Lesson 348 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
Cross References
I Vision of Isaiah
1. Isaiah saw a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, [ISA:1:1].
2. Israel was scathingly rebuked of God: although dumb beasts knew their masters, yet Israel did not know their Lord and Creator, [ISA:1:2-4]; [JER:8:7].
3. Israel was asked why they desired to be stricken more when they were already smitten from head to foot, [ISA:1:5-9]; [JER:2:30]; [JER:5:3].
4. God refused to accept Israel's many sacrifices and religious ceremonies which insulted the true worship of God, [ISA:1:10-15]; [MAL:1:6-14]; [MAT:15:7-9].
5. Israel was commanded of God to cease from evil, and learn to do well, [ISA:1:16-17]; [HOS:6:6]; Mathew 9:13; [JER:4:14]; [JAM:4:8-10].
6. God desired to reason with Israel regarding their sins, [ISA:1:18-20]; [1SM:12:7]; [MIC:6:2-3].
7. God lamented over Jerusalem because of their idolatry and shameful turning away from Him, [ISA:1:21-23]; [JER:2:19-27]; [EZE:22:24-29].
8. The purging fire of God is promised upon Israel until Zion is redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness, [ISA:1:24-31]; [MAL:3:3-6]; [ZEC:13:9]; [ROM:11:24-27]; [ROM:9:26-27].
Notes
Messengers of God
Isaiah began his prophetic office when it seemed that all true religion in Israel was in great danger of being forsaken. Isaiah's messages were directed mainly to Judah and Jerusalem. The other ten tribes of Israel had so apostatised from the worship of the Lord that the judgment of God was coming upon them. That judgment came in the form of the Assyrians, a cruel and despotic people who ravaged most of the land and took into captivity the people. Judah and Benjamin carried on the worship of God in form, but in spirit and in truth they were rapidly becoming as reprobate as their brethren.
Despite the apostasy of Israel God raised up a series of men who fearlessly proclaimed he great truths of God to the people. Of these men Isaiah was one, and has been often called the "fifth evangelist" because of his incomparable prophecies and teachings of Jesus Christ. Isaiah preached the truth of God uncompromisingly through the administrations of four different kings. His fearless preaching against sin and wickedness finally cost him his life under the reign of the wicked king Manasseh. According to tradition, Isaiah is referred to in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews where mention is made of one who was sawn asunder.
Message of God
Isaiah's message to Israel, as we read it in the first chapter of Isaiah, was received in the form of a vision, which revealed to him the true condition of the people's souls before God. The vision covered the period of the reign of four different kings. It was a message Isaiah was to preach during the reign of those kings, proclaiming to the people the state of their sins before God.
God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; and yet men do persist in living in sin, despite all the warnings God sends to them. Israel did not leave the worship of God to turn again to the vile practices of heathen idols without full knowledge that God's Word was immutable, and that it could not be transgressed with impunity. The prophets whom God sent to Israel could be said to have been Israel's conscience, and they lamented Israel's sins before the people. The prophets of God expressed the mind of God. To hear them was to hear God; and to reject them was to reject God.
Paul told the saints at Thessalonica regarding the message he brought, "He therefore that despiseth not man, but God" [1TS:4:8]). Likewise Jesus told His disciples: "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me" [LUK:10:16]). Although the prophets came with the authority and the Spirit of God, they were seldom received with kindness; and more often than not the tolerance of Israel was very much strained with their presence. They came nevertheless, sent of God, and warned Israel of the penalties that would soon follow their sin.
Truth of God
The description Israel received of the sin of Israel is one of the most detailed and vivid portraits of sin that the Bible gives. God does not minimise the horridness of sin; neither does He hesitate to inform men of the true state of their souls before Him. Men cannot and will not repent of their sins until they realise the terrible hideousness and vileness of sin. When men learn of the guilt of their sin, then, and only then, is there hope of their turning to God in repentance of it.
Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" [JHN:8:32]). Part of the truth of God is conviction of individual sin. This was the purpose of God's revelation of Israel's sins. Isaiah having once learned the true state of the people's hearts would preach their sinfulness to them unsparingly, that they might know their sins were known of God, and so repent.
It is the kindness and mercy of God that reveals to men the sins of their heart that they might know their need of salvation. Men do not like to hear about the wrath of God against sin, about a devil's hell, the Judgment Day that will judge every unrepentant man for the evil deeds done, or that the wages of sin is death; but unless they know and believe the truth they cannot find salvation from sin.
God's love for the souls of men does not give men permission to indulge in sin. On the contrary, it is because God does love men that He has provided salvation through the Blood of the cross of Christ so that they can escape the penalty for sin, which they have already committed.
We see this process carried out exactly in Isaiah's vision and preaching. Israel is told in vivid and exacting detail the amount and awfulness of their sins, and then the Lord inquires of them why they desire to persist in them.
Death Chosen
God continually inquires of men why they endure the agonies of sin when it is not necessary. Isaiah had cried to the people, "Why should ye be stricken any more?" Israel had been compared by God to one who had been terribly stricken, until from the top of his head to the sole of his feet he was nothing but a mass of wounds, bruises, and sores. The obvious implication was that their sins had brought about such a condition, and it was nothing less than madness to aggravate it by further sinning against God.
Sin is enticing for a season, but it is not so enticing nor its pleasures so stupefying that the pain of a wounded conscience cannot be felt. Neither can the voice of God crying out against sin be shut out of the human heart. Sin is painful, and the way of the transgressor is hard. The word of the Lord is: "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" [ISA:57:20-21]). It is such an astonishment that men will persist in sin despite the anguish that it brings, that even God marvels at their stubborn suffering, and asks, "Why should ye be stricken any more?"
Mercy, and not Sacrifice
On one occasion Jesus said: "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" [MAT:9:13]; [HOS:6:6]). This same proposition was directed to Israel by Isaiah. Their religious ceremonies were without value to God even though he had instituted them, because the truth they were meant to illustrate was forgotten and rejected; that is, that sin would not be tolerated by God, and that to worship Him was to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Equity and righteousness are not mere theological philosophies, but are the fruit that is brought forth from the heart of those who love the Lord. Everywhere in the Word of God -" in the Old and New Testaments, in the teachings of the prophets, and in the teachings of Jesus -" it is emphasised over and over that there can be no true worship of God without acknowledgement that holiness and purity are integral parts of the Gospel.
"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." This was the message Isaiah brought to Israel, and it was the same that had been brought from the beginning, and is the same today: "Cease to do evil." The sin of Israel was not that they neglected religious matters, but their elaborate procedures were meaningless and hypocritical before God. The land was full of wickedness and unrighteousness to such a degree that the people were likened to the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, upon whom the fire of God fell.
Reasoning Together
A most remarkable statement is made in our lesson text: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Surely it is a revelation of God's character that He would be willing to reason with man over the folly of his sins. If man will but listen to God while he reasons with him, he will soon be convinced of his folly. His sins can be forgiven of God, and though they be as scarlet, God will make them white as snow. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."
The alternative? "If ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." Israel did refuse to listen to God's reasoning with them. They did continue in their sins, until finally the full wrath of God came upon them after the death of Christ.
The final verses of our text inform us that through the mercy of God there will be a remnant left through the ages until Zion is once again restored to its former glory, and that Jesus Christ who was once rejected and slain shall be their acknowledge King.
Questions
1. How did Isaiah receive his message that he was to preach to Israel?
2. How long did Isaiah preach?
3. How did Isaiah finally die?
4. Why did God describe the condition of Israel so exactingly?
5. Why must men be convinced that they are sinners before they repent of sin?
6. How do men become convinced that they are sinners?
7. Why was God not pleased with the religious worship of Israel?
8. How should we worship God?
9. Why did God wish to reason with Israel?