Putting Things Into Perspective

Introduction

In keeping with our series on missions during our evening service, I was encouraged to bring a message on missions from the Old Testament.

The text I’ve selected for this evening is Isaiah 5–6 not because it’s distinctly missions-focused. It’s not—it deals with an OT prophet who’s commissioned to proclaim a prophetic message to God’s people.

The reason I chose this passage is because it deals with an ancillary topic related to missions that perhaps doesn’t receive as much attention as it should  the expectations of being God’s representative.

Illustration: My brother-in-law is a retired Marine and described to me one time the romance and the expectations of young men and women who enlist in the military.

Often, their expectations are shaped by the posters hanging from walls of their local recruiting office. They sign up with anticipations of high adventure.

But as my brother-in-law so eloquently put it, they have a higher chance of ending up cleaning toilets on the lower deck of a Navy aircraft carrier than they do living out those images on the posters.

What they needed was someone with them in that recruiting process putting their expectations into some perspective of reality.

I think missions has much the same kind of romance and all the trappings that come with expectations that don’t quite square with reality.

Traveling to foreign lands

Meeting unreached people groups

Seeing the gospel break through

Paul was one of the first NT missionaries and he described the reality of missions work:

“…labors…imprisonments…with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers…robbers…my own people…Gentiles…danger in the city…in the wilderness…at sea…from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Cor. 11:23–27).

That’s not apt to be a very good missionary recruiting poster…but it sets the expectations.

Isaiah 5–6 does much the same thing. It challenges us to consider carefully what we think “success” looks like in the proclamation of the gospel.

Context

Now, these two chapters are fascinating.

Chapter 6, of course, is the well-known account of Isaiah’s vision of the Lord and his commission to be God’s prophet to the nation Judah.

And chapter 5 is a corollary chapter—it sets the stage for Isaiah’s call because it’s the closing chapter in Isaiah’s introduction to the whole book, which is chapters 1–5.

Chapter 5 paints a picture of the social, and spiritual condition of society at the time when Isaiah was called to his ministry. This is the people to whom he was called to go and prophesy.

Now, Isaiah’s ministry spanned a long time—53 years. He began his ministry around 739 B.C. at the end of the reign of King Uzziah. He ended his ministry three kings later—during the reign of King Hezekiah.

Tradition has it that he was put to death by order of King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, specifically by being cut in two with a wooden saw (Heb. 11:37). And as we’ll see at the end of chapter 6, this is not a shocking end to Isaiah’s mission.

A Parable of a Vineyard (5:1–7)

Chapter 5 opens with a song—what Isaiah calls a “love song for my beloved concerning his vineyard.”

It’s really a parable, the meaning of which isn’t revealed until verse 7.

He says in verse 1, “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill” (v. 1). This would be a very common scene in Israelite life at that time. Israel was by and large an agrarian society. Vineyards were common, and this particular vineyard was placed “on a very fertile hill,”meaning it was ideally located.

He says, “He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines” (v. 2a). That is to say, this vineyard was meticulously prepared. It was cultivated and prepared for planting. And this vineyard owner planted high-end vines.

He goes on: “He built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it” (v. 2b). In other words, this vineyard was diligently protected. The stones that had been cleared were used to build a tower where the vineyard owner would stay and look out for his investment. There he could protect the vineyard from animals and pests.

The wine vat indicates that he’s preparing for a sizeable crop and he’s making plans for wine production with hopeful anticipation.

Yet at the end of verse 2 we come to a surprising revelation: “And he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes” (v. 2c)—literally, “sour grapes.” These choice vines which were intended to produce the most high-end grapes ended up growing nothing but worthless, sour grapes.

What an amazing disappointment. So much work and investment only to receive nothing useful.

And that’s what Isaiah asks his readers in verse 3: “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”

The answer is obvious! There’s nothing more that was needed. The vineyard owner did everything right. He should have been rewarded with the best grapes by which to produce his wine.

Instead, he asks at the end of verse 4: “When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield sour grapes?”

This is enough to make any farmer or gardener enraged. Every condition was set for a productive vineyard.

And so in verses 5–6, the vineyard owner announces what he’s going to do to this vineyard:

“And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedges, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it” (5:5–6).

This is absolute abandonment. He’s going to withdraw every protection and curse this little plot of real estate so that it never gets cultivated again because there’s something wrong with this spot.

Illustration: I tell you what, I understand how this vineyard owner feels. When we first moved into our house, we had a spot right in the middle of our backyard that was overgrown with tall grass and weeds and bushes. We finally had it all cut down only to discover that it was hiding about three or four tree stumps. So we had those stumps ground down. We dug the entire area down over six inches, filled it with fresh top soil and planted new grass seed.

It was our hope that we’d have an entire backyard of grass that the kids could play in. And by the end of that summer the area had filled in with new grass. But the next spring none of that grass grew. So I replanted grass seed and spread out more top soil, and more grass grew and things looked good.

But this spring, sure enough, none of that grass came back. It was just a giant dead spot. So I raked it all again and replanted grass seed and covered it with peat moss. And so far the grass is starting to grow and fill in again.

But I tell you—if that grass doesn’t come back in the spring…I may end up covering the whole spot with pavers and turning it into something else because it’s obvious there’s something wrong with that spot.

And that’s what this vineyard owner recognizes as well. He’s going to abandon this supposedly “very fertile hill” because there’s something inherently wrong with it.

Now, at this point, Isaiah has his listeners hooked. They would be very sympathetic to this vineyard owner’s frustration.

And so it’s in verse 7 that he reveals the meaning of this “love song”: “For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting” (5:7a).

Oooh…this isn’t really a song about a vineyard. This is a parable about Israel; about Judah. This is about everything God has done for this nation. How he…

Sovereignly and graciously chose them

Cultivated and protected them in Egypt

Redeemed them by divine initiative

Purified them through sacrifice

Set them apart by divine covenant

Placed them into a special land

Protected them from enemies

Given them a special purpose

He had set the conditions to expect great things from this little nation. And so imagine his surprise, as he says at the end of verse 7: “And he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry” (5:7b).

It doesn’t come across in English, but Isaiah was unparalleled in his mastery of the Hebrew language and here he uses similar sounding words to drive home the rhetorical point. He looked for mishpat, but behold, mispach; for tsedakah, but behold, tse’akah.

This was unrealized expectation that could only be explained by one thing: something was wrong with this people. It wasn’t the Lord’s fault. He set the conditions perfectly. The problem was with the people.

A Portrait of Corruption (5:8­–30)

Now, that leads into the next section—verses 8­ through 30—where Isaiah begins to paint a portrait of just what he means by “bloodshed” and “an outcry.”

He’s describing gross injustice and immorality at the highest levels of society.

Judah was experiencing a period of unparalleled strength and prosperity during Uzziah’s 52-year reign. Judah had developed a strong commercial industry. They had a strong military. There was general prosperity across the nation.

But like any society, the ones who were at the top took advantage of these conditions at the expense of the lower class. The poor, the vulnerable—they were neglected and oppressed.

And so Isaiah pronounces six “woes” against the people. The term “woe” is an onomatopoeia (meaning it’s a word that sounds like what it’s trying to describe), and it comes from the traditional funeral laments of the day where people would grieve and lament over the deceased person with sounds like the word “hoe!”

And so when they’re used in a passage like this, it’s a way of saying, “We’re standing at your funeral right now. You’re as good as dead!”

And what these woes do is indict Judah’s people—primarily the upper class—for their failure to produce the righteousness and justice that God expected them to show after all he had done to cultivate them as his special vineyard.

1. Rampant Materialism (5:8–10)

So in verses 8–10 he uncovers the first of these injustices: rampant materialism.

“Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land” (5:8).

What was happening was wealthy land owners were buying up all the houses and real estate they could get their hands on.

God had made special provision in the law for land to stay within the family and the tribe. So even when someone was in debt and their only way out was to sell their land, it was supposed to stay within the family and within the tribe.

But these land owners were dismissing all of these protections in order to maximize their real estate holdings. And in the process, they were pushing all the lower class out of their own homes and off their land.

This is greed. This is materialism above all else, even above taking care of other people and protecting people.

And for this, Isaiah says, God is going to judge them. Their houses will be empty and their land won’t be able to yield even a tenth of what it should because there won’t be anyone there to harvest it because they’re all going to be taken away.

2. Uncontrolled Pleasure (5:11–16)

In verse 11 we get another woe:

“Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of Yahweh, or see the work of his hands”(5:11–12).

This is describing a society with uncontrolled pleasure. He talks about people who “rise early in the morning” and “tarry late into the evening.” And normally these practices would be the habits of those with a strong work ethic—who work hard.

But all this time and energy and passion isn’t spent in anything productive but instead for pleasure. The only thing they work hard at is things that bring them pleasure.

They love to drink. They love to feast. They love to party. This is the life of high society. These are the power-wielders, the influencers, and they spend their days pursuing pleasure with a passion.

And because their focus is solely on doing what feels good, they have no passion and no interest in the things God cares about.

And so what is God going to do? Well, in short, God is going to drive them into exile. Instead of feasts, they’re going to go hungry. Instead of eating and drinking, death and Sheol is going to swallow themlike a ravenous monster.

And that leads to a third woe.

3. Callous Iniquity (5:18–19)

He writes in verse 18: “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: ‘Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!’” (5:18–19).

The picture here is of people who, like beasts of burden—like oxen—are dragging carts behind them filled with their sin. They’re dragging their iniquity around behind them.

And yet while they’re doing that, they’re mocking God by saying, “Let’s see some proof that God is who he really is! We’ll believe in him if he just gives us some kind of sign.”

These are practical atheists. They’re unashamed about their sin. They flaunt it. They drag it around. And they say God is to blame for why they don’t believe in him. He hasn’t been clear enough. It’s his fault!

Then in verse 20 we see another woe.

4. Perverted Morality (5:20)

He says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (5:20).

This is describing a society where there has been a complete inversion in morality. Everything has been turned upside down and backwards.

And the implication is that they don’t see or recognize that it’s happened. What a normal person would taste and call “sweet” these people say is “bitter.” And what a normal person would call “bitter” these people taste and say it tastes “sweet.”

To them, darkness looks like light and light looks like darkness. There’s a complete reversal or morality and perception.

It’s what Paul wrote about the Judaizers in Philippians 3:19—“their glory is in their shame.” They condemn righteousness and celebrate immorality.

They have perfected the ability to rationalize and justify immorality because they’re committed to uncontrolled passion and false human reasoning, which leads to the next woe in verse 21.

5. Haughty Arrogance (5:21)

Look at verse 21: “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!”

You want to know how a society gets to the point where such a monumental moral reversal takes place? It starts with reliance on human wisdom and human reasoning.

Remember what James wrote in James 3:13–15?

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”

All that to say, human wisdom—earthly wisdom—does not produce righteousness. It can’t produce righteousness. But instead, human wisdom and arrogant human pride produces sin and self-righteousness, which then gets called “righteousness” when it’s really wickedness.

This is the “depraved mind” that Paul talks about in Romans 1:28.

This leads us to a final woe in verse 22.

6. Corrupted Justice (5:22–23)

Isaiah writes, “Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bride, and deprive the innocent of his right!” (5:22–23).

This is pure sarcasm. He’s talking about people who have developed a certain reputation—that’s what the reference to “heroes” and “valiant men” means.

These are individuals with a public reputation, and judging by the language of the text, they’re most likely judges who are supposed to hear and judge cases with equity.

Now a good judge would be known for their wisdom in the law; in their ability to discern difficult cases and apply the law fairly and impartially.

But instead, what these judges are known for is that they hold their liquor well, and that they can be bought with the right price.

Application

Now, the rest of chapter 5 outlines the judgment that’s going to come upon Judah because of all this, and we don’t have time to go into it except to say that exile is coming at the hands of a foreign nation. That’s the gist of verses 24–30.

But let’s really quickly recap this social and spiritual portrait of Judah at the beginning of Isaiah’s prophetic ministry. This is a society marked by:

1. Rampant materialism

2. Uncontrolled pleasure

3. Callous iniquity

4. Perverted morality

5. Haughty arrogance

6. Corrupted justice

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I didn’t know where this list came from, I would assume you were talking about our own society.

I say all this to just point out the fact, if it’s not clear already, that this isn’t something unique to one particular country or one particular society.

This is a spiritual condition that happened to God’s chosen nation—his vineyard, which he meticulously cultivated and prepared. And so if it can happen to such a nation as Judah, then certainly no society is immune to it.

And like Isaiah, who’s about to be commissioned to engage this wicked society with God’s prophetic word, we’re commissioned to engage our wicked society—really a spiritual mirror of the society of Isaiah’s day—with the gospel message.

And so that brings us to chapter 6.

Isaiah’s Vision (6:1–4)

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.”

Uzziah had been on the throne for a long time—52 years. So his death was a significant historical event for the nation. Any transition of political power comes with uncertainty, but when one ruler has been on the throne for a half-century the uncertainty and anxiety is amplified.

And the reality is that Uzziah came to his end in a rather disappointing fashion. After all his developments and the stability he had built into the nation, he got arrogant and overstepped his role and tried to take on the role of a priest by offering incense in the temple.

And so God struck him with leprosy and he spent the rest of his life in isolation and his son Jotham co-reigned with him.

And so when he finally died, there’s this sense of, “What’s next? What’s going to happen to us now?”

And so what Isaiah sees is a vision of “the Lord”—adonai, which means “the sovereign one”…the one who’s really in charge—and he’s “sitting upon a throne.”

The description Isaiah gives of God is really remarkable:

“…sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke” (6:2–4).

This is a picture of God’s full majesty and full splendor on display. He’s sitting on a throne in power. His throne is high and exalted—meaning it’s elevated off the floor a considerable distance—he’s not on our level, he’s above our level.

He wears a royal robe which fills the entire temple. And this isn’t the temple in Jerusalem, by the way. This is the heavenly temple that Isaiah is seeing, of which the earthly temple is but a picture and model.

He’s attended by seraphim—“burning ones”—who cover their faces and their feet in abject humility and awe as they dart and fly around the heavenly throne room in ready eagerness to service God.

And as they do so, they call out antiphonally to one another declaring the absolute, unsurpassed, unparalleled otherness of God—that’s the meaning of the threefold repetition of “holy,” it’s a way in Hebrew to make an absolute superlative.

And as they declare God’s unmitigated holiness, the temple floor shakes and the entire room is filled with smoke.

What an awesome and terrifying sight for Isaiah to see. The apostle John, in John 12:41, notes that Isaiah was actually seeing the Lord Jesus in this vision in his glory.

Isaiah’s Response (6:5)

So Isaiah comes to only one conclusion and it’s the right conclusion—he’s about to die!

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts!’”

Confronted with the absolute holiness and majesty and perfection of Almighty God, Isaiah was suddenly acutely aware of his own impurity.

He has seen the Lord in his splendor. He stands—an unclean man representing an unclean nation—in the midst of the pure and sovereign Holy One of Israel.

And so he pronounces on himself a curse, expecting to be destroyed at that very moment. Sinfulness has come face to face with holiness.

Isaiah’s Preparation (6:6–7)

But then something amazing happens. Isaiah’s been swept into the throne room of God, he’s gazed upon his glory, he knows that his impurity condemns him.

But then in verse 7, “One of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

Sin is met with grace. Uncleanness is made pure. This “burning one” takes a coal—presumably from the altar of incense, although there’s some debate on that—and he touches Isaiah’s lips—the very organ he is going to use to proclaim God’s prophetic word—and he purifies him.

His guilt is removed. His sin is atoned for. Isaiah stood condemned, but by God’s grace he now stands purified and prepared for service.

Isaiah’s Calling (6:8)

And Isaiah knows this, which is why in verse 8, he says, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”

God has just called for a volunteer, and it’s perfectly clear to Isaiah that what he’s just experienced—his unintended entrance into the throne room of God, his awareness of his own impurity, and God’s gracious cleansing of his mouth—all of that was in preparation for this moment. This was God’s doing.

And so what can he do but answer the Lord’s call by saying, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah has been called and prepared.

Isaiah’s Mission (6:9)

And yet here’s where things get really interesting.

But all that is just leading up to what comes next…Isaiah’s mission. And it’s his mission that is the most important…and unexpected…part of this passage.

Verse 9, “And he said, ‘Go and say to this people’”—what people? The people we just read about in chapter 5. The people that make up this society where there’s rampant materialism, uncontrolled pleasure, callous iniquity, perverted morality, haughty arrogance, and corrupted justice—that people.

And what’s his mission? “Go and say to this people, ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’”

So God is sending Isaiah out to do the exact opposite of what you’d expect. His mission is to proclaim to a message designed to hardenpeople, not soften them.

Isaiah’s just volunteered for a job, and he’s finding out that no one is going to listen to him.

Now, if that surprises you, then you’re not the only one. I think Isaiah was just as surprised, and you can see it in what he asks next in verse 11: “Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’” How long am I supposed to preach this message to these people who you just said aren’t going to listen to me?

Verse 11: “And he said: ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and Yahweh removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.’” In other words, you’re going to keep on proclaiming the message I give to you until the whole nation gets taken away in exile.

God was going to do something to this people…this sinful, wicked people who had received so much grace and provision and protection, and yet had turned their back on God. And he was going to use Isaiah as his instrument to accomplish this plan.

And he did. Hezekiah was one of the last good kings of Judah. After Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh ascended the throne and it was under his reign that the nation’s fate was sealed. Exile was inevitable. And all the way up to that point, Isaiah was preaching his message. And no one was listening.

Another century and a half later, the Babylonians swept in and took away the whole nation into captivity where they remained for 70 years.

Yet even that wasn’t the extent of Isaiah’s role in all this. Over 680 years after Isaiah passed away, all four gospel writers, along with Luke and the apostle Paul all quote this very passage as the theological explanation for why Israel had become hardened towards God and rejected Jesus as Messiah, and why the gospel was going out to the Gentiles and the church had been born.

In other words, Israel’s hardening, which began under Isaiah’s ministry, was for a grand, cosmic, sovereign purpose to be revealed six centuries after Isaiah died. Israel’s hardening meant their rejection of Messiah. That meant Messiah’s crucifixion. That meant redemption had been accomplished. And even after Messiah was raised from the dead, Israel still continued to reject their Messiah. And that meant salvation had opened up to the Gentiles, which is why you and I are sitting here right now listening to God’s Word being preached—because of a mission given to Isaiah to proclaim a message that would harden Israel toward God.

Now, imagine, though, if Isaiah had given up? Imagine if he said, “I keep preaching this message and nobody’s listening. Forget this! I’m going home!”

Conclusion

And Isaiah was told what to expect. He knew people wouldn’t listen. That’s not the case for us. When we preach the gospel we have no idea what’s going on in people’s hearts.

We have no idea whether the seed of the gospel is landing in fertile soil or whether it’s landing in soil that’s hard, where the birds are going to snatch it away or thorns are going to choke it out, or the sun is going to scorch it.

That’s the great challenge to gospel ministry, whether it’s overseas in a foreign land or just down the road…not knowing what’s going on…of looking at results and thinking that the Lord’s not in this…that the Lord must not be blessing my ministry and my preaching because I don’t see anything going on.

Remember Matthew 7:14…the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are…few…not many.”

And yet God has his people. God is working. And he told that to Isaiah. Chapter 6 ends with this little glimmer or encouraging light: “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or like an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

What does that mean? God has his remnant. He will always have his remnant. And despite the judgment to come upon this nation, made inevitable by Isaiah’s ministry, a core group of believers will be preserved.

They are the few who find the narrow way. Who enter through the narrow gate. They are the ones who, in the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:24, are “called,” and who hear the word of the cross and recognize in it the power of God and the wisdom of God.

It's God who opens hearts and closes hearts. It’s God who opens eyes and closes eyes. It’s God alone who says, “Those who have ears let them hear,” and then opens people’s ears to hear or keeps them closed so they won’t.

And all we really have to do is preach the gospel faithfully, and let the Lord do what he will do in people’s hearts.

How do long-term missionaries do it? How do they stick it out year after year, decade after decade, despite the setbacks and the opposition and the difficulties? It’s having this perspective…

I’ll close with this:

1 Corinthians 4:1–6 “1 Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. 5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s praise will come to him from God. 6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond what is written, so that no one of you will become puffed up on behalf of one against the other.”