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Isaiah 9:8-10:4 - God's Judgment Against Israel · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. Today we are in Isaiah Chapter 9
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  and I believe we'll get through the end of the chapter and then
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  the first portion of chapter 10. Once we start moving through,
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  we're, by the way, we're back in some prophecies specifically
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  from the Lord. We're going to begin today in
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  God's message against the northern nation of Israel.
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  So Isaiah's prophesying from the southern Kingdom of Judah and
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  he's first preaching against Israel who has allied themselves
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  with their northern neighbor Arum against the southern
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  Kingdom of Judah and wanting to take over and install a puppet
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  king. But God is he is not OK with
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  this. And especially those that would
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  go against their own ancestral family instead of instead the
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  northern Kingdom of Israel is teaming up with people that by
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  their phraseology, these would be Gentiles.
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  These would be those that are not part of the same covenant
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  people of God. And yet they are allying
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  themselves with foreign nations against fellow children of
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  Abraham. So we're going to begin reading
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  in verse #8 of Isaiah 9. It says this.
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  The Lord sent a message against Jacob.
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  It came against Israel. All the people, Ephraim and the
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  inhabitants of Samaria will know it.
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  Very often the northern Kingdom of Israel was typified.
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  It was called by the name of Ephraim, which was one of the
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  very predominant tribes, those northern 10 tribes of Israel.
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  And then Samaria is that capital city there of that area.
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  So everyone, the most notable tribes, the inhabitants of the
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  capital city, they will know about this word that is coming
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  from the Lord against Israel. They will say with pride and
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  arrogance, the bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with
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  cut stones. The sycamores have been cut
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  down, but we'll replace them with Cedars.
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  There's a recognition of the fact that their nation is going
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  through a hard time, but their response is not humility and
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  turning to the Lord. It's we're going to build back
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  better. I believe there's been some kind
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  of novelization and theatrics pulled of like, OK, this phrase,
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  this verse 10 here in Isaiah 9. This is like a secret code that
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  if you say this, then it is certain that God is going to
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  bring back bad things on top of you.
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  And the specific book or writer or author that I'm, I'm
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  mentioning said because of people in the wake of 911 and
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  everything that happened there, them saying some things kind of
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  like this of yes, there's been hardships, but we're going to
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  build back and it's going to be even better before.
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  That's a very natural human thing to say that does not
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  unlock a, you know, couple 1000 year old curse on your on your
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  actions or on your buildings that you put up.
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  Just so you guys know, in case you've ever seen some of that
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  craziness online, the Bible is not a witchcraft book.
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  Like, you can't just take phrases from it.
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  You can't just take collections of words and magically either
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  curse or bless yourself. The Bible is not a book of
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  spells. The Bible is the book about our
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  relationship with God. So I just wanted to clarify that
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  real quick because I've seen some knuckleheaded things online
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  for that. Verse #11 So Israel, despite
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  their sin, being judged for their sin, they're not
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  repenting. They're just going to keep on
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  doing more of the same. So verse #11 Yahweh has raised
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  up Resin's adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies.
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  And Resin here is the ruler of that northern Kingdom of Aram,
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  modern day Syria. And so Resin's enemies are
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  coming against him, stirred up by raised up by Yahweh and in
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  the east. And Felicia from the West have
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  consumed Israel with open mouths.
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  And all this his anger has not turned away and his hand is
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  still raised to strike. So God against Israel will bring
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  both Aram and Felicia to kind of do, if you will, a pincher move
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  that it destroys Israel in part. Verse #13 the people who did not
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  turn to him, who struck them, they did not seek Yahweh of
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  heaven's armies. So Yahweh cut off Israeli head
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  and tail, palm branch, and read in a single day.
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  Okay, what does he mean by that verse #15 the head is the elder,
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  the honored one. The tale is the prophet, the one
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  teaching lies. The leaders of the people
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  mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
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  Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel's young men
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  and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for
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  everyone is a godless evil doer, and every mouth speaks folly.
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  In all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is
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  still raised to strike that there would come against Israel,
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  against its leadership, both political and pseudo spiritual.
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  God would bring in judgment the prophets of Israel, so we're
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  known far and wide that they would only affirm whatever the
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  leaders of that northern Kingdom of Israel wanted.
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  You can look at the stories of Ahab, Jeroboam, many other kings
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  over and over again. These were a level with you
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  guys. I can't remember if the word is
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  sycophant or sycophant. Whichever one of those it is,
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  that's what these prophets were for the kings of Israel.
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  This is the worst kind of person to have in proximity to a ruler.
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  You need someone like a prophet Nathan, who to David the king of
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  the United Kingdom of Israel, who had one of his, who had one
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  of his closest friends and greatest warriors killed on the
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  battlefield so that he could cover up his adultery and
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  impregnation of that man's wife. Nathan the prophet looked that
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  King David in the face and said you are the man that has done
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  this evil. We need people in whatever
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  nation of the world that you live in.
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  You need some true prophets that will not sign off on what the
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  king does. Most people will, especially if
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  they want to get ahead in life, they will approve of a King's
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  actions. They'll they'll rubber stamp
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  everything a particular political party wants to do.
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  A godly response is I can affirm some things and I can be glad
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  when a king does good. And when David brings the Ark of
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  the Covenant into Jerusalem, praise the Lord.
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  This is wonderful. The worship of God is
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  preeminent. This is a good thing, but then a
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  godly prophet can also say, no, David, what you did in adultery
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  and murder is bad. And there will be consequences
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  from the Lord for this, for our interactions with people today.
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  People are so intent on being on quote UN quote, the winning side
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  of whatever that is, whether, whether it's I want to be on the
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  right side of history. And so I believe if I espouse
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  these particular beliefs, then history will look on me kindly.
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  And so therefore, whatever team has these values that they hold,
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  I'm going to be on that team. And everything that the opposite
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  political party is doing is bad. Like any idea that they have,
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  it's terrible. It's awful.
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  Every detail of their plan is against God and is also the
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  dumbest thing that has ever been said.
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  That is not the way that godly prophets worked in Scripture.
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  It was you can affirm the good. And because every person is made
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  in the image of God, every person is going to have some
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  things in reflection of God's nature and character that you
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  can affirm godly virtues that do not have to come only through
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  the Holy Spirit. So a person can still be kind
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  even if they're not a Christian. And so where there is kindness,
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  we can affirm that when someone is fair and just in their
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  dealings, they, they deal rightly in, in business or
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  whatever it is, we can affirm those things without rubber
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  stamping everything that someone does.
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  So here what God is doing is for Israel, both those that are in
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  charge, those that are revered, trusted, asked for advice, and
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  those that spread lies to the people and LED the people in bad
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  ways and said, yeah, you don't have to follow Yahweh.
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  You can follow Baal. And as you look through 1st and
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  2nd Kings and 1st and second Chronicles, you can see over and
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  over again the mess that the kings of Israel and the prophets
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  of Israel led the people into. But the people did not say, Hey,
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  we are like God's chosen people and we know the temple is right
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  down here in Jerusalem, and so we're going to choose to obey
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  God. Even as you get into the minor
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  prophets, you can read through several of the minor prophets
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  that were prophesying to the northern Kingdom of Israel that
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  were true genuine prophets of Yahweh.
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  And they told the people, here's what you need to be doing.
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  But the people did not listen and they did not choose good or
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  godly leaders for themselves. They followed into idolatry and
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  evil. And so that's why God says in
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  verse #17 that even those that God looks on fondly and, and
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  cares for in their categories, the fatherless and the widows,
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  those are people that we were told in Isaiah one, that we
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  needed to care for. That this was a matter that the
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  southern Kingdom of Judah were not caring for the fatherless
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  and widows. And that was one of, if you
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  will, the list of crimes that God had that the southern
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  Kingdom of Judah had done. God says even the fatherless and
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  the widows in Israel are evil doers, and every mouth is
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  speaking folly. That's a lack of wisdom.
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  It is evil against the Lord. And so God says from the
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  greatest and the leaders and the prophets all the way down to the
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  orphans, all of you guys are messed up.
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  And so God is bringing on this judgement on to them.
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  Verse #18 For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns
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  and briars and Kindles the forest thicket, so that they go
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  up in a column of smoke. So he says here this wickedness
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  that is there, it's destroying everything in the land.
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  And so God is going to come through and clean house for
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  summer. 19 The land is scorched by the wrath of Yahweh of
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  heaven's armies, and the people are like fuel for the fire.
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  No one has compassion on his brother.
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  They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry.
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  They have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied.
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  Each one eats the flesh of his arm.
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  Manasseh eats Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh together.
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  Both are against Judah. In all this, his anger has not
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  turned away and his hand is still raised to strike.
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  Here, if you will, God is bringing to completion.
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  He's hurrying up the process that Israel is already doing.
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  They are already destroying each other through violence and evil.
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  There's a cannibalistic nature to the nation that they are
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  destroying themselves. One can't help but think even in
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  our nation of America, that so often we do this, that there is
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  murder and animosity and violence between various
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  factions in our nation. And this should not be.
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  Let me state it very clearly to you as my audience because if
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  you're in here, you know, 12 minutes in, you're here for
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  something. The child of God should never be
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  the one that is seeking to harm or murder someone.
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  We can certainly think about self protection and and
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  protection of like 1's family or of 1's church.
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  You can think even as Jesus and the apostles go into the Garden
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  of Gethsemane that Jesus make sure that they have at least a
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  sword. And Peter says we, we've got 2
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  and Jesus says it's enough that there is there a protection of
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  that family of believers. And I think that could be
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  extended to 1's self as the circumstances may be.
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  So self-defense can be a good thing, but the child of God
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  should never be the one that's out pursuing, looking to harm
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  another person. And a child of God should never
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  be eager to take someone else's life if there comes a point
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  where that might be truly necessary.
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  That is a grave sadness. And I have people even that I've
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  met in my life that have had to take a life in self-defense.
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  And it's something that eats at their soul that they had no
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  desire for that to happen, but it did.
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  Can I encourage you have that kind of mindset that every
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  person is made in the image of God?
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  And as with Jesus, may our heart not be that anyone would perish,
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  but that all would come to repentance.
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  Yeah, I, I think I'll stop there for that particular portion.
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  We'll end here with the 1st 4 verses of chapter 10.
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  Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive
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  laws to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to
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  deprive the needy among my people of justice, so that
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  widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless.
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  What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation
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  comes from far away? Who will you run to for help?
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  Where will you leave your wealth?
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  There will be nothing to do except Crouch among the
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  prisoners or fall among the slain.
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  In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is
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  still raised to strike. So God is bringing incredible
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  judgement onto Israel, and it just keeps coming Here.
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  In this last portion, God says that the laws of a nation can be
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  a cause for God's divine justice, and specifically he
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  says laws that disenfranchise the fatherless, the poor, and
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  the widows. There can be very often today
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  such a love for the accumulation of money that the repercussions
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  for the poor or the needy are completely overlooked.
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  But God says this is something that the children of God ought
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  to care about. And I want to encourage you as
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  much as it is in your hands, seek to advocate for the poor,
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  the fatherless, and the widow, that they would get a fair
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  shake, that they would not be disenfranchised through bills
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  that are passed. That if there's something that
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  perhaps say, benefits a corporation, but at the cost of
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  a like poor or needy neighborhood.
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  At least from my reading of Scripture, it would seem that we
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  ought to prioritize human flourishing over profits and
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  wealth. And when I see profits, there I
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  mean PROFITS, profits and wealth.
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  How that might look an application.
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  Frankly, I'm not a policy maker. I have not devoted enough of my
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  time to studying specific bills to know how that might look.
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  But it's something that even as I read through this passage of
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  Scripture, I feel some conviction that I ought to at
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  least be aware and care in a few months from the time that this
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  post, we'll have some different primaries and some different
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  elections that happen. And I think it it would behoove
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  me as a child of God, even as I talk about the prophets who were
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  liars and just said whatever the the kings wanted them to, I want
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  to make sure that I take care to look at some of the bills and to
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  hear feedback and some different things.
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  Frankly, many Christians, some Christians are overly involved
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  in politics in the worst kind of way where it's just talking to
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  all of their Facebook friends about it and not not engaging in
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  the actual discussion with the actual politicians.
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  But many like myself, are probably not involved enough in
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  politics to be able to share that light of Jesus in a
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  biblical worldview. Because as you look around our
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  nation, it doesn't look like the early church or Acts 2 where
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  those that are widows are being cared for.
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  Those that have lots are voluntarily being generous with
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  what they have and caring for those need.
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  As you look at our nation, it's just animosity and strife.
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  There's not a care that there is some care, certainly, especially
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  after 2000 years of Christianity and a nation built predominantly
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  by by Christians and some deists and theists, that they had some
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  things built in to be able to care for some of what Jesus
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  would call the least of these. And so I think those are all
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  good and worthy things, but let's, as the people of God,
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  care about this. If this is something that can
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  bring judgement on our nation, then I think we need to be part
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  of the solution to say, let's advocate for those that cannot
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  advocate for themselves. There's many, many ways that we
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  could attempt to do that. But I want to say at the very
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  least be aware of some of the bills and things that are
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  passing through either on the City Council level, if you have
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  that on the state level, those things that actually pertain to
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  you. We can all complain or rejoice
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  in things that other states are doing and their bills and their
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  politicians. But when it comes to it, God has
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  you if you're if this is applicable for you, you're in
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  Maryland right now. If you're part of our church or
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  you're in whatever state or country you are, as you listen
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  to this, let's be faithful to try to make an impact or try to
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  care, try to speak into what we encounter within our own local
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  areas. I think that would be glorifying
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  to God the ultimate hope and rejoicing.
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  The ultimate lifting up of a nation cannot come through its
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  laws. The laws can be just or unjust,
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  can invite the. Judgement of God or can be
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  things that please the heart of God, but what is ultimately
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  necessary is a change of heart. And that's what Israel didn't
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  experience. Even though God brought
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  judgement, it didn't make them go.
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  We need to turn to God. They just said we're going to
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  continue on the path that we've been going down.
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  So don't have that mindset that you're just going to keep on
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  doing what you do in and building up wealth and building
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  up, you know, bigger and bigger buildings.
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  No, my friend, love for God and love for people is the point,
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  and let's pursue that with everything we got.
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  Thanks for tuning in. I know it's been a little bit of
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  a heavier episode than the last episode where we got to look a
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  bunch at Jesus, but Jesus is our model for how we do this.
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  Jesus spoke to Herod and to Pontius Pilate, spoke into some
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  political realities in ways that didn't really make people in his
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  day happy. But it was it was what was right
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  that ultimately our relationship with God and with man is
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  paramount, way more so than the things of earth that pass away.
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  So lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
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  Thanks for tuning in and see you next episode.