Sunday, May 06, 2018

"Disobedience and Exile" Sermon: Isaiah 5:8-30


“Disobedience and Exile”
[Isaiah 5:8-30]
May 6, 2018, Second Reformed Church
            God chose the people of biological Israel to be His people – to be the people through whom His Law would be revealed, through whom the prophets would speak, and through whom the Lord Jesus, our God and Savior, would be born.  God blessed Israel and made her a blessing to all the nations of the world.  But Israel rebelled against God and despised His grace.  And God disciplined – punished – Israel for her sin – not as much as she deserved, and with the promised hope that a remnant would remain – God will not forsake them.
            When we began our look at Isaiah, we noted that the first five chapters of the book are a summary introduction to everything else that will be explained in the book.  Isaiah arranges the preaching and the history of his book to make points – it is not a linear history as we might look for in a Western work – but it is the normal presentation for an Eastern work.
            Last week, we saw God compares Judah to a vineyard He plants, and despite everything, the vineyard produces wild grapes – small, woody, sour grapes – symbolic of their sin and Judah, but He got murderers who thought nothing of their sin.  He expected righteousness among His people, but He got abusers who thought nothing of their sin.
            Now, as we conclude the introduction to Isaiah, God opens up these wild grapes and exposes and condemns their sin.  With six “woes” – six proclamations of judgment for sin, two conclusions regarding what their sin deserves, and one statement about the faithfulness of God – despite all these things, God speaks.
            First, God condemns Judah for her covetousness.
“Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: ‘Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.’”
            God condemns those who are not satisfied with the blessings that God has given them – with the daily bread – and more – that God has given them, but lust after what others have and say that they deserve it more.
            The example here is of someone who has a property, and lusts after someone else’s property.  This person looks at other people’s property and thinks that he deserves their property more than they do – in fact; he deserves his property and their property.
            And God tells them that they will lose what they gained:  their houses will be empty, ten acers of vineyard will only produce six gallons of wine, and their seed will only produce ten percent of the crop it should.
Are you satisfied with what God has given you?  Or do you think you deserve what someone else has?
Paul writes, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13, ESV).
Let’s not get distracted and think something other than what Paul is saying by the last sentence I read.  Paul says because Christ strengthens him, he is content with whatever God gives him – whether little or much.
Are you content or do you lust after what someone else has?
Second, God condemns Judah for her debauchery.
“Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.”
God is talking about priorities.  Judah – generally – had made drinking and getting drunk their number one priority – the purpose of their life.  They didn’t have time for the deeds of the Lord, because they had parties to go to.   They had the money and the stamina to get up and drink and party and fall asleep in the evening and do it again the next day.  They didn’t need to do anything else – their priorities were set.
God created a world and gave us bodies that feel pleasure – and God wants to us to feel pleasure.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying alcohol.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying other legal pleasures.  But we are not to follow them into sin.  They are not to be more important that following the deeds that Lord has set before us.
If pleasure and obedience to God were set before you, which would you choose?  Are you sure?
God has blessed us so we can experience pleasure, but God and His will – the deeds He has set before us must come first – they must be our priority.
Judah put God second.  They wanted to have all the toys – they wanted what he has and what she has, and they thought they deserved it.  And they wanted to stayed high, to be stoned, to party all day long.  God would have to wait, they were having too good a time.
What comes to mind when you first wake up?  Is it God?
            Third, God will send Judah into exile.
“Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.  Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.”
Therefore – for this reason – Judah will be sent into exile – they turned their back on the Word of the Lord, they didn’t read it, they didn’t know it, they didn’t follow it, they did not love it, they did not obey it.  They didn’t know God and His Word because they didn’t want to know.
“Well, I lead a very busy life.  The Bible’s too hard to read.  I don’t understand it.  Anyway, I come Christmas and Easter – God’s got to be happy about that.”
You’re here, so, probably, most of you believe that the Bible is God’s Word.
God says He is sending Judah into exile.  Sheol – the grave – will open wide – many will die as the exile occurs.  The rich and the noble and the wise will be taken away and made servants – but everyone will be humbled as Judah is taken off into exile.
The theologian, Bod Dylan, sings, “You may be an ambassador
“To England or France
“You might like to gamble
“You might like to dance
“You may be the heavyweight
“Champion of the world
“You might be a socialite
“With a long string of pearls
“But you're gonna have to serve somebody
“Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody
“Well it may be the Devil
“Or it may be the Lord
“But you're gonna have to serve somebody”  (http://www.metrolyrics.com/gotta-serve-somebody-lyrics-bob-dylan.html)
You are either for the Lord or you’re against Him – and if you remain against Him, you shall find yourself exiled to Hell on the last day.
But!
Fourth, God is holy.
            “But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.”
            Our God is the holy, just, and righteous God, and He cannot allow sin to remain unpunished, and yet, He is also the God of mercy and consolation.
            God shows Himself to be just as He punishes sin – Judah is exiled from the land that God gave her – she is under the control of Babylon.  And yet – but – God has made the Way to be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus.
            God is just in punishing sin – but He hears His people crying out in repentance and faith in the Savior He is sending, and He forgives them.  We are forgiven for every sin we ever commit, because Jesus has come to secure salvation for us.  He lived and died and rose and ascended so we can cry out in exile and be received into the Kingdom, so we can cry out even now and God will reach down to you, “My beloved daughter, my beloved son, you are forgiven through the work of My Son, Jesus, rise and be assured of your salvation.”
            God tells Judah that He is doing nothing wrong in sending them into exile – no, God is just in sending them into exile, but the lambs will graze in the pastures and the nomads will eat of the spoil, God will always keep His lambs safe and provide for them and the nomads from without Judah who have believed in the Savior will be welcomed into the Kingdom, as well.
            If you believe and receive Jesus by faith, you are saved from the Wrath of God for your sins.  And if you continue to repent of you sins and strive after holiness, God will forgive you for Jesus’ sake.  If this is you, God loves you and keeps you and will never lose you, but Jesus is preparing the Kingdom for you even now.
            Fifth, God condemns Judah for unbelief.
            “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: ‘Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!’”
            There were hypocrites in Judah who claimed to be believers – who called for God to come quickly.  They called on God to send the Messiah so they could know God all the more fully in and through Him. 
            But they were tied to their sin as strongly as the cords of the rope between the cart and the ox – there was a strong bond between them and their sin, but they saw nothing wrong with living a life of outrageous sin and wanting to be in the presence of the Holy God.
            How utterly deceived and lost are people who believe that being part of the people of God allows us to continue to revel in the depths of our sin!
            At least the foolish Christians in Rome had an argument – they thought that if they sinned and God gave them grace, they ought to sin more that they would receive more grace!  But Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4, ESV).
            If you are a Christian, you cannot continue in sin – you cannot lovingly, unrepentantly, pile up your sins with joy – the Holy God will not tolerate it!  Yes, we sin, but we rightly repent, and those sins are forgiven through Jesus.  But to say “Let’s sin on!” And look forward to the coming of God is foolishness, hypocrisy, and damnation.
            Sixth, God condemns Judah for perverting the truth.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”
 We live in an age that says there are no absolutes – except that there are no absolutes.  Everything is permissible, except to say that not everything is permissible.
“Who is to say what a man or a woman is?  Who is to say what a human is?  Who is to say what the meaning of ‘is’ is?  We ought to be ‘open-minded’ about other truths – as long as they don’t offend us.”
In Judah and today, we hear God saying that this is true, this is sin, this is to be believed, and we say that depends on your definition of true, and sin’s not so bad, and what is reality?
But nobody really believes that, do they?
If you said to me, “There is no such thing as right or wrong.”
And I say, “OK then, give me your wallet, or your purse, I want your money.”
            I suspect most of us would say “no,” because it is theft – it’s wrong – it is your money and you don’t want to give it to me.
            Don’t twist the truth – even a little bit – that’s sin.
            Seventh, God condemns Judah for being wise in their own eyes.
“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!”
Have you ever known anyone who you couldn’t tell anything?
There is a difference between being able to answer all the questions on “Jeopardy” and being wise.  People who are good at trivia may think they’re wise.  College students think they are wise.  (I used to think I was wise!)
But God says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10, ESV).
The world says wisdom is understanding riddles like, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”  That’s not wisdom, that’s stupid.
Wisdom in knowing Who God is through nature and His Word.  It is beginning to know Him and being so totally overwhelmed and in awe of Who God is that you recognize you will never fully know or understand Who God is, but you have a life given to you as a gift to begin to know Him.
Are you wise?
            When Job thinks a bit too much of himself, God says (in part), “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?“ (Job 38:4-7, ESV).
            Eighth, God condemns Judah for perverting justice.
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!”
            The excessive drinking – among other things – got some of the people in Judah in trouble – and those who had wealth or could offer favors, got the judges to rule in their favor.  Rather than being just, the judges accepted bribes to let the guilty go free, and the innocent was denied his right to truth and justice under the law.
            Not just judges, is it?  Politicians.  Contractors.  Union leaders.  Ministers.
            It’s said that everyone has their price – all you need to do is figure out what it is.  Everyone is willing to pervert justice – to call a crime a good work – if you hit the right button.
            We need to pray for our leaders – up down and all around the spectrum.  We need to pray for each other – that we would not be swayed or bought, but we would speak the truth and declare what is just when we are called upon.
            Finally, God calls upon Babylon to take Judah into exile.
“Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come! None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken; their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind. Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue. They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds.”
God has enough of their sin and refusal to repent, so He brings His fist down upon the land, and a great earthquake erupts, dislodging many bodies from their graves.  The mountains shake with fear at the anger of the Lord – if only Judah had shaken in fear!
God whistles for Babylon, and they take off for Judah like lions, roaring.  They come, skilled archers with well-made bows and sharp arrows.  Their horses have hard hooves, so they run quickly and with authoritative power.  The two wheels of their chariots swirl the dirt like whirlwinds with them.
And in 586 B. C., King Nebuchadnezzar destroys Judah and takes 50,000 people into captivity, leaving Judah a wasteland.
“But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.”
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:11-14, ESV).
Let us pray:
Almighty God, when we hear the sins of Judah and how Your Just Wrath burned against them, we recognize that these are our sins as well.  We look at Your Sovereign control of the nations, and we fear.  Give us wisdom that we would fear You and follow after You in faith and obedience.  Send the Holy Spirit that we would be able to strive after holiness.  And help us to hold fast to the promise You have made to save a remnant of sheep and nomads through Your Son.  It is in amazed thanks we pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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