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744. Bible Study: Isaiah 57 (Why God takes a "good" person early) · Faith by annm2705

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These next few chapters seem more like observations,
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warnings, insights, and so forth from Isaiah, and he's speaking
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to the people of Judah, apparently.
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But I also think that some of these things, as we get deeper
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into the chapters, they do reflect warnings today as well
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and things that we can learn today.
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So I will read through as many chapters as makes sense so it
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doesn't get too long. Let's start with chapter 57 and
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a prayer. Dear God, please give us wisdom
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and insight as we read through these words so that we can apply
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what you intended for us to take away from this for our
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understanding and warnings and promises and so forth.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. The righteous perish and no one
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takes it to heart. The devout are taken away and no
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one understands that the righteous are taken away to be
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spared from evil. I want to pause right there
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because how many times in your life have you ever thought this
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was such a good person? Why did that happen to them?
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They were doing so many good things.
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They were and unexpectedly gone early.
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And why would God do that? A lot of people do ask that
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question, and I never had a good answer for that.
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But it was like inside of me, I had this feeling that God knows
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more than what we do. And if God does it, we need to
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trust him. And this very statement in
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Isaiah chapter 57 is something I think we should all remember
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because listen to what it says. It says the righteous are taken
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away to be spared from evil. So if someone is taken away
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early, there is something that God knows that is coming in
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their lifetime and out of His mercy He takes them away.
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We know that God, he, he protects His children and He
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loves people and He wants good for all people.
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When things come about, anything that is harsh like judgment or
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things like that from God, those things are not intended as
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punishment, but as a correction. Sometimes people don't learn
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unless it's something that really startles them.
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And that's what God uses judgement for.
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So none of his judgement is, you know, for his children is to
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make is to be mean to them at all.
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It's to get them to get back on track.
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And because we have been stubborn, sometimes He needs to
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use bigger things to get our attention.
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But I'm kind of get a little sidetracked because this
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statement actually just talks about the righteous are taken
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away to be spared from evil. And I, I do believe that the
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discussion that people have today about this whole rapture
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thing that people talk about and end is in the Bible.
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There's no question about it. I, I definitely believe that
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people are taken out of the way before God's wrath occurs.
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I do believe that people experience tribulation and they
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have for all of history in the Bible.
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They didn't necessarily get to avoid every bit of tribulation,
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but experience that. But when wrath comes, they will
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be taken out of the way because God is sparing people and people
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who have prepared, who have, who don't need to go through that.
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They've already been tested in life.
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They've shown their commitment to God.
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And this is this is what I believe.
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So I believe it is for someone who we don't understand why they
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were taken out of their life so early.
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I think that is we need to hold on, rest on Isaiah chapter 57
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because it really does tell us that they're, they're being
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spared from evil. And we have to trust God and
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know that God is good. And God knows the day we were
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born, he planned it, He created us and he knows when he's going
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to take us. And he's also like Hezekiah was
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one where he actually gave Hezekiah another 15 years and
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told him and actually gave him physical signs that he would see
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that he would know that the reason he's still living 15
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years more is because God said it.
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Like God is in charge of our life and when we're born and
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when we die and we don't get to change that.
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I mean, people try to do that, but if we're doing that, we're
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going against God's will. So we need to let God be God and
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let him decide because he knows things we don't know.
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There have also been, this just came to mind.
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There's been some testimonies that I've heard from people who
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have pretty big ministries and before they actually came to
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faith, they had considered dying, doing it themselves,
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actually. And when you look back at that
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and then you see the powerful ministry, the powerful service
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that they're doing for God today, that they didn't take
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their life and that they are speaking on behalf of God and
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have experienced miracles. And they are, they have very,
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very strong faith. It's, it makes you wonder, was
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that the enemy, God's enemy? Which I, this is what I believe
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actually speaking, you know, influencing people, giving them
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those thoughts that where they, they don't want to live anymore
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and they want, they want to do something about it themselves.
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And I don't think that is, that is absolutely, I mean, it's
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proven it's not from God. It is from the enemy because the
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enemy seeks to kill and destroy. If any of those people who had
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really strong ministries would have moved forward with their
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feelings, then they would have done something that would have
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depleted all of the good that they were able to do after that
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moment, that moment of transition where God began to
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work in their life and then built this really significant
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ministry. And the, you know, there's two
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that are really, really significant who have stories
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like this. Do you like just very severe
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depression that came about, but then God has turned it into
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something great. And I do think maybe there was
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some insight from God's enemy that could see that these people
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were something special that God had intended for something
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special. And so the enemy wanted to
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remove them from doing that. And and that's so anyone who has
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those feelings or doubts or anything, just trust God.
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God has something better in store.
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He can use anyone, even if you feel like you're at your lowest
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point in life, don't worry about it because just turn to God
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because things can change so drastically and God can use
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anything that we've been through for the good of others and for
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ourselves for our life, you know, but it's everything that
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God does is really for the benefit of others.
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It's completely selfless. Love is selfless and that's what
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God does. So anyway, I've kind of gone off
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a little bit too far, but I just thought this was such a a great
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verse to keep in mind. The righteous are taken away to
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be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter
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into peace. They find rest as they lie in
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death. I have also heard testimonies
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from Hospice caregivers who have said that people who were
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believers had a very peaceful transition is what I'm going to
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call it into death. People who were non believers
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had a very chaotic transfer. It was not comfortable, it was
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not peaceful. And people, nurses who do this
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have noticed a difference in people.
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So that's something that is just worth taking note because the
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Bible is true. And if we are close to God, we
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have a peace. God gives us that peace.
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It's not our own peace. It's something that comes from
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God. So let's continue.
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But now here we go into the other side of things.
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But you come here, you children of a sorceress, you ought, you
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offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
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Who are you mocking? So this is talking about the
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people who don't believe anything from the prophet
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Isaiah. They don't believe what God's
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saying, and they think that they're fine the way they are.
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And Isaiah is saying, you know, you're children of a sorceress,
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adulterers, prostitutes. You're mocking.
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At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?
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Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
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That's something else that I noticed in the book of Genesis,
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that God said he would put enmity between the woman's seed
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and the serpent's seed, which I believe the serpent was Satan.
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And and then I thought seed, does Satan have offspring?
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And some of this in Scripture does allude to that.
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And I don't know, like God creates everything.
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So is it just because of a decision that people make that
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they reject God and then they become the offspring of Satan?
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I don't really know. That's beyond what the Bible
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covers. But I just think it's it was
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interesting. So you burn with lust among the
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oaks and under every spreading tree.
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You sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the
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overhanging Craigs. So that's another thing.
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The sacrifice of children, that was a form of worship back then
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to the Pagan gods that they believed in, and they would
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literally sacrifice their children.
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And here's the great deception that's occurring in our world
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today is that that same, if you want to call it that same spirit
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is at work. That evil spirit is at work
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today because it's convincing people to abort their children.
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It's no different than the sacrifice that Moloch to Moloch
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because people when they make that decision, they are take,
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they are doing what is in God's control.
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If God doesn't want that child to come forth, he that child
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will not come forth. If God does want that child to
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come forth, then the child will come forth.
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And that means that if we just leave everything alone, God will
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do what is necessary. There have been there.
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If you look at people and you get to know people, there are
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really good people that come from bad parents and there are
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really bad parents that have good children.
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So you can't you can't say that that future person or that
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person who's developing is our decision.
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You know, we, we to cut somebody's life short.
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That's really what essentially it is.
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It's sacrificing children and it's sacrificing children for
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the what the parents believe. And they think that they just
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want, they don't want to be bothered by whatever this is
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either, you know, if it's the man or the woman, whoever's, you
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know, deciding this. It's just that they don't want
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to be bothered by what is about to come.
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It's going to make it inconvenient for them.
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And, and it's no different than the sacrifice to Molech if you
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look into this. And it's not our place to decide
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that God will decide it. The idols among the smooth
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stones of the ravines are your, are your portion.
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Indeed, they are your lot. Yes to them.
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You have poured out drink offerings and offered green
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offerings. In view of all this, should I
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relent? You have made your bed on a high
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and lofty hill where you went up to offer your sacrifices.
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Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your
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Pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your
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bed. You climbed into it and opened
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it wide. You made a pact with those whose
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beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
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You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes.
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You sent your ambassadors far away.
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You descended to the very realm of the dead.
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You wearied yourself by going about, by such going about.
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But you would say it is hopeless.
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You found renewal. Oh, you would not say it is
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hopeless. You found renewal of your
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strength, and so you did not faint.
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Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been
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true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to
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heart? Is it not because I have been
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long silent that you do not fear me?
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So this is God speaking through Isaiah, and he's saying, you
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know, how did you get to this place?
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How, how did you make all these decisions and do these things
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and turn away from me and turn to these other like false gods
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who have can do nothing for you. And that happens to people
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today. Maybe people today are not
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worshipping wooden statues or things like that, but people
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turn away from God and go about their own life doing all these
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things that are against what God had commanded.
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And they don't even think anything about it, about it.
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And it's, you know, it says here, is it not because I have
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long been silent that you do not fear me?
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There's a point in time where God just, you know, it says God
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hears the prayers of the righteous.
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So if we are not being righteous and we're praying to God, God,
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he may, I mean, he knows everything that's going on, but
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he's not going to respond to that.
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And I don't know if that's something legal that, you know,
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if if we reject him and we choose something else, then
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legally he can't respond to our claims because God is just and
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he's merciful and compassionate and all these things.
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So for him not to listen, it seems like it must be some sort
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of legal reason why he can't. Like we've decided we're
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rejected him now we're aligned with something else, something
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evil is what it is. And then when we pray, our
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prayers don't get answered and instead we need to turn to God
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and do the things that he wants us to do because it says that he
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always hears a prayer when somebody calls to him for help
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and he wants everyone to come to repentance.
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So maybe there's some legal authority or legal transition of
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power that effects when we speak into because we've been given
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free will. So we it's kind of like, you
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know, you think about it like a court case where you get
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represented by one person or another party.
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But when you're represented by one party, you can't go to a
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different party to get advice. So if you are going, you've made
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an alliance with God's enemy, other gods, other not real gods
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but fake gods or just Satan himself, you make an alliance
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with him. You're under his control.
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You can't go to God and then go to the enemy off and on like
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whenever you want. But if you turn to God, then he
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can help you. But you have to like cut off
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your ties with the other one. You have to break that contract
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if you want to call it that with the enemy.
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And I think that could be a reason why some of our prayers
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don't get answered, especially when it says, you know, God goes
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silent, he turns away. And I just don't see that as
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God's nature to do that except that there was some legal thing
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that we don't really understand that, OK, we've chosen this.
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So he can't he he can because he ultimately has power over
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everything. But he's also just and
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righteous, so he abides by laws. So that's just a thought.
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That's an opinion, something to think about.
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And so I'll continue with what Isaiah says.
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I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will
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not benefit you when you cry out for help.
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Let your collection of idols save you.
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The wind will carry all of them off.
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A mere breath will blow them away.
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But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and
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possess my holy mountain, and it will be said, build up, build
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up, prepare the road, remove the obstacles out of the way of my
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people. For this is what the high and
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exalted One says, He who lives forever, whose name is holy.
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I live in a high and holy place, and also with the one who is
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contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly
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and to revive the heart of the contrite.
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I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for
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then they would faint away because of me, the very people I
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have created. I was enraged by their sinful
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greed. I punished them and hid my face
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in anger, yet they kept on their willful ways, on in their
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willful ways. I have seen their ways.
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But I will heal them. I will guide them and restore
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comfort to Israeli mourners, creating praise on their lips.
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Peace, peace to those far and near, says the Lord, and I will
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heal them. But the wicked are like the
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tossing sea which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mirror and
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mud. There is no peace, says my God,
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for the wicked. And that's the end of chapter
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57. I'll read what the study Bible
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says about these about this chapter.
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OK. Is death a means of escape?
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In denouncing Judah's leaders, Isaiah observed that there would
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be so little spiritual perception that the
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disappearance of the righteous from among them would go
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unnoticed. The prophet also noted that for
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a righteous person, death is is to be spared from evil, enter
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into peace, and find rest. This does not mean that suicide
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is an option for believers who want to escape pain.
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It simply means that those who walk in God's righteousness will
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one day be rewarded for their faithfulness.
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What was going on among the oaks?
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The Pagan rites of Canaan featured sacred trees pandered
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to the sexual appetites of the worshippers during the reigns of
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Ahaz and Manasseh. Isaiah must have been deeply
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grieved by Judah's indulgence in these rites, which even included
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the practice of child sacrifice. What sort of Pagan symbols did
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they use? God's people had been commanded
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to take commanded to place God's commands on their doors to
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remind them of the Lord continually.
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And that's from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 9.
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Here Isaiah said that instead of God's commands, they had placed
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symbols by idolatry on their doors.
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Since the idolatry included sexual orgies, it is possible
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the symbols were themselves sexual in nature.
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The rest of the verse may refer to ritual prostitution.
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At any rate, the people had quote gone to bed with their
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Pagan gods. Who was Molech?
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Molech, the primary God of the Ammonites, was worshipped by
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some Canaanites. Worship of Molech included human
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sacrifice, as likely referenced in Isaiah 57.
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Five What was wrong with olive oil and perfumes?
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They likely refer, either literally or metaphorically, to
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rights associated with the worship of the Pagan God Molech.
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Or this could refer to the Israelites practice over the
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years of sending ambassadors to a foreign king to negotiate an
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alliance. Either way, the Israelites went
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to great lengths in their rebellion against God.
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How did they descend to the very realm of the dead?
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Assuming this verse refers to idolatry, Isaiah's point was
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either that the Israelites made extreme efforts to find other
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gods or that their journeys, their journey, ended in death.
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The Hebrew word for grave is sheol, so the point may be that
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the Israelites even worshipped the gods of the underworld and
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or indulged in necromancy. Where does God live?
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The Bible often describes heaven as God's home.
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It also speaks of God living among or within his people.
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Here Isaiah combined both ideas in a beautiful way.
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God lives in heaven, but he also lives with the humble people to
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give them hope and confidence. Why didn't?
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Why didn't punishment do any good?
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One way God punishes His people is to withdraw His presence from
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them. Often those who feel abandoned
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by God suddenly recognize their need for him and repent.
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Other times, however, people are so stubborn and determined to go
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their own way that they refuse to admit their need.
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Punishment sometimes galvanizes the resistance of those who want
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to rebel. That's the end of Chapter 57, so
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we will stop there. And next time, start up with
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Chapter 58.