Stay Spiritually Alert - Isaiah 36:1 - 39:8

In preparation for the first five lessons in Isaiah we have read through the first 39 chapters. In the first four lessons we learned about the sins of Israel and Judah under the evil rule of King Uzziah—and we were made aware of God’s judgment that was assuredly coming. The setting for the book thus far has been the general area from the Mediterranean Sea and the Jerusalem area and then east to the Tigris River. Today’s study includes Babylon which is in the area of the valley where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers converge, and it runs north to Assyria which includes the vast area of the northern water sheds that feed the two rivers. Yes, the major portion of this area makes up the land of Iran, Arrack, and all parts west to the sea.

The Israelites were having difficulty “Remaining Spiritually Alert” from day one. They had been warned about placing their faith in other gods and other powers. They had been warned not to marry women from heathen nations because it would lead them to accept other gods. King Uzziah had ignored God’s warnings and allowed all of the above to be practiced throughout the country. He had even permitted the people to bring the idols representing their other gods into the Holly Temple in Jerusalem, and they were being worshipped along with or by the side of the Holly One. God did not overlook their disobedience—and he will not overlook the rejections he is now receiving from disobedient Americans.

In the year that King Uzziah died [740 BC.] God commissioned Isaiah to become their spiritual eyes so they could avoid the problems they were facing. His people were warned about the attacks that would come from all of their enemy nations. Isaiah’s prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem and Tyre fell on minds that were not spiritually alert. It is of great interest to me as I examine the map of this area today, 2009 AD, I find the most troubled area in the entire world is still in the same place and occupied by the same nationalities of people that never have found how to become spiritually alert. In fact, the vast majority still worship idols and false gods. It is noteworthy to mention that all of these “other gods” died…and remained dead. It is only the spiritually alert people who worship THE LIVING GOD!

This scripture regarding this lesson is found in chapter 39. The first six verses deal with the period of time when Jerusalem is being threatened again. Hezekiah is now in his fourteenth year as King of Judah, and King Sennacherib of Assyria captured all the fortified cities of Judah up to the gates of Jerusalem. The king stopped at the pool and aqueduct, Jerusalem’s water supply, and waited until Hezekiah sent envoys out to meet them. In essence he told Hezekiah that he had no army of his own—and that he was depending on Egypt which was weak and undependable. The hardest jolt came when the King of Assyria ask if he was depending on the same God that was in the temple when King Uzziah removed God’s alters from the temple. Uzziah had destroyed alter worship and God had become distraught with his people because of their alien marriages and the worship of alien idols. Hezekiah was somewhat more devoted to God, but because of his weakness he had not restored true worship to the temple.

The next encounter that Hezekiah had with his enemies they were out of Babylon. He had been very ill and Isaiah told him that God said he would surely die. But after he went to God in earnest prayer and ask for extended time, God granted him an extra 15 years of time on earth. He gained some time but did not grow in spiritual alertness. The king of Babylon sent an envoy to see him bearing a gift since he had been very ill, and had recovered. While the envoy was in Jerusalem, Hezekiah showed them through out his vast holdings. This is another example of Hezekiah’s spiritual blindness. He either did not realize they were spies or he may have thought that they were not his enemies. Read 39: 1- 7.

At the time of this incident, Assyria was in total control, the most powerful of all the nations in the area including Babylon. None of these leaders realized that God was moving in and would switch power control over to Babylon. Isaiah knew, and he asked Hezekiah what information about his assets he had revealed to the envoy from Babylon. When the King said, everything he had, Isaiah told him that this information would be use by Babylon when he came to conquer the nation.

Though spiritually weak at times, Hezekiah was one of Judah’s most faithful kings. He did what he could to stamp out idolatry and restore the temple to its rightful place in the lives of the people. It was his efforts that gave the nation extended peace for the extra fifteen years that God added to his life. At his death, Manasseh became one of the wicked kings, and went back to idol worship. He actually rebuilt some of the idols that his father had removed from the temple.

It has been somewhat difficult to look deeply into this scripture and understand how it teaches us to be spiritually alert. It now remains a challenge for me to make sure that this lesson becomes relevant to those of us in bible study today. The first step in this attempt will be for me to help you see and understand how we measure, weigh, or place a value on things. One of the most troublesome contentions we must face in this life is that we must accept the fact that some things are objective and some are subjective.

As an example, go with me to the gym. When the basketball goes through the hoop everyone in the building KNOWS that the shooter made 1, 2, or 3 points. In football, when the ball goes between the goal post, the kicker has scored either 1or 3 points. These are objective facts that will always be scored alike by two or more scorekeepers. The highest score wins. Everyone understands. The decision is made in an objective way—without question and one of the teams goes home a KNOWN winner.

On Saturday the Heber Springs band plays in competition with other schools our size. The object of the concert, or marching, band is to be the winner. Can our band be the KNOWN winner? NO! The measurements used are subjective, and the ways the measurements are used are also subjective. Any one of the judges can be biased, and you and I can never know for sure that the band would have been the winner if it had been judged by different judges.

Spirituality must always be measured subjectively. No one can measure the spiritual alertness of any saint. Now, listen, the sad part is that you can never know for sure what your score is regarding your spiritual alertness. Before you become distressed, let me help you remember that the best, easiest, and only sure way you can measure your spiritual alertness is for you to read and study God’s word and learn how to be like Christ. It does not require an educated mind to know how to be spiritually alert, but it does take a broken and contrite spirit—a heart dedicated to Jesus.

Do you have a person in mind that always seems to know the right thing to say and do when the time is right? Do you know someone that is not overly blessed that seems to experience overflowing joy of others without showing any jealousy? Can you offer strength and hope to one that is burdened? Yes, but first you must have the spiritual talent of being able to recognize a burdened brow. I hope you will assess your spiritual disciplines and determine what you need to cultivate in order for you to stay spiritually alert. Just remember that you can not be both self-centered, and spiritually alert.

When the Kings of old, and the Leaders of the USA, and each of us are not SPIRITUALLY ALERT, we fail to be sensitive to our spiritual needs and the needs of others. This leads us to depend on ourselves and our armed forces, our allies [if we have any left] and money [which the US does not have left] instead of The Lord Jesus Christ. What happens when we are not alert nationally? I believe that biblical examples are better than guesses.

The first example is King Uzziah, with no spiritual alertness, disobeyed God and gave in to idol worship and allowed the people to desecrate the temple with idols of foreign gods.

The second example was King Sennacherib, of Assyria who had already captured the northern kingdom and in this lesson he defeats all the gated cities of Judah except Jerusalem and delivers an ultimatum for their surrender.

The third is King Hezekiah, one of the better kings, but still not strong enough to stay spiritually alert and depend on God instead of Egypt and the walls of his city for protection from Assyria and Babylon.

Manasseh is the forth I will mention because he was the final straw that broke God’s back when he destroyed all the good his father Hezekiah had accomplished.

What happened to them? God prepared Babylon with wealth, armies, and means to conquer the entire area from Judah to Assyria—whom everyone believed to be the strongest of all nations at that time. Jerusalem was considered to be God’s city, God’s temple home, and God’s people. The total city including the walls and temple was completely destroyed just as God had instructed his prophets to warn them. I believe that we in America are also God’s people and if we continue to disobey Him He will treat us in the same way. Many believe that history repeats itself. Read your history books and see if we are not following in the footsteps of the kings and people of the Southern Kingdom.

Follow the Lord's Will - Isaiah 24:1 - 35:10

The lesson title today should become one of your habits that surfaces at least two or three times every day, and should appear in both action and words and involve heart, mind and body. Personally, I seldom offer a prayer that I do not ask the Lord to have his way and will in my life. It becomes easier to shun sin and do right if one is committed to stay in God’s will and walk in his way daily. It is fairly easy to do if you refuse to walk anywhere Christ would not walk with you, for any reason He would not approve.

If you are a born again Christian, I hope you will not ask how you are to know God’s will for your life. If you do ask, it will reveal a great weakness in your character and understanding of our Savior and his teachings. The Holy Bible is your guide, your map and your book of instructions regarding what God wants you to do and what he has told you not to do. In order to cover all circumstances He reminds us of two types or ways of sinning—omission and commission. If one’s desire is to stay in the will of God; it requires doing what God says we must do; and it forbids doing those things that God tells us not to do. It requires simple obedience. How then can you know lest you “study to show thyself approved?”

Art Linkletter once had a very popular show entitled “Children are Funny—or say the funniest things.” Then he proved it with several episodes of a popular T. V. special. I am here to tell you that people are funny to me in a different way. The nation of Jewish people had been in Egyptian bondage, [crewel slavery] for over four hundred years, when Moses led them out into the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land that was flowing with milk and honey. God’s will was that they reach their new home in a year, maybe two or three at most. They refused to walk in his will and the short journey turned into forty years in the wilderness, and the death of a generation of people.

Those same people finally reached their land of milk and honey, settled in Judah, built the city of Jerusalem and dedicated it to Almighty God. The city was a fort that protected everyone, with walls all around and gates for the people to leave to go to their farms and vineyards to work by day and to enter again at night for protection. It was God’s will that they continue to depend upon him for protection, prosperity, continued growth in the independent life. They did some funny things! Some unbelievable things! They married out of the Jewish line, to heathen and ungodly people. They desecrated the Holly Temple by worshipping the gods of the heathen they had married. They placed their dependence in their armed forces—and when they felt week they placed their fate in the arms of other nations that would eventually turn on them. All the time, the prophets like Isaiah, kept warning them of the end result that would come when they REFUSED TO FOLLOW THE LORD’S WILL. Listen, you can be sure that God has not changed one bit, and He will treat America the very same way.

A little over two hundred years ago the early American immigrants were scattered all across Europe and the Middle East in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy and several other smaller nations. Their conditions, both physical and spiritual resembled the conditions of the Israelites. Word spread throughout that part of the world that a Spanish explorer named Columbus had found a new land of milk and honey that was just waiting for a bunch of hard working, God fearing people that would like to escape their present conditions. Listen! History books and not just the bible, recorded this westward expansion story, and most of the people came seeking religious freedom. Their faith in and dependence on God Almighty was confirmed by appearing in every government document that was written including the constitution. During the past forty years the voices have grown louder arguing that America does not need God any more.

This wasn’t the first or second time this had happened. Remember back in the Garden of Eden? God told Adam and Eve to live happily. Eat freely. Enjoy everything. Want for nothing. Everything is yours to do with as you please. Enjoy! You are in a perfect place where there is nothing else that man can desire and it is all yours! But, But, there is one thing…it is God’s will that you do not eat the fruit from this one tree. It was just one tree out of many but it was not in God’s will…for them to eat the fruit of it. They disobeyed and mankind has suffered horribly until this day.

When His own people became so immoral that they were abusing the temple and worshipping other gods, Jerusalem fell. The greatest nation in the early world, Rome conquered the known world and prospered until it decayed morally from the top down, and fell. Not since the fall of the Roman Empire has there ever been another nation with the prosperity, power, and prestige that the USA gained through the WWII period. Then during the decades of the 50s through the 70s, the Godless hearts and minds of a New Age movement became strong against our Christian heritage. God will not contend indefinitely with a people that continually disobey him; not even if their leaders live in a white house.

Isaiah’s message, found in the 30th chapter, deals with the situation that existed in Judah during the three year period from 704 to 701 BC and following the death of the powerful king, Sargon. Hezekiah became king of Judah. Times were troubled and the nation was week and against God’s will, Hezekiah tried to forma an alliance to stand against the North. He even went so far as to invite Egypt to join him, when God had forbid such an alliance ever since His people were in bondage there. God immediately called his people a “rebellious children” for disobeying his rules. Disobedience is no more than lack of reverence, and our people today have lost all reverence toward Jehovah God.

Egypt was a weak nation at this time, and the alliance formed proved to be too weak to withstand the invasion that came down and destroyed the entire southern kingdom except the city of Jerusalem. I see America in comparison today as a nation with very few allies and they are not the strongest of nations. The stronger nations feel that their currency is worth more than ours: some of our major banks are broke: our dominant industries have fallen into bankrupt status or at least are talking about it. Jobs are gone and fear is rampant and even at this low ebb in our history we have totally forgotten how dependent we are on the favor of God, and refuse to place our faith in him instead of a welfare-buyout by a government that is broke.

There are signs on every corner that tell us that God is unhappy with his people. We are re-living the days of Isaiah when the people of Judah had lost faith in God, their worship was empty and they were depending on their own schemes, power, and alliances and were ignoring God. The prophets and priest had spent their lives teaching the people how to please God and prosper, but they moved away from his WILL AND WAY and chose to follow their earthly leaders who were depending on their own decisions and the strengths of those who aligned with them. It is past time in America for our leaders to learn to follow the Lord’s will and by so doing, they could regain the respect of the people and the blessings of God.

Act on Revealed Truth - Isaiah 7:1-16

It is hard to imagine and impossible to know all of the problems that our neighbors and friends are having in America today. There has been no period of time quite like the one in which we live today; the nearest thing to it would be the decade or more that the oldest Americans remember as the Great Depression. It seems to me, as a teacher of God’s Word, that His word becomes more relevant each lesson I teach. The depression started with bank failures in 1929 and definitely continued through the thirties, and would have probably lasted longer had we not become involved in WWII. I simply use that circumstance, which I experienced as a teen-ager, to predict that the one we are in today may last ten years or longer. End results will be more devastating because of lack of work ethic among our people today, and greater tendencies toward crime—and the fact that the family farm is almost nonexistent today. Some may ask why this would make a difference.

Before the depression, the family farm was the source of much of the family’s income. When cotton dropped to five cents a pound and hogs and cattle were worth about the same—chickens and eggs were not worth selling. Therefore, these farm families simply fed their families with what they grew on the farm and in gardens. Many of the people that had no farm land went hungry.

I predict that the depth of depression that we face today will yield more misery and greater problems than the one in the 30s. At that time in our history, America’s economy depended primarily on agriculture. A much larger percentage of Americans owned some land and lived on small farms, and were in a position to actually grow the basic foods needed for survival. A vast number of our people actually lived off the land. Today, that is not possible, and I really hate to think about what our people will do when the borrowed money is gone and the day of sacrifice approaches. Hungry men grow desperate and ungodly sinful hungry men grow despotic.

We live today in a sin cursed world and depression at this time will bring more uncertainty than people have ever experienced. When the government hand outs are depleted and there are still no jobs available people will grow desperate. We should remember that life will continue as it has been going, there will still be failing health, death of loved ones, accidents, marital infidelity, and natural disasters. Such situations result in panic when good times are flowing…think what it will be like when money is gone and there are no jobs available. It would ease my mind if our country was growing in our dependence on God—but instead; the trend is just the opposite. One thing is for sure, those of us that believe will have to place our trust in God’s revealed truth and we will have to ACT ON THAT REVEALED TRUTH, trusting and believing that he cares for us.

As a background thought I would have you remember that God’s people were rescued from Egyptian bondage about 4000 years before the setting for our lesson today. The Israelites have been up and down, in and out, won and lost all these years depending upon their willingness to obey God, and it appears that they would have learned their lesson by this time. The lesson today took place around the year 734 BC, and today is 2009, or 2713 years later, and we still have not learned to listen to the prophets, and the writers of the word of God.

It was in the year 734 BC and Ahaz was king of Judah [south] was just before an attack by an alliance of Israel [north] and expected to be annihilated, but Isaiah predicted that Judah would not come to an end at that time. The sign of Immanuel was a sign of deliverance. Remember, ‘the house of David’ refers to Judah…’Ephraim’ was the dominant tribe in the north and refers to Israel which is the northern kingdom.

Shear-Jashub was the son of Isaiah and his name means “a remnant will return.” God named his son to remind his people that regardless of the wars, destruction, and captives taken, God promised that the Jewish people would never be completely destroyed…there will always remain the remnant. God has been faithful regarding his promises and he will remain faithful to us regarding his promises today.

Look at verse one closely. The alliance of the northern kingdom is larger and stronger by far than the city of Jerusalem. There should have been no problem with their success in this invasion. The people in the south realized how weak they were in comparison and they were scared. They trembled as if they were trees being blown by the wind. They were sure that they would be captured. But they were not! [See verse 7] because God had made a promise to protect them as long as they would obey him and stand firm in their faith. Verse 9 is the key to this lesson today. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

There has never been a time in Jewish history that is more relevant to our history than it is today. To the best of my knowledge, we do not have an alliance of kingdoms already organized and set to destroy America. However, there is little doubt that an alliance against us could be organized easily because of the hostility of the mid and far east against us. Many years ago, Russia told America that they would never have to invade us to bring about our destruction. They said that we would crumble and fail from within our own borders, that we were our worst enemy. For some this was hard to take, and not easy to believe, but the time has now come when the interior operation of our system is faltering from every side. Jobs are gone, manufacturing is closing down, and banks are broke and failing. These are all circumstances that are upon us and no one can deny or argue about it. The solutions are where we disagree. Personally I do not believe that man has a solution to all of our problems. We can be confident that God has revealed truths that we must abide by—but far too many of our leaders do not believe and trust God.

I would like to think that I am the Isaiah of our day that is telling you now that America will never fail so long as God’s people will stand strong in their faith and strive to obey God. I truly believe this to be true. However, the problem that you and I have today is that we know that God is patient and long suffering, but we do not know when his patients will run out with America’s present inclination to discard his name from our money, to remove his name from our courts and offices of justice, and from the class rooms of our young people in schools and colleges. His patients could well be running low, since this trend has been the order of the day since back in the degrading 1950s and 60s. This has been a period of about fifty to sixty years. The wandering in the wilderness only lasted forty years.

Let me remind you that the children of Israel suffered under Egyptian bondage for about four hundred years. When God sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt, one would think they would have trusted God all the way to the Promised Land. But they were disobedient, and a one year move from bondage to the land of milk and honey became a forty year journey through a desolate wilderness. This is a revealed truth. Our lesson today tells us that we should act on or go by the revealed truth of God. Therefore, I am called on as a teacher of the bible to remind you that we have many examples of revealed truths in God’s word that tells us that God will not tolerate indefinitely man’s denial of God—disobedience will result in disaster. I can not tell you how much disobedience God will tolerate—but I can tell you with authority that his patients are not unlimited.

When God decided to destroy Sodom and Georama because of their disobedience Abraham ask Him if he would spare the people if he could find just a few who were still worshipping Him. God agreed. The bargaining went on until even as few as ten Godly people could not be found worthy. Listen people! There probably is not a single town with a population of approximately 500 to 600 people any where in this country that has as many criminals, law breakers, homosexuals, cheating husbands, giving and taking of bribes, tax dodgers…and the list goes on…as the Senate and House of Representatives. AND THERE ARE NO LIMITED TERMS.

Now, do not blame the criminals in the house and senate for all of our troubles. God will not! He will be the first to tell the American voters that they are the ones responsible for electing these people and failing to demand their accountability. Only God can save America from certain destruction and whether He will or not all depends on his believers. The remedy, God’s plan is spelled out very plainly and easy for anyone to understand. He made us a promise…and He will keep it. If My people, who are called by my name, [Christians] will humble themselves, repent of their sins, seek my face and pray—then I will hear their prayers and save their land.

Honor the Lord - Isaiah 6:1-3

As many will know, our Wednesday night services have, for several years, included our fellowship dinner, a round-table prayer service and then a message from our pastor. I can remember when we simply called the Wednesday night service ‘prayer meeting’ and for some reason it evolved into a time when there were very few prayers offered, and it consisted primarily of a message from the pastor. Personally, I believe that a prayer meeting should give many the opportunities to talk to God in a personal way. Having said this, I will admit that most of the prayers that are voiced in our meetings are personal request for God to do something for someone in need. And there is nothing wrong with an intercessory prayer. They are great!

I will say that it is a rare occasion when we hear a prayer that is voiced entirely with the whole intent to praise and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. I simply challenge you to occasionally pray a prayer that does nothing else. This can be done by simply talking to the master in a personal way, expressing with every wonderful adjective you have in your vocabulary just how great you think he is. Thank Him for everything under the sun, and ask him for nothing in return. A prayer like this will HONOR THE LORD and this is our subject for today. God always honors prayer and he is especially happy when we pray for others because of his love for all. However, God wants us to recognize His lordship; and he wants us to continually thank him for his grace toward us—grace that has saved our soul. Then finally, he loves to hear our promises to serve him, praise him, and glorify his wholly name.

What happened to Isaiah? When did it happen? He either went to sleep or entered a trance—in 740 BC—that allowed his sub-conscious mind to record one of the most famous visions ever recorded in God’s word; and he awakened the next day to tell us about the vision that God had given him. In this vision he saw God in all of his glory, and was able to retain enough of the picture in his mind to paint one of the most vivid pictures recorded anywhere…of the way God must appear to a mortal man’s vision.

He said that it happened in the year that King Uzziah died. He saw God, our Lord and Savior, high and lifted up. He was seated on an exalted throne that could only have been accommodated in a huge palace with cathedral type ceilings, the likes of which no earthly man has ever witnessed. The train of a wealthy bride’s dress may sometimes flow from their shoulders and extend twenty feet or more and requiring two attendants. Imagine God’s train was so huge that it filled the entire floor part of the temple.

There must have been a lofty area in this huge kingdom throne room, because Isaiah saw two or more angels constantly flying freely above the train that covered the lower part. They were special angelic beings called seraphs that attended the throne and expressed God’s holiness. Each had six wings; two covered their faces indicating that God can not be viewed by man’s natural eyes. Two wings covered their feet indicating that when God is present the floor or ground is holy. With the two normal and natural wings they were able to fly about the throne room.

They were there to deliver a message and to worship God as they chanted Holy, Holy, Holy: no doubt they were conveying the existence of a triune God; the Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit. As they proclaimed His majesty the sound rattled the doorpost and the whole room was filled with smoke. Some say that these seraphs were a special angel whose name came from the word “burn” and perhaps this was to indicate their special purity required to be God’s ministers. Oh please! Stop, kneel and pray that you can somehow comprehend enough about the splendor, power, and love of God that is pictured here to cause you to want to worship him as He was being worshiped in this scene.

The bible reveals that King Uzziah was a relatively good king and was allowed a long and prosperous reign. At a time earlier in his reign he had tried to usurp the duties of the high priest and for this mistake he became a leprous man until death. In the later days of his reign far too many of his people turned away from God. Isaiah was the man chosen by God to go to these disobedient people and tell them that they were doomed for destruction because of their disobedience. This was a very difficult mission because these people believed that they were God’s chosen and that He would care for them.

Oh please hear me now, listen, this was a time when both moral and spiritual decay had peaked, just as many believe they have repeated here in our beloved America. There are no other warnings in God’s word that are more relevant to our world today. There was only one remedy then and it remains the same today; and that is the holiness of God. The word holiness means being morally perfect, pure and set apart from all sin. Believers today need to grasp this lofty view of God’s holiness—we need to see him high and lifted up as our white throne judge; and if we can see and recognize Him as our Master—he is faithful to forgive us and clines our minds from our present problems.

Isaiah stood in awe as he viewed God on his throne and listened to the proclamation of the angles that He was the holy one. This awesome experience caused Isaiah to realize that he stood unclean and undeserving before his Master. There was the experience of having his lips burned clean with coals of fire. Here again, we know that God is often referred to as a burning fire. So, it was not a coal of fire from the stove of heaven…but it was God who cleansed his lips and forgave him of his sins. God cleansed his lips, his voice, and his life to be God’s messenger to His people. Isaiah knew what God was asking of him, and he completely surrendered his life to God by saying—“Here am I, send me.”

This picture of cleansing and commitment tells us that we must do the same thing, if we are to represent God to a disobedient people. If you are to preach, teach or witness to the lost, you must be able to look in your mind’s eye and see God, high and lifted up, and know that He is the power you are calling on to help you in your witness. Listen, you know that you will not have an actual ‘out of life’ vision as did Isaiah, but you must have the same faith and determination that he had, or you will not be successful.

This is not a game we play. Instead, you must be able to see through the eye of your heart…through your mind’s eye…and be fully aware that you personally are inadequate for the task. Then you must submit to God’s control and stand as model of the man you are saying God expects of all men. Has God called you? If your answer is no; then let me ask you a question—‘Why did He give you one of the spiritual blessings? The bible teaches that each believer has been given one or more of the spiritual blessings. Each believer is call to do a work for God, so, you either have not listened to his call, or you are refusing to submit to the call. You HONOR THE LORD by using the spiritual blessings that he has given you.

The rest of this chapter, 9-13, gives us the message that God gave to Isaiah to deliver to His people in Judah and Israel who had refused to obey his commandments regarding their worship of only one God and living a morally decent life; they had gone too far already and were about to be destroyed. In verse 9, the people have heard but did not understand; they saw but did not perceive the meaning of what they saw. God told him to go to the people, but to leave them alone until their problems begin. Their cities will be destroyed and homes would be left deserted. God will send them into captivity to countries far away. Then the promise of always saving his remnant is proclaimed. Even though a tenth of the people may remain, the land will still be in ruin, and they will have to struggle through these adversities, during which time they will realize that they are dependant on God. His remnant is described as a stump of an oak tree. Even though a tree is cut, the stump will sprout, and a new forest will grow. The stumps that are left will be the holy seed that grows a new and obedient people.

God set a president in his punishment rendered to his own people. As I see what God is doing here to the Jewish nation [northern and southern kingdoms] that have sinned beyond His forgiveness—it leads me to warn Americas that they can also sin themselves into total destruction. We sing “God bless America” and make it our prayer. God has blessed America! However, gross sins are being committed and the sinful are even being protected by laws of the land. The court case of Roe vs. Wade is an example of permissive law that protects the murderer of the unborn. God has said, “Thou Shall Not Kill.”

The majorities who have enjoyed the blessings in America “Under God” are supporting laws that remove the very name of God from our money, our monuments, and from public places in general, can not continue to reject God in this way. They will not be allowed to continue without paying a price. That price could very well be total destruction or capture by a heathen nation.

If you doubt my prediction of future possibilities—please read for yourself the examples of how God has always been sovereign and has always triumphed over judges, kings, and despot rulers of all nations. Each situation has always been as a warning to some future generation. His rule for the individual is that the man that sins shall surely die. The rule for a nation is exactly the same—and the nation that sins against God [and refuses to repent] shall surely die. History repeats itself. God is no respecter of any man [or nation] and what so ever we sow, that we shall also reap. Magnify and praise God and reap his blessings; deny or curse God and die. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever—He changes not! He will treat us as he has always treated people. He has warned us so we surely cannot blame Him when we commit the very sins and live our selfish lives that he has forbidden.

Meet Divine Expectations - Isaiah 5:1-14

As superintendent of schools during the last twenty-nine years of my professional life, it was my privilege to attend a great number of conferences on many subjects dealing with education. I have listened to hundreds of introductions of great speakers, leaders in their fields, many of which were nationally known by most people. Invariably many were introduced as “One who needs no introduction.” I have always wondered why they should waste my time, if I already knew the person being introduced. It is possible that you feel this way about the prophet Isaiah, because many of you have been reading about him in the scriptures for many years.

I have been a very naïve person, and you may be also. It has been a terrible shock for me to learn just how few people have studied the bible even as much as most Baptist people do. Men who have given their life to worship and work for God deserve to be known for their dedication to God and their dedicated life given to assist their fellow man. Isaiah is one of those men. We who read the bible often have the problem of forgetfulness and we need to be reminded of important circumstances explained, conditions present, and deeds done by God’s chosen leaders. Introductions are important.

Having given my reason for this introduction, it starts by the fact that I have learned that very little is know about Isaiah’s personal life. The name Isaiah means “the salvation of Jehovah” and it is not an uncommon name since there were several men by this name mentioned in the bible. We know that the Isaiah that we will study was commissioned to preach the salvation of God, and was called the “the evangelical prophet. Many writers compare Isaiah to other great men of the bible such as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, and Elisha. His writings do not proclaim, but surely indicate that that he lived in a high type of culture; and also indicate that he probably was a product of the school of the prophets, and that he was one of the best educated of the prophets. Isaiah’s father’s name was Amoz, not the same as Amos. Jewish tradition believed that he was the brother of King Amaziah.

The ministry of God’s great prophet extended about 50 years from the death of Judah’s King Uzziah in 740 BC to 690 BC. At this time the kingdom was split into the Southern Kingdom [Judah] and Israel in the north controlled by the Assyrians, who were enemies of Judah. Judah had gone through a period of safety and prosperity that was beginning to fade away as their enemies had grown stronger and were demanding tribute from Judah. This period was somewhere near the beginning of a series of wars declared that destroyed Jerusalem on at least three occasions. Jerusalem was the capitol of the Southern Kingdom, and did not fall for several years, but their freedoms were slipping away [2 Chronicles 28: 20-21].

Both the north and the south were facing internal as well as external problems. They had turned to pagan gods who were teaching that prosperity would come through the fertility of the land. Believing this, society began to crumble as the people focused on achieving their selfish desires rather than on meeting God’s expectations of his people. A very small minority became wealthy by taking advantage of the poor working people. This reduced the working class to a population that was barely scraping by.

I often listen to some of the evangelist today that are teaching that Christians can all obtain wealth and it reminds me of the teaching in Isaiah’s day. I also see a parallel between the thinking of that day with our government today that thinks we can spend the working man’s money and regain prosperity for the nation.

The first five chapters record the Lord’s message sent to the people through Isaiah reminding them that they were his creation and that he cared for Israel; it condemns their actions and calls them back to His way. His people had rejected Him and chose to worship the uncaring idols. The Jewish people continued to worship according to tradition, but brought idol worship in to enhance their advancement. God condemned their ritualistic worship because it neglected his guidelines for serving Him and caring for each other. They had traded their faith in God for the promises of idol gods. Leaders oppressed their people while they lived lavishly paying their way at the expense of the poor. Isaiah’s message was that God would punish them and leave them devastated in the land of plenty…but that He would not abandon them. He would always spare a remnant if they would turn to Him and seek to live by His expectations. God used heathen nations to capture to capture Jerusalem and take his people into exile simply because they had failed to trust Him as the One and Only God.

Isaiah told the people about their coming bondage in Babylon and their heartbreaking return to a destroyed temple in Jerusalem, but they listened somewhat like we listen to our ministers today…with deft ears. READ CHAPTER 1. This regards the sins of Israel [north] and Judah [south] kingdoms. Isaiah had a vision that foretold the destruction that was coming because the north had already sinned greatly against God, and Judah was following close behind. They were perverting justice and oppressing the poor; turning from God to idols, and looking for military aid from pagan nations rather than from God.

Isaiah was primarily a prophet speaking to Judah—but his messaged applied to the northern kingdom also. Read carefully because sometimes the word ‘Israel’ applies to both kingdoms. He lived to see the destruction of the northern kingdom in 722 BC; therefore his warning was to both nations.

In 1:2-4, Israel refers to Judah. They had turned from God and broken their moral and spiritual covenant with God [see Deut: 28]. They broke the covenant and brought God’s punishment upon themselves. God had provided them with prosperity but they failed to serve him; he then warned them but they did not listen and finally he would bring the fire of judgment [see 1: 7]. You may realize that Judah was attacked several times and Isaiah may have been referring to all of them…but more than likely he was warning them of the two most devastating attacks, first by Assyria and surely he was warning of the Babylon invasion when they were carried away into captivity.

To emphasize the horror that could be possible, Isaiah reminded them that Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed for disobedience and sin. God did not revoke the sacrifices of Moses, but was unhappy that the sacrifices had been made to other gods, and they had come to the place when they were worshipping the sacrifice and not God in person. Sacrifice had become a ritual. I am afraid that many worshippers today place more faith in the rituals of religion than the God they are supposedly serving. We must examine our faith in the Living God—He does not find pleasure in outward expressions we make but rather he is concerned with our inward faith in Him.

In 21 and 22 the “faithful city’ refers to Jerusalem [actually all Judah] and He compares their action to that of a harlot. Idolatry is spiritual adultery. Has America reached this same point? Has your faith become impure? If your greatest faith is in anything other than God, it can result in lost hope.

Go to 2: The temple was built on Mt. Moriah, the Mountain of the Lord. People were always attracted there…and in the future people will be attracted there—not because of the beauty or wealth—but because it is the city of God’s influence and presence. Isaiah is looking into the future; God showed him what would happen to the city. Rev. 21 addresses the New Jerusalem. There will come a time of peace, after his people return unto him and war will turn to family farming.

Beginning at 2:6 he describes what is known as the ‘Day of the Lord”. This is the day of judgment of both evil and good. He speaks of superstitions and divination like the heathen. Any use of the mind, conscious or unconscious, almanacs, and horoscopes are examples of sinful divination. No one can know or control the future this way. Dependency on these instead of God is forbidden. Lofty towers refer to forts of defense. Trading ships refer to prosperity and stately vessels refer to pleasure ships—like the cruise liners of today. Don’t skip verse 19 and compare it to Revelation 6:15…In 22 he speaks of ‘breath in his nostrils’ and he could have said he is only one breath away from death. We are mortal, here momentarily but God is as eternity.

Chapter 3 deals with judgment on Jerusalem and the state of Judah. Please read carefully…because this writing describes what happens when a nation loses its leadership. America—wake up! In v-9 people are proud of their sins. Sin is often beautiful, desirable, but always destructive regardless of how society views it. In v-10 he offers hope for the believer. In 14 you will find that if you are in a leadership position and fail, you are in worse shape than the vilest of sinners…because you are leading others astray. Justice is important! It is the way God runs the universe. It is the desire of all people, and especially the unsaved—they expect it most. God holds the poor, the women, and children in high esteem, and those that cause them distress can expect extreme treatment. At the same time he is highly opposed to the women that flaunt their jewelry and costly perfumes while the poor suffer. He also speaks hard against those women that have flirting eyes. Men are generally week and easy influenced by women, but even the stronger can be misled by women who push themselves on men.

In 5 the vineyard represented God’s people. They bore much fruit; the problem was that much of it was uneatable fruit. “By ones fruit you shall know him.” Is your fruit one of the rotten apples in the bottom of the barrel? One of these could be your problem: 1. exploiting others 2. drunkenness. your sarcastic pride in sin. 4. confusing moral standards. 5. being conceited. 6. preventing justice. Because of these sins, God punished Israel with destruction by Assyria. Later Judah went into slavery for the same reasons.