A Spiritual Diagnosis - Isaiah 2:1-4:6 (2)

God created the world purposefully. God did not create the world, and then us and then sit back and say to Himself, “This should be interesting. Let’s see where this goes.” He has a goal in mind. We are told the plan of redemption was in place before we were even created. The whole purpose of creation was to reveal His character to His creation so they might find joy and satisfaction in Him.

In Isaiah 2 we see the indictment against Israel taking shape. Before the indictment, the Lord gives us a glimpse of where He is taking Hs creation. In some respects, it is a picture of “what might have been.” It is also a picture of what someday, through the grace and mercy of God we may see again.

Before we look at chapter 2 we need to see how it is related to chapter 3 and 4. In prophecy and poetry in the Bible we often see what is called a chiastic structure. It is a literary technique used to drive home a point. For example, you weave two themes together through repetition (a simplistic example):

· Food is Tasty

· I’m a hungry boy

· Food is tasty

We see this structure in chapters 2 -4. We read about the plan of God, the rebellion of Israel, the rebellion of Israel, the plan of God.

God’s Ultimate Plan and Vision (2:1-4; 4:2-6) (see also Micah 4:1-3)

2 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house

will be the highest of all—

the most important place on earth.

It will be raised above the other hills,

and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

3 People from many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of Jacob’s God.

There he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;

his word will go out from Jerusalem.

4 The Lord will mediate between nations

and will settle international disputes.

They will hammer their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer fight against nation,

nor train for war anymore.

Israel is on a hilltop but it wasn’t the highest mountain in the area. Altars to various idols were erected on the highest mountains. God says, there will be a day when the temple of the Lord will reign over all the other places of worship. People from everywhere will recognize the Lord as God and come to Him. They will be eager to learn from Him and walk in His paths. The Lord will bring peace to the nations and their weaponry will turn into tools for useful labor.

In chapter 4:2-6 we see a similar picture. The people in Jerusalem will be called holy because the forgiveness of God will have washed over them. He will be their shelter. He will live in their midst.

As believers, we need the reminder that God has a plan that He will bring to pass. It is easy to get discouraged when we look at the world around us. However, our task is to keep focused on the end goal.

The Barriers to God’s Plan (2:6-22; 3:1-4:1)

In verse 6 we see some of the most frightening words you can read, “The Lord has rejected his people…” The sin of the people had reached the point where God said, “Enough!” It was time to discipline the nation of Israel and deliver them over to their enemies.

Is this what is happening today? Is God turning away from America? I think this is likely what is happening. Many of the reasons for the withdrawal of the Lord from us are the same as listed here.

Divination or Idolatry

For the Lord has rejected his people,

the descendants of Jacob,

because they have filled their land with practices from the East

and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do.

They have made alliances with pagans. (2:6)

God’s people were becoming indistinguishable from the pagans around them. They were no longer distinct or holy. The people were dabbling in the occult and were incorporating practices from other religions into their worship of the true God. When you mix that with occult practices (like examining tea leaves, having seances, reciting “magic words,” decoding signs, relying on visions etc.) we are insulting God and dabbling with evil spiritual forces. In fact, anytime we give something or someone the position of prominence and worship that should be given to the Lord, we are guilty of straying from God to worship idols. Anytime we stray from or add to the Word of God we are beginning to dabble in places we shouldn’t be. This is idolatry (or the worship of a false God). This charge will be leveled again and again as we go through Isaiah.

Idolatry is subtle. Anything can become an idol if we allow it to occupy first place in our lives. It can be work, a hobby, possessions, pleasures, educational degrees, or even entertainment. We are drifting toward idolatry anytime we bring non-Christian thinking into the church. We’ll explore idolatry much further in weeks to come.

Materialism

The second reason for judgment is the materialism of the nation.

7 Israel is full of silver and gold;

there is no end to its treasures.

Their land is full of warhorses;

there is no end to its chariots.

8 Their land is full of idols;

the people worship things they have made

with their own hands.

9 So now they will be humbled,

and all will be brought low—

do not forgive them. (Isaiah 2:9)

The people had begun to measure themselves and draw their security from the stuff they possessed, the money they had, the awards they have won, the position they hold. They saw their abundance as a sign of God’s blessing, but they made gaining stuff (or living the American dream) their driving force. It was another form of idolatry. Even their military might became stumbling block because it kept them from depending on the Lord.

There is an emphasis among some (christian?) teachers on how God wants us to have riches and be prosperous in the world. These teachers are leading us astray. They are catering to our worldly passions. Jesus told us you cannot serve God and money. He says we will hate one and love the other. Materialism gives us a false sense of security and we loosen our grip on the Lord.

In 1 John we read this sobering warning,

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

Spiritual Arrogance

Walking right beside their materialism was arrogance or pride. Look at verse 11,

11 Human pride will be brought down,

and human arrogance will be humbled.

Only the Lord will be exalted

on that day of judgment.

12 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

has a day of reckoning.

He will punish the proud and mighty

and bring down everything that is exalted. (2:11-12)

17 Human pride will be humbled,

and human arrogance will be brought down.

Only the Lord will be exalted

on that day of judgment. (v. 17)

Pride comes from an inflated view of self. In essence, we replace God as the one who defines right and wrong. We think we know better than He does. Later in chapter 3 Isaiah says,

9 The very look on their faces gives them away.

They display their sin like the people of Sodom

and don’t even try to hide it.

They are doomed!

They have brought destruction upon themselves. (3:9)

They were even proud of their sin! In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul rebuked the church in Corinth for tolerating an incestuous relationship in the church. Not only did they tolerate it, they were proud of their open-mindedness! They felt their opinion was superior to that of the Lord’s. They were so open-minded that they had lost their minds!

We don’t have to look very far to see this in many of the moral issues of our day. When the church pushes aside Biblical teaching to embrace abortion, gay marriage, gender confusion, and all forms of sexual immorality, we reveal a godless arrogance. We are, in essence, editing the Word of God.

But some arrogance is subtle. We can sound spiritual even in our arrogance. Mike Donehey from Tenth Avenue North wrote an honest book titled “Finding God’s Life for My Will.” In the book Mike shares about praying for God to use Tenth Avenue for His glory and honor.

Even though I was ostensibly asking Him to use my band, what I was really asking was for Him to use me more than the other bands. It wasn’t a prayer of offering myself to His service. It was a prayer of asking that my service ascribe worth to me. I might have been saying, “Use us for Your glory!” But what I really meant was “Use us for our glory.” It was a subtle but subversive distinction. (Donehey p. 123)

When we ask God to work through and use the Union Church, are we asking Him to use the church in His way, for His glory, or are we really saying, “Lord, use us so we will grow and others will see what a good church we have?” One prayer is submissive and seeks the heart of God. The other prayer is one of pride and arrogance.

We are told God will humble those who are arrogant. If we are wise, we will pursue humility on our own. The problem is, we don’t really understand the concept of humility. We think it is putting oneself down and saying we are not very good at things (even though we believe we are very good at those things.) This is not humility. It is pride in costume!

We become humble by keeping our eyes on God rather than the mirror in front of us. When we see God in His perfection, we can’t help but feel small in comparison to Him. When we see the vastness of His creative power, we understand what a small role we play in His universe. When we reflect on His love for us, we are stunned and quiet; overwhelmed and humbled.

C.S. Lewis has been quoted extensively about humility, but the quote is worth repeating,

If we were to meet a truly humble person, Lewis says, we would never come away from meeting them thinking they were humble. They would not be always telling us they were a nobody (because a person who keeps saying they are a nobody is actually a self-obsessed person). The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less. Gospel-humility is not needing to think about myself. Not needing to connect things with myself. It is an end to thoughts such as, ‘I’m in this room with these people, does that make me look good? Do I want to be here?’ True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. (Mere Christianity)

The Consequences 2:10-21

In the indictment against Israel we have the charges of divination, idolatry, materialism and arrogance. The Lord responds to these charges,

12 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

has a day of reckoning.

He will punish the proud and mighty

and bring down everything that is exalted. (2:12)

In 586 BC the Babylonian army laid siege to the city, destroyed the temple, and took the leading men of Israel to Babylon with them. They were overcome because of their own sinfulness.

As you read through the Bible you know that there is another judgment coming. Our Lord warned us of a coming day of wrath. It will be a day when evil is resoundingly defeated, all of creation will acknowledge the Lord is God, and those who have not trusted Christ will be sent to eternal punishment. The message is clear: you cannot continue to ignore or insult God and not face severe consequences. It is a message we would do well to heed.

Conclusions

Let’s draw some conclusions. First God has a plan, and it will be fulfilled. This world we live in is not meaningless. God is leading us to His end. The things that don’t make any sense in this world will make perfect sense when God pulls back the curtain of His will in Heaven. In the frustrations and discouragement of life we must not lost sight of where we are headed. We will find strength as we remember, “there is coming a day when this will all make sense.”

Second, We must not make the mistake of thinking justice delayed means God is OK with our sin. A day of judgment is coming. Wrongs will be made right. Sin will be addressed. Those who do not turn from their sin and cling to Christ will wish they had done so. God will judge wickedness. No one (no matter how clever they are) will get away with sin. Our culture may pronounce things good and admirable but God does not change His mind. We have a choice, we can be popular or we can be faithful. It is not easy to stand for what is right in a world where those who do so are castigated. Jesus says if we will not confess Him before men, He will not confess us before the Father.

Third, there is only one way of salvation, and we must declare it rather than apologize for it. In our pluralistic society it is not popular to say Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven. However, He is the only One who can pay for our sin. He is the only One who died for us and then rose again. If we do not tell people the truth, we are not loving them . . . we are showing disdain and hatred toward them. Why would we stand by and say nothing as our friends head toward an eternity in hell? How can we say we love others if we do not try to show them the way to forgiveness and new life? Do we really believe the Word of God about Heaven and Hell?

Yes, there is condemnation in these words but there is also hope. God does not just wipe out His people . . . He offers to redeem them. He offers to cleanse us by the work of Christ. He offers to transform us through the work of the Holy Spirit. He offers to lead us to the place He has prepared for us.

Do we deserve His judgment? Absolutely. But He offers us His grace, His mercy, and the life He made us to enjoy. It is time to stop fighting Him and rest in Him. It is time to stop trying to rewrite His Word and instead follow it. It is time to stop yearning for the things of the world and run to the Creator of the world. It is time to stop running after the voices of the world around us and instead humbly listen to the loving voice of the One who made us to love and know Him.

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