Isaiah 42:18-25

INTRODUCTION

Isaiah 42:18–25 NASB95

18 Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. 19 Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears. 21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious. 22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled; All of them are trapped in caves, Or are hidden away in prisons; They have become a prey with none to deliver them, And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter? 24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose law they did not obey? 25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] In Isaiah 42:18-43:21, God, the only Savior, reclaims His exiled people for His glory.

[CIT] Isaiah 42:18-25 tells us why God’s people were exiled to Babylon.

At the beginning of ch. 42, the Lord spoke of His chosen servant.

Isaiah 42:1–4 NASB95

1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. 3 “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

That passage ultimately refers to Jesus, the true Israel, the true servant of the Lord.

Out of Egypt God called His Son.

In the wilderness of temptation, He proved faithful.

He did not live on bread alone but by every word that came from the mouth of God (Mt. 4:4).

He did not put the Lord His God to the test (Mt. 4:7).

He worshipped the Lord His God and served Him only (Mt. 4:10).

And in HIs public ministry, Jesus, the true Israel and servant of the Lord, took possession of the Promised Land driving out the giants of Satan, sin, suffering, and death.

But the servant in 42:18-25 is not Jesus; it is the Israel of old—the unfaithful, rebellious Israel.

[INTER] No one can be perfectly faithful as Jesus was; that’s why we trust in Him for salvation; but it’s still worth asking what kind of servant we’d like to be?

Do we want to be the true servant striving for faithfulness in the way of Jesus?

Or do we want to be the rebellious servant following sin in the way of Old Testament Israel?

[ILLUS] I don’t know if you’ve ever seen television news bloopers that feature anchors and reporters struggling to pronounce someone’s name or falling down as they move from the anchor desk to the weather station. Among my favorite news bloopers are those when a criminal is on the loose and the police sketch looks like the anchor reporting the story.

That happened once on Good Morning America when a sketch of a wanted criminal was shown next to the reporter covering the story in the field and the anchor facilitating the story in the studio.

Although neither man was actually the suspect, the resemblance was close enough to make viewers do a double-take.

[APP] Perhaps the description of Israel in Isaiah 42:18-25 will be close enough to us to make us do a double-take, although it will be no laughing matter.

[PROP] If we see ourselves in this sketch of Israel’s rebellion, let us be quick to repent and return to that narrow way of Jesus.

[TS] Let’s consider this passage in two PARTS: DISABILITY & DISCIPLINE.

MAJOR IDEAS

Part #1: Disability (Isa. 42:18-20)

Isaiah 42:18–20 NASB95

18 Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. 19 Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.

[EXP] Israel was blind and deaf to the words and ways of God. God called them to hear and to see, but they were unwilling and unable.

Jesus once went to the pool at Bethesda, which was surrounded by five porticos. In them lay a multitude of the sick, blind, lame, and withered.

Jesus focused on one man who had been ill for 38 years. Jesus asked him, “Do you wish to get well?”

Jesus’ question was not about ability but about willingness.

The man answered, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me,” (Jn. 5:7).

In other words, this man told Jesus that he was willing but no able.

Jesus said, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk,” (Jn. 5:8).

The man was willing, and Jesus was able.

The same thing would’ve been true for God’s rebellious people.

If they had been willing to hear and see God’s words and ways, then God would’ve made it possible, but as it was they were willfully blind and deaf and so unable to hear and see the words and ways of God.

This is particularly tragic because Israel was supposed to be the Lords’ servant, the Lord’s messenger, the Lord’s dedicated one.

Israel was to be the nation at peace with God who showed the other nations how to have peace with God.

It was to be God’s nation revealing to the rest of the world the words and ways of God.

But instead of being a servant, Israel had been a rebel.

Instead of a messenger, Israel had been a barrier.

Instead of being a dedicated one, Israel had abandoned the Lord.

Israel’s problem was a lack of spiritual comprehension.

Seeing, they didn’t perceive.

Hearing, they didn’t understand.

[ILLUS] Jim is a completely fictional person that I’ve made up for this sermon, but perhaps you’ve met a Jim or two during your time in church.

Jim had parents that went to church every Sunday.

In fact, Jim doesn’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t in church.

He was always active in Sunday School and helped out around the church with whatever was needed.

Jim didn’t get much out the sermons, but he could always pass the time by counting how many times the pastor said “umm” in the sermon.

If that didn’t work, he could always see just how small he could make his gum wrapper by folding it as many times as possible.

And when the service was over, that was Jim’s favorite part. He loved to stand around talking with all the people that he had always gone to church with.

The conversations were rarely spiritual, and when they did turn that way, Jim would subtly ease out of the conversation and find one more entertaining.

Jim loved church, that it, until the new preacher came along.

One afternoon, the new preacher knocked on Jim’s door and said that he was just getting to know the different members of his congregation.

At first, Jim was glad the preacher dropped; he usually loved drinking coffee with church people.

But things took a turn when the preacher tried to get spiritual.

“Jim, tell me how you understand what it is that Jesus did for us in His death and resurrection?”

Jim chuckled and said, “I think its more important for you to understand that, preacher.”

The new preacher didn’t let up. “Yes, I agree it’s important that I understand it, but I want to be sure that all the people under my care understand it as well; so what do you think? What does it mean that Jesus came to live, die, and rise again?”

Jim wished he could remember some of those sermons he had heard through the years, but he wasn’t listening then and couldn’t remember them now.

“I’m sorry, preacher, I just remembered an appointment I’ve got to get to. I’ll have to see you on Sunday.”

[APP] There are many “Jims” in the church today, many who see the power of God in answered prayer and hear the words of God in the Gospel proclaimed, but they aren’t really paying attention.

Seeing, they do not perceive.

Hearing, they do not understand.

Does that describe us?

Are we willfully deaf and blind to the words and ways of God?

Let us not assume that just because we sit in church that it’s impossible for us to be spiritually blind and deaf.

It is possible for us to be ever seeing but never perceiving, to be ever hearing but never understanding.

Rather than assuming that we hear and see, let us with humility pray the words of that familiar hymn...

“Open my eyes that I may see, Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me...”

“Open my ears that I may hear, Voices of truth Thou sendest clear...”

“Open my eyes... “Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!”

[TS]…

Part #2: Discipline (Isa. 42:21-25)

Isaiah 42:21–25 NASB95

21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious. 22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled; All of them are trapped in caves, Or are hidden away in prisons; They have become a prey with none to deliver them, And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter? 24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose law they did not obey? 25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

[EXP] Israel’s problem wasn’t missed opportunity or missed communication.

For His glory, the Lord revealed His Law to His people so that they may be righteous as He is righteous.

He magnified His Law in the ears of His people, but they refused to hear.

He glorified His Law in the eyes of His people, but they refused to see.

As a result of their rebellion against God, they were left…

...plundered and looted...

...trapped and hidden...

...without rescue and without restoration.

Verse 23 asks…

Isaiah 42:23 NASB95

23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter?

The ‘this’ in v. 23a refers to Israel’s rebellion, which God further explains in vv. 24-25.

In v. 24, God says that the looting and plundering of Israel came from Him because Israel sinned against Him.

They would not walk in His ways...

They would not abide by his words...

So they were discipline by their God.

In v. 25, God said He poured out on them the heat of His anger, the might of His battle, but their obstinance was strong—so strong that, even when God discipline them, they still didn’t take the Lord’s displeasure on account of their sin to heart.

[ILLUS] I once knew a young man who was in county jail for breaking into a car and stealing a radio.

When I talked to this young man, he said, “I wouldn’t be here except the guy I took the radio from pressed charges.”

The young man said that the radio was his to begin with; that the other guys had stolen it from him, and he wasn’t just stealing it back.

But as he sat in the county lockup, this young man was not thinking about turning over a new leaf; he was thinking about getting even with the guy that pressed charges.

In fact, as we continued to talk over the next few weeks, this young man blamed God, his parents, his friends, and anyone else he could think of rather than taking responsibility for his actions—actions that led him to jail.

[APP] Israel was a lot like that. There were times when Israel blamed God, blamed the other nations, blamed previous generations, and blamed anyone but themselves for the hardships they were facing.

The truth is they only had themselves to blame.

Because they had rebelled, they were being disciplined.

Hebrews 12 says that God calls us sons and daughters. It also encourages to not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. His discipline isn’t intended to make us weary; it is a sign of His love for us, a sign of His acceptance of us.

Hebrews 12:11 says…

Hebrews 12:11 NASB95

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Israel refused to be trained by it.

If we are in Christ Jesus, we do not refuse to be trained by it.

Having received the grace of God in Jesus Christ, we gratefully respond to the Lord’s discipline with renewed obedience.

If the Lord is disciplining us, let us be quick to get back on the narrow way of Jesus.

[TS]…

CONCLUSION

[PLAYER]

[RESPONSE]

Precious Lord, Take My Hand - 450