"Battle Royal - When World's Collide"
Session Two: The Collapse of Securities
Isaiah 47 (Bibles open for reading throughout the message)
Last night’s Session
- Addictions to impotent gods
- Explored the battle strategy of needing an attraction toward the Omnipotent God!
- Realize the depth of his love for us it could be all the motivation we need to get into relationship. There is no greater motivator than love.
- Question: Warriors or Prisoners of War?
- Enemies are not flesh and blood. Bigger than that; more cunning than we something we can see or fully comprehend.
As we begin today, a word about the theme of “the collapse of securities”. The natural assumption is to think of stock markets and securities in that sense. It certainly involves that but is much more than that. We need to broaden our thinking to include ideas like our over-confidence in achievements, power, position, wisdom and knowledge, which are the over-arching themes of this chapter.
Isaiah chapter 47 could easily have been written today, for today. It addresses a people who exalt themselves and are consumed with human wisdom and knowledge. Social security and accomplishments have made the people blind in self-confidence and reliance. Our world has become so self-assured and arrogant that we would erect statues of ourselves if we had the resources and permits to do so. The predominant attitude of this chapter is ME - my resources, my gods, my accomplishments and so on. Here’s a video spoof on worship that captures the ridiculous obsession we have with ourselves. (CLIP: IT’S ALL ABOUT ME. Can purchase at www.sermonspice.com)
Did you feel a twinge of discomfort, almost like the video was sacrilegious? I do, every time I watch it. But if a video can make me squirm because we've toyed with songs that are normally treated as expressions of praise and worship to God, shouldn't we feel that much more out of place and awkward when we behave like we are god and discredit Yahweh’s rightful place? Shouldn't it bother us when we displace Him for self-promotion, self-interest and self-glorification?
Our sacrilegious practices are shameful and they create a host of problems. We need to continue down this path for a few more minutes. We must go to the bottom of this spiral before we can begin the journey up and out.
Returning to the focus of impotent gods, we find some battle realities at work.
OUR ADDICTIONS TO IMPOTENT gods DEGRADE US
Isaiah 47:1-3, 5-11…
Chapter 46 ends with good news for Israel – salvation and glory language. Chapter 47 begins with Babylon in the dust. It serves as a powerful contrast of two realities – the reality of choosing gods, versus choosing God. The picture helps us appreciate where things end up and here we’re seeing a nation – Babylon the Great – falling into degradation and taking God’s people with her. Of course, God’s people wouldn't be in this mess if they honoured Yahweh and obeyed Him. There’s always consequence after choice. Some can be good. Far more is not so good. The streets of our cities and towns are filled with people who are dealing day after day with the consequences of their choices, trapped like rats in a maze, wanting a way out but never finding an exit. The inconceivable happens and for a moment we’re dazed, like something struck us on the head and we’re trying to recover from the impact. That couldn't have happened; it can’t be happening.
I wonder how the prophet processed the revelations coming to him as he speaks of the “virgin daughter” (47:1) which is a picture of a nation not having been defeated in battle. She was confident, strong, and self-assured. The language then moves to images of shame and being stripped of her pride and becoming nothing more than a peasant girl half naked and dirty. Babylon sits on the ground instead of a throne. Her delicate nature is replaced with hard labour, sweat and ragged clothes. God tells the prophet that Babylon the Great will become nothing more than a dream, a piece of history to talk about. How can this be? It is impossible to imagine. Could we imagine Canada engulfed in the United States of America or another nation, existing in name and history only and no longer a nation of our own? What is prophesied in these verses is just as unbelievable as that. The frightening reality is it can happen.
There is another problem that comes out of sacrilegious behaviour:
OUR ADDICTIONS TO IMPOTENT gods DE-SENSITIZE US
Babylon was a great nation once upon a time. But she behaved inappropriately. Justice didn't exist as she exploited innocent people for her gain, prosperity and comfort. As was common in war, a conquering nation would sexually violate the woman and children as an act of aggression. Add to this the acts of sexual exploitation for the added simple, reason of being sexually gratified, no matter what it looked like, you have an explosive combination of the grossest sins in unimaginable proportions. Gary Smith in The New American Commentary says it well.
"Cruelty toward the women, small innocent children, and the old in a time of war is a barometer of the morality of any strong nation. Innocent and defenceless non-military personnel could expect to receive at least a little bit of mercy and compassion in such desperate situations, but none came in this situation. J. Motyer concludes that Babylon showed “pitilessness (no mercy, 6d), indiscriminateness (even on the aged, 6e), arrogance (for ever…queen, 7ab) and absence of moral sense (consider…reflect, 7cd)”
This reality is not something that only existed in pre-modern times. We have it in our history. The Nazi holocaust never imagined that the elite military leaders of Hitler’s regime would stand trial in the late 20th and early 21st century for atrocious crimes committed against humanity. But it happened. Want to bring this a little closer to home? The Centre for Research on Globalization explored the U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan since 2001. In that investigation Michael Keefer of Global Research offered this accusation against Canada when he reported on April 24, 2011,: “Canada, as a practitioner of these tactics, has been implicated for at least the past six years in a detainee-torture scandal, one of whose consequences has been very serious damage to Canada’s international reputation. There is evidence that this scandal reaches to the very highest levels of the Canadian government.” We can easily become desensitized when we forget God’s place in the structure and order of our lives. Not only that, we may be subject to outcomes that we deserve because of our lack of justice and fair-play to humanities in our society. Our Western arrogance of modernized warfare and social neglect is no better than the great Babylon of antiquity. I fear Canada and its neighbours have become so addicted to the impotent gods of self-promotion, self-interest, and self-glorification that our crimes and sins are a stench to Yahweh and we must ask, “What’s coming down the channel for us?”
Babylon took advantage of the innocent and pure. Their arrogance became so strong that they went as far as to talk as if they were actually in control of what was going on – “I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children.” (47:8) Really! God flips that around and tells them in verse 9 that the very thing they say won’t happen is the judgement they place on themselves and it happens so fast it made their head’s spin. In a day there is death and captivity. Then of course the nation appealed to their gods. They offered their incantations and prayers and sorceries but nothing worked. Death was everywhere around them. Society was falling apart and their Persian enemies were going to come down hard on them. And they could change nothing. The economic markets would take a nosedive as heavy taxation would be levied against them by neighbouring nations. They would be stripped of possessions and “nest-eggs”.
There’s more, can we handle it? Handle it we must because our dance with the devil that promises good times is a lie from hell. Our sacrilegious attractions create another problem:
OUR ADDICTIONS TO IMPOTENT gods DESTROY US
It is not a surprise to you that Canada is not scoring well in terms of being a healthy society. Statistics Canada reports that nearly a third of our children are overweight or obese. The 2009-2011 Report shows that it represents 31.7% of children ages 5-17 or 1.6 million youth. That’s an alarming statistic, a reflection of many alarming realities of fast-food eating and fast-paced living. We don’t have to be told that we are killing ourselves, being more susceptible to heart disease and other dangerous health risks.
On the mental and spiritual size of things we’re not doing so well either. The gaming industry in Canada employs 16,000 people and contributed $1.7 billion in 2011. What we’re feeding our bodies and minds can be dangerously useful in stripping our health all the way around. It is subtle. We don’t wake up one morning and discover “Oh my goodness I just put on 30 pounds last night!” or go to the games room downstairs and say “Where did those 50 games come from?” It is gradual and if we did the math the amount of money we spend to feed these addictions would be frightening.
In a sense they are among the impotent gods we feature on a regular basis. Impotent gods have a way of being in our company and we can be oblivious to the danger they impose until its venom shoots through our veins and we become immobilized and at its mercy.
The venom in this text is a false sense of security in verse 10. False security leads to a false sense of freedom – do whatever you want and think however you like. The “no one sees me” of verse 10 would be a reference to their belief that any gods or higher powers that existed were actually oblivious to their behaviour, as they relied on their wisdom and knowledge, thinking it was what gave them power and dominance over all other nations. They reached the deepest pit possible and couldn't be further away from Yahweh then when they were able to say, and believe it, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” (47:10) Eugene Peterson's The Message, says it well, “You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out. What delusion! Smugly telling yourself, ‘I'm Number One. There’s nobody but me.’” Citing Ortlund and Kent again,
"Do you see where the fall of Babylon began? It wasn't when the armies of Cyrus appeared on the horizon. It began in their thoughts. They said something in their hearts, and God heard every word. What did they say? “I am, and there is no one besides me.” That sounds ominously familiar. God himself has been saying that all along. For example, “I am God, and there is no other (46:9). But here in Isaiah 47:8, 10 the corporate mind of world culture declares its own God-like autonomy: “I am, and there is no one besides me.” That way of thinking is blasphemy. It is the world’s downfall.”
Revisiting verses 1-2 we learn it is a long way down from restraint to rootlessness. Restraint yes, because human nature being what it is has a thirst to satisfy its cravings and urges. None knew this better than Jack “the Snake” – a name copy of “Jake the Snake”, the World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler. Jack is a street man in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Here’s his story (CLIP: HOMELESS…INTERVIEW)
What are the addictions, the vices, the demons that threaten to destroy our lives, our families and our society? All of us are one step away from drifting the cold, hard streets of purposeless existence and living on the crack cocaine of self-exaltation.
Maybe there’s a good reason that St. Paul said in Romans 12:2 (NASB): “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”; or again in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” Because our enemies are not flesh and blood as we discovered when we started last night, it follows that we cannot defeat them with weapons of flesh. Not only that, the battle for victory in this war begins with the mind.
OUR ADDICTIONS TO IMPOTENT gods DISTANCE US (FROM GOD)
I find it very interesting that some of the things we do to improve quality of life actually have the reverse effect. It was believed that computers would cut paper consumption by 40% but actually increased paper consumption by more than 50% (p.n). Internet social forums such as Facebook or Google+ attempt to bring us closer together but had an effect of making us more socially unskilled and distant than before. We interact with strangers and post shameful comments and conversations that wouldn't be had at the kitchen table. We chastise and argue with people where, face to face, we chicken-out and talk behind closed doors. A few days ago one of my Facebook friends posted a sexual, inappropriate phrase to which I sent a private message and said to him, “Not good for a young man of God. Let your light shine.” He heard me, respected my advice, thanked me and the post was removed.
Despite all the realities and opportunities of our capacity to share Jesus with the world and be brought closer together in faith community, we seem to be experiencing a widening gap. The distance makes for awkwardness in conversations and in some respects potentially God’s reaction to our fascination with gods over him. We see it in 47:12-13…
God mocks the peoples’ efforts. He despises the stargazers and astrologers. It is deeply troubling to learn that followers of Jesus read horoscopes, practice fortune-telling and live superstitiously. We don’t give much consideration to it as being evil but we should probably have a look at that when we read verses like these.
Then we come to the end of the chapter with verses 14 -15…
Reality sets in. The truth is, everything you lean on apart from God, comes to nothing. No matter how hard we work, how much we know, how well we plan for retirement and build our investments, it all comes to nothing.
Let’s turn to some good news! The morning so far paints a mental image for me of looking out in a rain storm that beats mercilessly against the window with gusts of wind that shake the house and I'm looking longingly for broken clouds and clearing skies. Let’s move to the break in this spiritual oppression.
GOD DOES NOT CONDONE OUR ADDICTIONS TO IMPOTENT gods
If you look closely at the placement of quotation marks in these verses, you’ll understand that the start of each section or verse represents a new quotation but a continuing declaration of Yahweh, as he speaks his judgements directly through the Prophet Isaiah. It’s as if God was sitting across the table and as He speaks his judgement Isaiah is writing it all down. We see in chapter 46 throughout and now in chapter 47 we see the same occurring. As God speaks of oppression (vs 1-2), shame (vs 3), disaster, calamity and catastrophe (vs 11) the prophet jumps in with verse 4 almost as if he cannot help himself and has to put in a personal shout of praise before allowing God to continue! Isaiah injects, “our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” Oops, sorry LORD!—and then the judgements continue in verse 5! The other 14 verses are about choices, consequences and sin but this one verse breaks from the indictments and judgements to give us a head’s up about who brings judgement. As God, through the prophet is making pronouncements Isaiah has a moment where the justice of God comes into full view. God’s enemies will be put in their place.
Isaiah is not alarmed by the indictments because he lives for the glory and will of God. This is the alternative to being overpowered by impotent gods. To those who follow God and dethrone other gods, we see a different side of the coin! We do not see God the Judge but we see God “our redeemer” (v4) and God’s people will be saved and to that there is only one response – PRAISE! God’s people break into praise to realize his enemies will be broken and that Yahweh alone, rules!
We can continue to pursue impotent gods that degrade us, desensitize us and destroy us. If we do that, world events and fractured International relationships will continue to leave us wondering where it will all end up. We can be distracted by nations jostling with each other and the proliferation of crime activity. We can get caught up with frictions of religious haggling and opposition that makes people suspicious of organized religion. We can be consumed with fear of disease, unemployment and suffering and on and on it goes.
Or we can redirect our gaze and see the Light that penetrates the darkness and oppression in the world. There’s a ray of hope breaking through! We need verse 4 rolling off our tongues in our dysfunctional world – “our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name”! We need to be reminded there is a Master-plan!
There is a Master-plan but we have a responsibility in that plan. It can be described in this story I read. It’s a story about a pilot issuing a MAYDAY call in his Piper A22 aircraft. There were four people on board, two of them 11 and 12 year old girls. An air traffic controller received the call and learning one of the girls was his daughter, did everything possible to save them - but failed, as the aircraft was ditched in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The greater tragedy was the lessons of pilot error. The pilot left with half a tank of fuel. He did not carry any survival gear and failed to check the weather reports to know he would face severe headwinds that, with only half the fuel, did not have the ability to reach the destination.
Sometimes the reality of what things are is not what things can be. Often times things are not as they were meant to be but are the natural consequences of our choices, the result of the focus of our hearts – toward impotent gods or the Omnipotent God.
I want us to conclude with a video message about the Kingship of Christ. It is a powerful word-play that shows us that for every reality there is a response; for every hurt, pain or imprisoned situation, there is a Redeemer! If we sit with the consequence of negative and wrong choices, we don’t need to despair and remain there. We can turn our hearts to God and decide to “fight the good fight of faith” as St. Paul framed it so well in 1 Timothy 6:12. We can this moment put our trust and confidence in Him! Actually, being reminded he is Omnipotent is very comforting. (CLIP: THAT’S MY KING - can be purchased at www.sermonspice.com)
