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.