Isaiah Lesson 2

In a class that I've taught, what's definitely true about any class that I teach?

Thank you.

I am military in background.

I've got,.

And we made a commitment to keep our teaching time to 45 minutes. So I'd rather not start three minutes late and only have 42 minutes. The other thing that anybody that's been in any of my classes, if you take a look at the handouts, what's your prediction?

I'll never make it through. I tend to really, I am really motivated by the riches of God's word. And so I love to get into it. And I also love dialogue.

I also love participation.

I'm not so much a lecturer. I can do that, but I prefer the Holy Spirit to work through all of us. So my handouts, usually they go in three sets, each paragraph, each topic. I call it mining for data.

That's just my word. Going into the passage and seeing what it actually says. This isn't an interpretation moment. It's what is this passage actually saying? And then we can start asking questions and then we can see what scriptures amplify the concepts that we're doing.

That's my approach and I'm sticking to it. I'm happy to see every single one of you here this morning. We are going to be attempting Isaiah chapter one verses two through nine. Last week, Jeff did the impossible.

He did the entire book of Isaiah in 45 minutes. We're going to slow down just a little bit. The beginning of Isaiah in the first chapter, we are going to perceive so much foundational truth and relevance that we absolutely are going to need to have and to understand as we get into the rest of the book.

There are so many things in here, the messianic prophecies, the prophetic prophecies, the proclamations, but understanding who God is talking to and why this prophecy, a lot of this is going to come out in chapter one.

All right, so here's my very first question. Who is this prophecy given to? Or as Rick would have me say, to whom is this prophecy given? This isn't a tough one, guys. Who to, to whom is Isaiah's prophecy given?

To Judah.

To Judah.

What is significant about Judah? Okay, thank you. They're in a state of corruption. What else is significant about Judah? Yes, at this point in time, they still are independent. Thank you. Yeah, it's the center.

It's the center of worship. The temple is there and all. Okay, let's just take some very basic foundational ones. Judah, that they are part of the 12 tribes. They get to go into the promised land in the book of Joshua.

They enter in and the land is divided out and they're given a direction to get rid of the ites that are there and to be devoted wholly to God. We do know, Jeff mentioned it last week, that after Solomon, we had Rehoboam and Jeroboam and we had revolt.

We had the northern 10 tribes and the southern two tribes. The northern 10 tribes were really, really good people. No, wicked and always wicked. The southern 10 tribes were kind of in a pattern of up and down and up and down, but the prophecy is gonna be given against them because they are not wholly devoted to the Lord.

In chapter one's got some scary, scary thoughts. We're gonna get in, we're going to, this is going to be like a courtroom, these first few verses. We're going to have a legal indictment is going to be given against the people and then there will be an opening argument.

You can almost see the lawyer standing in front of the jury and giving an opening argument. The accusation is proclaimed and then the consequences of what is happening.

Will be discussed.

I hope we get enough time to get into my fifth point because when we're doing this, the temptation is gonna be to take in all of this information, but I want us to be able to apply it. I want us to be able to look to Scripture, grow closer to Him, look to Scripture, see God, look to Scripture, understand more about the Messiah and as we do Isaiah, there is so much, so much richness there.

We're getting to get started. Pastor Jeff, would you open us in a prayer? Absolutely.

So Lord, we look to you in your word today and we ask that you would open our eyes to see. In fact, Lord, give us eyes to see. Help us to just interpret rightly, to apply and we pray that your Holy Spirit would do work in our hearts to change us from the inside out.

We thank you for your word. We know it never returns void and we trust in your word today and ask that you would use it in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.

So we also welcome those who are watching the video. Pastor Jeff will be including a copy of the notes in his Thursday Pastograms. So as you're watching this on video, you should be able to track along with the notes.

I will be asking people to read passages. If you're not comfortable reading them, that's fine. We'll just pass it along. For those of you who are watching in the video, if you don't hear the people, you can read along with us and you'll have an essence of where we're going.

Jeff, you are gonna be my Isaiah 1 reader.

All right.

And to get started, Sandy, I would like you to get Deuteronomy 7 .6. The passages that I'm going to be talking to and maybe reading are listed in the notes. And so as we go down, you'll be able to see.

We're not gonna read them all only because I've only got 45 minutes, but the ones that we don't read out, I'll at least refer to. So if I give you one to read, please be ready with that. Louise, are you ready to read?

Wait, are you ready to read? You're gonna get Exodus 19. And we'll stop there for now. Jeff, give me the entire section two through nine of chapter one.

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know.

My people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel.

They are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds.

They are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. In your very presence, foreigners devour your land. It is desolate as overthrown by foreigners, and the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.

All right, we're going to take it a little bit at a time, and like I said, we're going to try to capture what the message is here. And so my first paragraph is going to complete an entire half of a verse.

We'll go faster than that eventually. Filling in my blanks here, here O heavens, here O heavens and earth, for the Lord has spoken. All right, we've got our courtroom, and in the courtroom right now, we have the lawyer standing up, and he says, listen O heavens and earth, these are the words that the Lord has spoken.

Okay, who is this message going to be against? You're going to have to read in between the lines right now, but who is this message going to be against? The children of? The children of who? Of Israel, Jerusalem, Judah.

It's going to be a message against Judah. Now there are prophets and prophecies against the northern kingdom, but in this case, it's the southern two tribes. This is going to be an indictment against them.

And the reason that they're being brought to court, and it doesn't say it in here, but why are they being brought to court? Rebellion.

Rebellion.

Rebellion is a great answer. There's another way to look at it too. What has Judah not done?

Obeyed.

They have not obeyed. They have not kept up their side of the bargain. And so at this point in time, they're being brought in. If we read in Genesis 12, we're going to read about the promises and blessings that are given to Abraham.

These people had everything that they could, that you could possibly imagine, and they had the blessings of Yahweh going with them. If we go into Genesis 17, it's reiterated in there, and it says that all nations will be blessed through you.

These are the people that had it all. But Deuteronomy 6, 7, would you read that please? I'm sorry, 7, 6.

Thank you.

Thank you, John.

The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people from his own possession, out of all the peoples who are on the earth.

There is absolutely no justification that Israel could say, we deserved this. What they have is purely because of God's sovereign love, God's sovereign will, the grace that he gives to them. Now, what is going to be expected of them is going to be a return.

In the Old Testament, there are exhortations on how they're to behave. Give me Exodus 19, Louise, if you've got that.

Then Moses climbed a mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, give these instructions to the family of Jacob. Announce it to the descendants of Israel. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians.

You know how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the people on earth. For the earth belongs to me, and you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.

This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.

Give me the covenant in your own words. What is the covenant in your own words that is surrounding this passages? I'm sorry, say again. Go ahead, what is the covenant? No, no, no, don't give it to me in quoting.

In your own words. He couldn't help it. He had to quote it word for word. And that's what I love about you. Yeah, God has already made these promises to these people. What's the rest of the covenant? What was their side of the bargain?

Obey.

Go with that now, I appreciate that, go. Mosaic covenant.

So that's where Isaiah comes in. God is keeping the covenant that he made with Israel.

Appreciate you bringing that up. Now here's the deal. The Mosaic covenant brings in this conditional side of it. If, when, not if, when the nation disobeys, the Abrahamic covenant does not become null and void because the Abrahamic covenant is based purely on God.

They are his chosen people. He will restore them. And Pastor Jeff has been taking us through the book of Revelation. His promises are true. Yay and amen. What is realized through the Mosaic covenant is the things that you're going to experience in life, there are going to be trials, but then there are going to be judgments and there are going to be consequences for what is had.

What has Judah failed to do? They have failed to listen. It says that what, oh Israel, does God most desire of you? He most desires their hearts. And we're going to get into, as we get into this book, there are going to be times where the nation of Israel is doing sacrifices and the nation of Israel is even praying, but this is missing.

But this is missing. And because of that, it's meaningless. It's meaningless. Jeff, give me verses two and three again, please.

Hear, oh heavens, and give ear, oh earth. For the Lord has spoken. Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know.

My people do not understand.

So there's some comparisons here, all right? He's going to take something that should be well understood and then compare it and bring it into the realm of Israel. Leviticus 26, Dave Reynolds, I'm going to ask you to get that.

There's two passages in Leviticus 26. We'll eventually get there. It says, children, what have I done for you? In the middle of verse two, what has he done for the children? I reared you and brought you up.

I've raised you. As a parent, I've given what is desired of you. I imagine within this room here or those viewing, there's an understanding as a father or as a mother, or even as a grandparent, pouring out into the lives of the children.

Why do you do that? Why, as a parent? As a grand, love. That's a good answer. Why else do you do it? Outside being a good citizen. Ralph said, if you don't do it, your wife's going to smack you. Reflecting God's character.

There's also, to just be honest, there's an expectation that love will be reciprocated.

Love. Love.

But we are not God. Our love is not necessarily perfect. We do expect that as we pour out to our children, that they would respond to us out of obedience, out of love, out of respect, and whatever else.

He is talking to them now in this concept that says, children, I have raised you, but you have done what?

Rebelled.

Rebelled.

You have rebelled.

You've ignored.

You have ignored.

You ignored me.

You can see within the heart of God, almost a tearing, a breaking, an anguish. I've raised you, I've given you, you have been my, but you have rebelled against me. The Hebrew, yeah, John Detoli.

Yeah.

The word treasure, possessions, what our children are to us.

Treasure, treasure, possessions.

Not just anybody.

Absolutely.

Yes. It is.

I think that the prophet, he's obviously inspired. He, as Jeff mentioned last week, a lot of what he does is poetic language. And so he's going to be using, what would the term, would this be metaphors, similes, or what would it be, Rick?

I don't know. I'm an engineer. What do I know of English? But he's going to be painting pictures that we should be able to comprehend. And then showing how the response from Israel, it just doesn't make sense.

And it's a heartache. He talks about it. Isaiah 21, verse 28, he's going to be talking about transgressors and rebels and how they will be crushed. In Isaiah 48, he's going to say, I knew you, but guess what?

From your birth, I knew you were going to rebel. That should blow your mind. That should blow your mind. The sovereignty and the foreknowledge of God. Even from your birth, I knew that you would rebel against me but I still chose you and you are still my people and I reared you.

And Isaiah 66 is going to eventually talk about a new heaven where those who have rebelled will be looked on as dead corpses. The second image is that of an ox and a donkey. What is that all about?

An unthinking animal, instinctively knows who its master is and obeys him. But thinking human beings don't, apparently.

That's a great insight. An ox. Let's think about an ox for a minute. An ox is the epitome of submission. You know, you put the yoke on the ox and the ox does, the ox never fights back. At least, that's perception.

An ox is the epitome of submission. Well, what's a donkey the epitome of? Stubbornness. Stubbornness, yeah. It says, but even these, even these, the ox knows its master. It says, even the stubborn donkey knows enough to return to his master.

Even the stubborn donkey, and then this word but. But Israel has done what? If we go into the passage, but Israel has done what? Doesn't know.

Doesn't know.

Doesn't know.

Doesn't know.

Even these, even these very.

They didn't get it.

They don't get it. Yeah, you're right. I do love, last week we were here and a couple of you ladies were talking about how for the Jews, they would have read the Pentateuch, but never seen the book of Isaiah.

And like, these light bulbs go off. But for the nation of Israel, they were reared as children. They should have had. They had all these blessings. Even the basic animals, even the most submissive and the most stubborn of animals, they know enough.

But Israel, you did not. Leviticus 26.

Dave.

Start out with three through six.

If you walk in my statutes, your threshing shall last to the, and you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.

Peace from the land,.

And the sword shall not go where you're at.

Dave and I, we experienced this frequently, both Dave and I, he's a good friend of mine. We umpire baseball, we referee basketball together. And before a game starts, you meet with the coaches and you set out the ground rules.

You set out the expectations on how this game is supposed to be played. This is what Jesus, this is what God is doing. If you obey, if you walk in my statutes, the expectations were given clearly to the nation.

If you walk in my, if you walk in my statutes, if you obey, and the list of blessings that Dave read are amazing. It should have been enough to motivate them to say, I got this. However, give me 14 to 17, please, Dave.

My statutes, and so that you will not do all my commandments but break my covenant, then I will do this to you. I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consumes the eyes and makes the heart ache.

Okay, I'll let you stop there, because it's going to go on. There is no excuse. Israel has absolutely no excuse. First of all, they were raised by God. Second of all, they were given the blessings and the covenants and the promises.

And third of all, even the ox and the donkey know better. But the opening argument in this courtroom is that they didn't, is that they fell short. And so now, Jeff, give me verse four, the accusations.

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged.

It is absolutely frightening to think that I could be standing in front of the throne of God and having accusations thrown against me and then to say, you know what?

He's right.

Ephesians chapter two starts out by talking about the condition of every living person. And you, Ethi, walked in the depth of darkness, following the prince of the power of the air. And you've been disobedient.

You have turned away. You have abandoned God. Verses one, two, and three are very clear. And then verse four starts with, but God. So each one of us, each one of us who have not turned to God, we would be standing in front of this courtroom and we would be having this accusation written against us.

And I got news for you. Anybody who does not confess God while here on earth at the great white throne judgment, they will. Eventually we're gonna see here, every knee will bow before God. And then confess.

So at this point in time, he says, ah, sinful nation. A people, how was he described the people? Ladened with iniquity. Was talking with, actually with Natan Avenger and his dad were over at the house and we were looking at grass.

If you have a beautiful lawn and one weed gets into the lawn and you don't do anything about that weed, what happens? You get lots of weeds. Yeah. And if you don't fertilize it and you don't water it, what happens to your grass?

It gets, the mandate to be absolutely always attentive and willing. We have a nation here, a sinful nation, laden with iniquity. How are the offsprings described? Evil doers and the children who deal corruptly.

And now there are three strong accusations given against them. They have done what? They have abandoned the Lord. This is the same God that carried them through the wilderness. This is the same God that gave them the promises when they are at Shittim on the other side of the Jordan and come in.

This is the same God that told them how to defeat Jericho by him. This is the same God that over and over and over again has told them, has sent judges to proclaim their wickedness, allowed them to be judged, but then listened with mercy as they proclaimed and confessed and came back.

This is the same God and it says that they have forsaken him. Then they have done what? The relationship between the people and God has gone now beyond one of pushing him out of my life to one of actually despising God.

What a terrible picture for anybody, but we're talking the nation of Israel, his chosen people. They have actually despised God and they are now what? Estranged. They have turned away. Genesis 6 .12, we're gonna continue.

Gus, can you get Genesis chapter 6 .12 and Isaiah 42 .24, if you would get that please. I'm gonna talk to some of these others. While they're looking that up, I'm gonna jump down to Jeremiah 17. I'll read to Jeremiah, so I'll just speak to it, but Gus is getting Genesis 6 and Rich is getting Isaiah 24.

Isaiah 42 .24, thank you very much. I'm having problems with my eyes today. I said that above all things, what does God desire of his people? He wants their heart. Jeremiah is going to give us a warning and he's gonna say that the heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick.

Who can understand it? God searches the heart and it's the heart that is going to be that first step, that most disastrous step away from God. Do you have Genesis 6 .12, Gus?

Genesis 6 .12.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Genesis 6 .12.

That's good enough. That's good enough, that's good enough. There are times where God looks down and he searches the heart and he sees absolute wickedness and in the time of Noah, he only found one family that he could save and that was Noah.

Does anybody know Noah's wife's name? No, Mrs. Noah. She's one of my heroes, by the way. Could you imagine Mrs. Noah when Mr., Louise, could you imagine Dave walking up to you? We're gonna build an ark and you're gonna say, what is an ark?

And we're gonna live in it for a long time. Okay, Dave. The wickedness of man does not escape God's eyes and in this case, the accusations are there. Isaiah 42 .24, you got that, Rich?

42 .24.

Yes, please.

Right, Jacob up to spoil and Israel to plunderers. Was it not the Lord against whom we have sinned and in those whose ways they were not willing to walk and whose law they did not obey?

There are gonna be judgments that are gonna be cast down on the nation of Israel and there's gonna be consequences for what they've done and they're gonna be severe. Why are these judgments coming down on Israel?

Their disobedience, their sin, their hearts. There can't be any, oh my goodness, that's not fair. The nation of Israel has turned away from God. Deuteronomy 28 .20 was gonna declare that God punishes because the people have forsaken Him.

2 Kings 21 is gonna talk about the people forsaking Him and not walking in His ways. They're in this land of plenty and they're in this land that was promised to them but yet not walking in His ways. I do wanna read another one.

Elaine, is that your name? Okay, I'm gonna let you get there. 2 Chronicles 13, I'll give you time to find it. In Judges, it's going to talk about how desperate this becomes because not only are they going to be disobeying God but they're going to be following other gods.

And this becomes where it becomes absolutely abhorrent. They're gonna be following other gods and it says it again in 1 Samuel 12 that they have forsaken the Lord, they have forgot to serve the Lord and they are following other gods.

If you have 2 Chronicles 13, I'll watch until you stop turning pages. Yes, verse 11. And after that, I forgot your name. Bonnie, get 2 Chronicles 15, verses one and two. 2 Chronicles 13 .11, go ahead, 13 .11.

Go ahead, Elaine.

Okay, just stop right there. Sounds good. Every morning and every evening, they offer sacrifices to the Lord. Go ahead and finish that verse.

You're not fighting against the Lord.

Okay, that's good right there. When you're reading these passages and you see this little conjunction, but you really wanna stop. You really wanna stop. It's going to give you a strong contrast. What she read in the front, you're setting out the offerings, you're doing this on a day, but you forsake the God.

And if you're gonna set out offerings and there's no heart and you've forsaken the God, don't waste your time. Don't waste your time. Bonnie, what have you got? Just 15, verses one and two. Is that 2 Chronicles?

2 Chronicles 15? 2 Chronicles 15, one and two?

Okay.

It sounded good. But I was having a hard time working with it.

Go ahead.

And two.

Keep going, one and two. Let's see what I got. I've done this before. I've had bad references. God has grace. All right, I got a bad reference. Where I was going to be going is this concept, when you forsake God, what happens?

God forsakes you. The promises are there of blessing, but the promises are also there. Kim, I'm glad that you brought up the Abrahamic covenant is God's side only. The Mosaic covenant is conditional. And the conditions are obey blessings, disobey curses.

And yet in a sense, he was being faithful to his word by bringing judgment on them. So he remained their God, even though they forsook him. And he remained faithful to his word, even though they were unfaithful to him.

That's good. And very well spoken. I appreciate that. And even in the midst of consequences and judgments, there is the Abrahamic covenant. He is not going to forsake his people. He's got to correct them.

They've got to be corrected. Give me five through nine, please.

Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds.

They are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. In your very presence, foreigners devour your land. It is desolate as overthrown by foreigners.

And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Stop at nine. Okay, in the courtroom, please. Go ahead and read it.

Okay.

And hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Ben were forsaken, he will forsake you.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

And now comes some of the proclamations of what are the consequences of what's gonna happen. If we start in verse five, you will be struck down and you will continue to rebel. Now, on one side, there's the judgment and there's the reality of God's hand, his holy hand dealing with what he says.

And when God's holy hand strikes down, it says, how are you gonna react to that? What does it say? You will continue.

To rebel.

You're gonna continue to rebel. Though I am smacking you on top of the head, you're just gonna continue to rebel. Proverbs 28, 14 talks about, he who hardens his heart will fall. And again, I go back.

What does God desire of the nation of Israel but their heart? What have they lost but their heart? And eventually,.

Absolutely.

God is not gonna be mocked. God sees the heart. And when the heart has been hardened, he will strike you down. And the sad indictment against the nation of Israel is even though, okay, why is God knocking them down?

What's the purpose? There was an old cartoon. I don't even remember the name of what it was. But it had this sad looking gentleman in an overcoat and a bowler hat and a cloud above him and this hand coming down out of the cloud, flicking his hat off his head.

And it said, you made me mad. It's like, is that God? Is he beating them down just because? No, Kimberly is saying no. Why is God beating them down? Absolutely, he wants restoration. The sadness of what's going on right now is even with that, they're still continuing to rebel.

1 Kings 8 says, basically, let your heart be devoted or else. Or else. Now, there's a section here in verses five through eight. And it talks about what has happened to you through this rebellion and through this disobedience.

The whole head is, the whole heart is, and you got wounds all over your body that cannot be healed. It's a picture of losing the health given, the vibrancy that God would have for his nation. And they have become sickly.

They have become weak. They have become full of sores. How has the country been treated? They're overrun. Foreigners have come and taken it. And it says that the people of Zion are what? They're defenseless.

In the face of opposition that God has sent, what chance does Israel have to stand against the judgment that God is gonna put down? I see a bunch of people saying none. And that's the right answer. That's the right answer.

The consequences of the rebellion have left Israel in a state of utter despair. Chaos is a great answer. And now Jeff is gonna read verse nine.

If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.

What promise is inherent in that verse?

That a remnant will remain.

A remnant will remain. Without that remnant, what happens to the nation of Israel?

Becomes extinct.

Becomes extinct. Thank you, Rich. The promise in the middle of that is that there will be a remnant. Ralph, I'm gonna ask you to get Micah chapter seven, verse 18 for me. Why is this such an important prophecy, especially for Israel at this point in time?

Why is this such an important promise? Where are they about to go in not too many years future? Where are they about to go? They're about to go into Exilon. Was it 586 BC? They're gone. And how long will they be there?

It's a nice all-inclusive resort. You know, they're gonna have three squares a day. No, this is not. This is not something that when they go there, the intent of the conquering nation is going to be to destroy their national identity and to have the nation amalgamate into their society.

That's gonna be the intent of what they wanna do to them. It's gonna be a very dangerous time. And God is gonna say, I am not gonna let that happen to you. I am not gonna let that happen to you. There will be survivors.

That's a promise to hold on to. Give me Micah 7 .18, please.

Who is a God like you,.

Pardoning iniquity and passing over? He does not retain his anger forever.

He delays instead.

We have just gone through a courtroom scene where the nation of Israel is now presented by the lawyer in front of the jury, and it's not a good picture. But then we've had this promise that God will provide.

He will retain a remnant. And as Ralph said, who is it like this God that pardons? His love is unchanging. We need this. We need this promise. We need this hope as we go forward into the rest of this book of Isaiah.

But we're gonna see some amazing promises that these people never expected to hear, the promises of the Messiah, of the light, of the Lamb, and everything else. I wanna ask a couple of quick questions.

We're almost out of time. What are the truths that are evident concerning the nation of Judah in what we've just read so far? What are the truths that are evident? Thank you. God will never completely abandon.

And what other truths are evident? Thank you. There are consequences for rebellion, which takes us to the understanding just before that is they've rebelled. You can't play games with God. Your heart is gone.

Your heart is gone. They have rebelled. There are consequences, but God is still going to hold onto them. Yeah, Louise. Yes.

Any season that the children of Israel disobeyed and God brought judgment.