Isaiah 10
Responding to God’s Correction
Self Examination vs. 9:8-10:4
God’s Retribution vs. 10:5-19
Restoring What’s Right vs. 10:20-34
Intro: The Hand of God
Pray for Matt & Crystal Brown (2nd Service)
Introduce Ethan & Angelica
Isaiah 1–5 describes the spiritual disaster that we are.
Chapters 6–11 show us the triumph of God’s grace over our failure
Nobody likes correction no matter how much we need it
Israel raised it to an art form
God has corrected them but they have ignored it
Isaiah is saying, “Yes, God has struck you. And he isn’t finished yet.”
God has more resources for confronting us than we have tactics for evading him.
Four times today we see a phrase that should catch our attention
In vs. 12, 17, 21, and 10:4 we see the phrase “His hand is stretched out still.”
This is the sign of God’s judgment on his people Or His wrath
As I mention every Sunday Isaiah is the book of Conviction & Comfort, Judgment & Salvation
Four times today we see God talk about how he is going to judge Israel in four areas
Every time God spoke to Israel they didn’t respond in a way that brought change
They continued to live their life sin and pride
We too can continue to live and sin and reject the correction of the Lord
This morning God wants to show us how to recognize the sin in our lives and respond
Read Isaiah 10:1-4
Transition: His Hand Stretched Out
Does Isaiah believe in the wrath of God?
Yes. But he can see the wrath of God taking us further into his grace than we ourselves would ever go.
God's grace would be incomplete without the wrath of God.
What is the wrath of God?
His wrath is his active, resolute opposition to all evil.
His delight is spontaneous and intrinsic to his being, but his wrath is provoked by the defiance of his creatures.
His love will never make peace with our evil.
His wrath is not moody vindictiveness; it is the solemn determination of a doctor cutting away the cancer that’s killing his patient.
And for God, the anger is personal, not detached and clinical.
This Doctor hates the cancer, because he loves the carriers of the disease and he will rid the universe of all their afflictions.
God destroyed the guilt of sinners at the cross of Jesus.
He will destroy all remaining sin in the hearts of those who take refuge in Jesus.
He will destroy all injustice and suffering here in this world when the kingdom of Jesus creates a world better than our sentimentality could imagine.
So how do we receive God’s correction?
Self Examination vs. 9:8-10:4
For us to understand the wrath of God and the correction he wants to bring we must take a self examination
Ads for self examination
Once I turned 45 I started to receive promotions for male problems
Rogaine, Viagra, Testosterone, Colon cleansers, etc...
All of them start be telling me to examine myself
Always taught as a child not to touch myself
Now I am being told touch myself to check for abnormalities
If I haven't checked before how do I know now?
God hits four areas that Israel has failed
You know what? Things haven’t changed in 2700 years
We still struggle with the same things
So I want you to a little introspection on yourself
This is not for someone else, but for you
As the old saying goes: “When you point your finger at someone there is three pointing back at you.
Unholy Pride vs. 8-12
The first area that Israel is failing is Unholy Pride
Israel has heard of how God’s judgment will destroy their land
Instead of listening to his Word and correcting their behavior they react in Pride
In their pride, the leaders and the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel said, “Who cares if God judges us?
Whatever is torn down, we will rebuild with something better.
We have nothing to fear from what God can bring against us.”
If God knocks down things built with Brick we will rebuild with stone
If our sycamores get cut down we will replant cedars
“Instead of humbling themselves before the face of God on account of the many calamities that had already descended on them, they still entertained a lighthearted optimism regarding the future
Ps 59:12-13 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter, consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth.
There is no solution to God’s correction… we can’t overcome it
How do we overcome our pride?
Prov 29:23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
We can either be lowered or lower ourselves
We need to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord
Refuse to Repent vs. 13-17
The second area that Israel is failing is the refusal to repent
And this starts with the Elders and the Prophets
Vs. 13 The people did not turn to him who struck them
When God strikes you, the biggest mistake you can make is to turn away from him instead of turning to him and inquiring of him.
They know they have been judged by God and yet they still refuse to repent
So he cuts off the leaders and gives no regard to the younger generation
What God is trying to do with his judgement is bring his people to repentance
Repentance is more than just saying your sorry
It is being broken over your sin and turning away from it
2 Cor 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
People don’t repent because they love their sin
There has to come a true remorse over your sin and a desire to get right with God
Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
Prevailing Wickedness vs. 18-21
For wickedness burns as the fire: The prophet sees the wickedness of Israel as a raging wildfire, unstoppable, swift, uncontrolled, and devouring everything it touches.
And the people shall be fuel for the fire:
This wildfire of God’s judgment is fueled by the people, in two senses.
First, their wickedness gives supplies fuel to the fire of God’s judgment.
If the wickedness was taken away, the fire would have no more fuel.
Second, they are burnt up and destroyed by the fire.
Prov 12:3 No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
Acts 3:26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Social Injustice vs. 1-4
The leaders and people of Israel were simply unfair to others, and preyed on the weak.
What will you do in the day of punishment . . . To whom will you flee for help? The idea is, “When you have forsaken others in their time of need, who will you go to for help when you are in need?”
All God needs to do to bring extreme judgment on Israel is to withdraw His protection.
The LORD declared that “Without Me you have no hope before your enemies.”
As the people had lived without God in worship and obedience; so they should now be without his help, and should perish in their transgressions.”
One of the Hebrew words commonly translated worship in the Old Testament is shachah.
It means to bow down, to reverently bow or stoop, to pay homage.
But this is another word for bow down, the Hebrew word kara.
It isn’t a good word; it means to sink, to drop, to bring low, or to subdue.
We might say that we will either bow down to the LORD in worship, or it will be said of us, without Me they shall bow down in suffering and humiliation.
Which will it be?
The repetition of the phrase reminds us that God’s judgment is persistent.
It moves from phase to phase until it finds repentance.
This means that it makes sense for us to repent now, because God’s judgment is persistent for all eternity.
“If even physical death does not satisfy the fierce anger of this holy God, what dread and punishment lies beyond the grave?
God’s Retribution vs. 10:5-19
Rom 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Restoring What’s Right vs. 10:20-34
The LORD told Judah to not trust in Assyria as their deliverer when the threat from Syria and Israel came (Isaiah 7).
The LORD promised that He would deliver them from Syria and Israel, and that they did not have to trust in Assyria.
But Ahaz, king of Judah, did not take God’s counsel and trusted in Assyria.
The LORD would then use Assyria to defeat Syria and Israel as He had promised, but He would also use Assyria to judge Judah.
Now, the LORD wants to prepare Judah for the attack from Assyria, reminding them that He is still in charge and they can still trust Him.
This shows the remarkable grace and longsuffering of God.
We would not criticize the LORD if He said, “You want to trust in the Assyrians and not in Me?
Fine. You are now on your own. Good luck!”
But even in the midst of the judgment they deserved, brought through the Assyrians, God wants to comfort His people and bring them hope.
The remnant of Israel . . . will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD.
The LORD promises His people, “You are going through this now because you will not trust Me.
But I am going to change you so that you trust Me again, and you will once again depend on the LORD.”
Yet a remnant of them will return: The suffering of God’s people at the hands of the Assyrians and others would make them feel as if they would certainly be destroyed.
God assures them that this is not the case. He will always preserve His remnant.
Rom 15:3 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
