The Crown of Israel

Call to Worship from Psalm 105

Fellowship here. All right, I call us to worship today with Psalm 105, 1 through 6. O give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wondrous works, glory and his holy name.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice, seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually, remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.

O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones. Please turn to hymn number 279. It's a last minute change from the bulletin. 279. O thou who the shepherd of Israel art. Please turn to Isaiah 28.

Isaiah's Message Against Trusting in Human Power

And as you are turning there, we are now entering a new section of Isaiah. So just to recap, the first six chapters are about God's commission to Isaiah. Then the next chapters are about the problem of Assyria and trusting in Assyria for the nation of Judah.

And then the chapters after that are about several oracles against the nations, God talking about judgment against the nations and also the salvation that he plans for many. And then after that, he summarizes it all in what's known as the Little Apocalypse of Isaiah, which goes from chapter 24 to 27.

And here, from chapters 28 to 35, is a section that primarily deals with the folly of trusting in the nations. It's very common for people that trust in political powers to think that they will save them, but ultimately those things can do nothing because it is only God who is truly sovereign.

Well, when you have Isaiah 28, please stand for the reading of God's word. Isaiah 28, verses 1 through 6. Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine.

Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters. He casts down to the earth with his hand. The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first ripe fig before the summer.

When someone sees it, he swallows it as soon as it is in his hand. In that day, the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people, and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its promises, for its corrections. And Lord, as this passage speaks of the sin of pride, we ask that you would address within us the sin of pride, that you would transform our hearts to be a humble people who trust only in you and not in ourselves or in any other power.

In Jesus' name, amen. A common message we get in our world is the message that you are strong and independent. It's something that's very, very frequently repeated. If you're a woman, you're a strong and independent woman.

It's a message men receive as well, just constantly repeated over and over and over. And I have become more and more certain that the reason it is repeated so often is because it's not true. It is repeated often because it is only in repeating it that people will believe it.

If you didn't say it often over and over and over, it would not be believable at all. So we are not by nature strong. We are not by nature independent. We have great needs. We have great weaknesses. And I would describe the predominant religion in our world, even including many of the religions that exist in a formal sense, as secular humanism, right?

The idea that humanism, this idea that mankind has great power and is able to accomplish much. If you look at just the events of the past several years, whether it be celebrities getting together and singing about the strength of humanity to get through COVID, or the different governments working together to solve mankind's problems through science and elevating human institutions as being these massive scientific powers that have the ability to cure all mankind's problems.

These things are all evidence that people want to think of themselves as strong and independent. But the truth is that we are not. That God is sovereign. We are not. No institution can save. And as we enter the section of Isaiah, this is what the message is, is that there's no human power that's strong.

There's no human power that's able to save. It is only the Lord Almighty that is capable of saving. And here it begins with addressing the problem of Israel. So Israel is split at this time to two kingdoms, the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom known as Israel or Ephraim, and they were trusting in themselves, they were trusting in their alliances, they were not trusting in the Lord Almighty.

But the Lord will deal with that pride. The Lord deals with that pride either by destroying it or by replacing it. Either by destroying it in judgment or replacing it in great mercy and salvation. And that's what this passage is about.

Please look at verse number one. It begins, ah the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim and the fading flower of its glorious beauty which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine.

So he's speaking of Ephraim. As I've explained, Ephraim is the northern kingdom of Israel. It's the kingdom that broke away from Judah where God's king had been planted and they had instead their own king, they had instead their own capital, they had their own place of worship.

In fact, uh Hosea 8 speaks of this, of this calf they had there as being, as being their crown of glory. Now why is it that it speaks of it as being at the head of a rich valley? Well indeed, Samaria, this capital of Ephraim, this capital of Israel was at the head of a rich valley.

And in speaking of it as being a rich valley, in some translations it calls it a fat valley. This is a people who was blessed with much. It was a people who God had given much to. Their land was fertile, they had everything they needed, and so because of that they felt that they of themselves had everything they needed.

These were not things that had been given to them by God, these were things that they could produce for themselves. Rather than serving the Lord on his terms, they had brought God down to themselves and, and manipulated him to get him to do what they wanted on their terms.

If you know anything about the way Israel worshipped, they worshipped God without images. But Israel, Ephraim, the northern half of the kingdom of Israel, they had made golden calves, two golden calves to worship God by.

And these were not golden calves that were supposed to be different gods, they were supposed to be Yahweh, the Lord Almighty. And they tried to worship him on their terms and manipulate him on their terms so that they would receive many blessings.

And they had many blessings, and so they thought, oh this is working for us. We can, we can reach God on our terms, we can receive all his blessings on his terms, or excuse me, our terms, not his. But that's not the case at all.

You see, as a people gifted with much, we have a responsibility to recognize where those things come from, that they come from the one true God, that we don't get them on our terms approaching him the way we want to, we get them on his terms approaching him the way he wants us to.

And he is not someone who, uh, who is to be manipulated, rather he is someone who is to be loved and served as he loves his own people. This is a people who, in this verse, it speaks of as being drunkards.

They are people overcome with wine. Now as we see in this passage, this is talking indeed about a literal problem of drunkenness, but it's spoken of in such a way so that you know that it's not merely the problem that they are getting drunk occasionally, but rather it is the people without sobriety that are not thinking rightly about the Lord.

Now, now consider this, why is it that when we speak of someone being serious or someone being humiliated as someone being sobered, right, because those things go hand in hand. Drunkenness and pride go hand in hand, sobriety and seriousness, humility go hand in hand.

The one who spends his time in alcohol, spends his time away from the realities that let him know how weak he is, his need, that one is full of pride. The one who lives in sobriety, the one who lives acknowledging the reality around him, is the one who recognizes that he is weak and in dire need of the Lord.

It describes this, this pride that Ephraim had as a fading flower, a fading flower of its glorious beauty. So this crown is Samaria, it is a fading flower. It might be beautiful for a season, but it will not be beautiful for long.

It will be destroyed, it will be conquered. Indeed, God's prophecies are fulfilled. But this is the case with everyone's pride. Everyone who trusts in themselves, who trusts in some institution, some human institution, something other than the Lord, in every single case, that pride is taken away.

It might be a glorious flower for a time, but it will fade, it will fall away. You know, if you've ever had a lei, like a Hawaiian lei, like a real one, not the, not the one that's just made out of fabric, but a real one, it looks beautiful, it's wonderful, it's got all these flowers, but if you try holding on to that as a keepsake for whatever party, Hawaiian-themed party you went to, if you ever do that, you know those things go bad in a day or two.

They do not last long at all, and suddenly they're rotten, and you wouldn't want to keep them around because they just look ugly, and after a while they might start smelling bad as well. This is, this is pride in human institutions.

This is pride in self, thinking that you can, you can maintain yourself. We are all mortal creatures. We are all growing closer and closer towards death each day, where that reality that we try to ignore in our own drunkenness, whether it be a literal drunkenness or something else that we use to distract ourselves from that reality, comes closer and closer every day until we have to acknowledge that death is near, that we are mortal, that we are weak, that we need someone greater than us.

We need someone mightier than we are, and the Lord is mighty, and he has a mighty one, as it says in this next verse. Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.

Who is this strong and mighty one that the Lord has? This is speaking, particularly in this context, this is speaking of Assyria. Assyria is a nation that is going to come and destroy Israel after this time that Isaiah is prophesying.

Assyria comes and they destroy Ephraim so that, so that they are completely sobered, so that they recognize their weakness. In fact, it had prophesied earlier in Isaiah that this country would be like a flood, rushing all over the banks, all the way up to the neck, drowning everyone that it passes over.

The Lord is good and merciful, but to those who do not come to him for mercy, to those who who try to continue on in their own pride, they will be destroyed. They will ultimately be destroyed. And what God is also communicating here is he is sovereign.

He has this mighty one. He is controlling him. The axe is in his hand, as it says in Isaiah 10. It describes, it describes Assyria as the axe in God's hand. Assyria might imagine that they are strong of themselves.

Ephraim might imagine they are strong of themselves, but they don't realize that it's the Lord in control. The Lord is controlling every human power that exists. The Lord is above all the nations, and any nation warring against any other nation, any victory that is achieved, it is because the Lord had accomplished this for his own purposes.

So even when, even when evil men prevail, it is because the Lord is accomplishing it for his own purposes. Even when Assyria, this evil nation, defeats Ephraim, the northern kingdom of Israel, it is for his purposes to discipline his people, to correct them for their pride.

Once again, you are not in control. God is in control. You cannot avoid him. He sees all things. He is omnipresent. He is unavoidable. He is sovereign. And so in these two verses, verses three and four, it explains how swiftly God will destroy the wicked, those who continue on in their own pride.

The proud crown of the junkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot, so Samaria will be destroyed. And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first ripe fig before the summer.

When someone sees it, he swallows it as soon as it is in his hand. So previously he had talked about Samaria being cast down to the earth by the hand of Assyria, and now he speaks of it being trodden upon, underfoot, trodden upon, destroyed.

And then it speaks of it being like a first ripe fig. When I was growing up, I did not know anything about figs other than what the Bible said. They were kind of this mythical fruit to me. Now that I live in California, I understand a little bit about figs, although I was recently humbled once again because I went out to dinner a couple of nights ago, and we had gotten an olive dish, and I wasn't really certain what one thing in there was.

And I bit it, and I couldn't tell what it was. I realized later we were, those were little figs. Those were little figs that we were eating. I wasn't certain what those other things were. But if you ever see the fig trees around here, what does the ripe fig look like?

Go ahead, someone say. What? Yeah, and it's, what color? Yeah, it's like purple. It's like dark purple, and all the other ones are light green, right? The first ripe fig, it stands out. It stands out bright and clear.

Everyone can tell where the ripe fig is, and if someone is interested in that first fig that terms ripe, you don't have to look hard. It's right there. It's easy to be quickly grabbed and eaten, and that's the idea.

This judgment is coming soon, just like the first ripe fig is quickly identified because it is much darker than all the other figs. It will be grabbed right off the tree and eaten, consumed, destroyed.

So God is moving swiftly. His judgment is quick. You know, something I hear Christians often tell people who are considering the faith whether or not they should, you know, they're thinking about whether or not they believe in Jesus.

They often tell them, well, you know, take your time, you know, hang out here, just, you know, take your time. I find that to be terrible advice, to take your time. Yes, you should, yes, you should count the cost.

Jesus says to count the cost. Yes, you know, discipleship is a serious thing. It's not something you move into casually. However, do not take your time. Go to the Word of the Lord, pray to God for guidance, very seriously seek Him.

Judgment is coming. Do not take your time. Be serious. You know, I recently saw a pastor that was advertising at his church as a place that wouldn't, you know, that would let you figure out things on your own time and wouldn't, you know, basically he was suggesting it wasn't really important to sort this out, you know, it's up to you.

And certainly every man has freedom, every man has freedom that God has given them whether or not they will serve in this life. But one day that freedom will be taken away and that may be very shortly.

So why take your time? Instead, with great earnestness and seriousness, consider what God has spoken. If you have friends and you're telling them about the Lord, do not communicate to them that they should be taking their time.

Communicate to them instead the urgency that the scriptures communicate. In verse 5, it changes though. Remember I said that the this pride is dealt with one of two ways. One is destroyed, the other is that it's replaced.

It's replaced with a different kind of pride, replaced by the Lord, the Lord being the pride of His people. Verse 5, in that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people.

This is speaking of a people that is saved, a remnant. Those who are remaining after the others are destroyed, the Lord becomes their crown of glory. Just as Samaria had replaced Jerusalem, or excuse me, as Ephraim had replaced Jerusalem with Samaria, the true temple with their own temple, the true God with their own God, so it is that we replace God with our own idols, with our own false objects of worship.

But, but the Lord, He will break us down. He shows people their weaknesses, and if He does that in a merciful way, if He does that in a way where He reveals to you your need for Him, that is a great mercy.

It's a great mercy to be broken down. You know, sometimes things need to be broken in order that they might be fixed. I heard Miguel, our locksmith, the locksmith here, he, he said that that's often what he has to do with the locks.

Sometimes he fixes it, sometimes he has to break them in order that they would be fixed. That's what the Lord does to us. The Lord, He will defeat that pride. He will either do it in judgment, or when He does it in mercy, He does it by breaking us, by showing us our need, and then turning us to Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ, He gives a perfect mercy.

He has died for our sins, that if we trust in Him, we have that perfect mercy, and no longer, no longer is our crown ourselves, no longer is our crown some human institution that we trust in. Instead, our crown becomes the Lord.

He becomes our crown. Jesus Christ becomes our crown. Says, He becomes a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. Jesus Christ is our spirit of justice.

He is our strength when we turn back the battle at the gate. You know, Jesus promised that the, the gates of Hades would not prevail against the church, and so not only does He give us the strength to defend our gate, but He gives us the strength to conquer other gates.

The Lord is our wisdom. He has given us His word. He has given us everything we need in order to, to prevail, and as it describes this, as it describes the, the spirit of justice who, who, to him who sits in judgment, who's the one who sits in judgment?

Who is the one in the, in the city who does that? It's the king. It's the ruler of the city who sits in judgment. This is talking about a restoration of the throne of David to a greater height of power.

As it is, you have the, the throne of David languishing, you have the people becoming more and more divided, and this is prophesying that that will be restored, that God will be the strength of the king, that He will be the very strength of the king.

And what do we find in the New Testament? That Jesus Christ is that son of David. He is that king over His people, and so it's in the incarnation, in God becoming man, coming to rule over us that this is accomplished, that He is the one who, who sits in judgment.

He is the one who is our strength, our ruler, our king leading us. And consider how it is that He came. He came not as one who was so high and mighty. He came lowly, and He was wrongly accused, as I was mentioning this morning, He was wrongly accused of blaspheming, He was wrongly accused of, of being king, and so He was given a crown of thorns to mock Him, to mock that He is truly king.

And yet, as He has died and rose again, God has declared that He truly is king. In fact, not only is He a king above all, but He is, He is our crown. Now that's a, that's a wonderful concept, that Jesus Christ is our crown, that the Lord is the crown of His own people.

You know, a couple of weeks ago, actually, I think it was just last week, Pastor Brian was preaching on us being slaves of Christ. You know, Christ, in a sense, owns us, and yet, at the same time, it talks about us owning Him, Him being our crown.

Romans 8 says that God has given us His own Son. Now, consider the words of the Song of Solomon, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. No, it is not only the case that we are Jesus Christ, but He is ours as well.

You know, rather than having pride in ourselves, rather than having pride in any human institution, instead, we can turn to the Lord, and Jesus Christ can be our great pride. He is the king over His people.

He is the one who leads into victory, and ultimately, He will lead us into eternal life, regardless of any enemy, regardless of the accuser, regardless of the spiritual battle that you heard about this morning.

He is the one who leads us into all victory, because He is our great king. He is the spirit of justice. He is the strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ.

We thank you that He is our crown. We thank you that you have promised such a thing to your people, and we ask that you would keep us humble, that you would keep us sober, that we would not be inebriated by either wine or the cares of this world, but Lord, that we would, with all sobriety, consider your Son.

We would, with all sobriety, recognize our humility, recognize our need, recognize our dependence upon Him, and that He would be our crown. In Jesus' name, amen.