Chs. 56 - 58

56:9-12

57:1-4

57:5-8

57:9-13

57:14-16

57:17-21

58:1-4

58:5-7

58:8-10

58:11-14

Recap

A. Find Out:

1. To whom does the Lord call? v.9

2. What does the Lord say about the watchmen? v.10

3. What does He call them and why? v.11a

4. What else does He call them and why? v.11b

5. What are they obviously doing? v.12a

6. What are they trusting in? v.12b

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise verse 9?

2. Who do you think the watchmen are?

3. What is God's complaint against them?

C. Comment:

     In Isaiah there sometimes seem stark contrasts. This is one of them. From the Lord promising blessing for any and all who would seek Him and unite themselves to Him, He now turns to those who are unfaithful and who deserve His anger.

     He commences with a call to the wild creatures of the land (possibly pagan nations) to come and devour unfaithful Israel. This is a hard word of judgement, but they are clearly good for nothing else. He then focuses on the “watchmen”, those who responsibility for rousing Israel, for alerting them to their state and calling them back to God. If the watchmen don't do this, then sinful mankind will fall into godless apathy and will then fall into worse things, such as idolatry and false religion.

    His condemnation of these watchmen is strong and detailed. First they are half asleep and cannot see properly. Second they cannot call out to the people, they are mute. They love to sleep and don't want to be disturbed. The very qualities of a watchman are all missing: alertness, clarity of sight and vision, and a strong voice to call to the people – all absent!

     He goes on to describe them as dogs with large appetites – self pleasing! They are like clueless shepherds who are supposed to understand the need of the sheep and the dangers that face them, but who are instead, simply self concerned, focusing on pleasure, saying, “It's all right, tomorrow will be the same as today, it's all right!” Very wrong!

D. Application:

1. God's children are called to be alert watchmen, called to warn others.

2. A concern for others will create a watchfulness.

Chapter: Isaiah 57

Passage: Isaiah 57:1-4

A. Find Out:    

1. Who perish and are taken away? v.1

2. Why are they taken? v.1c

3. Who enter what? v.2

4. Then who does he address? v.3

5. What had they been doing? v.4a

6. How does he describe them? v.4b

B. Think:

1. What surprising thing should they have wondered about?

2. What was the truth of that?

3. How were the unrighteous expressing their pride and arrogance?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has just spoken about the lazy watchmen who are not warning the people about their state or about possible enemies coming. They are missing what is happening. So verses 1 & 2 continue in this vein. You are missing what is happening under your noses and no one wonders what is going on. In the midst of all this unrighteousness, why are the righteous dying? Surely it ought to be the unrighteous!

     The Lord gives a profound answer – they are being taken away so that they will not have to experience the evil that is coming, the judgement that is coming upon the nation. Moreover they are being given peace when their hearts are in distress over the present unrighteousness. They are going to heaven to receive their reward.

     Then comes the next wave of condemnation. The Lord calls the ungodly people to account – “Come here!” It's a time of accounting! You who are idolaters, who have gone into other religions like religious prostitutes and religious adulterers, it's time for an accounting! I can see you (inferred), says the Lord. You sneer at me and my faithful ones, you stick out your tongues like rude children as you express your rebellion and disobedience. You are rebels and liars! You can't be any more clear than that! Is any one feeling uncomfortable yet? You should be, for I'm calling you to account, is really what is behind this.

D. Application:

1. Sometimes the Lord takes the righteous through death to avoid worse

     things that would come on earth for them.

2. Thank the Lord that your years are in His hands, and only His!

Chapter: Isaiah 57

Passage: Isaiah 57:5-8 

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord say they have been doing? v.5

2. How does He expand on that? v.6

3. What does He ask at the end of that verse? v.6

4. Where also had they gone to do this? v.7

5. What also had they done? v.8a

6. How does He further describe what they have done? v.8b,c

B. Think:

1. What do these verses condemn?

2. Why was that so bad, do you think?

3. How do these verses expand on verse 3?

C. Comment:

     The mixture or variety of these chapters is amazing. There is blessing and assurance, but there is also terrible condemnation and judgement. These verses fall into the latter category.

     In verse three the Lord had described the people as adulterers and prostitutes. The meaning is clearly spiritual and today's verses expound that verse. In verse 5 the Lord reveals their heart attitudes: they desire other ‘gods', they desire other spiritual experiences (like the New Age?), and they even go so far in their pagan idolatry as to sacrifice their children to these gods. They set up these idols in the seclusion of ravines (v.6) but also on open hillsides (v.7). They pour out drink offerings and food offerings to these lifeless pieces of wood as if they were living replicas of the Living God. At home, they have these things as well (v.8), they are everywhere! It is like they climbed into the bed of intimacy with foreign gods, who are in reality, no gods. But this is the folly of the people.

     But today, do we place reliance on things, organisation or whatever that are lifeless and cannot bring life to us? In a world with so many material goods, it's so easy to turn goods into gods. The leap from these idolaters is not so big as we might think! The awfulness was that they had received such a revelation of the Living God and turned to lifeless replicas of gods that actually don't exist and set their hearts on them and not God. Was it because subconsciously they could control the gods?

D. Application:

1. A god can become anything that replaces God.

2. May the Lord be our only spiritual heart desire.

Chapter: Isaiah 57

Passage: Isaiah 57:9-13   

A. Find Out:

1. To which false god had they been? v.9

2. What had happened to them? v.10

3. What does He then ask of them? v.11a,b

4. What answer does He suggest Himself? v.11c

5. What does He say He will do? v.12

6. To whom does He say they should go for refuge? v.13a

7. But who will be blessed, and how? v.13b

B. Think:

1. How had idol worship not answered their needs? (v.10)

2. What was so surprising about all this? (v.11)

3. Why was it all so futile? (v.12,13)

C. Comment:

    Molech (v.9) was one of the false gods of the surrounding nations who they had apparently followed with offerings of oil and incense. Such idolatry is spiritual death! Yet this false worship had done nothing for them. The burdens of life had got greater and greater and the false god had not helped. Yet they had rallied their strength and persisted in their stupidity!

     Why, the Lord asks, didn't the fear of the Lord draw you to me? What was the fear you had that was greater than the fear of the Lord, that drew you to idols? Did you assume I wasn't there because I have been silent. (When the Lord is silent, it is a time of testing for us, a time when we should be calling all the more for Him!)

     The Lord then threatened to expose them, even their goodness, for what is was. Their righteousness will be seen to be shallow and false. When the time of crisis comes they will only have their worthless idols to turn to, and suddenly they will realise that they are nothing but mere wood and unable to help. Oh no, says the Lord, the only ones who will receive help will be those who take refuge in me! These, and these alone, will be the ones who will remain in the land and will remain in fellowship with me in the land.

     The futility of their idol worship is exposed and condemned for what it is, pretence, relying on something that isn't there, relying on outward appearance but no reality. This indeed is folly.

D. Application:

1. The Lord is our refuge. May we have no substitutes.

2. Anything else is deception and will be proved worthless.

Chapter: Isaiah 55

Passage: Isaiah 55 :14-16

A. Find Out:

1. What is then said? v.14a

2. Why? v.14b

3. How is the Lord described? v.15a

4. Where and with whom does He live? v.15b

5. What will he revive? v.15c

6. What will He not do and why? v.16

B. Think:

1. Why is the Lord instructing ‘road building'?

2. Summarise verse 15.

3. What is the objective of verse 16?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has just been speaking devastating words of condemnation of the folly of idolatry in the land. He IS going to deal with them! But now comes a word of hope. There is coming a time when it will be said, ‘Make a clear path for the people of God to come back to Him.' Why will that be? The Lord explains.

     Yes, He says, I am the One who is above all others, Holy and distinct and separate and out of reach, but I do come and dwell with those who will bind their hearts to me (56:6) and who will also be holy. These people will be a contrite people. Contrite hear is the same as ‘crushed of 53:5, meaning one who has been crushed down to size by the weight of the burdens of life, who has come to see their folly and their need. They are ‘lowly of spirit', meaning humble. Their pride has been dealt with and they see themselves realistically as they are. These are the people the Lord comes to and (by implication) expects to respond to His dealings with Israel.

     These people the Lord will come to, for He doesn't want to leave them in their low state, but He wants to revive them. He won't keep on at them for that would simply wear them down. His intention is not to wear them out with His chastising words, but to restore them to Himself and to lift them up. This is the Lord's hope, that His actions will have these results in the lives of some of His people at least. There IS hope for them! It is the hope of restoration AFTER repentance. Repentance is their side, restoration, God's.

D. Application:

1. Failure is not the end. With God there is always hope.

2. Repentance will always receive a good response from the Lord.

Chapter: Isaiah 56

Passage: Isaiah 56:17-21

A. Find Out:

1. How was God upset, but what happened? v.17

2. Yet what did the Lord say He would do? v.18

3. What will that result in? v.19a

4. What does the Lord speak? v.19b

5. How does He describe the wicked? v.20

6. So what does He say about them? v.21

B. Think:

1. How do these verses appear to speak to the whole of mankind?

2. What is their state, but what will God do?

3. Yet what is He unable to do?

C. Comment:

     In the previous verses it was unclear whether this applied to Israel or to mankind in general, but now these verses seem to clarify that it is to sinful mankind that the Lord is speaking. There was sin which the Lord punished yet mankind kept on in their sinful ways. There seemed no hope for man.

     Then God declared His heart: He would heal, guide, restore and comfort man so that praise would come from those who would become the people of God. The Lord speaks peace to all who would respond, wherever they are, there in Israel or in far off places in the world. He will come and bring healing to them. There IS hope.

     But then comes what almost appears a contradiction: a description of the wicked for whom there is no hope. They are like the heaving sea, says the Lord, and in the same way that that cannot be at rest, so those who are continually wicked cannot have peace, it's simply not possible. Peace is the opposite to what they feel. This is an amazingly revealing picture. It's not that the Lord doesn't want to bring peace to them, it's that while they maintain their heaving minds, those minds cannot be at peace.

     The passage clarifies the state of mankind and God's purposes for it. Mankind is sinful but the Lord wants to bring peace to us. Yet it is impossible to be at peace when there is tumult at the same time – they are mutually exclusive, so if there is to be peace, wickedness must be abandoned and the Lord's way of righteousness received. Then, and only then can there be peace.

D. Application:

1. Don't ask for peace when you are living in sin. It can't be.

2. God's grace is there for the sinner, but repentance must come.

Chapter: Isaiah 58

Passage: Isaiah 58:1-4

A. Find Out:

1. How was Isaiah to speak? v.1a

2. What was he to do? v.1b

3. What had Israel appeared to do? v.2

4. What had they done? v.3a,b

5. Yet what also were they doing? v.3c

6. How did their fasting end? v.4

B. Think:

1. How were Israel appearing to be spiritual?

2. Yet what were they doing at the same time?

3. What was the Lord's conclusion?

C. Comment:

     Yesterday we saw how the Lord was saying that although He was coming to bring peace, peace could not exist in the wicked whose heart was constantly turbulent. Now today the Lord speaks against something else that cannot be.

     He starts with a call to Isaiah to expose what the situation is. There is rebellion and sin in Israel. Then what comes is a total surprise. The people are appearing to be completely spiritual, indeed highly spiritual! The seek after God, they ask God for guidance, they fast and apparently humble themselves. In all these ways they appear very spiritual!

    Appearances can be very deceptive! The reality says the Lord is that their hearts are obviously not right for their exploit their workers and they squabble and fight among themselves, even breaking out into violence. On the one hand there are “spiritual exercises” being carried out while on the other there are acts of unrighteousness! What is going on here? Here is a people who are self-centred and who are seeking to use God. It is a very common feature, even today, of a people who know deep down that they need a relationship with God, but who nevertheless want to be in control, want to still carry on exercising their own will, doing what they want, how they want.

     The truth is that spiritual exercises should come out of a right heart and if they don't then they are merely a ‘window dressing' being used to make the person look good while in truth they are not!

D. Application:

1. Does my Bible reading come out of a love for God?

2. Am I surrendered to God or is this window dressing?

Chapter: Isaiah 56

Passage: Isaiah 56:5-7

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord now ask? v.5a,c

2. What three signs of fasting are given? v.5a,b

3. What does He then ask? v.6a

4. What does the Lord suggest are proper signs? v.6b,c

5. What further does He suggest? v.7

B. Think:

1. What signs of fasting was the Lord saying were inadequate?

2. What did He say fasting should be accompanied by?

3. Summarise the point that the Lord is making.

C. Comment:

     In these verses we find the Lord putting the axe to the root of “religious activity”. He has already said this people appear to seek Him (v.2) yet are showing signs of unrighteous attitudes (v.3c,4a) and has concluded that they cannot expect to be heard by Him like this (v.4b).

     Now He details what He sees them doing in their “fasting”: apparently humbling themselves, bowing their heads, lying on sackcloth and ashes. All of these things are outward religious expressions to show the watcher just how sincere they are. The only trouble is, that the rest of their lives are completely contrary to this.

    So the Lord then details what He considers to be important: dealing with injustice, letting the oppressed go free, providing for the poor and hungry, looking after those in your family; these are the issues the Lord holds before them.

     What is He saying? You can do all you like to ‘look spiritual' but spirituality isn't something you just do on a Sunday or in some other religious environment, it is something that should pervade every area of your life, so that your life is righteous in every way. This was Jesus' main criticism of the ‘religious' people of his day, that they appeared one thing on the outside but on the inside they were quite different. Outside is to be a true reflection of the inside, or to put it the other way round, we are to ensure that our inner attitudes are right so that the good things we do in life are a true expression of what we have allowed the Lord to do in us, on the inside.

D. Application:

1. Are there two ‘me', one on Sunday, one for the rest of the week?

2. Do I try to make up on Sunday for the rest of the week?

Chapter: Isaiah 58

Passage: Isaiah 58:8-10

A. Find Out:

1. What are the first consequences of true fasting? v.8a

2. What are the second? v.8b

3. How will it affect our relationship with the Lord? v.9a

4. What is to be stopped? v.9b

5. What is to be done instead? v.10a

6. What will then happen? v.10b

B. Think:

1. How are righteous and unrighteous behaviour contrasted?

2. How will this affect our relationship with the Lord?

3. How will this affect us personally?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has just chided Israel for their appearances of spirituality while in fact maintaining unrighteous behaviour. There is a small repetition of this in these verses (v.9b,10a). Negatively He says to do away with oppression, with the pointing at others and speaking badly of them (in other words, treating others badly), and instead give yourselves for the care of the poor and oppressed. The way we treat other people has a direct relationship to the way the Lord view us and treats us. Righteous behaviour in respect of others is to be an expression of our relationship with the Lord.

     But in these verses the Lord gives us the consequences that will follow if we do live in the way He says. First, light (or life, which light so often represents) will burst forth (v.8a). There will be a sudden change in them which will be seen. Then healing will come (v.8a). Whether this is healing of their relationship with the Lord or literal healing, isn't specified, but health will come as part of the blessing of the Lord. Third, their righteousness will be seen (v.8b) and, fourth, the glory or presence of the Lord will come an act as their protection (v.8b). Fifth, there will come a new closeness in relationship with the Lord (v.9a) so that when they cry for help He will speedily answer them. Finally (v.10b) in these verses, He says it will be like daylight will come to all their dark places so (implied) they will see and live in new ways. They will not stumble around but will live guided purposeful lives in their restored relationship with the Lord.

D. Application:

1. Do we pay attention to how we treat others? Is it righteously?

2. Are we living in the light? (1 Jn 1:5-7)

Chapter: Isaiah 58

Passage: Isaiah 58:11-14

A. Find Out:

1. What 3 things will the Lord do? v.11a

2. What will they be like? v.11b

3. What will the people do? v.12a

4. What will they be called? v.12b

5. How are they to treat the Sabbath? v.13

6. What will the Lord then do for them? v.14

B. Think:

1. How is provision one of the outcomes of obedience?

2. How is restoration another?

3. Why do you think Sabbath keeping was an important issue?

C. Comment:

     The Lord continues to elaborate the blessings that will follow if they will stop being concerned with external religion and focus on true righteous behaviour towards one another.

     The first thing in these verses is that the Lord will guide them, provide for every need and strengthen them. This is a very real and practical list of blessings that come from a good relationship with the Lord. The end outcome for them is that they will be like a garden with a never ending spring that waters it – that is always lush. What a wonderful picture!

     The Lord then goes on to declare that they will then become restorers of what was broken down in the past. Not only the physical structures that were broken down by the enemy (the city), but also the structures of society that are essential to bring order and blessing, will no doubt be the things that are restored when a right relationship with the Lord is re-established.

     Then the Lord focuses on the way they treat the Sabbath. Note within this the words that indicate motive for behaviour. The Lord doesn't want just external behaviour, He wants reality: “delight” – its use comes from the wonder of their relationship with the Lord. “honour” – actions indicate how they esteem the Lord. The indication is that they use it as the Lord has said in the past, putting Him first and foremost. When they do this, it will be an indication of the quality of their relationship with the Lord. Outward behaviour will follow heart cries.

D. Application:

1. Am I like a well watered garden?

2. Is God my guide, my provider, my strength?

RECAP - "Diagnoses of Israel's Sin" - Isaiah 56:9 - 58:14

SUMMARY :  

- God's condemnation of Israel 's ‘watchmen' (56:9-12)

- Death being an escape for the righteous (57:1,2)

- Condemnation of the idol worshippers (57:3-13)

- God's hope for those who are contrite in spirit (57:14-21)

- Israel 's rebellion while looking good (58:1-3)

- God's condemnation of their fasting (58:3-5)

- The sort of fasting God is looking for (58:6-14)

COMMENT :

LESSONS?

PRAY :

PART 3 : "The Lord Comes to Fallen Israel "