Isaiah Chapters 2-4 - Isaiah (Part 2)

1.Rebellion hides behind performative worship (Isaiah 1:11-15). performative: 2. Action, speech, behaviour, etc.: done or expressed for the sake of appearance, especially to impress others or to improve one's own image (typically with the implication of insincere intent or super cial impact). Oxford English Dictionary fi bolding mine; https://www.oed.com/dictionary/performative_adj?tl=true. accessed 22 Jan 2026 Performative worshipper’s view Isaiah 1:11–15 (ESV) ces . . . enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; . . . delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12“. . . you come to appear before me 13Bring . . . offerings; incense . . . New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— . . . and solemn assembly. 14Your new moons and your appointed feasts . . . 15 . . . you spread out your hands, . . . you make many prayers fi 11“. . .the multitude of your sacri The Performative Worshipper After Worship Isaiah 1:15d–17 (ESV) Your hands are full of 16 blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from 17 before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. The Performative Worshipper After Worship Isaiah 1:23 (ESV) Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. 2. God pukes on performative worship. 2. God pukes on performative worship. ff fi Isaiah 1:11 (ESV) “What to me is the multitude of your sacri ces? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt o erings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 2. God pukes on performative worship. Isaiah 1:12 (ESV) “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 2. God pukes on performative worship. ff Isaiah 1:13 (ESV) Bring no more vain o erings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 2. God pukes on performative worship. Isaiah 1:14 (ESV) Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 2. God pukes on performative worship. Isaiah 1:15 (ESV) When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 3. Repenting rebels engage in instructive worship (2:1-5). 3. Repenting rebels engage in instructive worship (2:1-5). Isaiah 2:3 (ESV) and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3. Repenting rebels engage in instructive worship (2:1-5). Isaiah 2:5 (ESV) O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. Instructive worship ultimately results in peace. Isaiah 2:4 (ESV) He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. fi 4. God rejects His rebellious children for lling their lives with superstition, materialism, and idolatry (2:6-8). Isaiah 2:6a (ESV) For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob . . . Rebels ll their lives with superstition. fi Isaiah 2:6 (ESV) For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortunetellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Rebels ll their lives with materialism. fi fi fi Isaiah 2:7 (ESV) Their land is lled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is lled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Rebels ll their lives with idolatry. fi fi fi Isaiah 2:8 (ESV) Their land is lled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own ngers have made. 5. Because God seeks their repentance, God humbles the rebellious by abasing the sources of their pride and terrifying them with His presence (2:9-22). 5. Because God seeks their repentance, God humbles the rebellious by abasing the sources of their pride and terrifying them with His presence (2:9-22). Isaiah 2:9 (ESV) So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them! A. God cuts down/brings low/humbles sources and expressions of human pride (2:11-17). fi Isaiah 2:11–17 (ESV) The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will 12 be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; 13against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; 14against all the lofty mountains, 15 and against all the uplifted hills; against every high tower, and against every forti ed wall; 16against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. 17And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. B. God terri es rebels with the reality of His splendour and Person (2:10, 19, 21). fi ff Isaiah 2:10 (ESV) Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty. Isaiah 2:19 (ESV) And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when He rises to terrify the earth. Isaiah 2:21 (ESV) to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cli s, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when He rises to terrify the earth. Caveat: God comforts the repentant. Isaiah 3:10–11 (ESV) Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the 11 fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. Caveat: God comforts the repentant. Isaiah 40:1–2 (ESV) Comfort, comfort my people, says 2 your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. fl Isaiah 40:11 (ESV) He will tend his ock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Goals of God’s terror campaign: •remove false alternatives •remove false narratives •remove all competitors •show that He is uniquely worthy of worship and exaltation (2:11c) Isaiah 2:11, 17 (ESV) The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in 17 that day. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:18 (ESV) And the idols shall utterly pass away. D. Pride is the root of rebellion. Too high a view of mankind/humans is the root of pride. (2:22) Isaiah 2:22 (ESV) Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? (lit. “why should he be esteemed?”) 6. Because God seeks repentance of their elevated view of humanity, God removes good male leadership and upends the social order. (3:1-4:1). fi A. God removes capable male leadership (3:1-3). Isaiah 3:1–3 (ESV) For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of 2 water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and 3 the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. B. God replaces good male leadership with oppressive juvenile males (3:4-5, 12a), unwilling/incapable male leadership (3:6-7), unsuitable female leadership (3:12), and oppressive elders and princes (3:14-15). Isaiah 3:4 (ESV) And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. Isaiah 3:7c (ESV) “you shall not make me leader of the people.” Isaiah 3:12 (ESV) My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. B. God replaces good male leadership with oppressive elders and princes (3:14-15). Isaiah 3:14–15 (ESV) The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil 15 of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of hosts. C. God humbles the proud women (3:16-17) by replacing beauty accessories with slave accessories (3:18-4:1) and by replacing social status with social shame (4:1). Isaiah 3:16–18 (ESV) The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty . . .17therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts. 18In that day the Lord will take away the nery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; fi Isaiah 3:24 (ESV) Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. C. God humbles the proud women (3:16-17) by replacing beauty accessories with slave accessories (3:18-4:1) and by replacing social status with social shame (4:1). Isaiah 4:1 (ESV) And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.” 7. God incentivises repentance with promises of future blessing (4:2-6). •agricultural fruitfulness (4:2) •a holy status (4:3a) •recorded in the book of life (4:3b) •moral cleansing (4:4) •a positive experience of God’s glory (4:5) •God’s protective presence (4:6)