December 12, 2004 Isaiah 35:1-7
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
Over the years certain Christmas movies have turned into absolute classics within our American Culture. “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “the Christmas Story” can be seen almost non-stop from now until Christmas, and I still love to watch them. There’s a more recent one that I’ve never really cared for however, called “the Grinch that Stole Christmas.” Dr. Seuss’ depiction of this Grinch always seemed to make me nervous. I was afraid that this ugly looking creature was going to hurt someone or get someone in trouble. Yet people seem to find great joy and laughter in his stories for some reason. I guess that’s what he was aiming for - as his name - Seuss - actually is a Hebrew word for “joy.”
That same word for “joy” - seuss - is used in today’s text, when Isaiah predicts that the desert will shout for “joy.” During this Advent season - in preparation for Christmas - we are going to study what exactly makes the desert glad. As we look at this portion of God’s Word we’ll find a much more appropriate Christmas story than that of Dr. Seuss’s Grinch. Hopefully, when we’re all done you’ll agree with me when I say that-
Isaiah’s Christmas Story is Happier than that of Dr. Seuss
Isaiah says, The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. God’s Word was not written in order to make us learn how to manage the desert and turn it into a paradise. It was written to reach to the heart and soul of man. As God’s Word says in John 20:31 These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Therefore, it would seem obvious to us in reading this that it is not the deserts and the parched lands that God is so concerned with, but the people that inherit those lands. These are, indeed, symbolic words - referring to something other than sands and rocks. Isaiah gets to the heart of the matter in the later verses - Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts. When Isaiah describes deserts and deaf and blind and thirsty and weak kneed people- he is referring not to a PHYSICAL but to a SPIRITUAL condition.
When you look at the surrounding context of this message, you can see why Isaiah’s audience had much to be afraid of. Throughout chapters 28-33 Isaiah had been predicting the downfall of Israel because of their behavior.
• Isaiah 28:3- the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.
• Isaiah 28:7-10 Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth. “Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there.”
• Isaiah 30:9-11 - These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction. They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"
• Isaiah 32:9f - You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
The Israelites were arrogant, complacent, and not wanting to hear about what sins they were committing. All they wanted to hear were little do’s and don’ts - little improvements on their lives. Any of the serious stuff - the hell and brimstone stuff - they said - “stop confronting us. See no more visions. Tell us pleasant things.”
Therefore, Isaiah said to them in 28:13, So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. This is what God calls giving someone a “famine of the Word.” The same thing was spoken by Amos in 8:11-13 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.” The Israelites would have known this imagery well, for it was in their not to far past that their ancestors were wandering through the Sinai Desert for 40 years, searching for the promised land. When this is done spiritually, it is a far worse judgment than 40 years in the Sinai Desert. When God pronounces on a man - a famine of the Word - through the very prophets and preachers that are supposed to be feeding his people, it leads to spiritual death, because God says, “faith comes from hearing the message.” (Romans 10:17)
Any normal man or woman knows when he or she is starving. His or her stomach very clearly cries out, “feed me!” You’d have to be suffering from some sort of a disease not to realize it. Yet history has shown that physically this can happen from time to time - where people with bolemia or some other disease actually think that they are eating too much, when in reality they are starving. The same thing can happen spiritually. Jesus said to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. So also I would imagine that there were many Israelites who - when they heard this message of Isaiah - imagined that he was coo-coo. They would have said, “we’re not starving! We’re not anywhere near a desert! We’ve got Egypt on our side to help us against any attacks! We’re fine!”
It scares me to hear the same response. When people miss church for Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and yet seem to think that their spiritual health is just perfectly fine. Even though they haven’t picked up a Bible for months, they imagine that they know everything they need to know about God. After they finish their instructions they never step foot in a Bible class again. When they are encouraged to get into their Bibles and listen to God’s Word they are outraged at the thought that their faith could be in some sort of danger. Peter once encouraged his fellow Christians in 1 Peter 2:2, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. A newborn baby needs to feed every three to four hours, and yet you think you can go days, weeks, months, or even a year without the Word? Do you really think the devil is that weak? Do you really believe you have that great of control over your own flesh? Do you really think that the temptations of the world, the pornographic web sights, the materialism, and the selfishness of this world will not somehow get control of your soul? Do you really think that your work or your sleep is more important than feeding your soul? Yet somehow many who are falling prey to these very things - just don’t see it that way. They actually don’t recognize they are starving or in danger of losing their faith.
Another problem is with people who regularly read their Bibles, but only look at them for little do’s and don’ts. They like to read their Bibles and go to church so that they can “do” what they “should do.” However, when they are confronted with a sin they are committing, they become angry and outraged that someone would be so judgmental and arrogant! Like the Israelites, they say, “don’t be so confrontational! We’re doing just fine. Don’t tell us about sin. Just give us little ‘do’s and don’ts’, little helps on how to manage our money and have happy marriages.” It shows how blind we really are! Even though God’s Word clearly warns us against these things, we stick our heads in the sand and act as if they really aren’t that dangerous and we really don’t need the Word so much. We’re so blind at times that we can’t even see we’re blind!
Thankfully, our God didn’t ask for our permission to give us the message. Isaiah simply said, 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." 5 Whether they wanted it or not, their God was coming with vengeance, coming with divine retribution to save. God didn’t ask for their permission to send Jesus. Whether they wanted him or not, Jesus came - born of the virgin Mary - to bring divine retribution.
Now, anyone looking at that Baby in the manger wouldn’t exactly see someone fitted for any sort of retribution. After all, you’d expect a hangman or a powerful leader with a big club in his hand. Yet that Baby was the key to divine retribution, and that was the key to salvation. The only way God could get justice on mankind, was if He would live a perfect life in our place and if He would DIE and be CRUCIFIED for mankind. So God put on flesh and bones and became man - put Himself under the Law - in order to satisfy His own justice. He was born of the virgin Mary in order to be God’s punching bag - God’s wrath catcher - so to speak. He had to take on the devil’s temptations head to head and come out unscathed - beat Him straight up. Only Jesus - that little baby in the manger - was equipped for such retribution. Only He could see the path that He needed to take as our substitute and listen to His Father even when His own Father sent Him to the cross. This is our salvation. We know that God already got retribution through that little baby named Jesus.
I know what some of you may be thinking. “I’ve heard that before, Pastor. How many times do I have to hear it? I know the message of the Bible - Jesus was born and died for me. Why do I have to hear it Sunday after Sunday after Sunday? Why do I have to read it again and again? Do you think I’ll forget it? I won’t!” By this time I suppose some of you may be angry about me even talking about this whole Bible class and worship thing - that it’s really something you should do. It really is terrible, isn’t it, for someone to try and feed you God’s Word? To make sure that you are WELL fed? As a matter of fact, if that’s your attitude, you shouldn’t have even listened to the last part about the divine retribution - because that was for people in the desert.
But for the sake of argument and in the hope that you do enjoy this message - that it still does catch your fancy, Isaiah answers the question anyway - “why?” Why is this “message” so important for me to listen to when I’ve got so many other things to do? Listen to what Isaiah says happens. The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
Let me summarize it very simply. When the message of Christ is preached, it brings life. It makes the lame leap, the crocus bloom, the deaf hear, the blind see, the burning sand into a pool. Every aspect of Christ brings the exact opposite that you would expect. When God makes us afraid because of our sins, through confession and faith he brings joy as He acquits us. When you fear getting a heart attack or dying in an accident - through the divine retribution of the cross, even death turns into life through faith in Christ. When grandma or grandpa die in Christ, we not only mourn, but we also rejoice. Through faith in God’s Word - the blind are given sight - as we see things we could never see before - that there is a heaven, angels, hell and demons - things that the world is blind to. These are the natural results that come from the salvation that God brings. While we live in the midst of a desert drear, we continue to bloom and rejoice!
There are plenty examples of this happening through Scriptures. When Paul was on the way to Damascus, Jesus confronted him and blinded him with the light. Only Paul could hear him say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me.” From that moment on, even though he was momentarily made blind, Saul was given a spiritual eyesight - the ability see Jesus as His Savior instead an imposter. God brought life from a death march. Consider John on the Island of Patmos. Here he was, this old man, getting ready to die - under arrest for his confession of Christ. Yet while he was imprisoned, God gave him the most beautiful vision of Revelation - allowing him to see things that you and I would bring tears of joy to our eyes. Consider Acts 16:22-25, which tells of what happened to Paul and Silas. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. In the midst of sorrow, these men were leaping for joy with their voices, knowing that God still loved them and was going to work this out for good.
You may wonder what good it does to keep listening to God’s Word time and time again after you think you’ve heard all the stories before. After all, whether you have a weak or a strong faith in Christ, you are still saved. So what’s the big deal? The difference comes in the effects. It is sad to see so many of God’s people still be hard of hearing - who think they know it all and have no desire to know more of God’s Word. It sad to see so many still having a hard time finding their way through life - who think that life is only about buying Christmas presents and making money. With such an attitude, you are only hurting yourself - depriving yourself of the very blessings God wants you to have. God wants us to spiritually leap like deer, not like white men. He wants us to feel like we’re living next to a spiritual pool, not in a desert drear. There are blessings in rehashing these stories. There are blessings in letting God confront us with His law and gospel. It keeps us humble. It keeps us happy. It makes us more joyous. It prepares us for Christ - in seeing God become man. Through them we become assured of God’s love for us and His purpose in our lives. We can never hear too much of it, because it only ends up blessing us again and again and again.
The Grinch who Stole Christmas is a story of an ugly green creature who seems to enjoy tormenting people and ruining their lives, all because of some mishap he had as a young thing. Yet, if I remember the story correctly, it does have a “happy” ending, as the Grinch ends up liking Christmas in the end. Dr. Seuss’s story brings joy to people when they see such a Grinch end up being nice.
Sad to say, most of Isaiah’s crowd were like the Grinch. They didn’t want to hear anything Isaiah had to say about Christmas. They didn’t want to hear about a divine retribution or a Savior to come. So many of them starved. There is no happy ending for them. They ended up in hell.
I hope you listened to Isaiah’s Christmas Story today. In it we see happiness. We find a God who was willing to send His own Son to save us, even when we didn’t want it. We find a God who was willing to provide divine retribution, even though we deserved it. We find a God who was so generous as to flood a world that deserved to starve with His wonderful grace. This is a happy story - much happier than that of Dr. Seuss. Instead of being a Grinch this Christmas - and saying, “bah, humbug,” I hope and pray that you will drink from this message of Christ - the baby in the manger - and rejoice. Then, when Jesus comes again, you will have a happier ending than Dr. Seuss could ever write. Amen.
