“Have Faith”
[Isaiah 8:9-22]
July 1, 2018, Second Reformed Church
Last week, we saw that Isaiah’s
second son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, was born and is given that name because the
name means, “the slaughter [of Israel] will come soon.” We may remember Isaiah’s first son, Shear-jashub,
bears the name that means, “a remnant will return.” Isaiah names his children to reflect the
prophecy that God gives him.
And we saw Isaiah condemn King Ahaz and
Judah for not trusting – for not being satisfied – with God’s provision of their
daily needs. And so, the Assyrians will turn
against King Ahaz and Judah and punish them as well.
Yet as Isaiah continues to speak, we
hear that glory will not go to the Assyrians.
“Be broken, you peoples, and be
shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be
shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered. Take counsel together, but it
will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.”
God’s word to the Assyrians – as it
is given before Judah – another reason for them to trust God – is that Assyria
will be broken. Assyria will be
shattered. Even as they strap on their
armor, it will be shattered. It is said
twice for emphasis, indicating they will be completely shattered. All of their plans of destruction for Judah
will come to nothing.
God says that the glory of the disciplining
of Judah will not go to the Assyrians.
God will allow the Assyrians to do what they want to do as the
discipline of Judah – to attack and kill and take many into captivity, yet God
will punish the Assyrians for murdering and stealing and going against the
people of God.
What the Assyrians did was evil –
attacking Israel – and eventually Judah – slaughtering them and taking them
into captivity. Yet, God righteously
used their evil to do the good of disciplining Israel and Judah. But God will not let the Assyrians’ sin go
unpunished.
And we may think. “Wait a minute,
didn’t God want them to attack Israel and Judah? How can God then go and punish them?”
God did not force the Assyrians to
attack – it is what they wanted to do – God just did not restrain them – He
allowed them to follow after the sin they wanted to commit. So the sin is totally on the Assyrians’
part. God did nothing wrong. God was not morally obliged to restrain their
sin. However, once they did sin, in
order to be just, God did have to punish their sin.
We may remember Joseph’s brothers
sold him into slavery, which was a sin.
But there was another reason Joseph is sold into slavery, and that is
not a sin – it was for good, as Joseph tells his brothers, “As for you, you
meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many
people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20, ESV). Joseph rose to be the second in command over
Egypt and saw to the saving of that nation and many others during a seven-year
famine.
So, one effect can have both a good
and an evil cause at the same time.
God tells the Assyrians not to strut
around about their conquest of Israel and domination of Judah, because God is
going to shatter them. In a very
familiar way, in 612 B.C., God allows the Babylonians to conquer the Assyrian
Empire.
The Assyrian Empire will not
stand. Why? “God is with us.” Immanuel!
Although the Savior has not been born, God is still with them. God promised to save a remnant – and for the
sake of His promise to those people – the remnant who would believe – God took
down the Assyrian Empire.
The glory of what the Assyrians did
– the punishment of Israel and Judah, would not go to them, but to God Who
ordained this to happen, saving a remnant, and sending the promised Savior.
Second, fear the Lord and trust Him.
“For the LORD spoke thus to me with his
strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people,
saying: ‘Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do
not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall
honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will
become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both
houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many
shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken’”
Isaiah turns to the people to tell them
what God tells him – don’t walk in the way of the people. Don’t be like the people of Judah. Don’t believe what they believe or do what
they do.
God tells Isaiah not to believe the
people’s cry of “conspiracy.” The
commentators are not sure what this conspiracy refers to – or if it is just a
general principle – and that’s how we can consider it:
Have you ever heard a rumor or part of a
story and gotten all wound up about “what it must mean?” Have you ever listened to “the experts” and gotten
all wound up over something, only to find that they were wrong?
During the Gulf War, I kept hearing people
argue that Saddam Hussein is the anti-Christ and so on and so forth. I remember being on a trip to upstate New
York to work on a pipe organ, and back in the room I was reading the Bible –
somewhat shaken by what people were saying – wondering if this could really be
it.
It wasn’t.
If you go on the Internet, there are all
kinds of unsubstantiated stories that could get you all wound up.
But that’s our fault – we don’t check to
see if we have the whole story and if it is true. And we suddenly don’t believe God when we see
things on the TV.
God says, “Don’t buy into what
everyone is saying. Don’t get all wound
up. Don’t be afraid because of what
people are saying.”
If you want to know what you should
be doing when world leaders meet, glorify God – show Him to be Who He is to
others. Pray to Him about what is going
on. Pray for the world leaders. Be in awe of God. Be afraid of not being pleasing to Him. Be faithful and obedient to Him out of the
love you have for His Son, our Savior.
Something might happen! So, out of love for God and your neighbor,
tell other people Who God is and the salvation that is only through His Son,
Jesus; be faithful and obedient to God and all He has said. And you will be fine. You might get killed, but you will be fine.
What does that mean?
What if “the little rocket man”
drops the bomb? Proclaim the Gospel, be
faithful and obedient and remember what Jesus says: “And do not fear those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in
hell” (Matthew 10:28, ESV).
Don’t forget: Immanuel.
Paul writes, “What then shall we say
to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, ESV). Of course we must remember this says, “if God
is for us” – when we sin, God is not for us in that moment. If we are one hundred percent sure without
any doubt or possibility of being wrong – especially in the things of God – God
is for you. If you pray that God’s will is done in a given situation, God is for
you. If you pray that God will be
glorified in your life, God is for you.
And so forth.
If we are centered on God – on
having faith and being obedient, then He will become a sanctuary for us – a
sacred place where God is Immanuel – with you – with us. If we believe in Jesus Alone for salvation,
we are united with Him – He is our sanctuary – He is the sacred place into
which no evil can come.
However, if you don’t really believe
– no matter who you are or what your heritage is or how long you have been a
member of the church and how much time and money you have given – God says you
– like both houses of Israel – Israel and Judah – who rejects God by and large
– you will stumble on this rock, and you will fall, and you will be broken,
snared, and taken.
Paul, speaking of Israel’s unbelief,
writes, “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based
on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold,
I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever
believes in him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 9:32-33, ESV).
Notice, the stone over which people
stumble is a person.
Peter explains: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected
by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living
stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it
stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen
and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the
honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that
the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and
a rock of offense’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were
destined to do” (I Peter 2:4-8, ESV).
In other words, if you fear the Lord
Jesus and trust in Him for your salvation, He will become for you the sacred
space and a union with Him. If you
reject Him, He will be the rock that beats you down and wounds you and sends
you to your just end.
Fear the Lord and trust Him.
Third, hope in the Lord and hold to
the testimony.
“Bind up the testimony; seal the
teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face
from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom
the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts,
who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and
the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their
God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching
and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is
because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed
and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak
contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.
And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom
of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.”
God tells Isaiah to bind up and seal
the Word of God – to keep it and teach it to God’s disciples. And Isaiah says he will hope in the Lord, and
the children the Lord gave him – whether he means his two sons or all those who
believe in the Savior – they stand against Israel in the Name of God and as
witnesses against Israel.
Yet the people will not repent – no,
they will ask Isaiah to go to the mediums and the witches and the
fortunetellers to ask the dead what they should do. And God furiously asks if they should not
inquire of their God, rather than to ask the dead about the living? Not to
mention that contacting the dead and all kinds of witchcraft are forbidden and
the death penalty is prescribed for those who practice such arts.
God proclaims where they should seek
their answers: “To the teaching and to
the testimony!” The Word of God.
“Oh, well, yes, the Bible is all
very nice, but this is the twenty-first century, we need to go to science and
psychology and our fortune cookie from lunch for the answers we need.”
It’s true, the Bible does not have
the elemental formula for water, but it does have everything we need to know
for life and salvation in it. If you
want to know how you are to live as a child of God, all the answers are in the
Bible. If you want to know how to become
right with God, the One and Only Answer is in the Bible.
Science and psychology have very
useful information and answers – and I, for one, and very thankful for the
advances we have. But, when the question
is asked, “Is it right for a brother to marry his sister?” God says, “no.” So there is no need to seek any further voice
– living or dead.
When God tells us that Jesus is the
Only Way to salvation, there is no need to spend a quarter of a million dollars
to hire an inter-faith specialist to see if there might be equally valid
answers to the question of becoming right with God in other religions.
“To the teaching and to the
testimony!”
Specifically regarding the issue of
salvation, Paul says that Jesus is the One and Only Way, and he has this to say
about those who suggest otherwise: “But
even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to
the one we preached to you, let him be accursed [damned to Hell]. As we have
said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel
contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed [damned to Hell]” (Galatians
1:8-9, ESV).
Hope in the Lord and hold to the
testimony.
If I get swept out to sea while I’m
on vacation and never return, believe that the Bible is the Whole Word of God –
it contains everything you need to know as far as how to live in the way that
is pleasing to God and how to be made right with God through Jesus Alone – hold
to this testimony! And hope in God –
believe all the promises that have been made and look forward, believing with
strong assurance that these things will all come to pass, just as God has
promised.
And reject anyone who says anything
different. Stand up to them and say,
“here is what the Lord says!”
Do you remember what God tells
Isaiah about his preaching and how the people will respond to it? They will not listen – they will put their
fingers in their ears and say, “la, la, la, la, I can’t hear you!”
And God says that if they do not
abide by the Word of God, it is because they have “no dawn.” A curious expression. What happens at dawn? The sun comes up – the light dispels the
darkness – this is a figurative way of saying they will be in darkness – spiritual
darkness.
And when things go wrong for them,
they will shake their fists at their king and God and blame them: “I’m a good Christian. I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual. I go to church twice a year – more for
funerals and weddings – and I throw a buck in the plate. I don’t believe the Bible is true for today,
but I believe there is a life-force that guides the universe. I’m a good person. Why aren’t I getting what I want out of
life? The President or the god-force
must be doing something evil that’s messing with my karma!”
They will see distress and darkness
and the gloom of anguish, and God will thrust them – forcefully push them –
into thick darkness.
Jesus says, “I tell you, many will
come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the
outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew
8:11-12, ESV).
And in a parable, “And he said to
him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was
speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and
cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:12-14,
ESV).
And, “For to everyone who has will
more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the
outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew
25:29-30, ESV).
Those who never believe in God and
the Savior He sent will be cast into darkenss, because they have no dawn. Darkness is the absence of light, and Jesus
is the Light – He is the dawn.
But if you are part of the remnant
and have faith, you will hear Jesus say this:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34, ESV).
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You Who Alone are
worthy of glory, help us to be strong in our hope in You and the salvation Your
Son has accomplished. Fill us with God
the Holy Spirit that we would fear You and follow You, holding fast to all that
You have said. For Your Son, Alone, is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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