Isaiah 8:14 - God Becomes a Sanctuary

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Target Date: Sunday, 25 February 2024

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

16 – bind - יָצַר yâtsar, yaw-tsar’; a prim. root; to press (intr.), i.e. be narrow; fig. be in distress:— be distressed, be narrow, be straitened (in straits), be vexed.

To bring and tie closely. Used in reference to sieges against cities and in bundling things for travel.

16 – seal – חָתַם châtham, khaw-tham’; a prim. root; to close up; espec. to seal:— make an end, mark, seal (up), stop.

To close, perhaps officially, so that only those who are authorized may open.

The tomb of Jesus was sealed.

He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. – Daniel 12:9

17 – wait – חָכָה châkâh, khaw-kaw’; a prim. root [appar. akin to 2707 through the idea of piercing]; prop. to adhere to; hence, to await:— long, tarry, wait.

The waiting here is not simply passing the time, but attaching to the LORD and being along for the ride in His time.

17 – hope – קָוָה qâvâh, kaw-vaw’; a prim. root; to bind together (perh. by twisting), i.e. collect; (fig.) to expect:— gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon).

This hoping follows the attaching to the Lord; it is the entwining with Him in His timing.

18 – signs – אוֹת ˒ôwth, ōth; prob. from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:— mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.

18 – portents – מֹפֵת môphêth, mo-faith’; from 3302 in the sense of conspicuousness; a miracle; by impl. a token or omen:— miracle, sign, wonder (-ed at).

The combination of these words may serve as little more than an idiomatic statement since both are often translated “signs”.

The difference between the two seem to be the “signs” in this case are more warnings, where the “portents” are more direct announcements akin to the trumpets of the book of the Revelation.

Signs (’ōtôt) direct attention (Exod. 3:12); symbols, literally ‘portents’ (mōpĕtîm), arrest attention (Exod. 3:3).

In relation to Isaiah’s children’s names, this probably bears no exegetical weight beyond the idiomatic use.

20 – teaching – תֹּרָה tôrâh, to-raw’; from 3384; a precept or statute, espec. the Decalogue or Pentateuch:— law.

This points directly to the existing word of God in these matters. Rather than seeking the voices of the dead, they must seek the living God through His living word.

20 – testimony – תְּעוּדָה te˓ûwdâh, teh-oo-daw’; from 5749; attestation, i.e. a precept, usage:— testimony.

Assuming Isaiah is pointing the people to Scripture for answers, these would be the other writings of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms (and the other writings of Job and Solomon) and histories which would already have been extant. This may also have included some early prophets, although many of the twelve had not begun, not had the other major prophets been born.

20 – dawn – שַׁחַר shachar, shakh’-ar; from 7836; dawn (lit., fig. or adv.):— day (-spring), early, light, morning, whence riseth.

They will not have the hope of glory in Christ.

Thoughts on the Passage:

This message no longer seems to be aimed at Ahaz, but at some faithful people, even the remnant or perhaps those Isaiah was training.

The terminology used is insider:

V.15 – They shall fall…

V. 19 – They will say to you…

The message of this passage is for those who will follow the LORD in faith, in spite of the devastation and opposition they see.

12 – The conspiracy here seems to be the lack of Isaiah’s blind support of the king and the people. When he preaches the judgment of God and the need for the holiness of God’s people, he is declaring a message some would consider traitorous.

When he declares in this passage the faith in God that is required, he is repudiating the faith in Assyria and Egypt that the government favors.

In all this, though, Isaiah is not fomenting rebellion nor trying for a regime change. He is loyal to Judah through His loyalty to God. He is calling his disciples to greater faith in God.

This is not the only time a prophet, preaching God’s message, was accused of such:

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said, “ ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ” - Amos 7:10-11

It was Isaiah himself who had been attempting to dissuade Judah from seeking foreign aid. That was to go contrary to the policy of the court. Isaiah, Jeremiah and other prophets advocated a policy of dependence upon the Lord and not upon foreign powers. Surely that was treason!

13 – Fear God - Matthew 10:28–33 (ESV): And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

13 - But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. – 1 Peter 3:14-17

14 – He will become:

But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus - Hebrews 2:9

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. – Hebrews 2:17

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich - 2 Corinthians 8:9

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8

15 - Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” – Matthew 21:43-44

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” - Romans 9:30-33

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. – Romans 11:17-23

15 - What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” 9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” - Romans 11:7-10

16 – among my disciples – There could be some question whether this was Isaiah talking about his students or God speaking of His.

In the end, it does not matter. The message is the same – proceeding from God.

19 – mediums and necromancers – today, these might be the historians and experts.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14

Teachings (Passage Outline):

11-12 – Don’t trust the definitions and issues the world defines for you.

13-18 – Trust in the LORD and His revelation through the Scriptures.

19-20 – Urge those among God’s people to His Scriptures.

Applications:

How do we preach the gospel in situations like this? Just like in our day, the hearts of the people are not seeking after God, yet we are not called to abandon them to their fate; we are called to proclaim the gospel to them with the best of our ability.

1. God knows who are His, and He will unerringly call them to the gospel if we only open our mouths with His word.

2. The deeper people descend into their sin, the more meaningless and hopeless they find it. Sensuality only satisfies for a moment, and that less and less. For many, it takes the depths of sin to cause them to see the heights of God’s love through Jesus Christ.

3. It is not helpful for the church, or the individual believer, to endorse the sin or accept the false justifications and false premises of those who would defend it. We preach the truth in the gospel of God.

4. We must know going in that many people will find false solace in the number of people who follow the wrong way. They will be encouraged by those around them who justify the sin. But we must recognize, and help them to do so, that those who would lead them to sin do not do it out of love or sincere affection: they do it out of selfish motives in justifying themselves or to profit from the other’s fall.

5. Every single person who has died now knows the truth – Jesus Christ is Lord, and they must face God’s judgment. The worst sinner, the most devout atheist, once he passes through death, will know too late the holiness of God and his utter defenselessness before His righteous wrath.

Primary Preaching Point:

God builds His kingdom His way.

Building Points:

11-12 – Trust God for the future.

13-18 – Trust God through the storm.

19-20 – Trust God for the results.

Sermon Text:

We return this week to the eighth chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah.

Not only do we return to the passage, we’ll pick up in the middle of the same outline.

For those of you who are taking notes, we are still in point 2.

I have told some of you this story, so please bear with me.

It was my original plan to look at this passage in a single week – verses 11-20 in a three-point outline.

It seemed reasonable – this isn’t, in my experience, one of the heavily-preached passages in Isaiah. Not like chapters 9 or 40 or 53.

Those are densely-packed chapters, and I expect all will require a few weeks to deal with adequately for this series.

But when I first looked at chapter 8, and in particular this passage, I saw a pretty straightforward outline of the passage with some significant applications for us.

But as I wrote the first sermon on this passage, I realized that the exploration and the applications of that first point would take up all the preaching time I allot myself.

But even then, I pushed into the second point because that was where I thought the point of the passage lay.

And then as I worked last week on finishing this passage, I realized there was even more in the second point, and I would have to push the third point on to another week.

But then after I had finished the text for last week, I made a terrifying discovery: I had missed the major point of the passage altogether.

Not that the sermons weren’t theologically correct or anything like that.

It was how this passage carried through the message of the passages before and after.

So with all that said, point 3 will be, God willing, next Sunday.

Just to remind you, the points in the passage are:

1. Trust God for the future. Vv.11-12

2. Trust God through the storm. Vv. 13-18

3. Trust God for the results. Vv. 19-20

We are continuing to focus this week on the second section – Trust God through the storm.

And in verse 14 we find the strongest reason we are able to trust Him: He will become a sanctuary.

Over the last couple of weeks we have looked really well at this idea of the sanctuary.

If you have been here, you will remember that the sanctuary here is not a stronghold or a castle or a tower or a bunker, but is the holy of holies, the tent of meeting that holds the most holy things of God.

I don’t intend to review that, but I mention it because we must look at another word in this phrase – one I would argue may be more important to the message.

It is the word that finally hit me and stopped me cold in this passage.

That surprising word is “become”.

Become?

The one thing I am fairly certain about is that God doesn’t “become.”

“Become” means to change, to be something different, something new, afterward than you were before.

How can we possibly think the unchanging, holy God of all creation would ever “become” anything?

All through the Scriptures we see many declarations of “The Lord IS”, but very few instances of “The Lord will become”.

We might look at this and think about the verses that say “The Lord HAS become my salvation”

We find this declaration several times, including Exodus 15:2, Psalm 118:14, 21, and Isaiah 12:2.

But in all those places, they are describing what the unchangeable God has DONE for them, so that they are changed or so that the relationship with God has changed.

He has become my salvation … because He has saved me, because He has rescued me.

In those passages (all songs), God didn’t change – only the singer did.

All these are also in the past tense (literally, the past perfect, meaning that this action is complete).

In looking, I found only one place in the Old Testament where God “will become” in the future tense: Zechariah 14:9:

On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth—the Lord alone, and his name alone.

But even this example, though it is in the future, only promises a change in the relationship, a perfection of that relationship, with His creation.

There is no hint there of God Himself “becoming”.

And so we must wrestle with the message here, because Isaiah said it specifically.

Translators might try to help us out theologically and change it to “The Lord will BE a sanctuary”, but that is just not what it says.

Perhaps the Jewish rabbis had a liberal theological wing like the church has today.

We know by Jesus’s day, they did. The Sadducees were very liberal in their understanding of the Bible.

That is why they were “sad, you see”? (please forgive me)

If they had liberal theologians in the days after Isaiah, perhaps they said something like:

The difference between “will be” and “will become” is the matter of a single letter. Maybe someone accidentally added it when they were copying it.

A typo.

But I would like to show you that not only did Isaiah say exactly what he meant to say, it is entirely consistent with everything else he says in chapters 7 through 9.

I can’t even answer how Isaiah understood the importance of what he was saying,

But I am certain what the Holy Spirit of God speaking through him meant.

It all hinges on one word: Immanuel. God with us.

The Lord WILL BECOME a sanctuary is nothing less than the proclamation of the DEITY of Jesus Christ:

Fully God and fully man.

The Incarnation – when the Word, who WAS God, became flesh and dwelt among us.

So we see in Jesus Christ, the Lord DID BECOME something He was not before.

It may bother us to say it or bother us to hear it because we rely so greatly on the unchangeableness of God.

And He is indeed unchanging – it is simply that in this one event, planned from before the world was created, God BECAME a man.

The second Person of the Trinity, the Son, took on flesh:

though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:6-8

And I hope you will forgive me if I don’t dive deeply into the intricacies of the Trinity this morning.

Because this good news, this gospel, that Isaiah is proclaiming to his people in the face of invasions and upheavals is the same gospel looking forward as we understand looking backward.

He is declaring that God will become a sanctuary, made by God and established firmly among His people.

It is He who will deliver the holiness of God to His people.

It is He who will give access to God through that same sanctuary.

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. - John 10:9

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:6

And it is He, as we have seen over the last two weeks, who will be the One who people will stumble over if they reject Him.

It is He, who is fully God and fully man – the man Jesus Christ.

It is He who is promised in chapter 7 – the child Immanuel.

It is He who is promised in chapter 9 – the Son who is given, that Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

And it is He here in chapter 8 who is promised – the Sanctuary who IS God.

It wasn’t enough for God to send emissaries – teachers and prophets – to us.

He proved that by sending them in the first place.

Noah found grace by faith in God, but the word he preached did not save the world.

Abram had great faith, but it could not save anyone.

Moses proclaimed God’s Law, but that Law could only reveal sin, not perfect those who heard it.

The writer of Hebrews, in talking about the justification Jesus Christ brings in contrast to the inadequacy of the Law to justify, says this:

For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. - Hebrews 7:18-19

And Paul, in Romans 8:3-4, says:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

It is not too strong a statement to say that God HAD TO BECOME the sanctuary in Jesus Christ in order to save His people.

And it was not something He discovered through some spiritual trial-and-error.

Many people, I think, would tell you that God gave the Law through Moses so people would know what to do and do it.

And that if they did completely follow the Law, they would be saved because of that.

But then they have some idea that the Law didn’t work, so God had to go with plan B – send Jesus Christ to save.

My friends – RUN from that idea. Flee from that error.

God has always known man cannot keep the Law because man is FALLEN, sinful in our very nature.

Not just a little bit, not just “mostly” – entirely fallen.

As incapable of following God’s Law as a fish is to climb a tree.

Our NATURE won’t allow it.

Yes, we were created in God’s image, and man was created good, with the capability for obedience.

But on that fateful day, our father Adam stood beside the forbidden tree, took the fruit his wife handed him, and CHOSE to disobey what God had told him.

He wasn’t deceived – he was fully conscious that he was choosing to eat the fruit.

He made the choice to tell himself it wasn’t as dangerous as God made it out to be.

He made the choice that HE was wise enough to decide right and wrong for himself.

And in that moment, he died in every way that mattered.

His fellowship with God was broken.

His dominion over creation was ruined.

His wife became his adversary.

His spirit, once alive, died.

The only reason his flesh did not perish in that moment was so he would have opportunity to repent and confess his sin to God.

There was no law God could give that would make man good again.

No commandment that would cause him to obey fully.

Because the first casualty of the Fall, the thing that died before the juice of the fruit touched Adam’s tongue, was Adam’s faith in God.

From the moment he took the fruit from his wife, as soon as the intention formed in his heart to try it, he abandoned his faith in the goodness and wisdom of God.

What commandment can be given to a person who doesn’t believe in the perfect goodness and wisdom of the Lawgiver,

Or who reserves the right to review the commandment before he obeys it?

There are people in churches everywhere who still claim that right to obey what THEY see fit;

They choose to interpret things differently, declaring things acceptable to God that God says are sinful.

Do you do that?

Do you see something the Scripture declares as sin, but you decide is ok for right now,

Or it’s ok because you saw someone else do it,

Or it’s ok because there is some debate on the subject?

Are you judging what God has commanded and making sure it passes your approval before doing it?

We HAVE to HAVE God with us.

We must have Jesus Christ, the sanctuary of God, to run to.

That is the only place to find holiness.

That is the ONLY way to be right before God.

When He was creating the world, He knew every grain of dust He would touch as He walked the earth, even before He made the body to do it.

He knew the people He would heal;

He knew the people who would hear in faith.

He knew the ones He would call to follow Him;

He knew the one who would betray Him.

He knew the death He would die to save His people from the sin that had ruined them from birth.

He knew the salvation that would be assured through His resurrection.

And He knew the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would be effective not only for those people coming to Him in faith AFTER the crucifixion,

But would be the means of salvation for EVERYONE who trusts in Him, past or future.

In Jesus Christ, God DID BECOME.

He became the sanctuary, the holy place, for His people.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21

He became sin…so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Christian, what God has done for you is truly miraculous:

Will you flirt with the sin of this world when he has done everything to free you from it?

To those who don’t believe:

What hope do you have that is greater than the salvation God Himself has guaranteed by His blood?

Come to Him in repentance and faith, trusting in His mercy to save