Sermon Tone Analysis

A NATION IN TROUBLE-- DEADLY DELUSIONS, PART 1

Spring Valley Mennonite; July 10, 2022; Isaiah 5:8-19

God's Word is timeless and applicable to every time period for two profound reasons: first, God never changes.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Secondly, God's Word is timeless because men never change.

All have sinned and fall short of God's standards of righteousness.

The story of the Bible is of how God deals with that sin, providing a pathway for the Messiah through the nation of Israel.

That is the story of the Old Testament.

But more than just setting the stage for the New Testament, Messiah Jesus, and the New Covenant we have striking parallels to our modern society and its problems and solutions.

In today's message we are going to see in the sinful society of Judah amazing parallels to modern day America, and the judgment awaiting unless repentance and revival occur.

This morning, I would direct our attention to the latter part of the fifth chapter.

We remember that in the first five chapters of Isaiah, God is presenting an indictment against Judah.

Before the court of all creation, God is presenting evidence against His chosen nation, evidence which justifies coming judgment.

I spoke previously about the covenants which God has made with His people, and how in the temporary covenant of the Law there were specified both blessings for obedience and curses and judgment for disobedience.

Because God is a Covenant-Keeping God, He obligates Himself to reward obedience and punish disobedience.

Through the language of metaphor, in the beginning of chapter 5 God describes Judah as a vineyard which He planted, tended, and protected only to find that His vineyard produced only worthless fruit.

In the rest of chapter 5, we find six different reasons God was justified in judging Judah.

They are each prefaced by the word "Woe."

We find here six deadly delusions to which Judah had subscribed.

There are striking similarities between the culture of 7th Century BC Judah and 21st century America.

Listen to see if you agree.

The result of Judah's folly for rejecting God and His commands are found in Isaiah 5:24:

"Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

These are sobering words about the result of buying into these six deadly delusions.

They were a nation in trouble.

None of us are victims of our culture.

We all have the power of choice, and even though the influences of culture are profound and intensely powerful, we each have the responsibility to identify those forces and to resist them.

Each one of us must choose whether we will yield to these six deadly delusions, for they are strongly affecting us today.

The first of these three delusions is:

I. DEADLY DELUSION #1: MATERIALISM

Judah was enjoying unparalled prosperity.

Perhaps at no time since the reign of King Solomon were things "so good."

Judah had a strong army which was equipped with the latest weaponry.

They had reason to feel secure.

Trade with other nations had made available a rich variety of consumer goods.

Politically, things were stable as King Uzziah had reigned for 52 years.

Everyone enjoyed plenty of food.

Construction and growth surrounded the people.

Yet, wealth and prosperity had given rise to a great delusion and a great sin.

We read of it beginning in verse 8 (read vv.

8-10)

In 1 Kings 21 we read the story of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

It serves as an illustration of what was happening in Judah.

King Ahab, although fabulously wealthy, was dissatisfied as he looked out of his palace window and saw a vineyard which belonged to his neighbor Naboth.

So, Ahab approached Naboth and offered to buy the vineyard.

Now to understand land ownership in Israel, we need to remember that each parcel of land was the permanent possession of a particular family.

If you found yourself in financial straits, you could sell your land, but first choice to buy was given by law to relatives.

If no relative could be found to buy the land, only then could it be sold outside the family.

The sale of land in Israel also had another profound stipulation: all land reverted back to the original owner every 49 years.

This was called "The Year of Jubilee."

So, when the land was sold, the price was dictated by how long it was until the Jubilee.

This was God's way of controlling land ownership, assuring the livelihood of each family.

Naboth's response to Ahab was "How could I consider selling my family inheritance?"

Ahab found himself depressed because he didn't own Naboth's vineyard, and we remember ultimately that he had Naboth murdered so he could take over what he desired.

This was what was happening in Isaiah's day.

Large land owners were greedily accumulating land and houses, so they could build a big house in the middle of their holdings and not have to bother with neighbors.

They were determined to expand their holdings.

At this time in Judah, the rich had conveniently forgotten the observance of the Year of Jubilee, for obvious reasons.

This rampant greedy materialism was a symptom of turning their backs on God and forgetting His laws.

As there was "trouble in paradise" in Judah, so we Americans, even Christians, have so thoroughly embraced materialism that we don't even consider it a problem.

The influence of consumerism in each of our lives is so subtle and pervasive that we are all being slowly strangled and don't even realize it.

It has been estimated that every American is subjected to 3,500 separate advertisements every day!

Even a 30- minute newscast on TV contains 10 minutes of advertising, persuading us to try 50 different products.

And it is not just products that are pushed, but the philosophy of consumption is also sold.

We have made the choice of products one of the lesser gods of the main god of consumerism.

In less than 50 years, the number of products in the average American grocery store has risen from 9000 to over 38,000.

The advent of Internet shopping and home delivery has opened up millions of available products to fuel our desire for variety and convenience.

A philosophy of satisfying our "wants" has replaced filling our needs.

We have bought into the philosophy of "I deserve it, because I'm worth it!"

We have been indoctrinated into a culture of over-consumption and dissatisfaction, where we feel it is our God-given right to experience and enjoy every new product which comes out.

It seems so many have lost the ability to say "no" to our wants.

Credit cards have opened the door to instant gratification of these wants, and the average consumer has 4 credit cards and carries an average of over $2300 of outstanding debt!

I couldn't figure out if that was per card or for all cards combined.

Considering that only 45% of credit card holders pay off their balance each month, and there are 459 million credit cards out there, that 55% carry well over that amount of $2300!

Do we ever consider the effects of consumerism in our lives?

This insatiable desire affects our families, for if we buy, we must work.

It takes two incomes for the average family to survive, and current inflation isn't making it any easier.

What does a lifestyle of consumerism/materialism do to relationships?

Like the greedy land-grabbers of Isaiah's day, we find that consumerism isolates us from others.

Isn't it true that the more things we have, the more time it takes to care for and manage them?

If we are not very cautious, instead of possessing our things, they possess us.

It is a curious thing that we feel guilty about not using something we have!

Every time I pass by my fishing rods in the garage, I feel guilty that I'm not using them!

But the biggest reason materialism is such a deadly delusion is that we buy into the idea that "things" can give us the satisfaction that only God can give.

We try and fill that "God-shaped vacuum" with possessions, and we miserably fail.

Only a relationship with God can give true fulfillment and contentment.

It is a true statement that anything which comes between me and God is an idol.

That is why Paul identifies greed as idolatry in Galatians 3:5.

The second deadly delusion is found in verses 11 and 12 (Read)

II.

THE DELUSION OF SEEKING PLEASURE AND ENTERTAINMENT

We might relax a bit as we read that drunkenness and lavish entertainment are the specific sins mentioned.

However, the greater motivation behind these excesses is the delusion of pleasure seeking or escaping reality.

Success in life from any standpoint involves diligence and hard work.

As in many things, the key is balance.

God has created us with the capacity to experience pleasure and delight in many things.

For instance, God has given us taste buds.

Did you ever consider why God did such a thing?

It was so we could appreciate and give thanks to God for the tastes of the things He created!

Why did God give us the ability to see colors?

Or the exquisite sensations of touch?