ISAIAH 9 CONTINUED...
TODAY WE WILL BEGIN AT ISAIAH 9:8-ISAIAH 10:4, WHICH BEGINS TO SPEAK OF THE THE COMING JUDGMENT on the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
AND THIS SECTION IS IN FOUR PARTS, each part concluding with "For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand (of judgment) is stretched out still." Some have called this section OF ISAIAH, "GOD'S Speech of the Outstretched Hand."
Verses 8-12 tells us because of their UNHOLY PRIDE, Israel will be defeated by her enemies.
"The LORD sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. All the people will know; Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria; who say in pride and arrogance of heart: "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still."
The LORD sent a word AGAINST JACOB, and it has fallen on Israel..
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The idea is that the LORD brought a word against all His people (against Jacob) and the word has scored a "direct hit" against the Northern Kingdom of Israel, AMEN?
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria...
SINCE WE HAVE ALREADY STUDIED THE BOOK OF GENESIS, WE KNOW IN GENESIS 48, THAT JOSEPH HAD TWO SONS. MANNASEH, THE FIRST BORN, & EPHRAIM, THE SECOND BORN, BUT IT WAS EPHRAIM THAT ISRAEL (JACOB) CONFERRED THE HIGHEST BLESSINGS UPON, WHICH WAS AGAINST HEBREW TRADITION, AMEN?
The tribe of Ephraim WAS the largest and most influential tribe in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. So, often the LORD refers to the Kingdom of Israel by the name Ephraim. Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. THE LORD WANTED TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS NO DOUBT whom this prophecy is directed to.
Who say IN PRIDE AND IN ARROGANCE of heart: "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."
DID YOU KNOW, THIS SCRIPTURE RIGHT HERE WAS ARROGANTLY AND PRIDEFULLY REPEATED IN THE SENATE AND CONGRESS BY OUR LEADERS, OUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN AFTER 9-11?
THIS SHOWED ME THAT OUR LEADERS, THEIR SPEECH WRITERS, NOR THEY THEMSELVES KNEW THEIR BIBLE AT ALL.
NONE OF THEM KNEW THAT THIS WAS A DANGEROUS THING, AN ARROGANT THING, A PRIDEFUL THING TO SAY AND A CHALLENGE TO ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF?
ALMIGHTY GOD TOLD ISAIAH, AND ISAIAH REPEATED HOW THE LORD FELT ABOUT IT...
In THEIR PRIDE, the leaders and the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel said, "Who cares if God judges us? Whatever is torn down, we will rebuild with something better. We have nothing to fear from what God can bring against us."
DOES THIS NOT SOUND LIKE MANKIND TODAY?
BULTEMA SAYS IT PERFECTLY OF THIS SCRIPTURE..."Instead of humbling themselves before the face of God on account of the many calamities that had already descended on them, they still entertained a lighthearted optimism regarding the future. This optimism manifested itself in the slogans that were current in that day and apparently on everybody's lips."
AND AGAIN BULTEMA SAYS, "What a brief but deeply psychological picture this is of an unfaithful generation that keeps dreaming of better times to come and lightheartedly ignores the severe judgments of God."
Therefore the LORD SHALL SET UP the adversaries...Because they believed they would be able to weather the storm of attack and then rebuild, God would send SUCCESSIVE WAVES of enemies against Israel (The Syrians before and the Philistines behind). The destruction of Israel would be complete, and their proud promise to rebuild would be unfulfilled.
AND REMEMBER DEUTERONOMY 8:5, PROVERBS 13:24, & HEBREW 12:6-7, OUR GOD SAYS HE CHASTISES WHOM HE LOVES. ISRAEL IS HIS AND THE UNITED STATES THAT HAD NOT SUFFERED ANY REAL ATTACK ON THEIR SOIL SINCE HAWAII AT PEARL HARBOR, AND A NATION FOUNDED ON ALMIGHTY GOD, & HIS WORD & CONSECRATED AND DEDICATED TO GOD & TO THE MISSION OF SHINING JESUS AND DEFENDING THE WEAK...
NOW HAS KICKED JESUS, HIS WORD, & ARROGANTLY DISMISSED THE NEED FOR GOD, WE ARE BIGGER AND BETTER NOW...WE DO NOT NEED GOD IN ALL THINGS, HAS SUFFERED INCREASINGLY SEVERE ATTACKS BY ENEMIES, MAN, AND NATURE.
YET ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES LEADERS NOR THE NATIONS AS A WHOLE....IN THEIR ARROGANCE, THEN AND NOW, ARE NOT HITTING THEIR KNEES, ARE NOT REPENTING, ARE NOT CALLING OUT TO JESUS...THEY ARROGANTLY BELIEVE THEY ARE IN CONTROL AND THAT THEY CAN WITHSTAND, CAN REBUILD, CAN WEATHER WHATEVER GOD, MAN, NATURE, AND SATAN HURL AT THEM...AMEN?
YET BROWSE THE INTERNET, READ THE HEADLINES, WATCH THE TALKING HEAD REPORTING MEDIA ANY DAY ALL DAY...AND WHAT YOU SEE IS VERBAL SHRUGS, DISMISSAL OF ANY CHRISTIAN LEADER CALLING FOR REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK TO JESUS, MUCH LESS THE THOUGHT THAT ALL THESE DISASTERS ARE JESUS WAKE UP CALL...THAT ALMIGHTY GOD IS CHASTISING THOSE HE LOVES & SO HE IS ALLOWING THESE THINGS TO COME UPON MANKIND...
The chorus is said...For all this, His anger is not turned away, but HIS HAND IS OUT STRETCHED STILL. The judgment against Israel's pride was not enough. There was still sin to judge, and God wasn't ready to stop His work of judgment.
EVEN AS THE BIBLE, ESPECIALLY DANIEL PROPHECIES FOR ISRAEL AND REVELATION, ISAIAH, EZEKIEL, JOEL, ZECHARIAH, AND OTHER NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS TOLD US THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO THIS WOULD HAPPEN.
THE CHRISTIANS, THOSE WHO HAVE CRIED OUT, WHO HAVE REPENTED THEIR SIN AND FALLENNESS, WHO HAVE ASKED AND WHO LOVE JESUS CHRIST AND CALL HIM LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND, IT IS OUR HEART CRIES, OUR PRAYERS, OUR LIGHT SHINING INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE LOST WORLD & JESUS PATIENCE, GRACE, AND MERCY...THAT HAS SPARED THE WORLD THE FIERCENESS OF GOD'S WRATH.
SO REMEMBER YOUR PRAYERS MATTER AND THOUGH YOU MAY NOT SEE AT ALL TIMES JESUS GRACE AND MERCY, WE CAN KNOW THAT OUR HUMILITY, OUR HEART CRIES, OUR PRAYERS ARE INTERCEDING FOR THIS WORLD.
BUT ONE DAY SOON, OUR JESUS WILL APPEAR IN THE CLOUDS IN THE EASTERN SKIES AND DRAW US UNTO HIM, GATHER US HIS CHILDREN UP...AND THEN HIS HOLY SPIRIT WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH...AND THEN ONLY THE BIBLE WILL REMAIN OF OUR TRIUNE GOD ON THE FACE OF THE DARK LOST WORLD...
AND THE LOST WORLD THAT KICKED JESUS HIS SON OUT OF ALL THINGS, DISMISSED CURSED AND ARROGANTLY SHOOK THEIR FISTS IN THE FACE OF ALL THOSE WHO KNOW AND LOVE JESUS...WILL BE GIVEN WHAT THEY WANT...FOR A TIME...A WORLD FILLED WITH SATAN AND HIS DEMONS AND OF THE WORST MANKIND DEPRAVITY NEVER SEEN BEFORE...AND NEVER TO BE SEEN OR WITNESSED AGAIN....EVER!
Calvin could say of his day, more than 300 years ago: "How many are the distresses with which Europe has been afflicted for thirty or forty years? How many are the chastisements by which she has been called to repentance? And yet it does not appear that those numerous chastisements have done any good. On the contrary, luxury increases every day, lawless passions are inflamed, and men go on in crimes and profligacy more shamelessly than ever. In short, those very calamities appear to have been so many excitements to luxury and splendour. What then should we expect but to be bruised with heavier blows?"
MATTHEW 5:29-30 & MATTHEW 18:14, & 2 PETER 3:9 ALL THESE VERSES REMIND US AND GIVE US THE WHY...
JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT WANT MANKIND'S DESTRUCTION. OUR TRIUNE GOD STILL SOOOOOOO LOVEEEEEES...
JESUS TELLS US IN JOHN 3:16, MATTHEW 18:11, LUKE 15:4, & LUKE 19:10 HIS HEART. HE WANTS NONE TO PERISH...HE WANTS REPENTANCE AND ACCEPTANCE AND TURNING TO HIM....JESUS WANTS ABOVE ALL THINGS TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST, AMEN?
Verses 13-17 tells us because they REFUSE to repent, there will be an overthrow of leadership.
"For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and bulrush in one day. The elder and honorable, he is the head; the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the LORD will have no joy in their young men, nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still."
For the people DO NOT turn to Him who strikes them...THIS TELLS US AND SHOWS US THAT EACH EPISODE OF JUDGMENT BY GOD was followed by Israel's REFUSAL TO REPENT & to turn to the LORD. They were like dumb animals that resist even more when they are beaten.
Therefore the LORD will cut off the head and tail from Israel...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Those who lead in Israel (the elder and honorable … the prophet who teaches lies … the leaders of this people) will be cut off. CUT OFF OFTENS MEANS THEY DIE OR ARE KILLED.
AND DID YOU KNOW..."The expression branch and rush indicates the same thing as head and tail. A branch grows upward and hence refers to the high and important people of the population; the rush grows in muddy marshes and refers to the lowest element of the population, the scum."
The chorus is said...For all this, His anger is NOT turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. The judgment against Israel's impenitence was not enough. There was still sin to judge, and God wasn't ready to stop His work of judgment.
Verses 18-21 tells us because of prevailing wickedness they WILL attack their own brothers.
"For wickedness burns as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and kindle in the thickets of the forest; they shall mount up like rising smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; he shall devour on the left hand and not be satisfied; every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still."
For wickedness burns as the fire...GOD SHOWS AND TELLS ISAIAH SO THAT ISAIAH SEES the wickedness of Israel as a raging wildfire, unstoppable, swift, uncontrolled, and devouring everything it touches.
And the people shall be fuel for the fire...This wildfire of God's judgment is fueled by the people, in two senses.
FIRST...their wickedness GIVES/ADDS/SUPPLIES THE FUEL to the fire of God's judgment. If the wickedness was taken away, the fire would have no more fuel.
SECOND...they are burnt up and destroyed by the fire.
No man shall spare his brother...In gruesome detail, the prophet speaks of the carnage that one Israelite will inflict on another. The wildfire of God's judgment burns, but God merely LETS the evil, hateful passions of men burn wild among themselves.
God DID NOT NEED to start the fire, or fan the flames; He simply took away the "fire retardant" that had held the evil, hate-filled passions of men in check, AMEN?
AND AS A PARENT AND NOW GRANDPARENT WE KNOW THIS TO BE THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH...IF WE IGNORE BAD BEHAVIOR OR DO NOT POINT IT OUT...AND DO NOT ADDRESS IT, PUNISH IT, SO IT CORRECTED...THE CHILD ONLY GETS WORSE AND WORSE.
JUST AS THE RECIDIVISM IN PRISONS AND IN OUR COURTS CAN ATTEST TO...NO CORRECTION, NO PUNISHMENT FOR IMMORAL, UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR, AND LAW BREAKERS, WHO DO NOT LEARN TO BEHAVE THEMSELVES, CONTROL THEIR BEHAVIOR, NOR CHANGE, NOR DEFEAT IT....THEY CONTINUE ON...UNTIL IT COSTS THEM THEIR FREEDOM AGAIN IF NOT THEIR VERY LIVES, AMEN?
The chorus is said...For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. The judgment against Israel's wickedness was not enough. There was still sin to judge, and God wasn't ready to stop His work of judgment.
NOW BEGINS ISAIAH 10...WHERE IT CONTINUES THIS JUDGMENT FROM GOD.
Verses 1-4 tells us because of SOCIAL INJUSTICE, they will be exiled and slain.
"Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain." For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees … rob the needy of justice … take what is right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey...The leaders and people of Israel were simply UNFAIR to others, and WORSE THEY PREYED on the weak.
SOUND FAMILIAR GLOBALLY IN THIS DAY AND TIME AS WELL AMEN?
What will you do in the day of punishment … To whom will you flee for help?
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
SIMPLY PUT, GOD SAYS OKAY...SINCE YOU have forsaken others in THEIR time of need, SINCE YOU HAVE FORSAKEN YOUR GOD, YOU WILL HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO GO TO FOR YOUR HELP when you are in need!
WITHOUT ME they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
All God needs to do to bring extreme judgment on Israel is to WITHDRAW HIS OUTSTRETCHED HAND OF PROTECTION COVERING THEM. HE DOES NOTTTTT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, AND HE DOES NOT. The LORD declared that "Without Me you have no hope before your enemies." AND THEY DID NOT, AMEN?
ROMANS 8:31 REMINDS US..."What shall we then say to these things? If God BE FOR US, who can be against us?"
SO THE REVERSE MUST ALSO BE TRUE...IF GOD IS NOT FOR US, WHO CAN WE THEN STAND AGAINST?
THE TRUTH IS...WE ARE HELPLESS AND HOPELESS WITHOUT OUR JESUS, AMEN?
CLARKE SAYS IT WELL, "As the people had hitherto lived without God in worship and obedience; so they should now be without his help, and should perish in their transgressions."
WITHOUT ME they shall bow down...
THE BIBLE AND HISTORY TELLS US...THAT WHEN THE ASSYRIANS conquered other nations, it wasn't enough for them to just WIN a military victory. They had & TOOK PERVERSE, SADISTIC, CRUEL PLEASURE in humiliating and subjugating their conquered foes. They would do everything they could to bring them low. Here, God says, "You have rejected Me, so without Me you shall bow down in humiliation and degradation before your enemies."
One of the Hebrew words commonly translated "WORSHIP" in the Old Testament is SHACHAH.
It means to bow down, to reverently bow or stoop, to pay homage.
BUT DID YOU KNOW....THERE IS ANOTHER WORD FOR "BOW DOWN", the Hebrew word KARA.
KARA IS NOT A GOOD WORD, FOR IT MEANS to sink, to drop, to bring low, or to subdue.
We might say that we will either bow down to the LORD in worship, or it will be said of us, without Me they shall bow down in suffering and humiliation.
THEN AND NOW, OUR JESUS PUTS THE QUESTION TO MANKIND EACH SECOND OF EACH DAY...AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES AND CALLS HIS OWN?
WHAT WILL OUR CHOICE BE? SHACHAH OR KARA?
The chorus is said...For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. The judgment against Israel's injustice was not enough. There was still sin to judge, and God wasn't ready to stop His work of judgment.
AND REMEMBER WHEN EVER YOU READ..."THE CHORUS IS SAID"...MEANS ALMIGHTY GOD IS A PATIENT BUT STEADFAST FATHER...
MUCH LIKE US, AS PARENTS WHO SEND OUT A LITTANY, A MANTRA IF YOU WILL OF....NO! NO! NO! NO! DO NOT! DO NOT! DO NOT! A BARRAGE OF CORRECTION WARNINGS BEFORE PUNISHMENT IS DELIVERED.
I ALWAYS CONSIDERED MYSELF A PATIENT PARENT, LONG-SUFFERING IN THE RAISING OF MY CHILDREN...BUT ONCE YOU READ THE BIBLE...YOU REALIZE JUST HOW PUNY YOUR PATIENCE AND LONG-SUFFERING ARE, AMEN?
I MEAN THINK ABOUT GENESIS....ALMIGHTY GOD BASICALLY SAID NOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO! STOP IT! STOPPPPPPPPPPPP IT! DO NOT! DO NOT!! FOR A 1000 YEARS BEFORE THE FLOOD CAME TO THE EARTH.
PEOPLE WHO SAY GOD IS A GOD OF WRATH, NO PATIENCE, NO KINDNESS, NOT LONG-SUFFERING...DO NOTTTTTTTT KNOW THEIR BIBLE NORRRR MANKIND'S HISTORY EITHER.
I KNOW FOR MYSELF, IF I HAD TO REPEAT THAT NO NO NO STOP IT STOP IT DO NOT DO NOT.....EVERY DAY FOR A THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE I PUNISHED MY KIDS & IT BROUGHT ABOUT CHANGE...I WOULD NOT HAVE ONE HAIR LEFT ON MY HEAD...I WOULD BE INSANE AND BALD, IF I LIVED THAT LONG, AMEN?
BUT NOT OUR JESUS...OUR TRIUNE GOD IS PATIENT, AMEN?
AND THE CHORUS...THE REPITITION ALSOOOOOOOO TELLS US SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT OUR TRIUNE GOD....HIS JUDGMENT IS PERSISTENT.
JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT GIVE UP....AFTER A FEW NOOOOOO! STOPPPPPPPP IT....HE IS PATIENT, PERSISTENT, & LONG-SUFFERING WITH MANKIND AND ESPECIALLY HIS CHILDREN, AMEN?
AND YOU NOTICE ALLLLLLLLLL THROUGH THE BIBLE..
GOD FIRST GIVES US RULES TO PROTECT US AND ABIDE IN WITH HIM.
THEN HE REMINDS AND REMINDS.
THEN HE WARNS AND HE WARNS.
THEN HE ALLOWS US TO PAY SMALL PRICES FOR OUR SINS AND BAD CHOICES.
AND STILL HE LOVES..HE REMINDS..HE PLEADSSSSS WITH MANKIND...REPENT, REPENT...TURN BACK TO ME...I LOVE YOU, I AM TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR PRESENT AND YOUR FUTURE.
HEAR ME...REPENT...TURN BACK...OBEY ME!!!
ALL THROUGH THE BIBLE ALMIGHTY GOD MOVES FROM PHASE TO PHASE, UPPING THE DEGREE, NOT TO PUNISH, BUT TO GET OUR ATTENTION, AND TO GET US TO SEEEEEEEE WHAT WE ARE DOING WRONG, TO REPENT IT, TO APOLOGIZE, AND TO RETURN TO OBEDIENCE AND ONE ON ONE WITH HIM.
AND AGAIN WE GET A BRIEF AND TINY GLIMPSE OF THIS WITH OUR CHILDREN, FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND CO-WORKERS AND BOSSES...ANYONE WE INTERACT WITH.
SOME ARE INSTANTLY CONVICTED WITH A LOOK. WITH SILENCE AS AN ANSWER & THEY REPENT.
SOME HAVE TO HAVE THE WRONG PATIENTLY POINTED OUT TO THEM & REPENT.
SOME NEED TO BE REMINDED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE THEY SEE THE WRONGNESS & REPENT.
SOME ARE ARROGANT ENOUGH THAT IT TAKES REMOVING THEM FROM YOUR PRESENCE AND FELLOWSHIP OR THAT WHICH THEY LOVE AND ENJOY BEFORE THEY SEE THEIR OWN WRONGNESS & REPENT.
AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO NO MATTER WHAT YOU PATIENTLY SAY, WARN, TEACH, OR SEEK TO CORRECT, MUCH LESS PUNISH... JUST GET WORSE AND WORSE WITH EACH CONFRONTATION OR ONE ON ONE & THEY REFUSE TO REPENT.
AND SADLY, THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE SO SELF ABSORBED, HAVE NO MORAL ABSOLUTES, BELIEVE IN NO GOVERNORS OR RESTRICTORS IN THEIR LIFE...THAT THEY FULLY EMBRACE SATAN AND MANKINDS OUTER DARKNESS AND END UP LOSING ALL THAT THEY DOOOOO COVET AND WANT AND GREEDILY HOARD, AMEN?
AND AS GROGAN SAYS, OF THE LAST ABOVE GROUP OF PEOPLE, "God's judgment is persistent for all eternity. "If even physical death does not satisfy the fierce anger of this holy God, what dread and punishment lies beyond the grave?"
THEN AND NOW, it makes perfect sense for this message of coming judgment to follow the announcement of the Messiah. JESUS CHRIST coming WAS announced LONG BEFORE HE CAME, but the people were not ready for Him, and the predicted judgment would come before they were ready TOO.
THEN AND NOW, OUR TRIUNE GOD IS SAYING....I LOVE YOU...REPENT NOW...TURN BACK TO ME...MY OUT-STRETCHED HAND IS NOWWWWWW STILLLLLLLLL HERE...READY AND WILLING AND ABLE TO FORGIVE YOU....TO SAVE YOU.
CALL ON ME NOW....REPENT NOW...ACCEPT ME AS LORD, SAVIOR AND FRIEND NOW... TODAY, RIGHT THIS MINUTE, IS THE ONLYYYYYYY GUARANTEED TIME YOU HAVE. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT TOMORROW IS PROMISED TO NONE.
THEN AND NOW...JESUS CHRIST IS GENTLY CALLING, THE URGENCY GETTING LOUDER EACH DAY...I AM HERE...MY HAND IS STILL OUT-STRETCHED...I LOVE YOU...WANT TO SAVE YOU..WANT TO PROTECT YOU.
STOPPPPPPPPP! TURN AROUND!....COME TO ME.