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.

The Hebrew word behind our translation, reason, being one that is most often translated throughout the Old Testament as rebuke. But it's structured in such a way in this passage to invite the one being rebuked to agree with God, to be on God's side in this rebuke, to say, God, you're right.

I am sinful. I am wayward. I'm in agreement with you. When it comes to you and me, God, in our opposition, I'm on your side against me. And that is the very heart of what confession means, to be in agreement with God about our sins.

And why is this important? Because all of their regular approaches through the sacrificial system and through the religious calendar, through their formal appeals unto God, they have all failed. This will not bring hope to the rebellious situation.

But confessing their sins, being in agreement with God, is that necessary first step for forgiveness. God says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

So God invokes the imagery of the sacrificial system to get at the heart of the matter that He is the one who brings forgiveness to those who confess their sins and turn to Him. Now we spent some time examining why that is so and looking into our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God, whose blood proves the blood of the new covenant and the remission of our sins.

And so we are reminded why Isaiah 1 verse 18 is so precious to the saints. But now we come to verses 19 and 20, and God has already called for repentance, He's called for renewal, but now He calls for and explains the requirements.

He reminds the people of Israel of the covenant requirements that He laid out for them so long ago under the leadership of Moses. So read with me, Isaiah chapter 1 verses 19 and 20. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land.

But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Now He has just called them to come to Him because they are distant, because they are far away. And the way they approach is not by sacrifices and gatherings and appeals, but the way that they gather to Him and they come to Him from their distant, far-off rebellion, like that prodigal son, the way they come to Him is through confessing their sins.

And He reminds them that He is their good. He does that by reminding them of what happened in Deuteronomy 28, where that second generation to be led ultimately by Joshua, they're going to go into the promised land.

Moses is not going to go with them. But before they depart from that, the shadow of Mount Peor, they're in the shade of the acacia trees before they cross over the Jordan River and enter in, Moses teaches the second generation, he gives a second rendering of the law, which is the root of the name Deuteronomy, Deutero-second-nomos-law, the second giving of the law.

So everything is getting summed up in Deuteronomy 28. And as we think about the way that verses 19 and 20 are structured, let's also turn over to Deuteronomy 28 and look at some scripture there. We find two conditional promises given in Isaiah chapter 1, verses 19 and 20.

And then a concluding affirmation, which should lead us to believe that these promises are true. Verse 19 sets forth a promise of blessing, but we see that the blessing is dependent upon the willing obedience of the people.

They don't get the blessing if they're not obedient. And in the first two parts of verse 20, in similar fashion, sets forth a promise of cursing, and that is contingent on the rebellious refusal of the people.

If they are obedient, they will eat the good of the land. If they're rebellious and they refuse, then they will suffer covenant curses. We find that there's no alternative, there's no middle ground, and the certainty of these two promises is secured by the very last portion of verse 20, where it says, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

When we put all three of those dynamics together, blessings for obedience, cursings for disobedience, certainty because it's the word of the Lord, that brings our attention to Deuteronomy 28. Isaiah 1, verses 19 through 20, in a sense, is a very quick summary of Deuteronomy 28.

So in Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 14, we find blessings listed for willing obedience. And in Deuteronomy 28, verses 15 through 68, there is promises of cursing. Now listen to the beginning of the chapter.

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all his commandments, which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Now compare that with Isaiah 119. If you are willing and obedient, you get the idea there of there's going to be a vigorous, diligent type of obedience. You shall eat the good of the land. And when you move through Deuteronomy 28, you find that the blessings that God promised to Israel were tied to the land again and again and again.

So eating the good of the land, when an Israelite would hear that, they would hear the covenant blessings that God promised in connection to their promised land. Notice verse 3 of Deuteronomy 28. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country, throughout the land.

Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground, and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle, and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand. And he will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Notice how the blessings are tied to the land.

There will be the produce of your crops, the produce of your livestock. You won't go hungry, you'll have enough. In fact, the things that you put in your storehouses will not go bad. And when there are enemies who try to take away your land, the Lord will give you victory over your enemies in your land.

They'll come at you one way and flee seven ways because they're in a route, they're in retreat. And now the summary, verse 9. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself, just as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.

Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

The Lord will open to you his good treasure, the heavens, to give the reign of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail. You shall be above only and not beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Now, repeatedly throughout the promises of blessings upon Israel concerning their land, it is always contingent on their obedience.

Always. It's not because of their DNA. It's not because of their time in history. It's not because of their language. It's because of their obedience. They are called to fill the role in type that of Adam.

Adam and Eve, made in God's image, placed into God's special place, the Garden of Eden, and compelled to enjoy all the blessings of God in the place that he has provided for them. And they know that blessing, and they know that communion, and they know that wonderful life with God.

But what separates them from God, what brings that separation of death, is sin. And they sin against God, and they are cut off from him, and exiled from him. So when God makes covenants with Noah, or Abraham, or Israel, or David, and ultimately the new covenant in Christ, it reflects on who we are, made in God's image, and our design, and our need to be in fellowship with him, and right relationship with him.

And this covenant that God made with Israel, that began at Sinai, and is explained again here, God puts his people into his place to be blessed under his rule, but they're only going to be blessed if they obey.

Only blessed if they're in agreement with God. Only blessed and have all of these wonderful things, if they're going to follow him, and do so willingly, and diligently. Now, the contrast is given in verses 15, all the way through the end of the chapter.

And what we find is that God begins with the blessings with Israel, and says, if you're willing and you obey, you eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, what does he say in verse 20? You shall be devoured by the sword.

Isaiah kind of summarizes the problem for Israel, is that if they disobey God, they'll be devoured by the sword. They will be eaten by war. They will be consumed by the aggression of foreign nations. And when you read through Deuteronomy 28, beginning in verse 15, all the way through the end, you find foreign nation after foreign nation being promised to come against Israel, famine, and disease, and death.

All the aspects that come with war are promised upon them, should they disobey. And but God keeps on saying, and if you continue to rebel, if you continue to disobey, then I will do this next series of things.

And if you continue to disobey and continue to rebel, then I'll do this next series of things. And so we find that even in the declaration of covenant curses, God is expressing his long-suffering, his patience, his willingness to chastise and to chastise.

And as Isaiah says, all day long, he held out his hands to a stiff-necked and stubborn people. So when we consider these elements in light of God's promise of communion through confession and cleansing in Christ, verse 18, Isaiah 118.

And we consider this contrast of obedience and blessing and rebellion and cursing. What we should think of, first of all, is that God is our good. God is our good. What is he calling for in obedience other than draw near, come close, walk with me, be in my way?

Why is that? Because we're made in God's image. God is our good. We were made for him. We were made in his image. We were given life by his very breath. We were called to live according to his word. So we're made for God.

God is our greatest good. And what God is saying here as he's communicating to Israel concerning the requirements of the covenant that he made with them, he is teaching them time and again, I'm your good.

There is no, in other words, there's no blessing in the land that's not tied to their obedience to God, their closeness to God, their fidelity to God. He's teaching them. If you remove yourself away from me, you've got nothing but death and separation.

You draw close to me, you have life and good. He's teaching them. Remember that Paul said that the law is a schoolmaster, which brings us to Christ. What did the law teach Israel time and again? Other than moving away from God is moving away from your good.

Coming to God is finding your life and finding your good. Because we're made for him, made for his image, made in his image. God is righteous and just. We also learn this from this contrast. We recognize that his wrath and his chastisements, though different in motivation and different in expression, are correct and true.

And we should believe in the blessing and the cursing of God. Israel should believe that there's blessing and cursing according to the covenant that God made with them. Why? For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

And they may live part of their life and be somewhat insulated from the problems that are coming upon the nation because of their idolatry. And they may say to ourselves, well, I'm doing fine. Some of them may struggle a little bit more and have have poverty, even in the context of things going well in the nation, having a good king and good priests and so on.

So it's not their experience that determines cursing and blessing. It's the word of the Lord. The certainty of God keeping his promises is given to us here. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. All of his words are correct and true.

None of his words must be doubted as if he were like men who change their mind and lie as those who are made in God's image. His nearness is life. Distance means death and our joyful compliance with his word.

The joyful compliance with the word of God, the drawing near to God of the image of God is as good and right as the roaring of the seas, the singing of the birds and the twinkling of the stars in all creation.

We were made for him. Now, when we think about verse 18 connected to the survey we just did of verses 19 and 20, I think it would be important for us to remember who it is who not only perfectly pleased God in every way, in perfect fidelity to God, and that is Christ.

Whatever the covenant standards were that God gave to David, to Israel, to Abraham or to Noah, and whatever it means for us to be made in God's image and all of the stewardship and responsibility that that entails, Jesus Christ succeeds, he fulfills, he satisfies, which is why he's the son of David, which is why he is the true vine, the true Israel, which is why he is the seed of Abraham, the seed of promise, which is why he is truly our rest, our comfort, and he is the last Adam.

Everything that happened in creation and in the fall and in the giving of the covenants, time and again, the call is for a faithful servant, an obedient people, recognizing that only by the obedience of the man can we find the right relationship with God.

We just read about how every intent of the thoughts was only evil continually from Genesis chapter 6. Look at our state. Look at our condition. We can never achieve that. Yet Christ, born of the Virgin Mary as the second Adam, he has willingly been obedient, even to the point of death upon the cross.

He has borne our curse, taken it out of the way, so that we would know all the blessings of God in him. We'll leave it there for tonight, and I think it would be fitting that we close by singing the doxology.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures. He is above. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.