Isaiah 29
Back from the Brink
Beware of Tripping vs. 1-8
Beware of Blindspots vs. 9-16
Restored to Blessings vs. 17-24
Intro:
In 1991 Jimmy Conors was playing his final US Open
He was 39 years old and way past his prime
It didn’t start out well with him almost losing his opening match to Patrick McEnroe
He was down two sets and match point but pulled off a victory
It was the fourth round match that became famous
He played Aaron Krickstein and the match lasted five sets where several times Conors was at the brink of losing
Each time he would come back with an amazing play
Eventually he won the match and became inspiration for many
I remember once time I was standing in line at El Rancho market in Santa Ynez
And none other than Jimmy Connors was standing in front of me
I was surprised at how someone who was larger than life was so small
Israel is at the brink of disaster
Through their pride and blindness they are almost at the point of no return
But God in his mercy shows them, and us, how he is going to bring them back from the brink
Maybe you’re sitting here today teetering on the brink of failure
You are doing your best to maintain an appearance of having it together
But if one thing was to go wrong it would all come crumbling down
In these times we need to ask God to show us where in our lives he is working
Read Isaiah 29:1-5
Transition:
The second of seven woes expands on the idea that God will judge Judah.
Someone asked what I was teaching on for the advent season
I told them the Seven Woes of Isaiah
They looked at me like "Wow! Merry Xmas."
While there may be seven woes there are many more words of encouragement and blessing
This new lament draws attention to the dire consequence of Judah’s unwillingness to trust God.
What a warning we need to hear
An enemy nation and God will siege the city, but then suddenly God will destroy Jerusalem’s enemies.
Although Assyria is not mentioned, the surprising crushing of Jerusalem’s enemies “in an instant” was fulfilled a short time later when God struck down 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night
So we see two warnings today followed by a restoration
Beware of Tripping vs. 1-8
The first warning we see is beware of being tripped up by pride.
Woe to Ariel: The name Ariel means Lion of God, and in this passage is used as a symbolic reference to Jerusalem (the city where David dwelt).
The only place where Ariel is used as a name for Jerusalem is in this chapter of Isaiah,
When we consider the way Ariel is used in these verses, and the context as a whole, the idea behind calling Jerusalem Lion of God is probably sarcastic.
Richard the Lion Heart
During the Middle Ages Christians conducted three crusades against the Muslims in Israel
Each were utter failures and great amount of lives were lost in the process
In the Third Crusade King Richard of England led it
He proved to be a vary effective military commander, so much that they named him King Richard the Lion Hearted
When he left England for the crusade he left his brother John in charge of the throne
To this day there hasn’t been a more corrupt and vile king than John
No royal has named their son John since
It was under John’s rule that the Story of Robinhood came out
Well when King Richard returned from the Crusade John didn’t want to abdicate the throne
So Richard had to fight castle by castle to win the country back
Jesus will be known as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, He will return and rule
Jerusalem had fooled itself into thinking it was the Lion
The repetition of the name (four times in two verses), and the context of God’s judgment against Jerusalem, suggest the idea that Jerusalem may have thought of herself as the Lion of God, but God didn’t share that lofty opinion of the city.
It may be that the people of Jerusalem had taken to calling themselves by the name Ariel, to both express and strengthen their confidence.
The feeling in Isaiah 29:1 is that Jerusalem is proud, resting on its spiritual heritage instead of its present reality, and living for present pleasures without concern for God
Prov 29:23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Vs. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel:
Jerusalem may have this high opinion of itself, but it is not out of the reach of God’s hand of judgment.
Vs. 4 and you will be brought low, from the dust your speech will be bowed down
Israel will be humbled low to the ground
They tripped and fell over their own pride
Beware lest you trip up
We need to heed this warning in our own lives as well
There are so many things that can trip us up in our faith.
For Israel is was their pride but anything we put our trust in beside Christ will trip us up
Sweets in the house
Ever since thanksgiving my wife has been telling me to watch what I eat
She has asked if my weight has gone up
My reply was of course it was thanksgiving
She’s been telling me to be careful because I might gain back all my weight
Basically she is saying don’t trip up by eating all the holiday food
At the same time she has been making brownies, homemade apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies
I think it’s a bit hypocritical if you ask me
But God has a way out if we do trip and fall
Vs. 5 The multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust:
The closing image in the previous verses was Jerusalem groveling in the dust.
Now, the LORD uses another image, spun off of the idea of dust - Jerusalem’s enemies will be scattered as fine dust.
God will humble Jerusalem in the dust, and then scatter her enemies like fine dust, like chaff that passes away.
You will be punished: This seems to be directed against the nations that come against Jerusalem.
God will allow them to come against the city, and to humble it, but God will punish the nations that have come against His city.
Beware of Blindspots vs. 9-16
The second warning we get from this is Beware of the Blindspots
Vs. 9 Blind yourselves and be blind for the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep
The Jews were staggering around due to self-inflicted blindness
That blindness came from the meaningless words of the prophets
Vs. 11 It was like a book that they couldn’t read
Blindspots are something that can get us into a lot of trouble
Rental Car in Las Vegas
A couple of months ago I was asked to speak at a church in Las Vegas
As I walked up to the car rental counter the lady asked me if I was single
Immediately I was thinking “I know this is Vegas, but at the car rental counter?”
I replied “No, I married with four kids.”
She replied “I meant are you traveling alone”
She then went on and told me they were out of the car I reserved
But for $5 more a day I could drive around in a brand new Camaro
It isn’t hard to figure out what I did
The car was great and man did it go, I finally understood what 0-60 meant
There was only one problem… the car was full of blindspots
Whenever I pulled into a parking space I couldn’t see behind me
Sure they had a video camera in that back I could see on my dashboard
It beeped when I got close to something
But the side passenger windows were these tiny triangles
I couldn’t see if cars were coming when I backed up
How do you recognize spiritual blindness?
vs. 13 This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me
Spiritual blindness has the appearance of being holy but the heart is cold
It’s going through the motions but there is no passion behind it
The routine has taken over
But God can reenergize his people
vs 14 I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder
If you are sitting here this morning and feeling spiritually dull, just going through the motions
Jesus can change that
Through the power of the Holy Spirit he can take a heart that in dull reenergize it
For that to happen there are things that need to come out of darkness
Vs. 15 You who hide deep, whose deeds are in the dark
God wants to do a fresh work in your heart but if you are trying to keep things hidden from him they will be turned upside down
If you are wanting to be close to the Lord then there has to be an admission that there are things that need to be resolved and repented of
Psalm 147:8 The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down the Lord loves the righteous.
Restored to Blessing vs. 17-24
God can restore you from both falls and blindness
Vs. 17 In a very short time I will turn you into a fruitful field
Barren land that was dormant can be revived and bear fruit
I believe this is a word for our church today
There has been a lot of change in this church in the last few months
Staff has left, families have left, and it has left people questioning what’s going on
Internally there have been a lot of things that the elders have been working on
Much of it you will never know
There have been issues of pride and blindness that God is working out
But I am here to tell you, no matter what people say outside the church, that this is where God is taking us
Things have been turned upside down, shook, and refined
But we are ready for this season right here
vs. 17 God has prepared this church to be a fruitful field, so fruitful it will be regarded as a forest
Vs. 18 The deaf will hear and the blind will see
Vs. 19 The meek will obtain fresh joy from the Lord
Vs. 20 The scoffers will cease
He is ready to do a fresh work of joy in the life of this church
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.
Vs. 23-24 When He sees his children they will sanctify his name and stand in awe
This means to make his name holy and give him praise
They will stand in awe of the amazing things God has done
Those who go astray will come back
And those who murmur will receive instruction
Closing:
