Isaiah 9: 8-21
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 41 viewsNotes
Transcript
Judgement is Coming
Judgement is Coming
Last week as we opened Isaiah 9 we saw the Lord reveal the promise of a coming child.
A child who would be God’s Messiah, His anointed one who would lead the nation and sit on the throne of His father David.
This was the second time in the book thus far that God has revealed a deliver was coming to them for their good.
But in light of this news, there was still judgement that needed to be faced because of sin.
Now understand, God was graceful, He is loving but sin has consequences. And those consequences can be painful but still we understand that sin is something God does not tolerate, but punishment doesn’t mean God doesn’t love his children.
No, His punishment tells that he does love them and corrects them as a loving parent.
So lets open our text for today and see what the Lord would tell us in this first section.... verses 8-10
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
Automatically you see it is a case against them, the Lord sent His word against Jacob. and it a will call on Israel.
All of Israel knew about God’s warnings. It wasn’t they will know, NO, they knew, so they are without excuse.
So both verbs here are past tense, it is a completed action. They knew int he past the truth that God required of the people. They had been taught from their youth, the word was evident in their life referring to the law.
Yet instead of humbling themselves, instead of repenting of their sin and seeking God and his deliverance. The people were proud, defiant, they said nothing will harm them, nothing will discourage them.
It is like they are not concerned about God or His commands, life for them was to be lived for them.
Special note here, the bricks refer to the damage caused by Assyria, when they first came and destroyed cities in Israel about 733BC.
The people in their pride thought they were ok, they were stubborn and felt like they could determine their destiny , not God. That is a sad mistake friends.
Now verses 11-12 Isa 9:11-12
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Since the people remained in their sinful pride, since they didn’t seek the Lord, nor His help. God raised up and strengthened the enemy of Rezin, King of Israel ( remember Northern 10 tribes)
God raised up one of those kings, most likely since the nation hasn’t gone into captivity yet is Tiglath - pileser III from 2 Kings 15:29.
Remember God is the sovereign ruler of the world and He is in control all over the earth, even pagan nations not just his people, all peoples.
The end of this passage tells us that although God has brought these judgments to pass, His anger is not stopped or satisfied, His sovereign hand is ready to punish more.
The people should have repented at the first sign of trouble, but instead they continued and sinned more.
God hates sin and will punish sin...
Now lets look at verses 13-17 Isa 9:13-17
13 The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
As you look at verse 13, we see that when God just brought judgment upon the land, the outcome was not repentance, the people did not turn back to the Lord.
Is God’s punishment meant to only punish the people, heaven’s no! It was meant to be restorative, corrective, it was meant to bring the people back to God and God’s ways.
Since the first act of punishment did not bring about a humble confession of the sins, the second punishment was necessary.
God had already cut off the head and the tail, literally those in positions of leadership, religious and political and then the tail refers to those false prophets, as explained in verse 15. Here is an example in Jeremiah
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
Who did all these people lead astray? the poor, the weak, the fatherless and the widows, all those people who were marginalized and considered to be unimportant.
But here is the truth, all will suffer because of all the sins of the people. Why do all suffer with punishment, sadly because even those who were led astray knew the commands and knew to do right not evil. Also at times, being a part of the corporate whole, means all suffers.
(Think of it like this.... we haven’t lead this country in the path it is in, into sin, but being a part of it means we all suffer.. Daniel the prophet was a godly man, but suffered because of the sins of those around him. I am not saying we are all Daniels, just the illustrations of the godly beings forced to suffer)
Now the people failed to follow and please the Lord. What is the joy and pleasure of the Lord, - a holy people.
Therefore the anger of God existed and continued. More judgment was coming from his powerful hands
Now lets look at verses 18-21 Isaiah 9:18-21
18 For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
This is the next oracle the Lord speaks against the people.
As we open verse 18 the prophet says there is a fire burning it symbolizes the wickedness of men at that time, it is like a fire that destroys life.
With two verses 18-19, there are two fires burning. Verse 18 tells us that one fire is caused by the sinful wickedness of the people while the other as seen in verse 19 is God’s wrath against the land.
To say that wickedness is like a burning fire is a great metaphor Think of it like sinful influences lead people astray and into sin. the result is many are lead astray and many are affected because of it.
(An example is Hitler, his ideas and plans of a great nation captivated and lead many to follow his lead, that sin brought death to man, at times even them until finally all is lost)
The burning of the thorns that are dried up would be quick and very hot every fast. The wicked people are the briars. Isaiah already shared this in chapter 5, verse 6
God back in your mind, remember because of Adam’s sin the land was cursed and it brought forth briars, so that is the direct result of sin.
So the sinful actions of the people have brought consequences upon the peoople. They are destroyed, and all the world will see this punishment.
Yet, verse 19 we know Another cause of the burning will be the fury of God’s wrath against sin.
The evil vents in Israel were not outside God’s sovereign control or his ability to bring justice.
Q. Do you ever think of sin as an injustice that needs to be made right or corrected?
Jesus death brought Justice....
In the future, then and now things will get worse, people will turn on each other and no one will exercise mercy toward each other. Do we see that today? Yes, wicked people do not care how or who they hurt...
Not those last two verses Isa 9:20-21
20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Society here is seen at its worst cannibalism and conflict among families or tribes. God’s anger is just when you look at the nature of their sin.
Do you think God’s anger is just toward sin? Why?
The theological acceptance of certain sins as normative or acceptable can only lead to more wickedness… look at things people try to tell Christians this is right, this is the natural progression of man, mutilation of children,
It is terrible
Up to this point Judah would have agreed with Isaiah, as he condemned the sin of the people of the northern 10 tribes. They were proud, violent, wicked and sinful. Judah agreed with the Lord’s judgment, but would the agree with their own judgement?
Similar things are happening in Judah, Judah should see this and turn away from their sin.
God will assuredly Hold Israel accountable.. But others can and should learn from the lessons they witness.
Here is a quesiton:
What can we learn from Israel and their sin and consequences.
Don’t ignore God
Pay attention to His word
repent and come back to God
be faithful
end