The Father and Israel

First Sunday of Advent Readings: Hope

Isa 9:2, 6-7

Isaiah 9:6–7 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Intro:

AG: Frederick Buechner in "The Magnificent Defeat":

“The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.

And then there is love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world.”

TS: Isa 49 and 50 tell the story of The Father and Immanuel. It also tells the story of the Father and Israel. In 49:14, we see the summary of Israrel’s lament: They fell rejected and unloved by God. The rest of the passage is assurances of God as He responds to their lament.

RS: We too can find ourselves where Judah does in v 14. We can fall into despair and forget that God always loves us.

I. The Complaint

Isaiah 49:14 NKJV

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.”

Jerusalem Feels that God has forsaken and forgotten her

Their fleshly mindset had them thinking that since God was allowing them to fall, He must have forgotten them.

It is the fallacy of letting feelings and circumstances dictate their beliefs.

We can often fall into the same error.

When times are bad, we can think God has forgotten us

The problem with this is that it reveals we think we are entitled to something better.

Feelings can be deceptive

Too much of modern Christianity in America has fallen into this trap!

That is why the prosperity gospel is so dominant in Christian media.

II. The Correction

Isaiah 50:1–3 NKJV

Thus says the Lord: “Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away. Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none to answer? Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink because there is no water, And die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.”

Though Judah’s suffering was the necessary result of their sin, no permanent separation had occured

2 worldly illustrations are used

God had not divorced them

God had not sold them into bondage

God had not permanently severed His relationship to them!

The non-Davidic Kingdom (Israel, the Northern Kingdom) had been divorced.

Jeremiah 3:8 NKJV

Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

Due to the promises to David, He would never permanently put away Judah.

In reality, Israel has forsaken and forgotten God.

In v. 2 God asked why?

Why was no one willing to believe and obey Him

Why did they think He was unable to save them?

ILLUSTRATION: Some time ago I saw a painting of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what had been that family’s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy: "Hush child, God ain’t dead!" (James DeLoach, associate pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, quoted in When God Was Taken Captive, W. Aldrich).

III. The Comfort

In spite of Israel’s sin, God reassures them of His love.

A. The power of God’s love

Isaiah 49:15 NKJV

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.

God’s love is greater even than the love of a mother

He clearly states: I will not forget you!

B. The Picture of God’s love

Isaiah 49:16 NKJV

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

It is as if God has them permanently tattooed upon his hands.

There is always a reminder

Think about how often you see your hands!

Even as I was focused on reading as I was typing this, my hands were visible.

C. The Promises of God’s Love

1 Their enemies will be destroyed

Isaiah 49:17–18 NKJV

Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste Shall go away from you. Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these gather together and come to you. As I live,” says the Lord, “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does.

Their destroyers would one day leave them and they will rebuild

We have already discussed how God kept that promise when Judah was released by the Medes and Persians and sent home to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

2 They will be regathered to Jerusalem

Isaiah 49:19–21 NKJV

“For your waste and desolate places, And the land of your destruction, Will even now be too small for the inhabitants; And those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, ‘The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me, Since I have lost my children and am desolate, A captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; But these, where were they?’ ”

The land will be filled with the people who come back

They would be so prosperous that Jerusalem would be unable to contain them.

3 They will be honored by all nations

Isaiah 49:22–26 NKJV

Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or the captives of the righteous be delivered? But thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, And I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know That I, the Lord, am your Savior, And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

all of their needs will be cared for

The promise will be fulfilled as the nations of the world assist the faithful remnant of Israel to their land.

At the outset of the Kingdom, when this regathering takes place, all the Gentiles will be believers in Jesus Christ who, by faith, escaped the wrath of the Lamb on the Day of the Lord and entered the Kingdom.

Matthew 25:31–46 NKJV

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

IV. The Challenge

Isaiah 50:10–11 NKJV

“Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God. Look, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled— This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.

Challenge to be Saved

Trust in God

Take Him at His word

All who call upon His name believing in Him will be saved.

Repent and Believe: That is it!

Rely upon Him

Look to Him and not to yourselves to meet your needs.

Challenge to Fear Him

Here is a word of warning to those who try to escape moral and spiritual darkness by lighting their own fire:

man-made religion and a works based righteousness they all have in common.

No matter how hard we try, we cannot earn God’s favor and atone for our own sins.

It leads to God’s judgment

they will lie down in torment

Conclusion:

God promised Judah and promises us today that His love will never fail.

Romans 8:35–39 NKJV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Our response:

Accept His love in faith and repentance.