ISAIAH 43: 22-28
A GOD OF GRACE DELIVERS HIS SINFUL SERVANTS
It is not because of Israel’s right response to YAHWEH’s promise of help that He will deliver them. Rather than responding humbly, His people had grown wear of Him. They simply went through the motions of religion. Though God had not burdened His people with unreasonable sacrifices and offerings, they refused to worship Him. Instead they had burdened Him with unreasonable sins. If Israel was going to be delivered it would be because of God’s grace not because of Israel’s response to God.
Our salvation and deliverance is always because we serve a God of grace and mercy. It was so then, and it is so now. He forgives our sin because of who He is, not because we deserve it. We who would worship Him in Spirit and truth must come before Him trusting in the shed blood of His sacrifice and not in our own merit.
I. NEGLIGENCE IN WORSHIP, 22-24.
II. GOD’S GRACIOUS CLEANSING, 25.
III. MAKE YOUR CASE AGAINST GOD, 26-28.
In verse 22 God lets His people know that His promised deliverance would not be because of any hold they had on Him. His loving actions toward them are grounded in covenant grace. “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel."
In spite of the goodness of God toward them, Israel or Jacob had not properly responded to Him. So God reproves His people for ignoring Him. They had been formed for the purpose of praising God (v. 21) but they had “not called on Me.” Calling on the name of God encompasses all our worship of God, the central part of which is the seeking of the Lord. The people had forgotten God even in their worship. They had quit seeking His face. Those who neglect to call upon God, are weary of Him.
God’s list of problems with His people continues in verse 23. “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings; Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with incense."
Burnt sacrifices required offering up a valuable animal because one recognized his short-comings, his sin against God. It involved seeking God’s forgiveness through substitutionary spilt blood on the altar. Israel had not brought God these sacrifices.
The problem was that Israel had tried to turn YAHWEH into their servant rather than recognize Him as their Master. Burdened Me reads literally, "you made a servant out of Me" (or "you made Me serve you)." Instead of being the servant of Yahweh, Israel tried to be His master. God became weary from trying to deal with Israel and their sins (Butler, OT Commentary, Isaiah, 239).
God had not forced Israel into unreasonable servitude. Nor had He worn them out with excessive demands. God was trying to teach them the seriousness of their sins before Him. They were trying to manipulate God for their purposes.
Israel was also unwilling to go the extra mile and use their hard-earned money for special offerings for Yahweh as verse 24 conveys. “You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices. Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities."
Worshipers at the temple usually brought presents of sweet perfume to be burned upon the altar of God. But backsliding Israel became selfish and made few freewill offerings to the Lord. It evidenced the coldness of their heart toward God and His house.
Our giving to the Lord should include more than handing Him a tip on Sunday from money that is left over when the bills are paid. It should include acts of devotion that cost us something extra. God’s people had failed to learn this lesson. They didn’t offer Him "sweet cane"-a gift that would have required extra effort and money.
According to Jeremiah, this expensive delicacy came from “a far country” (Jer. 6:20). It was one of the ingredients God instructed Moses to use in the formula for the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:23), and it was used in the sanctuary to produce a sweet-smelling sacrifice. An Israelite who brought sweet cane was expressing a sacrificial kind of forethought giving that pleased God.
Could the complaint of the text occasionally, if not frequently, be brought against you? Ask yourself the following searching question: Is my life characterized by prepared acts of meaningful worship to the Lord? How grieved the Savior must be when we don’t offer Him thoughtful worship and gifts that come from our heart.
[Those who are poor in pocket but rich in faith will be no less accepted because their gifts are small. Do you give in fair proportion to the Lord or is the widow’s mite kept back from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the wealth entrusted to him, but he should not forget his large responsibility.
Where much is given, much will be required (Luke 12 :48). Do you realize your obligation to give to the Lord according to the benefit received?] Jesus gave His blood for us. What shall we give to Him? We and all that we have are His, for He has purchased us for Himself. How can we continue to act as if we were our own? Oh, for more consecration and more love!
Don’t be try to simply get by with a minimum of giving and service. Offer the Lord the sweet cane of a zealous, sacrificial life. Thoughtful sacrifice is the true measure of our giving.
[The gifts we offer to the Lord are measured by His standards. Our sacrifice and lives of praise are gifts God highly treasures.]
Blessed Jesus, nothing is too costly to give as a tribute to Your unrivaled love. Yet, You receive with favor the smallest sincere offering of affection! You receive our poor forget-me-nots like the bunch of wild flowers which the child brings to its mother as though they were infinitely precious to You. May we never grow stingy toward You. From this hour on, may we never hear You complain of us withholding the gifts of our love [Spurgeon].
Instead of their sacrifices, the people were presenting God their sins. Can you imagine sinning with your worship instead of seeking God and His forgiveness with your worship?
II. GOD’S GRACIOUS CLEANSING, 25.
If all their worship was so lacking and their sin was so excessive how could Israel expect that God will keep His promises to them? Verse 25 gives the answer each and every one of us needs to hear, remember, and for which we must give thanks. “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
Again Israel had to be reminded who their God really was and what He alone could do. They needed to be pardoned before they could be delivered (Calvin). He was not an unreasonable taskmaster or an overly sensitive God waiting until Israel came to put a pittance at His offended door. Yahweh, the God of Israel, was the one who had repeatedly forgiven and forgotten Israel’s sin. He continued blotting out their transgressions but not because they deserved it.
Why? For my own sake! Nothing Israel had done or could do could qualify them for this kind of forgiveness. Nothing they had done could disqualify them for it either. God forgives because of who He is and to accomplish His own purposes. Israel was God’s servant whom He wanted to use to bless the nations (Gen. 12) so that all nations could come and worship Him. He cleansed them so they would become His witnesses and fulfill His purposes (44:8). So God’s grace and mercy break through again. Israel only need acknowledge their own persistent sinfulness and in faith seek God’s forgiveness. This forgiveness breaks sin’s bonds, restores the flow of covenant life, and creates a new future.
Also note that when God forgives our sin, He totally forgets them. We never need to fear He will bring them up again later. That’s the way we should forgive also.
III. MAKE YOUR CASE AGAINST GOD, 26-28.
Verses 26 begins God’s challenge to Israel present their case of why they thought their attitude and actions justified before Him. “Put Me in remembrance; let us argue our case together, State your cause, that you may be proved right.
If Israel does not want to confess their sin and receive His grace then they must think themselves right. God challenges Israel to come to court and argue the matter with Him. The leaders’ in Israel thought they had done everything God had commanded. They thought God’s chastisements unfair. What was unfair was His grace.
In verse 27 God states that the situation was radically different from the way their leaders stated it. “Your first forefather sinned, And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.
God reminded them that since the time of their father Jacob (see v. 22), Israel’s history had been a history of sin, exemplified in their spokesmen, that is, in their political leaders. If we too choose the route of self-justification all is lost no matter how logical or brilliant our argument should be.
Verse 28 indicates the just judgment God would bring upon them who persist in self-serving justification before God. “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary; And I will consign Jacob to the ban, and Israel to revilement.
Persisting in placing their thinking above the Word of God will have consequences. God will disgrace those “believers” who do. Israel’s religious leaders and the entire nation will be brought to ruin. They will be looked down on by their enemies.
The princes (or rulers) of the sanctuary are probably the priests (1 Chron. 24:5). They took for themselves from the wisdom of the pagan nations what should have been destroyed. There is no hope in looking to their leaders for deliverance. God is the only Savior and it is by means of His grace alone that deliverance will come.
CONCLUSION
The ice of winter had barely melted off a nearby Michigan lake when a 7-year old boy decided to do some boating. His craft was half of an oil drum he found along the shore, and his oar was a battered snow shovel. The boy’s make shift paddle worked so well that he got to the middle of the lake, but then the drum began to take on water. Fortunately, neighbors heard his cries for help, and the boy was rescued just in time. Once more, a youngster learned the hazards of a "boys will be boys" experience.
Similarly, Isaiah describes the dangers of a "men will be men" situation. Speaking to Israel, God told them that He alone could save them from their spiritual foolishness (vv.21-24). He reminded Israel that they had gone their own way. Like immature children, they lacked foresight. Yet, the Lord was quick to assure them that if they would remember Him and seek His face in worship, He would blot out their transgressions, and they would be rescued (vv.25-26).
As believers, we too are promised that kind of help. When we find ourselves in deep waters as the result of our own sin, we can discover anew that God is our life-saver. Let’s not allow our pride to keep us from crying out for help like a child. The first step in receiving God’s forgiveness is to admit that we need it.
