The Bible Binge: The Gospel for Hurt Heads and Sick Hearts (Isaiah 1:2-6)

The Calm before the Storm

The calm before the storm. We’ve all experienced that. The clouds that get really dark. And we stand in the yard. The birds and animals are silent. The trees are silent. No breeze. It is just still. But the black clouds that you can see forming tell you something different. The reason the birds have stopped and the animals are no where to be seen is because they sense what you can see. And probably what you’ve learned from your weather app on your phone. The stillness does not mean there is peace and calm. The silence does not mean rest. The stillness will not last. The storm is coming. And it’s going to be bad.

That’s how Isaiah’s story begins. And the book of Isaiah is our Bible Binge over the next couple of weeks. I hope you are continuing to read with us through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and as we head into the new school season, the fall season.. there’s no better book to set us up for the rest of the year than Isaiah. Especially as we head into another wild political season.

Isaiah’s ministry begins with this:

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

In the year that King Uzziah died. You couldn’t write a better line for the beginning of your ministry. We don’t know what Isaiah was doing when he is summoned by the Lord for the work of a prophet. What we do know is that he was probably in his early 20s and probably was either part of the royal family or part of a prestigious family with close ties to the royal court. Isaiah would not have been an unknown. Throughout the book, he is coming and going in and out of the king’s affairs.. and he has access to all the political intrigue.

What we do know from other books in the Bible, that the time leading up to King Uzziah’s death was one of peace and prosperity for Judah and Jerusalem, and it had been for quite some time. The economy was good. The military was successful. There was political stability. Things were good with the royal family. The throne really had no threats. Foreign affairs had been good. But the storm clouds are gathering. On the world stage, Assyria is starting to gobble up nations. Babylon is growing. Syria and Egypt are restless. They’re all forming alliances, most of them as a stopgap on Assyria’s ambitions. And then, Uzziah dies. Up to this point Israel had mostly been spared of all the drama. But that ends. And it’s about to be chaos. And into this moment, Isaiah is thrust into the spotlight as Israel’s primary prophet. And he becomes the national spokesman for the true King of Israel, God himself.

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The year that King Uzziah dies, there is a significant shift in the entire drama of redemptive history. And in some respects, the world has never been the same. It’s all downhill from here for the nation of Israel.. and it really has never recovered. Isaiah isn’t the first national prophet, but he’s the first to begin writing it all down. This first chapter is a summary of the entire book.

God’s lawsuit

And here’s Isaiah’s opening words to the new King, King Ahaz, and the nation:

Isaiah 1:2 “Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the Lord has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.”

This is a shocker. I’m guessing no one saw this coming. This is the opening volley of a lawsuit. Heaven and earth are the jury, and the God of Israel files the indictment against Israel, his people: they have rebelled against me.

You see, this peace and prosperity didn’t tell the whole story. It may have looked great to any outside observer. But rest and the peace enjoyed by the king and his country. It’s like putting a great paint job and new rims and all the chrome trimmings on a car that is guaranteed to break down on the middle of the causeway to the island. It all looks good, but the engine is garbage. And the engine here is Israel’s relationship with God.

The nation was wealthy, but as you read Isaiah you realize there’s a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. And those that have the wealth aren’t exactly providing relief for the poor, but the opposite: the exploitation and oppression of those who didn’t have much to begin with.

This is how Isaiah describes it:

Isaiah 1:4–5 Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him. Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick.

That’s what’s under the hood of the car… it may be all bright and shiny on the outside, but on the inside? The whole head is hurt. The whole heart is sick. The whole thing is corrupted.

And now? Judgment is coming. Isaiah lays it out in the first 39 chapters of this book. Israel has been living in unbelief and disobedience for decades. Centuries, even. And time has run out on God’s patience. In fact, God hasn’t been listening much lately. Here’s what else is in the indictment:

Isaiah 1:11–14 What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. Stop bringing useless offerings. and the calling of solemn assemblies— I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them.”

Yikes. He’s basically saying, stop with the worship services. I’m not interested any more. I’m not interested in hearing your praise and worship. I can’t take it any more. This is God, the jilted spouse, calling the bluff on the spouse who has been sleeping around and thinks they’re getting away with it. Sure, they continue to sacrifice in the temple.. sometimes. But it’s just a charade. Their hearts have abandoned God.. they have been pursuing the gods and practices and lifestyles of all the nations that are now threatening to do them harm.

And the harm is coming. There’s going to be chaos. This time around, God’s not going to stop it. In fact, Assyria and eventually Babylon are going to be His instruments of judgment on his people. And over the course of the book, Assyria destroys Samaria and lays waste to the 10 northern tribes of Israel. And they march all the way up to Jerusalem, lay siege to the city, and at the last second, God listens to Judah’s King Hezekiah, and the Assyrian threat is alleviated.. for a few more decades.

What began with Israel crossing the Jordan and miraculously conquering Jericho, hundreds of years before, is now all coming to an end. And it’s Isaiah’s job to tell the king and Israel about what’s coming. Isaiah’s job is thankless. When God tells Isaiah he’s going to be the one who is the spokesman, God also adds this: Just so you know. I know how this turns out. They aren’t going to listen to you. How would you like THAT job?

Here’s the beauty of it. God doesn’t just show Isaiah all the bad stuff.

Isaiah: The Gospel for the Hurt and Sick

There is a famous church building in the city of Boston. In the late 1800s, when Trinity church rebuilt their church building after a fire, they hired a sculpture to carve out the biblical authors and famous churchmen. On the front of the building are six men. The four in the middle are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The one on the end is Paul. On the far left is Isaiah. The book of Isaiah is the gospel of the Old Testament. Outside of Psalms, no book in the Old Testament is quoted more in the New Testament than Isaiah. At least 66 quotes from Isaiah are found in the New Testament, as well as many allusions. Isaiah is a big, big deal. And it’s all in the hope that Isaiah provides Israel, even as they are looking at their doom.

There are three quick things that keep Isaiah going in the midst of all the chaos. First, he’s seen the King. Remember his original commission?

Isaiah 6:1 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.”

If there’s anything that gives Isaiah confidence in the chaos, it’s that he knows that Assyria and Babylon don’t have the last say. They are bringing judgment, but they’re not the ones who are king of all things. They do not control world history.

Second, the judgment doesn’t have the final say. There’s is salvation for Israel. Forgiveness for Israel. If we keep reading in chapter 1, this is also part of the opening indictment:

Isaiah 1:18–2:3 “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool...In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established...All nations will stream to it, and many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.’”

Israel’s sins will be forgiven. There will be again true worship wherever God’s people meet. And this salvation and this worship will be for the whole world. Yes, there will be judgment, but there will be a salvation unlike Israel has ever seen.

There will be a Savior

And how is that salvation going to come about?

Early in the indictment, Isaiah says this:

Why do you want more beatings? The whole head is bruised, and the whole heart is sick.

Israel is totally corrupt. She is going to get judgment. She’s promised forgiveness. But that forgiveness is going to come from the One who is high and lifted up.. the King… is going to suffer. And listen to what his suffering looks like?

Isaiah 53:4–5 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses… beaten down by God...But he was bruised because of our rebellion. We are healed by his wounds.

Your beatings? He’s going to be beaten for you. Your whole head is bruised? He’s going to be bruised for you. Your whole heart is sick? He’s going to bear your sicknesses… your sin. There is a direct link between what ails Israel and what the Suffering Messiah will do to save Israel. That’s the gospel of Isaiah. That gives Israel and Isaiah hope in the middle of all of their chaos because of sin.

This entire chapter is the story of our salvation. The indictment has come down. We are guilty. We are totally corrupt with sin. We deserve judgment. But in the middle of all the chaos, there is hope. Though our sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow. That kind of forgiveness comes when the King leaves his throne and descends into our chaos to be bruised, beaten, and crushed for our sin. He takes our sickness. And he makes us whole. The whole head and heart have been healed from sin. We’ve been given new life from a new world in a new kingdom that will never go away.

Let’s pray.

The Table

This is Isaiah 1 right here. The story of Israel. Our story. There is judgment. There is forgiveness. There is a new world given to us. Jesus’ body and Jesus’ blood.. this is Jesus bruised and crushed… this is our healing. This is our hope.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.