Isaiah #1
The Justice and Mercy of God
Isaiah 1:18-20
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 1:18-20
INTRODUCTION:
I’ve heard people say that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Old Testament introduces us to the character of a changeless God. He is a God of perfect justice who cannot overlook sin. But He is equally a God of overwhelming mercy who has provided a way of salvation. That is the Gospel message; and it is the message of the Old Testament as well as the New.
For 8 Sundays, we’ll be focusing on the book of Isaiah.
I’d like to start by giving you some BACKGROUND information about this important book of prophecy.
I. BACKGROUND OF ISAIAH
• We know little about Isaiah, His name means, “The Lord is Salvation”
• He is son of Amoz (not Amos the prophet) who may have been related to the royal family of Judah
• Some believe Isaiah belonged to the tribe of Levi because of his description of the temple in Ch. 6.
• From ch. 7-8 we know Isaiah was married (to a prophetess?) and had two sons, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (“quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil” warning of God’s swift judgment), and Shear-Jashub (“a remnant shall return.” The promise of God’s mercy)
• Isaiah lived during the reigns of 5 kings of the southern Kingdom of Judah:
• Uzziah, 790-739 b.c.
• Jotham, 751-736 b.c.
• Ahaz, 743-728 b.c.
• Hezekiah, 728-695 b.c.
• Manasseh, 695-642 b.c.
The “Dead Sea Scrolls” have uncovered for us a complete manuscript of Isaiah (The St. Marks Isaiah Scroll), and the Hebrew University Scroll which contains portions of the book especially from chapter 38 to the end of the book. Several other fragments of Isaiah were discovered in Cave 4. Since the St. Mark scroll has been positively dated at around 150 b.c., this rules out the assertion by liberal scholars that parts of Isaiah were written in the 2nd or 3rd century a.d.
II. THE GOSPEL OF ISAIAH
The book of Isaiah is sometimes called the Gospel of Isaiah. Often called the “Gospel” of Isaiah because of “Good news” content of book. Also called the “Romans” of the O.T. because it sets forth God’s case against sinners, unveils the wretchedness of the human heart, and reveals the way of salvation for Israel and the world. (in Romans, Paul quoted Isaiah 17 times.)
N.T. alludes to it frequently and quotes from Isaiah 62 times.
Isaiah’s message calls sinners to repentance and promises forgiveness for those who humble themselves and turn to God
The Jews of Isaiah’s day had big heads, full of all the correct doctrines, but their hearts had grown oh so cold! Look at the words in Isaiah 1:2-3
I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master and the donkey his owners manager. But Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
What is Isaiah saying? Even dumb animals know where they get their privileges; but not my people. When God speaks to the people Isaiah is called to preach to He calls them Sodomites! (vs. 10). This is really rough language! It is like using a cuss word. Isaiah is obviously not out to smooth over anything. He is being brutally frank.
In vs. 11-17 we discover that God is fed up with their religious practices. He is tired of everything they do to attempt to worship Him. Notice what he told them, (vs. 11-17)
“The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, or rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. Whey you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice; encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless; plead the cause of the widow.”
Let us stop to realize something here. Who commanded all these religious observances in the first place? God did. Why? It was to aid them in remembering their purpose. The problem was not in the rituals themselves. The problem was that they forgot their purpose, but kept up the rituals anyway.
Are we so different? For example, do you know why you throw rice at weddings? When was the last time you actually thought about the words of the Doxology when you sang it? Suppose we had a service that began with a sermon and ended with a song service. Could we survive the change? Why do we bow our heads and close our eyes when we pray? Why not look upward and keep your eyes open? Would God be displeased if we fell on our knees as we worship? Do we ever go through our worship services like robots programmed to a set pattern?
How often does our religion turn to empty ritualism? Let me tell you, when that happens we are no different than the Buddhists. We might as well grab a prayer wheel and start spinning it. When we lose sight of our purpose our religion becomes vain and repulsive in God’s eyes. This is why, when God showed up for church in Isaiah’s day, he became nauseated by all the things the Jews did to try to worship Him. The very things God had commanded in the first place became a stink in his nostrils and all because the people did the right things in the right way but for the wrong reasons.
It is not all that strange for people to come to church and be dissatisfied with something going on there. On the two occasions I had recently to sit out in the audience at church with my family I noticed myself focusing on things like the temperature of the room and the sound system settings. It was only natural since that was my first time to experience being in the audience in our new building. But I had to concentrate to stay focused on the matters at hand and not get sidelined by comfort or technical issues.
Imagine what it was like for God to show up in the temple in Isaiah’s day and be nauseated by the church service. But the temperature of the room and the volume level of the speakers didn’t upset him. He was turned off by the hypocrisy of the worship of the people assembled there. Doing all the right things for the wrong reasons was detestable in God’s eyes. Their sacrifices and offerings became a stench in God’s nostrils. Friends, you have to realize that country-club religion, making all the right moves while your heart is not in it, is not acceptable with God.
Yet even in God’s anger he speaks to these wayward people through Isaiah with a tenderness even in the midst of his tough words
In vs. 18ff he says, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
It is amazing that even in his anger, God speaks grace by saying, “Come now, let us reason together.” Even though the level of their evil and rebellion was on par with that of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah (vs. 10) God was still able to say, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” God had a message of redemption for Wayward Israel and was about to deliver that message through Isaiah the Prophet.
Notice however, that God wasn’t going to just overlook their sins. He was not too kind and too loving to invoke judgment where ever it needed to fall. However, in reasoning with the wayward people if Isaiah’s day he placed before them two possible paths. In vs. 19-20 we read of God’s straightforward message.
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Conclusion:
This is the message of the book of Isaiah. It is all for the purpose of calling a wayward people back to their original purpose. The first 39 chapters are filled with warnings about their sin and the sins of those around them, and of God’s sure judgment. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah are filled with God’s promise to send a redeemer so that God’s wayward people can be brought back to God and his blessing.
Both the warnings and the promises are meant for us as much as they were meant for the people of Isaiah’s day. We should head the warnings as well as take comfort from the promises of our Holy God.
I must ask you a couple of probing questions today.
If God sat next to you in church and observed your worship, would he be pleased or offended by you? Would he find your offerings to be detestable? Would he hide his eyes from your prayers and stop his ears so he wouldn’t have to listen?
It is an awesome thing for God to show up at church; to allow his refining fire and glory to appear before puny humans. But what if He appears and is repulsed by our worship? Isaiah appeared to call Israel back to obedience before God. And as we study Isaiah together we must understand that it matters to God, not only that we worship Him, but why we worship him. Pretense will not pass before a Holy and all knowing God. We cannot get away with doing the right things in the right ways for the wrong reasons.
God will purge away the dross and remove all your impurities (vs. 25). What God cannot abide He will remove. Keep that in mind as you study Isaiah’s first 39 chapters. What God plants in its place he will preserve. Keep that in mind as you study Isaiah 40 through 66.
