Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Isaiah 1-6
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. Welcome to our journey through Scripture. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas. And we are continuing our journey through the Bible in a chronological order. We just finished the book of Hosea. And so today we're going to be looking, starting in Isaiah. So Isaiah chapters one through six. And then also, just so you kind of know where we are, it's in Second Kings. So the first little part of Second Kings chapter 15. talks about the kings that are involved in Isaiah's day. So it kind of starts there in 2 Kings chapter 15. You can read about the first eight verses. It says, the 27th year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king. He was 16 years old. reigned 52 years. It says, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. ⁓ except that the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. Then the Lord struck the king so that he was a leper until the day of his death. So he dwelt in an isolated house and Jotham the king's son was over the royal house." ⁓ So this is kind of starts to be the turning point for Judah. We've been talking a lot about the Northern Kingdom, about Israel. Hosea was geared towards ⁓ talking about the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah is going to be more focused on the Southern Kingdom ⁓ and talking about the fall of Judah. And really, the main reason for the fall of Judah is the people turned their back on God. They started worshiping ⁓ other gods, not relying on Him. Isaiah especially—and we'll talk about this a little bit. There's kind of different sections of Isaiah, but the first 35 chapters are kind of talking about the rise of the Assyrian Empire. ⁓ and the impact that it is having on ⁓ Judah. ⁓ And so it's kind of leading up to the fall of Judah. ⁓ And then we'll talk, there's some other focuses that happen later in Isaiah. But the first part of Isaiah is all focused on Judah and ⁓ the leading up to what eventually will bring about their downfall. So Isaiah is trying to warn the people. of what is coming. Interestingly, he's making this warning when the king is a decent king, but he's allowing ⁓ kind of this slipping away from God. And we've seen this with other kings as well. But he wasn't an evil king, and Scripture doesn't have a problem telling us when there's a king that is evil. So the king is not evil, but he is also not holding the people to account. with God either, and it's opening the door for this slope that the people are now on a downward trajectory. As we read this, I don't know, for me, I hear a lot of things that ring true to what society is, that we are going through today. And again, we are not the new Israel, we're not the new people of God, anything like that, but we are a society that has traditionally been based on a Judeo-Christian worldview, and we are moving away from that. And that's kind of what's happening here, is they were people that were established on a ⁓ worldview that came from God and came from ⁓ the Holy Scripture, and now they are moving away from that. ⁓ So I want to start, actually, with Isaiah chapter 6. So we're going to read... chapters one through six, but starting in Isaiah chapter six is a very familiar passage in Isaiah. It's the calling of Isaiah. says, that year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up. The train of his robe filled the temple above it, stood the seraphim, each one had six wings, two covered his face, two his feet, and with two he flew. ⁓ And one cried to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth. is full of His glory. So that sets the scene of Isaiah's vision where he is experiencing the majesty of God, the holiness of God, and God fills the whole temple. So it's just ⁓ an overwhelming scene that Isaiah is experiencing. ⁓ And then these weird creatures, these six-winged creatures are flying around and they are proclaiming, worship to God and to God alone. Then it says, then the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So you can imagine, put yourself in Isaiah's position, what he must be feeling. His blood pressure would be elevated. He would be getting very concerned about what is happening. It says, so I said, woe is me, for I am undone. I love that I'm undone. He's like, can't handle this anymore. The holiness, whenever we get a glimpse of the true and full holiness of God, this is going to be our reaction. Woe is me. It doesn't matter how good you've tried to be, how good you've been. In comparison to the holiness of God, we fall so short and our only response is woe is me. And he says, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." So he says, I recognize how unholy I am. I am unclean. I have made mistakes. I have sinned against God and I live among a people who have sinned against God. Isaiah is kind like, have no chance. I am throwing myself at the mercy of the court. And then it says, one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it and he said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged. Right? So God in His mercy ⁓ does not diminish His holiness, but extends His mercy ⁓ and offers forgiveness, offers ⁓ to clean Isaiah, right? He says specifically Isaiah said, I'm a man of unclean lips. And so God reaches out and he purges the sin and the iniquity away from Isaiah's lips, right? That he gives forgiveness and he offers us a right relationship with him where now we can be in his holy presence. And then the scene shifts. So now Isaiah has been has recognized his weakness, recognized how far away from God he is, ⁓ that he is nowhere close to the holiness of God. So he recognizes that, and then he receives that forgiveness. His iniquity is taken away. And then the next thing we hear is, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, This is Isaiah responding to God saying, whom shall I send? So in response to experiencing the holiness of God, recognizing how broken that he was, and then receiving the mercy ⁓ from God of forgiveness and cleansing, Isaiah responds by saying, here I am, send me. And God said, go and tell this people. So God is giving Isaiah a specific message, and it's so important. A lot of times we kind of stop right there. We stop at, then I said, here I am, send me, because that's a great, that's just a great encouraging motivational story of faith. You know, that, hey, listen to God, the one who is holy, who has called you and called you for a purpose. That's a beautiful picture. And hopefully we are all like Isaiah, that we are humbled, that we are repentant, that we receive repentance, and then we desire to be sent by God. Most of us probably don't expect to be called to do what Isaiah is now called to do. So listen to what God calls Isaiah to do. It says, keep on hearing. but do not understand, keep on seeing," or he says, go and tell the people to keep on hearing, but do not understand, keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull and the ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And he answered, until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitants. The houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away and forsaken places that are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it and will return and be for consuming as a terebeth tree or as an oak whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump." So the message that God is giving Isaiah is that I need you to go and tell the people about what is coming. But you know what? They're not going to listen to you. They're not going to change. They have already made up their minds. Their eyes are closed. Their ears are plugged. They are not going to pay attention. They're not going to hear your message, but give it anyway." And Isaiah says, ⁓ well, how long is that going to be? Isaiah is grasping for some hope. And then the Lord says, it's going to get bad. The cities are going to be laid to waste, but yet there will be a remnant. There will be those... who are that stump, who new growth can spring forth from. But the old has become too corrupt. The old has become unholy to the point that it is going to be purged. This is a tough message that Isaiah has and one that frankly is not going to go over well. And people don't want to hear that. People don't want to hear how bad things are. We all kind of know, yeah, things are bad. Yeah, there's always bad stuff that happens. But there are different levels, and the people of Judah are approaching that level that they have turned their back on God, and now there are consequences to be paid. So then as we go through chapters one through five, it kind of lays out ⁓ the case that God has against the people of Judah. ⁓ It talks about the wickedness of Judah, verse three of chapter one. It says, or verse two, hear O heaven and give ear O earth for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know my people and my people do not consider. Right? So says the ox and the donkey, they understand and listen to their master. but the people have rebelled against me. ⁓ It says verse five, why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises are putrefying sores. They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. They haven't asked for forgiveness or repentance in so long. now those... Those things have just festered and grown and just decayed and corrupted the entire body. Verse 9, says, unless the Lord of Hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been made like Gomorrah. So Isaiah is giving a little bit of the hope that, hey, there's going to be a small part of you. You're not quite as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah, who were completely destroyed, but it's going to be pretty bad. A very small remnant will be left. 12 and 13, I thought it was interesting, says, bring no more feudal sacrifices, incenses and abomination to me. The new moon, Sabbath, and the call of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. So he's saying, you know, all those religious rituals that you're still doing, they're meaningless because of the way that you're living, the sinfulness that you are embracing. It's not about the ritual. It's not about coming and offering sacrifices. It's about living your life in response to God. Verse 16, wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. So these are all things that are not being done. And so God is trying to call them back to Himself. ⁓ He says, now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are like red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing, if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat 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. Right? So there's always this opportunity for the people to repent and to turn back, but God knows that they are not. It continues on. It talks about the city and Jerusalem, that even it has become degenerate. Chapter 2 talks about the future house of God. There at the beginning, it talks about the day of the Lord when judgment will come. So it's kind of a look to the future that things eventually will be made right. Verse to the house of the God of Jacob, he will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths. And it says, shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords with plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. So that's obviously a much distant future picture that Isaiah is presenting there. Talks about the day of the Lord in verse 20. In that day, a man will cast away his idols of silver, his idols of gold. which they made each for himself to worship to the moles and the bats, which are just hideous animals and creatures that are ridiculous to worship. But yet, by worshiping other gods, it's the same as worshiping moles or bats. It says, go to the clefts of the rock, into the crags of the rugged rocks, and from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His Majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Again, this is what is to come. ⁓ Chapter 3 talks about judgment on Judah and Jerusalem, getting about halfway through. It talks about the luxury that the people are just, they don't recognize and they're not thankful and they don't have gratitude. Verse 16, the Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet. Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion and the Lord will uncover their secret parts. Verse 24, and so it shall be instead of sweet smell there will be a stench instead of a sash a rope instead of well set hair baldness. Well, I guess I'm there. Instead of a rich robe a girding a sackcloth and branding instead of beauty your men shall fall by the sword and you're mighty in the war. So again, just where things are going. ⁓ It does talk about that there will be a day when things will be renewed in chapter four. And that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, right? That it will come back. Then chapter five talks about a vineyard that God took care of the vineyard, now... He is no longer going to care for it. Verse 4 says, then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? So God had cultivated it and done everything that it needed to bear good fruit, but it chose to bear bad fruit. It says, Did it bring forth wild grapes? And now please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge. It shall be burned and break down its walls and shall be trampled down. will lay at waste. It shall not be pruned or dug. And there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain, no rain on it." So God's protection was there, but now it is being removed. Continuing chapter 5, therefore my people have gone into captivity, verse 13, because they have no knowledge. Their honorable men are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst." ⁓ And then it continues on, it starts saying, woe, woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin with a cart rope. It says, woe to those, this is verse 20, it's very important verse, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light, light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Woe to mighty men at drinking wine. Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man. I don't know about you, but I read those words and I do think of our society. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. And guess what? We're at a point now where people within the church will actually be arguing about the same thing. And some will say it's good and some will say it's evil. We are in a very divisive time and it's a dangerous time because many of these things are true and that starts to impact society. And Isaiah is trying to share that with the people so that they will turn from their wicked ways, right? And that they will begin calling what is evil, evil and good, good. And we need to make sure that we are doing that. And even though it's uncomfortable to hear and to hear the places that we are falling short as a society, it's vital that we do understand that. And I encourage you as you read through here, just see how that applies to today. And see how that, you know, it's not a direct correlation. We are not the new kingdom of Judah. But it certainly shows, it shows what God is opposed to in a society. Right? And so if we are starting to live in ways that mimic the ways of Judah and the ways of Israel back then, well, we need to start turning from those ways and turning back. to God. whenever I read things like, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, I am certainly reminded of many of the conversations that we are having today. So I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. We are going to pick up in 2 Chronicles chapter 26, 2 Kings 15 and 16. And then we'll do Isaiah 7 through 10 at least. So Isaiah 7 through 10, 2 Kings 15 and 16, and 2 Chronicles 26.