投稿者: otawara-1

Today let’s study Isaiah 5. Today’s message title is taken from verse 1. Isaiah preached the Word of the Lord as a prophet. Here he is using a vineyard as a metaphor for the spiritual condition of Israel. Not only that, he is not just talking, but is using the metaphor of the vineyard too. Today through this love song, let’s look at three points of how much God loves Israel.
1. Let’s look at the expectations God had for Israel.
2. Let’s look at how Israel responded to God’s expectations.
3. Let’s look at what we need to do to bear good fruit.

I. God’s expectations (vs. 1,2)
First, let’s look at the expectations God had for Israel. Let’s look at verse 1 and the beginning of verse 2.
This passage we can understand well just by reading it. There is a master who has a vineyard. He cultivated grapes. He worked hard at tilling the soil, and planted good grape seedlings. Moreover, he put a fence around them to protect them. He prepared what was needed to make wine when the grapes are harvested. This expression, “a fertile hillside”, expresses the richness of the land. Palestine has fertile hills of terra rossa, a type of red clay soil produced by the weathering of limestone. It is a popular soil type for wine production. However, this does not mean that the land as it was was a good field. To be a good field, it had to be taken good care of. Therefore, this master of the vineyard “dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest of vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes.” (2)
This was extraordinary care. It is not easy to remove rocks and stones. Also, with the stones that are removed he put up a stone wall around the vineyard, and with the left over stones built a watchtower. Watching over the vineyard was a hard job too. Especially during the important harvest season they had to watch over the vineyard 24 hours a day. Also he “cut out a winepress.” (2) A wine press was actually a wine vat. The grapes were trampled and the juice flowed into the wine vat where it was retained and stored until fermentation had begun. So that it can be used for a long time, it is cut out of stone. He took good care of the vineyard. He “cut out a winepress as well.” (2) The words, “as well” express how much he worked. That is how much he worked to produce the wine.
Here the vineyard is Israel and the master who worked so hard in caring for the vineyard is God. That is how much God loved Israel. We hear often that the God of the Old Testament is a fearful God and the God of the New Testament is a loving God. However, that is not so. The God of the Bible is consistently a loving God. If we look at how God appears in this passage we can see that God is a loving God. A person who thinks that God is fearful has assumed that himself. In reality that is not so. God no matter what loves us and for Israel worked so hard to care for them and bring them up.
God loved Israel so much because “he looked for a crop of good grapes” (2) from his vineyard. He “looked for good” (4) delicious grapes. He looked forward to the crop for a long time for them. Verse 2 expresses well the feelings of the master, “he looked for a crop of good grapes.”
Someplace, I don’t remember where, but I ate at a restaurant that served prime Japanese beef. On the entrance to the restaurant was a funny notice. “This restaurant uses prime Japanese beef. Our special cows are raised listening to classical music and receiving massages daily.” This restaurant’s cows were raised listening to classical music everyday! Moreover, they get massages! Isn’t that too luxurious? Underneath the notice there was an explanation. “The meat of cows that have been raised listening to classical music is of high quality and tender.” When I saw the explanation, I wondered if it was really true or not, but more than that I felt the owner’s deep drive, motivation and enthusiasm. I thought that he went that far to get the prime meat. That is how much expectation he had for the meat.
Ephesians 1:3-6
Here it says, God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) God even “chose us in him before the creation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4) This was “to the praise of his glorious grace.” (Ephesians 1:6) So that God’s glory would be praised, before we were born, “before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4) God chose us to be saved. God’s thoughts and feelings are strongly communicated to us. How much are we aware of God’s thoughts and feelings? Is there a possibility that we take our salvation and or the fact that we can worship every week at church as an ordinary thing and are not answering God’s expectation?
I think that probably the Ephesians were in such a condition. The temple to Artemis was there and the town was full of magicians and heathen idols and so at best just not losing their faith was about all they could do, but in reality God had high expectations for the Ephesians. Thus that was probably why people with big names like Paul, Timothy and John were sent to this church. It is said that many of the 7 churches that appear in Revelations were born out of the evangelism of the Ephesian church. This church didn’t just stop at local evangelism and church planting, but God had high expectations for them. In the same way God has expectations for us. If you look at us, we are like the countrymen of Galilee and we may be small and you may wonder what we could ever do. However, God wants this small Galilean country church to respond to God’s commission and become a church that shoulders the responsibility of worldwide missions.
Before pro baseball Dragons team player Mr. Nakamura was famous, the manager at that time, Mr. Hoshino said to him, “I will make you the number 1 player in Japan.” At that time I don’t where or how many possibilities he found, anyway he was just burning with those words.
Mr. Nakamura thought, “Even if I’m not worthy of it, the manager said that he would make me the number 1 player in Japan. The manager expects that much from me.” When he thought about that he was so happy and he went to the ground earlier than any other player, and practiced later than any other player. Now he is famous for his enthusiasm and his fighting spirit to make a comeback after all injuries.
If you think that no one expects anything from you, then it is natural to have no ambition, but if you know that someone is expecting something from you then you feel you have to make strenuous efforts. God finds the possibilities within us, and is excitedly waiting. Let’s receive the blessing of God and rise up to meet God’s expectations.

II. God’s despair (vs.2-4)
Let’s look at how Israel responded to God’s expectations. Please look at verses 2 to 4.
Contrary to God’s high expectations, the vineyard only yielded bad grapes. The grapes failed to mature and they spoiled. Even though the master took such good care of the vineyard and had expected good grapes, they were bad grapes. The words of the master, “but it yield only bad fruit.” (2) reveals the regret and mortification of the master.
Therefore, the Lord asks the people of Jerusalem and Judah to stand as a judge between God and his vineyard, Israel.
Verses 3,4
Even though the master did more than what anyone could say was necessary, he asked, “why were the grapes it yielded so bad that they couldn’t be used for food? Did I do something wrong? Is there something that I didn’t do? If there is something please tell me.” Of course the answer is No. There is nothing. The way God related to Israel was perfect. He took good care of the vineyard. He wasn’t lacking in anyway. If so, then why were the grapes bad? The answer is in verse 7.
Here it says, “He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (7) These words “justice” and “bloodshed” and “righteousness” and “distress” are not necessarily contradictory words. Isaiah is using a play on words to make his point. The words for “justice” and “bloodshed” (mishpat and mispah) sound alike. So do those for “righteousness” (sedaqah) and “distress” (seagah). They sound alike, but their meanings are completely different. In other words, even though they look like what God was expecting, their insides were completely different. This was the problem. In reality they weren’t like God’s expectations, but they looked like they were. This was the problem.
There is a person that I know well, Maruya Sensei who wrote the book, “What a healthy faith is”. In this book he explains why this type of things happens. He explains this by using the word “Acting Spiritual”. Even though the person is not really spiritual, he thinks of himself as spiritual and acts that way. To be spiritual is to do the will of God. Even though he is not doing the will of God and is in reality separated from the will of God, he has a preconceived idea and image of what spirituality is so he has a misunderstanding of spirituality. Then such spiritual acting becomes habitual and unconscious and he lives a life of faith by the understanding of his own gospel. Like this it is difficult for him to mature. There is also the possibility that he will fall to spiritual decay. He is in the same condition of being on the surface like a good grape, but the inside is bad.
Israel became unable to bear good fruit. They thought they were receiving the grace of God and shut themselves up into consciousness of elite grace and while receiving grace they left such a walk. Then they bore only bad grapes. No matter how much effort you make in your own strength, you can’t bear the “justice” and “righteousness” that God expects.
The master of the vineyard is expecting good grapes. He desired good grapes. That is what he expected from the vineyard. This is the meaning of the vineyard’s existence.

III. The true vine (vs. 5,6)
Let’s look at how we can bear good grapes. Look at verses 5 and 6.
Here the conclusion of the master of the vineyard is stated. “Now I will tell you” (5) God had asked if there was anything that he had failed to do, but there is nothing so next God says that he will tell them what he is going to do. “I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.” (5) This means that outside enemies will come. They were protected because of God’s protection. Even so they did not recognize that and did things that denied God so there was no reason to have a vineyard. Therefore, God says, “I will take away its hedge and it will be destroyed. I will break down its wall and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there.” (5,6) Therefore, we won’t be able to walk there. Even though because God cultivates we are able to live contentedly, God won’t do that anymore. More terrible is “I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” (6) Rain is a symbol of life. The sun rising and the rain falling is necessary for us to be able to feel comfortable. If there is no rain, then plants can’t grow and live. This rain will not fall. We will face God’s judgment like this.
Incidentally, this parable of the vineyard Jesus talked about to the Jewish leaders. Please open your Bibles to Matthew 21:33-44. When the Jewish leader heard this parable they must have known clearly that this was the contents of the Old Testament in Isaiah 5. They knew that the farmers were themselves and the servants were the prophets. When the landowner sent the servants to the farmers, they beat the servants and killed them. When the Jewish leaders heard this, their faces darkened with hostility and anger. Then in verses 37-39 the landowner sends his son and the farmers kill him. When the leaders hear this they couldn’t take it.
Because of what has happened, the landowner “will bring those wretches to a wretched end.” (Matthew 21:41) This is what is written in Isaiah 5. Then what God will do is written in verse 43. “Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
If Israel does not meet God’s expectations and produce only bad grapes then God would remove the kingdom of God from them and give the kingdom of God to a people that will bear fruit. Those people are the Gentiles. The Jews weren’t able to believe in God easily so God took away his grace and gave it to the Gentiles. As a result God’s kingdom has now come to us. This means that in order for us to produce the fruit that God expects, we need to believe in Jesus Christ, accept him and walk following the Word of God.
John 15:5
Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Just as the branch must remain in the vine in order to bear fruit, we too must remain in the vine, Christ, or else we can’t bear fruit. No matter how much we try, we can’t please God. On the contrary we do what mustn’t do. For such people like us, the vine, Jesus, died on the cross. The vine, Jesus, was cut. Then the place where we were cut off at is grafted into Jesus, the trunk, in the place where Jesus was cut off at. The life of Jesus began flowing into us. By this life, we can grow lots of fruit. In other words, only by the living fellowship of Jesus, can we produce fruit.
What a wonderful promise! Even though by our own strength we can only produce bad fruit, by fellowshipping with Jesus, by the life of Jesus we can have good grapes. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22) We can have these fruit.
Abraham Lincoln soon after becoming an adult is said to have become neurotic. However, by being support by God he was able to put his life on the right track and was resolved to live for God and for man. Also Mrs. Curie after her husband’s tragic death, gave her life to God and through scientific study discovered radiation and made a huge contribution to the scientific world. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation army, never lost his passion for the lost, but made his decision for ministry more and more steadfast.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.” (John 15:5) Us too, let’s abide in Jesus, and let’s produce not pretend fruit, but the real fruit.
A little while ago on a gardening program on T.V. a professional gardener said, “By talking to your plants, you can prompt the plants growth.” This plant was a Creeping Charlie, a kind of inside plant, but the commentator said, “By talking to the leaves nicely, patting them, and talking to them, you can nurse its self esteem.”
We are Creeping Charlies. God is always speaking to us. He is always encouraging us, and patting us on the back. Let’s always hear God’s encouraging voice, and feel God’s expectations, and put our roots deep into the Word of God, and fellowship with the living God and be a person with abundant fruit.

Let’s apply it to our lives
1. What is God expecting of you? What is necessary for you to meet God’s expectations?

2. What kind of fruit are you producing? Good grapes? Bad grapes? What do you think is necessary for you to produce good grapes?

Today I would like to talk from 3:16 through the whole fourth chapter about “God who purifies”. The result of Israel “trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (2:22) was that the Lord removed everything that had supplied and supported them. God removed things like “all supplies of food and all supplies of water”, (3:1) “the hero and the warrior”, (3:2) and “the judge and the prophet”. (3:2) Judah became confused and devastated. However that was not the end. God takes the filth away from Israel and purifies them. Today I would like to talk about the restoration of Israel.
Today I would like to talk about 3 aspects of purification by God.
1. God does not look at the surface, but at the heart.
2. God removes pride.
3. God purifies such filth.

I. Make the insides beautiful (vs. 3:16-23)
First let’s look at the point that God looks at our insides. Please look at verse 16 to 23. First look at verse 16.
Here God is comparing Israel to a sexy woman.　In chapter one Israel was compared to a wife, but here is compared to a sexy woman. These women are “haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.“ (3:16) “Walking with outstretched necks” (3:16) means to walk putting on airs. To walk “flirting with their eyes” (3:16) means they walk using their eyes to draw men’s attention “Strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles” (3:16) describes them as appearing to be trying to catch men’s interest. Of course they are wearing make up and jewels. In verse 17 it says, “Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald.” God is going to remove their finery and make up.
In verses 18 to 23 there is a list of a lot of the finery. In all there are 21 items. “the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.” There was a lot！ They were wearing that much finery.
The problem was not that they desired beauty. Desiring beauty is an instinct that humans have been given and an order of creation. When the first man Adam and Eve fell to sin, they realized they were nude and thought it was shameful. Therefore, they sewed fig leaves together and made skirts. God made clothes for them out of animal skins and put them on them. Also Abraham gave to Rebekah who was his promised son, Isaac’s, bride to be, “gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing” (Genesis 24:53) and “a gold nose ring and two gold bracelets” (Genesis 24:22) Also when we look at the book of Ruth, in order to gain an heir, she sends her daughter in law to Boaz wearing perfume and her best clothes. Therefore, finery and accessories are not in themselves bad. Wearing them is also not a sin. If they are used right, they are sources of blessings and joy and thankfulness.
The problem is how they appeared on the outside and how they looked in the hidden inside was imbalanced. “The women of Zion” (3:16) more than doing the will of God, they worked hard to be seen well by decorating themselves. They lived in luxury. This was the problem. The root of the problem was as it says in verse 16, they “are haughty”. They were proud. They were prideful and they were only interested in themselves. They were God’s people while their hearts were filled with things of the world more than God.
Isaiah discerned that the root of evil is pride. It might be better said as self-conceit. A person’s pride is seen in too much sexual desire and in a luxurious life attitude. “Flirting with their eyes, strutting along,” (3:16) “headbands” (3:17) and “bracelets” (3:17) are unique and are used only here in the Old Testament. I think that Isaiah was expressing how prideful, and bloated in self-conceit they were through these words.
However, God didn’t want Zion’s self conceit to be satisfied by adorning themselves with such finery. God desires that our pride be broken down and that we love God and man. I Peter 3: 3, 4 say, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gently and quest spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” Having a good looking heart is what we must desire.
What is your standard for beauty? “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. “ (I Samuel 16:7) We must desire a heart that pleases the Lord. “It should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gently and quest spirit.” (I Peter 3:4)

II. Pride will be broken down (vs. 3:24-4:1)
The second point is that pride will be broken down. Please look at verses 3:24 to 4:1.
In 3:24 “Instead of” is used five times. This expresses that compared with the present situation how great a calamitous condition it will be. “The women of Zion” (3:16) had their hearts absorbed only in beauty and gorgeousness that is seen with the eyes and they didn’t depend upon God. “Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;” (3:17) and remove their accessories. They will appear like a real calamity.
This was fulfilled about 100 years later when Judah was captured and deported by Babylon. At the time the jewelry that the women of Judah were wearing and all valuables were all confiscated. Also the people who were wearing perfume couldn’t take a bath for days so they smelled foul. Instead of wearing a sash, they were tied and led away to Babylon by ropes. Then their beautiful hair was cut and they became bald. Instead of fine clothing, they wore sackcloth to show sadness. Their beauty was completely lost.
That’s not all. In verses 25 and 26 it says, “Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle. The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.” The men that the women had desired will fall in battle and many will die. “The gates” (26) is the place where the government administered, what we call the town hall. There information about the soldiers killed in action came and came and so the people there will lament and mourning will spread over the whole town. Like this Zion, “destitute, will sit on the ground.” (3:26) Zion will be completely devastated.
Please look at 4:1
As a result of many warriors falling in battle only a few men are left. The ratio is 7 women to 1 man. If this happens, the women are in a bind. They don’t care what the man is like. They just want to get married. Then they tell the guy if they can get married, that he doesn’t have to worry about providing for them. They will take care of that by themselves. Just marry me! The reason that they are so anxious to get married is given here in their plea, “Take away our disgrace!” (4:1) Through marriage they wanted to keep their honor.
Even though marriage is not everything in our life, for these women it was everything. This was the only way they could find hope. In Old Testament times marriage and birth were signs of God’s blessing. Without them they thought they fell behind others. They wanted to be married somehow even if it was in appearance only. From this too we can see that they tried to varnish themselves outwardly.
Thus, the things that they took pride in were all things that you wear on yourself. They are all things that are useless in adorning your inner side. They lived taking pride in these things. When they took pride in such things, God judged them and removed such things from them. Then this brought devastation and lamenting. We need to turn from such vain living to God who gives us life, and abundant mercy and who watches over us, and become humble before God.

III. You will be called holy (4:2-6)
By the way, God doesn’t just judge Jerusalem that is filthy with unbelief, disobedience and idolatry. God through redemption and making her holy makes the city worthy to be a city of God. This is written in 4:2 to 6
Isaiah 4:2-6
“In that day” (4:2) is the last days, when the Lord comes again. “The Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” (4:2) Here, God’s plan of salvation is expressed as “the Branch of the Lord”. (4:2) “The Branch” is a Messianic title. At Christmas we studied this, but in 11:1 it says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Also Jeremiah 23:5 also says, “’The days are coming declares the LORD, ‘when I will rise up to David a righteous Branch.’” These are about the Lord Jesus Christ who will come in the course of time. In that day, all people’s pride will be shattered, an absolutely desperate devastation will cover the world, but the Messiah that God sends, “the Branch” (4:2) (Christ) is “beautiful and glorious, and” (4:2) by the grace of God “the survivors of Israel” (4:2) will abundantly eat the produce of the land.
Here again the words, “the survivors of Israel” (4:2) appear again. This is the same as “those who are left” in verse 3. This “remnant” is a consistent and important theme throughout Isaiah. It will appear over and over again. (1:8-9, 4:2,3, 6:13; 10:20-22; 11:11,16; 28:5; 37:31-32; 46:3; 49:6) It can also be seen in the name of Isaiah’s eldest son who was named Shear-Jashub. The name Shear-Jashub means “a remnant will return”. While Israel was a people of God, they forgot God, rebelled against God and weren’t able to escape the judgment of God. However, that wasn’t the end. God by his grace left a “remnant”, who returned from the deported land so that the real God’s people never die out. Through the care of God, they can always continue to walk the road as God’s people.
That’s right. The purpose of God’s judgment on Israel was not to destroy her, but for their recovery. By such a judgment, their filth will be washed away and they will be made holy. However, there are only a few people that are left there. Please look at verse 3.
Here it says, they “will be called holy”. (4:3) This is awesome. They “will be called holy” (4:3) means that they holy. In other words, they as holy people will inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, here it says, “all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” (4:3) This is a wonderful promise.
Jesus upon returning in triumph from casting out demons, and performing many miracles said to his disciples, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your name is written in heaven.” (Luke 10:19-20)
It is important that your name is written in the book of life. It is more important than casting out demons or sickness being healed. That’s because no matter many demons leave or sickness are healed, if it isn’t connected with eternal life then it has no meaning. Whether or not our names are written in the book of life is the most important thing in our life.
Chloroform, an anesthetic, was founded by and first used clinically by the English doctor James Simpson. In 1947 he used it for the first time in surgery. By it those who had surgery were set free from pain and agony. Someone asked him, “What is the greatest discovery you have ever made?” He thought that Simpson would answer, “the discovery of chloroform”, but contrary to his expectation, Simpson answered, “My greatest discovery was that I found Jesus Christ as my Savior.” To find Jesus Christ as his Savior was the greatest joy in his life.
In our lives there are many kinds of joy: sicknesses are healed, our job is decided upon, we marry a good person, we pass an entrance exam, a problem is solved, we get something we desired, etc. However, in our lifetime the greatest joy is finding Jesus Christ and having our names recorded in the book of life. There is no greater joy than this.
“The Branch of the LORD” (4:2) does this. “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious” (4:2) and all people’s pride will be shattered. However, a remnant will be left there. They “will be called holy” (4:3) They are the people whose names are written in the book of life.
Then the Lord will perfectly watch over these remaining people. Please look at verses 6 and7.
In the great tribulation which will occur in the last days, God will severely bring judgment in order to remove the filth from Zion. In the midst of this there will be a remnant that repent and turn to the Lord. Such a remnant will in the midst of God’s severe judgment, will not be destroyed. This is because the Lord himself “will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” (4:2) Then the Lord will create there “a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night.” (4:5) Then during the day it will protect them from the burning sunshine and at night it will become a pillar of fire that will protect them from the cold. Also “it will be a shelter and shade” (4:6) and protect them. This “shelter” (4:6) is like the ozone that protects the earth from ultraviolet rays. It intercepts harmful things and protects what is in it. God will be their “shelter” (4:6) and also is their “shade” (4:6) and protects all who are under it. God will be their shade and also will be their shelter so God will protect them from all kinds of harm. Please open your Bibles to Psalm 91.
Psalm 91:1,4,5,9
Corrie Ten Boom who wrote the book, “The Hiding Place” during World War II was sent to a German Concentration camp as a political criminal and she experienced the Lord becoming her hiding place just like these words say. By many unexplainable miracles she was saved from there. She had by nature a very timid personality. She was such a coward that if a caterpillar appeared in front of her she screamed. However the Lord became her hiding place so even in the face of death, she was able to be surrounded by peace.
The Lord is our “refuge and hiding place” (4:6) so no matter what difficulties we are in, let’s leave all in the hands of the Lord, and in the peace of the Lord we can be restful. When sicknesses or accidents that you never thought about or trials over shadow you do you fall into despair and complain to God? No matter how difficult a trial, just like a father would never abandon his child, God would never leave us, or desert us. Rather, in the midst of the trial he will watch over us and give us a huge hope and encouragement. Therefore, in our lives there are big and little trials, but no matter what kind of trials come our way, let’s hold on to the promises of the Word of God, always depend on the Lord, and continue to walk the road of faith. Someday you too “will be called holy”. (4:3)
Applying it to our lives
1. What accessories are you using? Are they “outward adornment such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes”? (I Peter 3:3) Or are they from your inner self like “a gentle and quiet spirit”? (I Peter 3:4)

2. Do you believe the Lord is your “refuge and hiding place”? (4:6) What trials and troubles are you facing now? What does it mean to you to believe in the Lord’s promises?

Today let’s study together the third chapter of Isaiah. Today’s title is “God who removes”. At the end of chapter 2 Isaiah says, “Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (2:22) In today’s passage in order to show that there is no value in trusting in such humans, everything that had supplied and supported them is removed.
Today I would like to talk about three aspects of the “God who removes”.
1. God removes “both supply and support”. (1)
2. The result of depending on the wrong things is that tragedy and confusion come upon the whole country.
3. However, even in the midst of this, those who repent receive the grace of God.

I. God who removes (vs. 1-3)
First please look at verses 1 to 3.
Here it says, “all supplies of food and all supplies of water.” (1) “All supplies of food and all supplies of water” (1) are the things in our life that we can’t do without. Everyday we eat as if it is the normal thing. We drink as if it is the normal thing. In reality such food and drink is given to us by God. Even so we think that we got them by our own strength and we think we can live without God so God will take away all food and water.
That’s not all. In verse 2 it says, “the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder.” “The hero and the warrior” (2) refers to military leaders and soldiers. In Japan too there is the National Defense force and by these people we have protection against attacks from surrounding countries. Then there are “the judge and the prophet”. (2) The judges are the politicians. The prophets point the way. I don’t know for sure what is meant by prophets. I don’t know if it was the result of Israel not depending on God, but depending on man and so consequently there was no need for the prophets and so they were removed. Or maybe the prophets themselves became degraded so they were removed. I don’t know. Here they are listed with the judges so this probably refers to the prophets that had a voice in the decision of the direction the country goes. These people were also removed. For the country and for the church to have such leaders removed the unification of the whole is lost and should be a cause of concern. Such people will be removed.
Next is “the diviner and the elder”. It is interesting that the diviner would be paired with the elder. The diviner and elder share the common ground of giving a feeling of peace and security. Man has such feelings of uneasiness. The diviners and elders listen to such anxieties, and show the way. Young men and women have such anxieties about the future. They don’t know what kind of job they should take. They worry about dating and what to do about marriage. They have such anxieties and the diviners and elders give answers to their uncertainties. The diviners are very different from the elders, but they are both very respected so people can go to them for counseling. Such people will be removed.
Next, are “the captain of fifty and the man of rank”. (3) “The captain of fifty” is like a policeman and “the man of rank” (3) is like the people who work in public offices. These types of people are there so we can live with ease, but they will be removed.
Next, are “the counselor, (and) skilled craftsman”. These are people with skills. They are skilled workers like architects, civil engineers, and industrial technicians. Today that would be like scientists. Japan is especially a skilled country. With this technology we are fighting in the world. If all these technicians were removed, everything will disappear. Such technicians will be removed.
Then the “clever enchanter” is removed. These are those who make idols and also those who make curses.
God says that he will remove each one of these people. This was fulfilled later by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Please look at II Kings 24:14
II Kings 24:14
The prophecy came true when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar “carried all Jerusalem into exile” (II Kings 24:14) to Babylon in 605 B.C. However, this is not just a prophecy of the deportation by Babylon, but is also a prophecy about the age at the end of the world. When the time called the Great Tribulation comes, such people will be removed.
This happens because man does not depend upon God, but man. They depend on what they can see. Judah’s mistake was the camouflaged “supply and support” they depended on. (1) In the chapter before Isaiah warns, “Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (2:22) This is the problem. Man confounded God and the things that God made. In time more than God they depended on such things and made light of God. When they should have depended upon God, they depended upon fleshly things. We have lost our original relationship with God.

II. The result of depending on the wrong things (vs. 4-7)
Let’s look at what happens, the result, of depending on such supplies and supports. Please look at verses 4 to 7.
Tragic things will occur in Judah as the result of the removal of all the things which the people of Judah depended on. The leaders who govern Judah will change. Immature leaders with no experience will be made leaders. “Mere youths” (4) will become their officials. This is not slandering young people. This “youth” refers less to the age of youth as to the lack of experience, to immaturity, to not having ability and attributes. Children who have no interest in anything but themselves will govern the country so the country will fall into confusion.
As a result “people will oppress each other”. (5) “The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored.” (6) Respect and reliance will disappear. Fighting will never cease. Then like verse 6 says people will cry out that it doesn’t matter who it is they just want someone to govern this confused world. Here it says, “A man will seize one of his brothers in his father’s house, and say, ‘You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!’” (6) “Cloak” was a sign of material fluency. In a collapsing society, someone who has as little as a decent suit of clothes will seem prosperous enough to be made a ruler. Just because he has a cloak they ask him to become their leader. However, when they try to draft such a person to be a leader, he will reply that his wealth is only an illusion. He has no better answers than they have for the situation. Both the person who is asked and the person who asks say they have no ability and ambition so there’s no possibility that they can do it, and run away from the situation. “But in that day he will cry out, ‘I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.’” (7) No matter what happens, no one will take responsibility for it. Because people depended on other people, and in things of this world more than God, the country was confused and it invited a tragic result.

III. It will be well with the righteous (vs. 8-15)
The third point is that the solution to this problem is to repent and turn to the Lord. Please look at verses 8 to 15.
Here the cause is given as to why society is in disorder, people’s hearts are uneasy, and the whole town is ruined. That is because they defied God. “Their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.” (8)
Proverbs 14:34
People turned their backs on God and were living selfishly. That was the problem. Insolent man calls this freedom. That is far from freedom, but is a ship with out an anchor. It is instable like a kite without a string. Then from this time on people begin living life drifting about.
Such people are like verse 9 and don’t think their sin is shameful. Like the people of Sodom in Genesis 19, they don’t try to hide their sin. In Genesis 19 the people of Sodom go to Lot and tell him to bring out the two messengers of God to them. The men of Sodom said that they wanted to know them. This “to know” means sexually. For a man to know a man sexually refers to homosexual acts. They weren’t ashamed to say such things and said it boldly.
However, to such an Israel God speaks words of encouragement. That is verses 10 and 11. Let’s read them together.
That means that even so still “it will be well with” (10) those who follow the Lord God. That is because before the Lord they are “paid back” (11) for their deed of repenting of their sin. In other words, they can receive the grace of God. However, the wicked who defy the Lord God will receive disaster. That is because just as the righteous will “be paid back” (11) for “their deeds”, the wicked will receive the appropriate judgment for the evil they have done.
Romans 2:6-8
Therefore, we must repent of our sin, the condition of turning our backs on God, and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and also as our Lord. Then we must depend not upon people, but upon God. That is the meaning of a righteous person. This type of person “will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” (10) That is because Romans 3:23, 24 makes the following promise.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
All men are sinners and can’t by their own power or effort be justified. (Romans 3:24) There is no other way that we can be justified except by believing in God’s son Jesus Christ. No matter how much effort we make, or how much good we do, we can’t compensate for our own sin. It is only by believing in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and who became our redemption that we can be forgiven of our sin and be justified. We have to accept God’s salvation.
Our real problem is that when a problem occurs we try to deal with it ourselves. By our own strength we try to solve the problem. You will know whether you are trying to solve problems by your own strength by whether you are always tired and disgusted or not. When you try to solve problems by your own strength you fall into such a condition. However, God desires that you stop trying to do something about the problem and trust in God.
No matter how bad the situation, God can change the situation completely. No matter how much it looks like your life has no hope, God can bring hope. When we are sinking in our problems, God will raise us up by the strength that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and solve the problems.
George Muller who was named “the person of faith” in his lifetime took care of 9,975 orphans. During that time thousands of times there wasn’t enough money and food. However, when he felt the pressure of needs, he didn’t tell anyone about the needs, and just prayed. Then God always for sure met the need.
This happened from May 1864 until the next May. In the orphanage there were 15 big cisterns, but because of a drought the water in the water cisterns ran dry. 10 kiloliters were needed everyday for the 300 children. 9 deep wells also ran dry. On top of that a spring, that until then had never dried up even once, almost all its water quit springing up.
George Muller prayed together with all the staff and children. They prayed to God who controls the weather too, “Please send rain!” Contrary to their earnest prayers, it didn’t rain at all. However, God instead of providing rain, moved some people’s hearts and the necessary water was given. First, a farmer that had a well, helped them. When his water ran short, next a different farmer shared water from the creek that ran through his field. Such people willingly cooperated even though they had never been asked to do so. Until the rain fell and the cistern filled with water, there was not a day when the necessary water was not given.
“Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” (10) “It will be well with them,” (10) that believe in Jesus and live depending upon God. “They will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” (10)
How about you? When you have a problem, how do you deal with it? Do you try to solve it by your strength? It is sad, but more than being loving, we tend to be cold to others. More than living overflowing in joy, we feel defeated, depressed, and disappointed. More than having peace, we are tense, and feel pressure. More than having perseverance, we demand and complain, and take out our frustrations on other things and people. More than being kind to others, we do everything for ourselves. More than being a good models, we feel that don’t have any good in us. More than having the manner of a kind heart, we hit the other person with anger and complaints. It is because we can’t solve things in our own strength.
Psalm 55:22
Let’s leave everything in God’s hands. Trust in the Lord. Stop depending upon your effort. Let’s completely leave your life in the hands of the Lord. If so, the Lord will give us fruits in our hearts.
The problem is when we are going to do this. If we postpone doing so, there are times when someday is deadly. “Someday I’ll go to the dentist. Someday I’ll have the surgery. Someday I’ll spend enough time with my family. Someday I’ll be a more earnest Christian. Someday I’ll be actively involved in the work of the church. Someday…” While we are thinking this, there will be a time when someday does not come.
The important thing is now. Now believe in the Lord. Now decide to leave all in the hands of the Lord. If you do that now, this minute, the grace of the Lord’s salvation will begin.

Let’s apply it to our lives!

1. What are you depending on? Does it have more of a grip on your heart than God?

2. When you have problems, how do you deal with them? Are you trying to solve them by your own strength? What is hindering you from depending upon God?

Today let’s study from the whole chapter of Isaiah 2. The title of today’s message is “Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” which is from verse 22. Today I would like to talk about three points of trusting in God.

I. Walk in the light of the Lord (vs. 1-5)
First look at verses 1 to 5.
These are the words of prophecy by Isaiah to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah prophesized, “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” (2) “In the last days” is the Millennium which will be brought in after Jesus reappears eventually. Isaiah saw a vision of the shinning kingdom of God that will appear “in the last days” (2).
In that day “the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” (2) “the mountain of the LORD’s temple” (2) is Jerusalem. This does not mean that literally like it is written that Jerusalem will become higher than all other mountains. This means that Mt. Zion, Jerusalem will be shinier than any other mountain. That is because the Lord will be present and stand there.
Zechariah 14:4
In that day, the Lord will take with him all the saints and stand on the Mt. of Olives. “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea.” (Zechariah 14:8) It will flow out in the summer and the winter. Also “on that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.” (Zechariah 14:6) There is “no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.” (Zechariah 14:7) That is because when Jesus returns, he will be standing on the Lord’s mountain. What Jesus will do when he is standing on this mountain is written in verse 3.
When the Lord stands on the mountain, he will teach the Word of God. The Lord himself will teach. Now there are many pastors, teachers, evangelists and through them the Word of God is taught, but at that time the Lord himself will teach. The Lord will teach so there are no mistakes. I spend a lot of time preparing the message, but even so it’s still not so good. However, at this time the Lord will talk face to face with us. He will speak clearly to us. How great this will be! At that time we will hear the words that the Lord is speaking to us and will experience our hearts being moved.
That’s not all. We see in verse 4, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” This means that in that day the Lord will judge the nations and give his judgment and that will bring perfect peace. That is because God’s judgment is perfect. At that time the swords will be changed into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. Weapons of war will be tools of farming. Weapons of war won’t be necessary any more. A military budget won’t be necessary. It will all be changed into a farming budget. Now if that was done, it would have serious consequences. If that was done other countries would threaten. Therefore, all countries have to strengthen their armament, and prepare themselves for war. However, this is too colossal so every country is in the condition of screaming. However, in the last days, such things will not be necessary. God will judge the nations righteously so there will be perfect peace. Evil won’t prevail at all so women can walk at night in security. Children don’t have to worry about being kidnapped. You won’t be deceived by anyone. It will be like the Garden of Eden. This type of world will come once more to the earth. This is the Millennium. In addition the Lord says, “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.” (5)
The Lord says to the crowds who were looking at the future scene of the Lord’s house on the mountain, “Come.” (5) The Lord brings them back from the future to the present. He is urging them to put into practice. To put into practice means to “walk in the light of the LORD.” (5) To “walk in the light of the LORD” (5) is to live following the Word of God. The Israelites rather than listening to the Word of God, put the values of the world first and like the Gentiles, worshipped the things that man made. The Lord is saying to repent of that sin and walk the road of the Lord.
God asks the same of us Christians too. Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Greed is idolatry. By being greedy we commit idolatry. We put greater value on ourselves, on the world, than we put on God. What the Lord desires of us is that we climb the Lord’s mountain, listen to his teaching, and walk the narrow road. We shouldn’t be making human relationships or programs the center of our lives, but living a life of listening and following God’s word. The Word of God must be the center of our lives.
What are your priorities? By listening to the Word of the Lord, by walking the narrow road, let’s “walk in the light of the LORD.” (5)

II. The Lord alone will be exalted (vs. 6-21)
Next let’s look at verses 6-21 and how the Israelites responded to the Lord’s invitation. First let’s look at verses 6 to 9.
“Do not forgive them” (9) are terrible words. Isaiah said this because the ways of the Israelites were so terrible. First of all, “they are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines”. (6) When people don’t know what the future holds, they practice divination. Christians know somewhat through the Bible what the future holds so they don’t fall to this so much, but people who don’t know the Bible always are falling to it. Then they depend on divination. It’s been a while back but, how much money was spent on divination in Japan in one year was studied．It was more than 500,000,000,000 yen. That is how uncertain people are. I think it would be better to study the Bible! Such people run to divination more than the Bible. It’s quicker.
Not only that, but it says in verse 7, “their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures…” This is wealth. They depend on their wealth. It is like the foolish rich man who when he had enough grain and goods saved up for many years he said to himself, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19) However, then God said, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20) This type of person thinks that his life is possessions. However, when this life is taken away, the things he has stored will have no purpose.
In addition, here it says, “Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.” (7) This refers to military strength. All countries are like this, but when a country becomes wealthy, they want to make the country stronger. Then they depend on military strength. Israel at that time was the same.
Then there was idol worship. “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” (8) The land of Judah was full of idols. They worshiped things which they had made with their own hand, “to what their fingers have made.” (8)
How God will respond to such an Israel is in verse 9. “So people will be brought low and everyone humbled.” “So people will be brought low” means “Human nature will be brought low”.
Psalm 115:4-8
“Those who make them (idols) will be like them and so will all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:8) Those who worship idols will become like idols, powerless and ineffectual. Those who worship the real God, become like God. People are like what they come in contact with. Israel worshipped such idols so they became like the idols. That is what it means by “people will be brought low.” (9)
Then Isaiah says, “Do not forgive them.” (9) Their condition is such that they can’t be helped. It is a confession that there is no hope except God’s wrath and judgment.
No matter how much God tries to bless them, they don’t except it but rather refuse it, and fill their hearts with other things. Their problem is pride. If you look up pride in the dictionary it defines pride as thinking of yourself as having better skills, or appearance than other people, and looking down on others. However, in the Bible “pride” has a little different meaning. “Pride” in the Bible is not thinking of yourself as having better skills or appearance than other people, but not believing in God. It refers to not listening to God and following Him. It is thinking, “I don’t need God. I can do it myself.” Or “I’m content without God.” That is pride. If you have such pride, God will judge and such “people will be brought low.” (9)
Verses 10 and 11 say, “Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” God is the enemy of those who are proud and will violently judge so people will “go into the rocks, hide in the ground.” (10)
Also, look at verses 12 to 18.
12-18
In these verses, “the cedars of Lebanon” (13), “the oaks of Bashan” (13) and “every ship of Tarshish” are all wonderful things. For example, “the cedars of Lebanon” (13) were used in Solomon’s temple. “Bashan” (13) was a region east of the Jordan River and north of Gilead. It was famous for its oaks and animals and beauty. Tarshish was a city in the southern part of Spain. It was a port used for commercial ventures. Everything that man looks at and thinks is wonderful will all “disappear”. (18)
The worst is verses 19 and 21. Here the Lord “rises to shake the earth”.(19) This is a huge earthquake. There will be a time when the Lord will rise up and by a huge earthquake the earth will be shaken. That will occur in the great tribulation. That is prophesized in Revelations 6:12-17
Revelations 6:12-17
Eventually, in the end of the world there will be a huge earthquake. Everything in heaven and earth will be shaken. Then “people will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground.” (19) The “people will throw away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship.” (20) “and the idols will totally disappear.” (18) “the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (17)
The reason that God’s glory is not seen in this world is because man does not depend upon God, but upon divination. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon wealth. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon human strength. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon idols. Since man does such things they can’t see God’s glory. All these things come about from the pride of man. God will break down man’s pride.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Here 7 things that God detests are listed. Of them all the first one mentioned is pride. That is because the number one thing God detests is pride. It is gradually shaved downed and brought low, and “the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (17)

III. Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils (22)
Isaiah’s conclusion is verse 22. Let’s read it together. “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?”
This means that “humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (22) will soon be no more. If you quit breathing you soon die. Man is that fragile. Don’t trust in such a human. “Why hold them in esteem?” (22) However, this is a struggle. It is a struggle for Christians too. Man feels security when they hear the words of other people. Therefore they depend on man’s words rather than the Word of God. However, human words are only a breath and they soon disappear. However, that is the reason that some can’t believe in Jesus. They are depending on man. They put their hope in man. They are centered in man. That is the problem.
Someone took a survey on “What would you depend upon if your country met a crisis?” In America the most common answer was “God”. Therefore, even though it may have been for a short time, but after the Terrorist attack many people went to church. Throughout the nation people sang, “God bless America”. The book, “Left behind” was being read a lot. That was because there is a consciousness that in the end it is God that you can depend on. However, Japan is different. Japan depends upon mass media, the T.V. and newspaper. The rule of thumb is what the mass media says. Mass media is the words of men. It is depending upon man. That is Japan. This is how Japan made progress.
Gyouji Nabetani in his commentary on Isaiah says that Japan after Meiji was able to become a capitalistic society because of its reliance on scientific thinking rather than religion and on the thinking that money is the number one priority. The Japanese have lived more by human rationalism rather than by God.
There are cases where this tendency has infiltrated the church too. Good and bad are not determined by what the Bible says, but by what kind of person the pastor is, or by what kind of people are coming to the church. People are more interested in other people than in God and depend on other people’s words rather than the Word of God What other people are saying becomes the rule of life rather than what the Bible is saying. Then people are very concerned about what other people are thinking. If others say something bad then they become deeply depressed. However, what is important is not what others are saying, but what the Word of God says. We must stop depending on other people, and depend only upon God. Why hold mere humans that have only a breath in their nostrils in esteem? They are like a flower that blooms today and is dried up tomorrow. We should only exalt God who made the heavens and the earth and continues to rule over all. This is who we need to depend upon.
Before when God called Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, the words given were, “I AM WHO ＩAM” (Exodus 3:14) This means that God depends on no one to exist. Our Lord can exist from eternity to eternity without depending on anything to exist. This is who we can really depend upon. We need to depend not on “mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (22), but on our Lord. We don’t know what will happen after this, but no matter what happens, let’s depend only on Him. Then at just the right time you will be exalted.

Let’s apply it to our lives!

1. Are you climbing the Lord’s mountain seeking the teaching of the Lord? Are you running around according to the values of this world more than listening to the Word of God?

2. Human pride will be brought low. In what ways are you prideful? With a humble heart do you consider your brothers and sisters as better than yourself?

3. Are you depending only upon God? Are you “trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils.” (22) To depend only upon God, what do you need to overcome?

Today’s message is from Isaiah.  Although Israel was a people loved by God, they turned their backs on God and went away from God. As a result they became sick, and were wounded.  They were strongly exhausted from the top of their head to the tip of their toes. To such an Israel God showed the way to reconciliation.  If they will repent, God promises to forgive their sin, and cleanse them from all evil. This pattern is repeated over and over again in the book of Isaiah.

This is repeated again in today’s passage.  In today’s passage Israel is called

“the faithful city”. (21) However, “the faithful city has become a prostitute!” (21) This passage describes how Israel will be restored. Today I would like to talk about three aspects of Israel’s restoration.

1. What “the faithful city” (21) that has become degraded is like
2. The plan of God for the restoration of “the faithful city” (21)
3. What needs to be done for the restoration

1. The faithful city which has become a prostitute (vs. 21-23)

First, let’s look at what “the faithful city” (21) that has become degraded is like. Please look at verses 21 to 23.

Here God laments, “See how the faithful city has become a prostitute!” (21) “The faithful city” is Jerusalem, in other words, Israel.  Jerusalem was made to be sincere with her whole heart, to be a “faithful city” (21) with no lies.  It “once was full of justice; (and) righteousness”. (21)  Even so, it “has become a prostitute!” (21) Here God likens his relationship with Israel to a relationship of a married couple.  For a married couple the most important thing is faithfulness. The husband, God, is lamenting because faithfulness has been lost.  Israel has turned her back on the covenant that God has given her, and has become disobedient, and unfaithful.  God saw her turn her heart to idols, and is lamenting, “See how the faithful city has become a prostitute!” (21)

In the Bible with the exception of Jesus probably the person who was the most full of justice; (and) righteousness” (21) was David.  David committed adultery with Bathsheba, but towards God he was really faithful. He recognized that everything was under the sovereignty of God.  He had the chance to kill Saul when he was in the cave, but David didn’t harm him.  That is because David knew that Saul was the anointed King.  Therefore, he only cut the hem of Saul’s clothes, but even so, his conscious felt bad.  That was because he recognized that everything was under the sovereignty of God.  He recognized that the good things and the bad things, all that happens in his life, everything came from God.  That is how much he feared God and followed God.  This type of faithfulness is needed.

However, Israel was not like this.  They turned their back on the covenant they were given from God. They became unfaithful, impure, and their hearts turned to idols. That is just like silver that has become dross or choice wine that “is diluted with water”. (22)  Verse 22 says, “Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.” “Dross” (22) refers to scum produced by impurities in the metal.  When such impurities enter the silver, then it loses its value. “Choice wine” is the same.  If you add water, the taste will be weak. The easiest way to understand is to think of coca cola.  If you diluted coca cola it wouldn’t taste very good.  When something isn’t pure, but has something added to it, it’s no longer the real thing.  This is how Israel was.

The result is in verse 23.  “Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts.  They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.” The result of them being separated from God was that especially the leaders of the country became like “partners with thieves”. (23)  They “love bribes and chase after gifts”. (23) They live by instinct and become like animals.　As a result their ethics deteriorated, “dog eat dog” battles were repeated over and over again, the degradation of the government, and immorality spread. Israel refused their creator and Lord so they fell to immorality.

This isn’t just Israel. Our present day society is like this too.  When deeply sinning mankind refuses God and lives selfishly, he seeks after things that can be seen.  As a result degradation and destruction occur and their lives become confused.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.“ Matt. 5:13 Salt is of no use if it is no salty. Such salt is useless, and will be thrown outside and people will walk on it. We as Christians must fully fulfill the role as salt in the world.

We are called to be the bride of Christ and to be faithful. “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.“ Matt. 6:24 We must concentrate on Jesus’ heart and thoughts.  God wants us to be faithful. This is what Christians are called to do.

1. The restoration of the faithful city (vs. 24-27)

Please look at verses 24 to 27.

We can see in verse 24 that God is going to judge this Israel. “Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares; ‘Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.’” “Therefore” (24) refers to the fact that “the faithful city has become a prostitute!”(21)  Israel had “become a prostitute!” (21) and did “not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.” (23). “Therefore” (24) God is going to judge Israel.

Here God’s name is “the LORD Almighty” (24) and “the Mighty One of Israel”. (24)  “The LORD Almighty” (24) is a designation for God which has a military meaning blended into it.  “The Mighty One” refers to God’s omnipotence.  In other words, not matter how much power and strength the Israelite leaders had, “the LORD Almighty” (24) had far much more power and strength and will fight for “the fatherless” (23) and “the widows”. (23) Then those who were treasonous will be paid back.

However, when we look at verse 25 we can see that God’s judgment does not just occur so that they will be judged, but God’s judgment occurs for the purpose that the impurities will be taken out of them and they will be restored.

Verses 25, 26

This is a prophecy about the Great Tribulation

Daniel 9:27

Daniel prophesized that in the end times there will be Tribulation for seven years. That is for “one week” (Daniel 9:27). “One week” (Daniel 9:27) refers to 7 years.  Therefore, half a week is three and a half days, so in other words, it is three and a half years.  In the seven year period of Tribulation, in the last half, the later three and a half years the tribulations will reach the extremes so it is called the Great Tribulation.  The Jews will go through this tribulation period.  During this Great Tribulation by the suffering the scum (doss, vs. 25) will melt like lye, and can be removed. In other words, their unbelief will be removed and they will repent and believe in Jesus Christ.  They will be given a new heart that follows God. Like this all of Israel will be saved and the prophecies of the Bible will be fulfilled. Let’s look at the prophecies of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31-33

Also Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36:24-27

This is how God’s Kingdom, the Millennium will appear. During the Tribulation there will be those Israelites who repent and are given a faith in Jesus Christ and they are born again and are changed. During the Millennium they fear and honor God from their hearts. With all their hearts, and with all their soul, and with all their might they follow God’s commands.  The Jerusalem will become “the City of Righteousness, the FaithfulCity.” (26) God has a plan to restore Israel in this way.  Therefore, in verse 27 it says, “Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.” (27)

Zion will not be restored by military strength or political strength, but by “justice” (27) and “righteousness”. (27)  The NIV translation does not use the word “redeem”.  However, a word by word translation of the later part of this verse would be, “Those that return of her (in other words, those that are converted) shall be redeemed with righteousness.”  To redeem means to pay the price and buy.  The price that God paid was God’s son Jesus Christ. By the Son, Jesus Christ the new citizens who live in Zion were bought.  By repenting of their sins and believing in Jesus Christ, Zion is redeemed.  In the last days, this time will surely come.

This is what God has planned. Sometimes we too have difficult trials, but the purpose of them is not to destroy us, but so that the scum in us can be removed.  God is giving us such trials so that we will return to our pure faith “as in days of old…as at the beginning.”(26)

God always runs after those who sin and start to get off the race course of faith.  That is not to judge the person. God loves that person. God gives trials so that he can bring that person back to God’s love.

In America every year thousands of cars are stolen.  Once in Los Angeles a car was stolen. This was a daily thing, nothing special, but all of America paid attention to it.  That was because the owner of the car was planning to go to his cabin in the mountains on the weekend.  The cabin was overrun with mice so the person had prepared poisonous crackers to kill the mice with and put them in the car.  After he got in the car, he remembered that he forgot something and went back in the house.  Just then the burglar came and stole his car.

The man whose car was stolen called the police. “My car was stolen! In the car were poisonous crackers to kill mice.  If the burglar eats the crackers by mistake, he will die! Hurry and catch him!”

The police used patrol cars and every other method to try to catch the burglar. It was on the T.V. and radio. Then the man that stole the car thought that everyone in Los Angeles and California was desperately trying to catch him, so he tried hard to run away.  The police were desperately trying to catch him so he would be saved. However, the burglar didn’t know that that was why they were chasing him so he thought if he was caught that he would be brought to court so he desperately ran away.

It is the same with us.  God wants to save our lives.  Therefore, he is running after those people who have sinned and are separated from God.  That is because he wants to save us. Therefore, God gives trials and in the midst of them gives us warnings to repent and leads us to the right road. Please open your Bibles to I Peter 1:6,7

I Peter 1:6,7

We can rejoice when we are in the midst of trials.  That is because “now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials”, (I Peter 1:6) Through the trials we are purified, and we know that some day it will “result in praise, glory and honor”. (I Peter 1:7) God is making us to be like God.  This is “of greater wroth than gold… refined by fire.” (I Peter 1:7) Therefore, Paul says in I Cor. 10:13, “no temptation has over taken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Satan works to try to knock us down, but God makes it possible for us to bear it. When we have trials we may come close to being knocked down, but God always supports us, and “he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (I Cor. 10:13) We must not look at the trials itself, but at the hope that is in front of the trial.

1. To become the FaithfulCity (vs. 28-31)

Therefore, we need to repent.  If we don’t repent, God’s judgment will come upon us. “The faithful city” (1, 26) will not be restored. Please look at verses 28 to 31.

“Rebels and sinners will both be broken, and…will perish.” (28) This type of people are “like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.”(30) This is the condition of being very dried up. Then as it says in verse 31, they are like “tinder” and “a spark”. Israel is like an oak now dried up, like tinder that is set on fire and utterly destroyed. No matter how much they show off that they are strong people like “the mighty men”, (31) they will soon burn and be destroyed.  That is because they rebelled against God and do what God detests. In verse 29 it says, “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.” These “sacred oaks” (29) and “the gardens” (29) were places where idol worship took place. Prostitution was a part of these religious ceremonies. The children who were born out of prostitution were sometimes slaughtered. That is one complaint God has of Israel, “They do not defend the cause of the fatherless.” (23)  These were originally the pagan religious ceremonies of the people of Canaan.  They calmly did such things.  The recompense for doing such things was shame and disgrace.

God will restore. Jerusalem which “has become a prostitute” (1) will be “the City of Righteousness, the FaithfulCity.” (26)  To do that God will purify us. We need to remember that we have to suffer in various trials, but that not to destroy us, but is for our recovery. We need to repent and return to God. Let’s have our doubts and disobedience removed and be made into a person that does the will of God. This is the hope of recovery.  “Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.” (27)

Applying this to our lives

1. Are you living out your faith faithfully as Christ’s bride?  “No one can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:24) Who is your other master?

2.           What impurity needs to be removed from you? So that you can do that, what trial is God giving you?  Have you recognized that God is working through out your whole life for you?

Today is the second message on Isaiah. Last time’s passage describes Israel who had turned her back on God, but this time’s passage I will talk about God’s grace that makes that sin as white as snow.

At a small inn in Scotland some fishermen got together and were drinking tea. At the gathering one person threw his arms around in the air as he was telling about this huge fish that he hooked, but got away.  Carelessly he hit a tea cup that              a servant was carrying, and the cup went flying, and the white wall got a brown                     stain on it. It was a mistake that happened in an instant, but the person involved in the incident felt very bad about it and pitiably apologized over and over again. A man sitting near him said “Don’t worry” and took out a pen, and started to draw a picture around the stain on the wall. Then, a big, slim deer appeared.  That person was the painter, Edwin Landseer who was painting at that time in England.  In our lives we all more or less have stains that we want to erase.  If they could be completely erased, how happy we would be!

Today I’d like to talk about three points of having these stains erased by God’s grace.

1. To hear and follow is better than sacrifices
2. No matter how deep a person’s sin is, if he repents, God will make it as white as snow, or as white as the wool of sheep.
3. Therefore, repent and listen to God and follow him.

1. To hear and follow is better than sacrifices (vs. 10-17)

First let’s look at what pleases God. Please look at verses 10 to 17.

Here God is calling the people of Judah, “rulers of Sodom” (10) and “people of Gomorrah” (10). Sodom and Gomorrah are pronouns for a lack of morals. For the people of Judah who properly worshipped in the temple to be called the “rulers of Sodom” (10) and “people of Gomorrah” (10) was too much! God said this because they had fallen that far.  They were living a life no different from this world.  They were living such a life that God says in verse 15, “Your hands are full of blood!” and in verse 16, “Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.” They lived such lives, but even so they sacrificed many sacrifices.  They held “New Moons (festivals), Sabbaths and convocations” (13). They held “worthless assemblies,” solemn meetings for religious worship, besides the ones that God had appointed. They prayed. They prayed often, making many prayers.  They were fervent and importunate in prayer.  They spread forth their hands as men in earnest prayer.  Now we should have thought they were, and no doubt they thought themselves they were, a pious religious people.

Yet they were far from being so.  Their hearts were empty of true devotion.  Therefore, God said, “The multitude of your sacrifices-what are they to me?…I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.” (11) God also says about the sacrifices and religious activities of practicing the Sabbath and other festivals and religious meetings, “They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.” (14)  That was because the people’s hearts were not in their sacrifices and festivals.  They were just zealous for the show and form of religion. God hates this!

God doesn’t desire ceremonious religion in form only not followed by faith. What God desires is our faith. God desires that we fear God, and live following God from our heart. Lot’s of people say that the Old Testament is the law and the New Testament is faith, but that is wrong.  The Bible says from the beginning to the end in consistency that God desires faith. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:3,4.

The Bible teaches from the beginning to the end that the most important thing is faith. What is important is whether we are following the Word of God or not.  The Jews didn’t do that. They didn’t listen to God and follow Him, but offered sacrifices.  They observed the “appointed festivals” (14) and such ceremonious things. They attached great importance to the superficial things。However, God desires the insides of our hearts.

The best example was King Saul’s act of sacrificing.  It is the contents of I Samuel 15.  The Lord said to King Saul through Samuel, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.  Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (I Samuel 15:3) Therefore, King Saul attacked the Amalekites and killed all the people with the sword. However, Saul spared “the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-everything that was good” (I Samuel 15:9) and didn’t destroy them. This was because he planned to use them to sacrifice to the Lord.

Then Samuel received the words of the Lord that King Saul had turned his back on the Lord’s words.  “Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul.” (I Samuel 15:12)  As he approached the place where Saul was, he heard, “Baa-baa” and “Moo-moo” so he asked King Saul what this meant.  Saul responded, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” (I Samuel 15:15) That was nothing more than making an excuse. What God had said was, Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (I Samuel 15:3) However, King Saul didn’t do that. He selfishly was under the impression that God would be pleased with what he did. No matter who he asked they thought so too.  This was common sense.  However, that wasn’t what God had said. Then God said through Samuel, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the sin divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (I Samuel 15:22,23)

To listen and obey is important. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (I Samuel 15:22)  If you don’t listen and obey, no matter how good you look in human terms, there is no meaning to at all.  All that we do should be by listening to what God is saying, listening to Jesus’ commands, and obeying them. This is faith. Samuel didn’t do that.

In lots of cases we are the same and do the same thing.  Rather than doing what God is saying, doing something becomes the center of our lives.  By doing that we try to show that we are living in faith, and doing good.

At New Years we watched the movie, Simon Birch. Simon Birch was born as an unbelievably small baby, but he wasn’t pessimistic about it. He thought that the reason that he was born that way because he believed that God had some kind of special calling for him. He was a child of very deep faith. One time when the Sunday worship service was over, the Pastor said, “Down stairs coffee and donuts are being served so please join us down there.” Simon Birch remarked, “I don’t understand what donuts have to do with God. Who said that the church has to serve a Continental Breakfast after church?”  The Pastor’s remark was that they were going to enjoy the donuts while discussing the upcoming activities at the church. Simon Birch remarked again, “I don’t think that the Lord is interested in the activities of the church. If the church is only interested in activities then we are in big trouble!”

When I heard Simon Birch’s words, I thought he was really right.  God is not interested in our activities. He is concerned about whether we are listening and following God’s Word.  Knowing what God wants, what God thinks is good and accepts and then doing it is what God is concerned about.

Back to the story of Simon Birch, but he helps out a Sunday School camp for younger children, and the bus has an accident and plunges into the river.  Then Simon goes through a slightly open window that none of the leaders could fit through and helps  all the children out of the bus and gets them safely to shore. Before the camp his heart was wearing out, but his heroic work and the coldness of the river was just too much for his heart, and he dies. Just before he dies, he says, “There was a purpose that I was born small! I fulfilled my calling!”

He was so small so that he was able to fit through the small opening in the window and get the kids out. That was the calling that was given to him.  God gave him that calling, and for that purpose he lived.  God was pleased with him.  Simon Birch wanted to say that this is faith.

We too there are times when we are not careful and we lose the essence of faith. There are times when we focus on what we are going to do.  However, to listen and “to obey is better than sacrifice”. (22)  We need to have God show us through the Word of God and prayer what God desires and then do it.  That is faith.

1. White as snow (vs. 18)

The second point is if we repent God will forgive us. Look at verse 18.

Here the Lord says, “Come now, let us settle the matter”. (18) The word, “settle the matter” was a word used in the court.  Here God is not acting as a judge giving the sentence, but had come down from the seat of the judge to the seat of the defendant, and suggests finding together the beginning of a solution to the problem.  The proposal           that God presents for the solution is verse 18.

Vs. 18

First of all what we must know is that our “sins are like scarlet”. (18) This doesn’t say that our sins are black, but scarlet.  This is because scarlet is the color of blood. If we look at verse 15, it says, “Your hands are full of blood!” The “scarlet” of verse 18 is the “blood” of verse 15. Sin is the shedding of blood. Therefore, “scarlet”(18) is the color of our sin. It shows the stubbornness of our sin that no matter how much we wash we can’t wash it out. Our “sins are like scarlet…they are red as crimson”. (18) We have this nature. If we disregard this and make light of it, then there is no salvation. If we don’t look at this truth in the face, and try to avoid it, the Gospel will become hazy.  We want to show our good side to others.  However, the reality of sin is really deep. David Hopkins said that if we knew what was in other people’s hearts, then we will run away from our neighbors. It is all by the mercy of God, that we can be here. That’s right. People’s hearts are that crafty. In Romans 3:10-18 Paul quotes from the Psalms.

Romans 3:10-18

How terrible! “Their throat are open graves …The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” (Romans 3:13,14) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23,24) This is what man is like. We mustn’t run away from this. We have to firmly accept this reality.

However, this is not the end.  From here on is the beginning, not the end. Therefore, there is hope.  There is hope of God’s salvation.  That is “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (18) They shall be white “like wool”. (18) If we repent, and desire God’s salvation, in a moment our sins will become white. In I John 1:9 the following promise is recorded. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

David not only committed adultery with Bathsheba and got her pregnant, but he also sent her husband Uriah to the front of the battle lines so he’d be killed. When the prophet Nathan pointed out to David his sin, he recognized his sin and confessed his sin. He repented. He prayed, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7) As a result, he was forgiven. When he repented with a broken heart, God forgave him and cleansed him from all evil.  He became completely new.

God “is faithful” (I John 1:9) and full of grace so “if we confess our sins,” he “will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (18)

A while back I saw the movie, The eraser in my head.  This is the story of a woman who developed early onset Alzheimer’s disease and her husband. It is common for someone in their years to forget things, but for someone young to have such a terrible illness is very hard. She even forgets her husband. She asks, “Who are you?” Then she mutters, “In my head I have an eraser.”

The keynote of this movie is “forgiveness”. This young wife talks about forgiveness to her husband who can’t forgive his mother for leaving him.  For a matter of fact, on the wall of the couple’s house is a picture of Jesus knocking on the door. From what I heard, the movie director that made the film, wanted through the film, to share the importance of forgiveness. Jesus did this. By Jesus dieing on the cross, by Jesus praying on the cross, “Father, Please for give them because they don’t know what they are doing”, all of our sin is forgotten in the same way as that the wife whose life ended with early onset Alzheimer’s disease forgot everything.

John 3:16

God by sending his only son, Jesus Christ to this world, by putting him on the cross, he perfectly fulfilled this promise. He loved us that much.  That was so that our sins would be forgiven and we could go to heaven; so that no matter what we would not go to hell, but go to heaven.

If we believe in Jesus, all of our sins are forgiven. The sins of the past, present, and all the sins that we commit in the future, and also conscious sins and unconscious sins, all sins are forgiven.  However, it is very difficult for us to accept this.  We can’t forget ourselves.  Especially, us who grew up in a Confucian culture it is difficult to forgive ourselves. Sins that we can solve on our own we can forgive, but things that when we realize the reality of how terrible the sin is, we can’t forgive ourselves.  That is because we are completely soaked in the sin. It is the cause of depression.  However, this is the promise.  By the one way grace of God it makes completely no matter whether we are a good person or a bad person. It depends upon whether we repent and depend upon Jesus or not. If we do that God “is faithful” (I John 1:9) and He “will forgive us of our sins.” (I John 1:9) This is the one way grace of God.

1. Therefore, repent (vs. 19-20)

Therefore, the third point is to repent and believe in the Gospel.  Please look at verses 19 and 20.

There are only two choices. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.” (19)  However, “if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” (20) There is no middle ground. You have to choose one of the two.  You have to decide yourself.

The last king of Southern Judah is Zedekiah.  When he heard the Word of God through Jeremiah, he was hesitant.  He knew he had to follow the Word, but if he does he will be killed by the people. He was hesitant.  As a result his eyes were gouged out. He was bound in chains, and sent to Babylon. There are only two choices, “Willing and obedient” (19) or “resist and rebel” (20) and we have to choose one of them.  Japanese have the feeling at work in their hearts that they want to keep the answer vague.  They want to keep it vague so that they can go either way.  However, the Bible is very clear: be obedient or resist. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” (19,20)

The natural man resists coming before God. If he can he tries to do things by his own strength. He says, “I don’t need God” or “I’m o.k. I can solve the problem myself.”  He avoids God and shifts to human strength like doing good things, philosophy and studying.  However human power is no good.  No matter how much you try, you can never reach heaven.  That’s how deep in sin we are.  There is only one solution that has been shown to us. That is to repent and depend upon God. Let’s be “willing and obedient“ to what God has said.

Please choose a life that depends on God. Depend on God and repent and receive the blessing of eternal life.  When you do that, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (19,20)

Applying today’s Word to our lives 

1. Do you have the kind of faith that is “willing and obedient”? (19) In what ways or what things make it easy for you to fall into being religious in form only? Have you found the cause of this in your relationship with God?

1. Is there any sin that you need to repent of?  Have you accepted God’s promise that you “shall be as white as snow”?

1. Have you decided that even if you have to make sacrifices, to walk the road of obedience and blessings?

Starting today for a while let’s study together the book of Isaiah.  We are going to study Isaiah because it is called the Old Testament book of Romans.  In the same way that the mystery of the Gospel, and the plan of salvation are systematically talked about in Romans, in Isaiah too God’s plan of salvation appears the clearest. This can be seen in the fact that Jesus and Paul quoted the most prophecies from Isaiah. This is the reason that even though chronologically the prophecies of Amos and Micah were books that were written about the same time, Isaiah appears before them.  It is the same as Romans. Paul wrote earlier letters to places like Thessalonica, but Romans is first.  In this book God’s plan of salvation appears a lot.

In the first verse of Isaiah we see, “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Ussiah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” The name of Isaiah means “the Lord is salvation” or “salvation belongs to the Lord”.  Throughout this book he says that our salvation is not by a superpower in the North or South of us, but is from the Lord.  The Lord is salvation is the theme. Isaiah ministered as a prophet during the age of Ussiah, actually from the year that Ussiah died, 739 B.C., to the end of the reign of Hezekiah in 687 B.C. for about 53 years.

If you were to express in one word what this age was like, it would be “a very dangerous age”.  The country of Assyria rose up and united with the neighboring countries.  Then in 734 B.C. the people of Northern Israel were captured by Assyria and exiled. In 721 B.C. the capital, Samaria, fell. The Samaritans that appear a lot in the Bible are the descendants of the mixed marriages of the Assyrians that came to Samaria and married with the Jews there.

On the other hand, in Southern Judah Assyria had destroyed the towns near Jerusalem. All that was left was Jerusalem. At that time the King Hezekiah earnestly prayed for Judah and the Lord answered him.  Miraculously the Lord saved them. 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died in one night.  That was in 701 B.C. That was the Lord’s salvation. It is the contents of chapter 38.

However, King Hezekiah too, became proud and sinned. The king of Babylon heard the Hezekiah who had been sick had gotten better and sent messengers with a letter and present. Then Hezekiah showed them everything that was in his “storehouses-the silver, the gold, the
spices, the fine olive oil-his entire armory and everything found among his treasures.  There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.” (39:2) Then Isaiah came and said, “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.  Nothing will be left, says the LORD.” (39:6) Just as these words say, in 605 B.C. Southern Judah was captured and exiled, and Jerusalem fell too.

In the midst of such an imminent situation, this prophecy is spoken.  In that age both Northern Israel and Southern Judah are ruined by another country and were is a dangerous condition.  Even so if they depend on the Lord, the Lord will help them out.  God wanted to tell them through many prophets that the Lord is salvation. That’s why in this age there was a high concentration of prophets. This is because God wanted to tell them what salvation is, what the real solution is in this dangerous situation. In other words, to return to God and depend on him is the real answer.  Today I would like to talk about three things about this.

1. Israel who turned their backs on God (vs. 2-4)

The first point is what Israel who had turned their backs on God was like.  Please look at verses 2 to 4.

Isaiah begins God’s message of chastisement. Messages of chastisement or judgment are not very popular.  As much as possible people want to hear only warm messages. They want to hear messages of encouragement. However, real prophets see the judgmental hand of God in history, and from that urge for repentance. False prophets even if judgment comes upon them say, “Peace, peace” and paralyze people’s hearts, but real prophets first of all recognize sin, and urge people to devote their hearts to God. Like it says in Amos 6:1,　“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” After the Lord tears us to pieces, he heals us. After he injures us, he binds up our wounds. He doesn’t just bring a simple, superficial solution.

Here first Isaiah says, “Hear me you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken:” (2) God speaks so he can be heard in heaven and on earth because he wants everyone to hear him. This is because in Deut. it says that things are confirmed by two or three witnesses.  It is like a court case where God is speaking in front of the two witnesses heaven and earth, pleading his case against Judah so that all can hear.

The contents of the case is that “I (God) reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (2,3) The number one reason that God is blaming Israel is because like a parent brings up children, God has brought up Israel, but even so Israel acts like she doesn’t even know God, and has turned their backs on God and has forsaken him. Man is forgetful and easily forgets to be thankful, but to be reared by someone for hundreds, and thousands of years and even so to have forgotten Him is unthinkable.

When we read the Bible starting from the beginning, in the first 10 chapters events of the world like the creation and the flood of Noah are summarized.  When we enter chapter 12, Abraham is chosen and is made the people of God. The focus is squeezed down from a world wide field of vision to a small race. Then in the age of Moses the law is given and teaches them until they show the will of God in their lives in detail, and leads them.  In other words, within the whole world God brings up this child, and specially loves them only and uses all things for their growth. No matter how many children there are, Israel is special. Like a parent who only sees his own child, God keeps his gaze on Israel.

Even so they completely forgot what their parent, God, did for them.  This is even worst than animals.  “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know.” (3) This is worst than the animals.

This is a real story, but the police were trying to catch a thief and they thought of many things to do and set the cow that he kept free. The cow naturally started towards where his master was.  That is how they were able to find where the thief was and catch him.  Like this even though the cow knows his master, “Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”  God is very surprised and shocked by this lack of recognition.

God’s grief towards Israel continues in verse 4.

Verse 4

God’s sigh of grief, “ah” (4) makes our heart ache. God sighs in grief because Israel is a “sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evil doers, children given to corruption!” (4)

A “sinful nation” (4) originally means a nation that has missed the mark.  What they are doing does not meet God’s standard. A man that is separated from God no matter what kind of life he leads, in the end　he has no goal and is haphazard. No matter how industrious he is and how perfect the family is and how sincere             a life he has, if a person doesn’t know his final destination then he has a life that is missing the goal…. And is nothing more than a sinner before God.  Israel was chosen by God and the nation was given a goal of showing God’s glory but they are a people what have missed the goal, a “sinful nation”. (4)

Also “a people loaded with guilt” because their sinfulness was so great. The guilt of it, and the curse incurred by that guilt, lay very heavily upon them.  It was a heavy charge that was exhibited against them, and one which they could never clear themselves from. Their sin was a weight upon them.

“A brood of evildoers” is when you shine justice and what is right on it they are doing it is wrong. “Corruption is falling below God’s standard.  In other words, all guilt, evil doing, and corruption starts from being separated from God and being in the condition of not having an ultimate goal.

All different kinds of unhappiness and misfortunes, hurting others, deception, jealousy, discord in the family, lies and all things if we don’t begin with the restoration of our relationship with God, everything will be nothing but emergency measures. In a person’s life even if he is a politician, even if a housewife, he must first deal with the  roots of sin in his life. In other words he must begin with the restoration of his relationship with God. Then our lives won’t end only being an emergency treatment of the troubles that happen in life.

1. Strongly afflicted Israel (vs.5-8)

Secondly, let’s look at what became of Israel who had “forsaken the LORD,” (4) and had “spurned the holy One of Israel, and turned their backs on him” (4) and is separated from God. Please look at verses 5 to 8.

Israel who persisted in rebellion not only grieved God, but they hurt themselves.  Their “whole head” (5) was injured. Their “whole heart” (5) was afflicted. From the soles of their feet to the top of their heads “there is no soundness”. (6) There are only “wounds and welts and open sores” (6) Head and heart refer to man’s inner and outer body.  From the soles of the feet to the top of the head means the whole body. In other words the result of persisting in rebellion is that the whole body is strongly afflicted.  Not only that, but they can not be “cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.” (6)  That means that they can’t be treated.  How painful it is to be suffering in sickness, and tossing in pain, but not to be treated!  That is how strongly they were afflicted.

The way they were strongly afflicted is described in verses 7 and 8.

Vs. 7,8

By the attack of Assyria both Israel and Judah were “laid waste”. (7)  Their cities were “burned with fire.” (7) They looked like they were “laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.” (7)  Then when we look at verse 8 it is “like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field.” “A shelter in a vineyard” and “a hut in a cucumber field” would be like today’s hothouses. Recently hothouses are fairly strong, and a little wind and rain doesn’t knock them down, but originally the frame was weak so when something like a typhoon came, it fell down in a moment.  They were like a hothouse or shed that is verily standing in a field.  The foundation isn’t firm so just a little pressure from the outside it leans to one side. In that condition it is barely standing. Israel is that badly afflicted. Israel that used to be extremely loved by God, but now they are so afflicted that you can’t even see the shadow of God’s love.

That is what man who is separated from God, and is walking with his back towards God is like. Even so, we say, “’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.‘ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev. 3:17) This type of person needs eye medicine. Before God said to the Church in Laodicea, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Rev. 3:18)  We too need to buy salve to put on our eyes so we can see ourselves clearly and can repent.

Rev. 3:19,20

By doing that the Lord will come in to us, and eat with us. To eat together shows a really intimate relationship.  It is difficult to have a meal with someone we hate. Jesus is saying that he’ll have an intimate relationship with us.

1. The remnant of Israel (vs. 9)

The third point is even so the God of deep mercy, has left a remnant.  Please look at verse 9.

Here is the difference between Judah and other countries. Although the Lord is declaring a complete ruin of countries like Assyria and Babylon the reason that Israel will not be completely ruined is because God has left a remnant.

Here we can see one principle that the Lord has.  That is if there is a remnant of people that honor the Lord, then God does not entirely wipe them out.  Here it says, “become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” (9) This is referring to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  However, Abraham earnestly prayed that the towns would not be destroyed because his nephew Lot was there.  Therefore, Abraham prayed, “What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?” (Genesis 18:24) The Lord answered, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” (Genesis 18:26) That is because to destroy the righteous and the wicked together is not the proper thing for the righteous God to do.  Then Abraham prayed, “What if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?” (Genesis 18:27) God answered, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:27)  Then Abraham asks about 40 and God says he won’t destroy it.  Then Abraham at one time dropped the number by 10 people and prayed, “What if only thirty can be found there?” (Genesis 18:30) God answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” (Genesis 18:30) Next it became 20 and then 10. God answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:32) However, there weren’t 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. God “rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah,” (Genesis 19:23) and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. However for the one righteous man, Lot, God watched over him and his family. In other words God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

Lamentations 3:22

God loves those who love him and follow him and will never forsake us or leave us. “For His compassions never fail.” (Lam. 3:22)  “Because of the LORD’s great love” (Lam. 3:22) no matter how great the wrath of God is, those who walk believing in the Lord will definitely not have the wrath of God fall of them.  An end to us will never be announced. What a great promise! God is completely faithful, and his promises never change.

By the way, this passage is quoted in Romans 9:29. Here it is referring to the remnant.  Towards the question, “Did God reject his people?” (Romans 11:1) Paul answered, “By no means!” (Romans 11:1) In other words even if it seemed like Israel was rejected, Israel is not rejected.  God has kept a small group of people that believe in God and had follow him, the remnant.  God’s plan is that by this remnant the Israelites will be saved. By this all of Israel will be saved. God’s gifts and calling never change.

From this passage we can find a truth. That is there is definitely a remnant.  Even in this age, if pressures from the world cause many people to become separated from God and live a life completely unrelated from God, God will for sure prepare a remnant. Until the Lord comes again there will be a remnant that will firmly keep their faith, and follow God.  No matter how great the persecution or how hard the situation, by the grace and faithfulness of God there is a remnant.

The lives of a people that turn their backs on God and are separated from God  is really tragic.  However, no matter how disobedient Israel is, how much they sinned, they never lost their position as a child of God. God is leaving a remnant. God never forsakes his children. A child that leaves home, like a father that has a daughter, he put his hope in Israel, and waited all the time for them to return to Him.  God is now waiting for you. He is waiting for you to return to him. Like the prodigal son who when he returned to his mind, he remembered his father. Let’s remember that we too are miserable, separated from our father, and return to our father.  Then the Lord will say, “My son who was dead returned” and have a banquet.  That is how much the Lord wants us to return to Him.  Now you also please repent of your sin and return to the Lord. You have to begin there.  Then the Lord will forgive you and will gladly accept you. Then lamenting will be changed to joy and sorrow to dancing.