What Could Be
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Isaiah has had some hard words for Israel
What was supposed to be holy and helping God fix the world had become some of the worst in the world
The faithful wife became a whore, the silver dross, the wine diluted
We often think of these first 39 chapters of Isaiah as messages of judgment while all the hope is in 40-66
We saw in chapter 1 that judgment is coming, but for the purpose of restoration
The fire isn’t going to destroy the silver but purify it
God is going to make Israel everything that it should be
Chapter 2 continues this idea but brings it to a worldwide scale
Israel was never supposed to be holy or righteous for it’s own sake
Their godly life was to be a light that guided the other nations to the one true God
Isaiah 2:1-4:6 we have a picture of that hope when the nations come streaming into God’s kingdom
But there are things that prevent God’s people from reaching that goal
Trusting in our own power
Trusting in different kingdoms
Chapter 4 then is how our hope is realized
The roadmap for our next two sermons
See the hope God has for us
Look at the obstacles and distractions on the way to that hope
Finally understand how God makes that hope real
The Hope
The Hope
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 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. 4 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. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah is telling us about something that will happen in the latter days. God has a goal in mind that he’s working towards which will be accomplished in these “later days”
God’s mountain will be lifted high above every other mountain (other translations first in rank, preeminent)
Mountains were sources of security, provided, and touched the divine
God’s mountain is going to put all other mountains to shame
God’s mountain has a magnetic pull to it
People will recognize the mountain as better than any other and be drawn to it
I want to learn about his way of life because it provides the most, offers the most security, and is the only one worth calling divine
The law will go out from Zion by the ones who first came to it
God draws people to himself and then sends you out to be his ambassador to fix a broken world
The gospel is not about learning about God and hanging around his mountain - it’s about working with God in bringing people to his mountain so that everyone will learn his ways
The result is a worldwide peace
Think of all we could do with the $2.4 trillion spent on war and weapons every year
We’ll be turning weapons into farming tools - going back to the garden when everything was good
And it ends with an invitation - Walk in the light!
This is how the word of the Lord goes out - by our example
“You may be the only bible some people ever read.”
Whitmore - First and Last Time
We show people that God’s way of life is great!
Verse 5 is an implication that Israel isn’t walking in the light
The nations are being drawn to God and participating in his mission. Where’s Israel?
The rest of chapters 2-3 show us what prevents God’s people from being what we ought to be
The Obstacles
The Obstacles
6 For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
Israel is full of problems!
They trust in the world’s wisdom
They trust in their own power
They’re filled with the values of the world
All of these represent trust in the self
Fortune tellers tried to force gods to do their will
Chariots were tanks on the ancient battlefield
Silver and gold could hire allies or buy off enemies
Idols were their own work reflecting what they loved about themselves. If I were a god this is what I’d be like!
Summed up in Isaiah 2:22
22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Connect
Connect
This is the fundamental problem with humanity. We want our own utopia and on our terms
Adam and Eve were already made in God’s image but wanted to be like him on their own terms
Abraham and Sarah were promised a son by God - but they decided to try it through Hagar
Jesus was rejected because so many people wanted to establish their version of the kingdom of God in their way
Through their own righteousness
Through their power and violence
People are doing the same thing today
It’s why we won’t ever see world peace - too many competing worldviews
Nations are at war with each other over…
Land - Russia’s war with Ukraine
Economics - Communist conflicts
Religion - Crusades
Race - Civil War and Rwandan Genocide
So much of the world was enchanted with progress and human endeavors until two World Wars left 100 million people dead
Even people who want God’s utopia want it on their terms
It’s why we have so many different Christian religions
We all want to go to heaven, but we have some radically different ideas of what heaven on earth look like
Judgment
Judgment
God has raised his mountain high and is bringing all the man made mountains low
11 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 that day. 12 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;
19 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. 20 In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, 21 to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
Whatever idea of ‘good’ we dream up of on our own will be put to shame by God
He won’t just raise up his mountain, he’s bringing everything else down
Rather than lifting themselves up everyone who opposes God will be trying to hide in the caves underground
Nothing can compare with the hope that God is offering
All attempts to make heaven on earth have failed
All attempts to find value away from God will fail
You lose your money when you die
You lose all of your family when you die
You lose your legacy when all of them die
22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
And all of us are just a single breath away from that death
Application
Application
Stop filling yourself with things from east!
Stop trying to take control
