Let's Settle This Once and For All

10 Hear the Lord’s word, you leaders of Sodom. Listen to our God’s teaching, people of Gomorrah, 11 What should I think about all your sacrifices? says the Lord. I’m fed up with entirely burned offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don’t want the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from you, this trampling of my temple’s courts? 13 Stop bringing worthless offerings. Your incense repulses me. New moon, sabbath, and the calling of an assembly— I can’t stand wickedness with celebration! 14 I hate your new moons and your festivals. They’ve become a burden that I’m tired of bearing. 15 When you extend your hands, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even when you pray for a long time, I won’t listen. Your hands are stained with blood. 16 Wash! Be clean! Remove your ugly deeds from my sight. Put an end to such evil; 17 learn to do good. Seek justice: help the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool. 19 If you agree and obey, you will eat the best food of the land. 20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. The Lord has said this.

Let's Settle This Once and For All

Have you ever said that to anyone? Let’s settle this once and for all.

One of the issues in my house that we had to decide on is this. I believe it should be over and Darlene doesn’t really care, she just puts it on. Someone researched the original patent for toilet paper. The guy who patented it had in his original drawings the paper going over the top so I guess that settles it.

Here is another one that people struggle with. I grew up calling it pop. When we lived in the south it was a coke. If you went out to eat and the server asked you what you wanted to drink and you said a Coke, they would ask you what kind of coke did you want, Dr Pepper, Mountain Dew, Root beer, they were all referred to as a coke. Around here I hear most people refer to it as a soda.

Sometimes as a parent we have to tell our kids that we need to settle something once and for all. You know how it goes, they are arguing and fighting and we’ve had enough and we tell them that I’m settling this once and for all. Generally it doesn’t settle it, but we feel better about ourselves thinking we’ve stopped it. We might stop it, but it usually picks back up.

When I read through our text, the phrase “Let’s settle this once and for all” ran through my mind.

Isaiah comes on the scene and bring’s God’s word to Judah and Jerusalem. We don’t know much about Isaiah and his background. In the books of Kings and Chronicles we read a little about him. This book opens with these words:

Isaiah 1:1 CEB

1 The vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw in the days of Judah’s kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

Rabbinical tradition says that Isaiah’s father Amoz was the brother of King Amaziah of Judah. They believe that Amoz was a prophet. If this is accurate then Isaiah came from the line of King David. David would have been Isaiah’s 6th great grandfather if I counted correctly.

King Amaziah was not exactly a role model for Isaiah to look up to. The Bible has this to say about Amaziah 2 Chronicles 25:14 “14 When Amaziah returned after defeating the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down before them, and burned incense to them.”

Isaiah’s name means “the Lord is salvation.” Names had great meaning in the Old Testament. We say that with Hosea’s children. The theme of Isaiah’s prophesy was the same as the meaning of his name “the Lord is salvation.” The message of salvation is the message that God gave to Isaiah to bring to the people of Judah.

Isaiah prophesied during the rain of four kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Uzziah and Jotham were good kings, Ahaz was evil, and during the reign of King Hezekiah there was a revival.

Having a king over all of Israel was not in God’s plan. Israel was to be a theocracy, meaning that God was king of his people. The people demanded a king so that they would be like the other kingdoms around them. God gave them what they wanted and they ended up with more than they wanted with some of the evil kings. Just as they wanted a king to be like other kingdoms, they wanted a visible representation of a god to worship.

Judah ended up with 12 evil kings where idolatry was rampant and the people did not even give a second thought about God. They had 4 good kings and they had 4 kings who reigned during a period of revival.

When the people demanded a king they did get what they wanted, they became just like the kingdoms around them who worshipped idols.

Isaiah comes on the scene here and Isaiah and the Bible opens with Isaiah 1: “1 The vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw.”

This raises expectation that Isaiah is going to tell us what God showed him. Our expectations are met. In Chapter 6 we read

Isaiah 6:1 CEB

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple.

Uzziah started out as a good king, he was 16 when he became king and reigned for about 52 years. At one point in his reign he went to the temple to offer incense to God. He was confronted by the Chief Priest and other priests. While he was still in the temple, there was a major earthquake that damaged the temple. Josephus the great Jewish Historian wrote:

a great earthquake shook the ground, and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately [1]

Uzziah’s son Jotham was the next king listed and he is referred to as one of the good kings who did right in the sight of God. However, the people continued to worship idols.

2 Kings 15:35 CEB

35 However, he didn’t remove the shrines. The people continued to sacrifice and burn incense at them. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the Lord’s temple.

Even though he was a good king, the people continued to practice idolatry.

Ahaz went even further away from God.

2 Kings 16:3–4 CEB

3 Instead, he walked in the ways of Israel’s kings. He even burned his own son alive, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines on every hill and beneath every shady tree.

Can you see how quickly the people were turning away from God? They had a king who sacrificed his own son. When the people in leadership are evil it seems that the majority will gladly follow. We see it in our own culture. Look at the craziness out there. Politicians claim to be Christian but the stuff they do or vote to approve is antithetical to Christianity.

King Hezekiah, the third king that Isaiah prophesied during saw a great revival.

2 Kings 18:4–5 CEB

4 He removed the shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the sacred pole. He crushed the bronze snake that Moses made, because up to that point the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (The snake was named Nehushtan.) 5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, Israel’s God. There was no one like him among all of Judah’s kings—not before him and not after him.

Ok, so you might be sitting there thinking; “thanks for the history lesson pastor, but what does that have to do with the scripture today?”

Great question, I’m glad you asked!

The vision that Isaiah had does not make any sense if you do not know the history, what was going on when he was bring this vision to the people of Judah.

I didn’t read verses 2 through 9, but let me read verse 9 because it helps understand the text.

Isaiah 1:9 “9 If the Lord of heavenly forces had not spared a few of us, we would be like Sodom; we would resemble Gomorrah.”

Isaiah did not say that they would become Sodom and Gomorrah, but that they would resemble them. The account of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Genesis chapter 19.

In verse 10 Isaiah writes

Isaiah 1:10 CEB

10 Hear the Lord’s word, you leaders of Sodom. Listen to our God’s teaching, people of Gomorrah,

Isaiah is not addressing the leaders of those two cities. Those cities were destroyed long ago. Judah had become like those two ancient cities. Their sin had become a stench before God.

God is in essence saying Let us settle this once and for all. In fact in verse 18 that is what God says

Isaiah 1:18 CEB

18 Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool.

The people and the rulers were absolutely corrupt. He called the leaders of Judah as the the leaders of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were utterly sinful.

Have you heard or used the phrase about someone wanting the best of both worlds?

That was Judah, they were very religious. They went through the motions in the temple but God says enough is enough.

They were going through the motions of worshipping God and worshipping idols. What was happening in Judah? Manasseh became king after Hezekiah. There had been a great revival during Hezekiah’s reign. When he died and Manasseh his son became king we read:

2 Kings 21:1–6 CEB

1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the shrines that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, set up altars for Baal, and made a sacred pole, just as Israel’s King Ahab had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshipped them. 4 He even built altars in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple—the very place the Lord was speaking of when he said: “I will put my name in Jerusalem.” 5 Manasseh built altars for all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 He burned his own son alive, consulted sign readers and fortune-tellers, and used mediums and diviners. He did much evil in the Lord’s eyes and made him angry.

No wonder God referred to the leaders as leaders of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those two ancient cities were full of sin and evil. God utterly destroyed them. I shuttered to think of the sin and evil in our own nation and wonder why God hasn’t utterly destroyed us. God help us, we need a mighty revival to sweep through this nation from east to west, north to south.

God had told the people in the Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:3 CEB

3 You must have no other gods before me.

That was not a suggestion. God was saying it was Jehovah or it was idols.

The people were living in idolatry. God in essence puts up His hand and says STOP. Enough is enough He says.

Is God saying Stop to us today?

Idols don’t have to be some thing that we form and fashion and worship. Idolatry is anything that replaces God.

Dr John Piper gave this definition:

the worship of someone or something other than God as though it were God. [2]

What is an Idol?

What is an idol? Well, it is the thing. It is the thing loved or the person loved more than God, wanted more than God, desired more than God, treasured more than God, enjoyed more than God. It could be a girlfriend. It could be good grades. It could be the approval of other people. It could be success in business. It could be sexual stimulation. It could be a hobby or a musical group that you are following or a sport or your immaculate yard. [2]

Do you have idols in your life? They have no place in your life. You cannot worship God and then worship some idol, it is sinful and evil in the sight of God.

God said through Isaiah that he was fed up with their offerings. God called them worthless offerings.

God says

Isaiah 1:13-14 “13 Stop bringing worthless offerings. Your incense repulses me. New moon, sabbath, and the calling of an assembly— I can’t stand wickedness with celebration! 14 I hate your new moons and your festivals. They’ve become a burden that I’m tired of bearing.”

Warren Wiersbe in his commentary wrote

Be Comforted Chapter Two: Wanted: A Prophet (Isaiah 1–6)

The disgusting thing about this rebellious people is that they were also a religious people (Isa. 1:10–15). They attended the temple services and brought a multitude of sacrifices to the Lord; but their hearts were far from God, and their worship was hypocritical. Sacrifices alone can never please God; for along with the outward observance, God wants inward obedience (1 Sam. 15:22), a broken heart (Ps. 51:17), and a godly walk (Micah 6:6–8). Judah’s worship of Jehovah was iniquity, not piety; and God was sick of it! Instead of lifting up “holy hands” in prayer (1 Tim. 2:8), their hands were stained with blood because of their many sins (Isa. 59:3; Ezek. 7:23; and see Acts 20:26).

Isaiah’s vision is a call to repentance. It is a call to turn around and head the other direction. Look there at verse 16 and let me read it from The Message

Isaiah 1:16 The Message

16 Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong.

Is that what God is saying to us today?

Be Comforted Chapter Two: Wanted: A Prophet (Isaiah 1–6)

According to researcher George Barna, 93 percent of the households in the United States contain a Bible and more than 60 percent of the people surveyed claim to be religious; but we would never know this from the way people act. One Protestant church exists for every 550 adults in America, but does all this “religion” make much of a difference in our sinful society? Organized religion hasn’t affected the nation’s crime rate, the divorce rate, or the kind of “entertainment” seen in movies and on TV.

You and I are called to make disciples. How are we doing? Look around, are we making any difference in our culture? Are we making disciples?

God is telling them through Isaiah to cease and desist, to Stop. The are told to repent, to turn around. He says Isaiah 1:16 “Remove your ugly deeds from my sight. Put an end to such evil;” .

This is a cease and desist from God. It is the same thing that God is saying today. We cannot come to church and worship on Sunday and then go back to the same sins and evil the rest of the week. Either we are a Christian or we are not. There is no room for sin in our lives.

God’s call to cease and desist becomes Do and show. He is looking for evidence of a changed life.

Rather than continuing to sin, they are to demonstrate that they have repented. Verse 17 is a fivefold agenda for a new life.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 17: Isaiah 1–39 The Offer of Clemency

Learn to do good—even with inward cleansing, old habits of sin must be unlearned and new habits of righteousness must be cultivated.

2. Seek justice—personal repentance will inevitably lead to a renewal of social conscience.

3. Reprove the oppressor—those who oppress must be reproved.

4. Defend the fatherless—become an activist on behalf of children who are without fathers because of abandonment, divorce, or death.

5. Plead for the widow—become an advocate for defenseless women who are most vulnerable to schemes and scams that rob them of their sustenance.

What happens when we repent? We are cleansed. God said in verse 18

Isaiah 1:18 CEB

18 Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool.

That is not a minor cleaning, but a major change in our lives. Scarlet or crimson red are not easily cleaned, but that does not stop God.

In the King James version it says Come now let us reason together. God is inviting us to join with Him.

One of the unique things about this invitation to reason together is that God initiates. Salvation comes from God. God took the initiative and Jesus came.

Luke 19:10 NIV

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

God does not force us into a relationship with Him. It is an invitation.

Isaiah writes that it is an either or decision.

Isaiah 1:19-20 “19 If you agree and obey, you will eat the best food of the land. 20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. The Lord has said this.”

We have a choice. We can stop and listen, repent and obey or we will be “devoured by the sword.”

Isaiah puts a giant period to what he has written by saying:

Isaiah 1:20 (CEB)

20 The Lord has said this.

There is nothing else to be said. That same call to Judah to repent is the same call for us today.

True repentance results in faithful obedience to God. If we want to enjoy God’s blessings then our lives must demonstrate that we are being obedient to God.

[1] https://www.julianspriggs.co.uk/pages/Josephus_Uzziah

[2] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-idolatry

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