Isaiah 57
Notes
Transcript
The Apostasy of God’s People
The Apostasy of God’s People
Remember in the last couple of weeks God has been reminding His people and the world as well of His great love for them.
Last week we looked at the other nations, how God would bring salvation to the foreigners.
That news is important, for it tells us that God had a plan to redeem the world, not just his people Israel.
But today, the message is one of warning, why? the rejection of God, and the ways of God often followed by a return to idol worship.
Lets look at see what the Lord says… Verse 1
1 The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
There is a trend toward fewer and fewer righteous people, and yet no one understands that as more and more people see this trend, they also see the withdrawal of God’s blessings.
God will not bless the unrighteous...
The righteous persons perish, but no one pays attention to this vacuum happening of their loss from society. The leaders fail to see the injustice that is taking place.
Some think this is saying that God is taking the righteous out of the way because God is about to pour calamity out upon the wicked.
This almost sounds like a end days event, but understand the wicked will receive their just reward.
Verse 2 Isa 57:2
2 he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
In such a troubled time, death can be mericful for that person then enters into peace. Death is not a bad thing for the righteous, and consider the church. To be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord.
Here during a time of suffering, the divine hand of punishment, to be at rest with the Lord is good.
Now we change the thought just a moment as the Lord speaks to the wickedness in particular in these next 10 verses, so lets begin with verse 3 here.
Verse 3 Isa 57:3
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
The word is that “you” is a new group of people that the Lord is addressing. We do know it is not the righteous in verses 1-2.
So God wants the attention of this group he is speaking about, calling for them to draw or come near. The idea of coming close is to hear and know what is being said.
These children who practice a pagan art of sorcery, divination, magic or soothsaying… all of this is included..
These are ones who hope to know the will of some god and hope to appease it or how to change the future in some way.
All of these practices are forbidden in the Torah by God. But were practiced during the reigns of Israel’s kings Saul, Ahaz, Manasseh and Zedekiah before the captivity.
These wicked people are called the seed of adulterers and prostitutes...
Now verse 4 Isa 57:4
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
There are two thoughts about the first line...
These wicked people sneer, mock and laugh at the righteous… They do these things all the time, but they are also speaking to what they enjoy
The question asks which God do you enjoy servicing, is it these false gods or the one True God. If you serve one you will mock the other...
They open their mouth wide and their tongue is long, reflects those who call out continually to these pagan gods in hopes of being heard.
Verse 5 Isa 57:5
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
Isaiah here tells us of their specific acts of rebellion. They have accepted deceitful words, and we think the specific god they are following is Molech, who is among the Canaanite gods. But Molech was also worshiped in Babylon as well.
The lust among the oaks and under every green tree we think of the sexual sins associated with pagan prostitution and rites in some pagan temples.
But sadly the second part of the verse speaks to the slaughter of their children. It was noted that part of the worship around Molech was to slaughter your children to that pagan god. They would throw thier children down to be cut up and burned up in worship to this pagan god.
This kind of worship existed during the days of Ahaz and Manasseh before the fall of Judah. This is all before the exile.
How terrible it is to see these sins taking place and friends America is just as guilty, we have sacrificed 54 million children in abortion to please the god of self. We have been consumed with lust and pleasure and if a child comes into existence, well we can just abort it.
God have mercy on our nation....
The people of Israel and Judah thought they could hide from God and do these things but God knows all my friends...
Verse 6 Isa 57:6
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
The smooth stones are objects of Pagan worship..The people have trusted in these things that include those dead man made gods. They had served the Lord, He was their God. Ps 16:5
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
But they swapped following the Lord their God for these dead things and that has become their lot.
The people brought these false dead gods drink and food offerings, they have perverted the ways they were to follow God himself.
In the midst of their sin and perverseness, God asks a rhetorical question.
Should I have compassion because of these things?
No, He is not pleased and he will not show them mercy since they have followed after false gods.
Now look at verse 7 Isa 57:7
7 On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
That worship that happened in the valleys have also taken place on the mountain tops!
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
Many think that this speaks to the people even going up onto Mt Zion to worship these false gods. Manasseh did these things we know… And even though this is not the dwelling place of God. His dwelling is above the mountains. Remember Isa 6:1
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
The worship they give up in that mountain is a blatant rejection of the worship of God.
They are using the holy places, the things associate with the worship of God and giving it to these false gods.
Verse 8 Isa 57:8
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
Since they are up upon the high places, the mountain of God, doing their deeds of false worship. behind the door posts suggest they even come into the temple and temple areas and commit these awful acts.
They have gone up into these areas and are committing these awful acts, which seem to indicate they are using prostitutes in their worship of baal.
The last two verses indicate that the people love their sin and what they engage in..
It is shameful to see their heart and the actions they commit even in and around the temple areas. They have lost their sense of who God is and how special He is...
They have lost their understanding of His love for them and the covenant He had for them...
But listen, there are times that God will allow us to be carried off by our sin and the consequences of it.
Verse 9 Isa 57:9
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
The king here we believe is simply the false god they have worshipped, Molech and the cult of the dead around it.
So God continues to condemn their worship of these flase gods and how they gave to him even things that had been devoted to God int he past. Oil, fragrances, and the like.
So God is condemning their actions, their unfaithfulness toward him. Even in times of danger they sought the help of other nations and other gods instead of turning to the Lord
The have made a covenant with death, this kind of unfaithfulness will bring death, condemnation upon those who lead the people astray.
Verse 10 Isa 57:10
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
This verse draws a conclusion of what the people say they have accomplished.
All these perverted ways (political and religious) of trying to find help from different human and religious sources of strength led to a certain level of “weariness” (yāgāʿ). These searchers for hope worked hard to find their way and expended much effort
The second half of the verse explains that somehow through “your own strength” (lit. “your hand”) you found life or the renewal of life. Their ritual and their use of political treaties they found some hope for the land for a while, but it is not sustainable.
People have done things like this through the ages, but we know God is not impressed with human efforts; instead, he wants people to humbly trust him in their times of distress.
Verse 11 Isa 57:11
11 Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
Now with verse 11 here, the story or conversation changes. Instead of talking about pagan practices, or politicial issues, the message now is God asking about their relationship with him.
God asks the question “Whom did you fear”…
Why were you afraid of the nations, the things around you? The events around the nation like others seeking to wage war against them. God asks why were you afraid?
These unfaithful actions caused others to fail and sadly fail to trust and believe God. Their lies and deceit lead to them and others breaking the covenant with God and waking away from Him.
Gradually God became less and less important to them. Finally God says you did not remember me
Since these people were able to control the nation through religious and political manipulation, they thought they did not need God
And then God asks why did you ignore your relationship with me, even though he was silent before them,
He did not answer prayer and allowed them to suffer defeat and other issues. And instead of returning to Him, they turned farther way from Him. They knew he was there but in their sin practiced their own ways.
verse 12 Isa 57:12
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
God cannot be ignored, and forgetting him dows not mean that he will forget the things you have said and done, At some point in the days ahead of them he will reveal all that is happening to him.
In fact He says I will declare your righteousness or really the lack there off.. as such you gain no benefit for the way you lived.
Verse 13 Isa 57:13
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit my holy mountain.
Here God says mockingly, let your collection of idols save you. cry to them, ask them for help....
The person or land that trusts in these false gods will be carried off, blown away, literally they cannot stand in the day of trouble,
BUt
The one who takes refudge in the Lord will posses the land and inherit his mountian. The thought of possessing the land is the fulfillment of God covenant to Abraham where he promised him a land and a people if he would believe and follow the Lord with a whole heart
God will take are off and bless his people in the future...
The final section functions as a proclamation of Gods salvation and the future all have when God is high and holy set up in our heart and lives,
verse 14 Isa 57:14
14 And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
A voice will call out…God’s people are the ones being addressed here. The call to build up, build up is the same as prepare the way for God, repair and remove the obstacles out of the way..
The call is for preparation, get ready for the coming of the Lord. You have to get your heart right first, you must be the stumbling blocks our of the way if you are doing to be able to follow the Lord.
Isaiah 40–66 God Will Revive the Lowly; Judge Others (57:14–21)
In every era sin is the obstacle that prevents people from enjoying the revival of a person’s discouraged spirit and a sense of God’s presence
Now verse 15 Isa 57:15
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
God now gives new words of promise and exhortation that speaks to His coming to dwell with his people.
The God who is holy not only is high and lifted up, and dwells in a high and holy place.. He also dwells with those with a contrite and lowly spirit.
How beautiful to see that God desires to dwell with man, will your heart be able though...
His will and desire is to revive those who follow and live for Him
Verses 16-17 Isa 57:16-17
16 For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
These verses assure the righteous that they only have to endure this sinful and oppressive world a little longer before God will end the struggle between righteousness and the wicked.
God has been patient, waiting for people to return to him, but he will not wait for them forever, there comes a time when he will bring charges against their evil ways.
It is a just act for God to convict people of their sins and to dicipline them for their actions. But thankfullly He is longsuffering and and has not always punished people quickly but given them time to respond to him.
God’s desire is not to destroy mankind, but to transform them through discipline and love.
God has disciplined his people in the past, the reason was to teach them His ways...
But sadly at times, there were those who continued in their sin.
Verses 18-19 Isa 57:18-19
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
God gracious deeds to comfort the righteous are described first, God declares I will heal them… Just as he has promised to revive them, so he will heal them.
The healing here can mean the healing of wounds but hte broader application is to heal the heart
But not only heal, he will guide them, lead them and restore them. Many were mistreated in the past and God promises to comfort them
Isaiah 40–66 (God Will Revive the Lowly; Judge Others (57:14–21))
Everything that caused heartache, pain, violence, oppression, and loss in the past will be removed so that God’s healing power might transform this evil world and create a new world based on his grace. This is all the work of God. Thanks be to God!
Verse 19 continues the marvelous description of what God will do for the righteous.
When he comforts those who mourn, God will give his people the ability to create new words on their lips because at that time they will experience his fresh healing, his comfort, and his presence. These words will be words of praise to God
Now verses 20-21 Isa 57:20-21
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
The scene shifts here, from the comfort of God to the righteous, to the message toward the wicked.
Wicked leaders fail to take care of the flock of God, they persecute the righteous and worshipped false gods.
These forsook God, they wearied God and dealt deceitfully with God. Now God will expose their ways … these wicked enemies are compared to a raging sea,
But the truth remains that they cannot win…they will not prevail, God will not allow it.
There will be no peace for them, the will not have the measure given to the rightoues.
We know there are two groups, the wicked and the righteousness...
Even though the righteous may suffer and die, in the end the rightoues will be revived, healed and comforted and givne eternal peace.
The wicked, they will be cut off from God