The Walking Wounded

Sermon Title: The Walking Wounded

Text: Isaiah 1:5-9

Date: July 20, 2003

Context of Scripture:

As we prepare to look into our Scripture in the first chapter of Isaiah this evening, we need to remember that Isaiah was not born into the depths of poverty nor was he raised in religious ignorance. To the people of Isaiah’s time, the past was past on from generation to generation orally. Past failures and past successes were given to the next generation and then that generation would pass it on as well.

Isaiah knew the events that led up to the many victories of his people and he knew the events that took the nation to ruination, whether they be in the realm of religious, financial, or both which was usually the case.

Isaiah had perfect hindsight through the oral tradition of His people – a clear and concise vision of the future from God – and his fingers were on the pulse of Judah at the time of these writings. If anyone was well-informed, it was Isaiah.

Please stand in reverence to the reading of God’s Word!

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:5-9

5 Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. 7 Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields--strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. 8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.

Sermon Introduction:

I have entitled this message, “The Walking Wounded”, because we cannot say that we are unaffected by the things that are taking place in our world, no matter how we pride ourselves on our ability to separate ourselves. We are all wounded by the sins of this world to some degree.

Isaiah uses a medical analogy to describe what exactly was awaiting Judah as a result of its behavior as a nation. The medical term for their lack of relationship with the Lord was relapse. They had been healed to a certain degree many times in the past, but the healing was never complete – they continued to do what made them ill in the past and if they continued on – they would get exactly what it was that they had to begin with. If you continue doing the same old thing, can you expect anything other then the same old results?

The problem that Isaiah’s people were facing was that they were getting totally involved in the sin that they were living in. The infection was spreading to every portion of their nation and if the process continued, there would be no hope. Infection is treated easily until it is deeply entrenched in the vital areas. Infection is easily treated until the reason for infection becomes immune and adapts to the course of treatment. If we fail to continue with the medication that we are given the resulting surviving germs are more resistant to the treatment. The heart-hardening of Isaiah’s people was evident. They were involved in a full blown spiritual infection and there was no form of treatment in place.

It wasn’t simply the people that were ill, the places that they lived were sin-filled as well. The Idolatry was fueled by the different idols, the immorality fueled by an acceptance of immoral lifestyles. Godlessness lessened in seriousness due to the number of people who adhered to that frame of mind. The creation beyond man was suffering the effects of falleness.

The signs were on the wall – the strength of the nation was waning, financially things were on a decline, it isn’t that God’s wrath was immanent, it was already quite obviously begun.

Prayer for Spiritual Enlightenment:

I. It is Gonna Happen Again

If we look into our history as a nation, we can see that every time there is a great advancement in our financial, material, or personal quality of life – there is usually a decline in moral and ethical responsibility, which is caused by a shift from reliance upon God to self-reliance, and the end result is a loss of blessings that casue a slide in certain aspects of life in general, which causes a shift back to reliance on God which in turn leads to greater blessings. We see it in the story of the Hebrews in God’s Word, but if we read American history carefully we can see the same pattern mirrored in our nation. Let us look at verse 5: