Dr. John Oswalt, Isaiah, Session 14 -- Isaiah 28-29

[Music] [Applause] this is dr. John Oswalt in his teaching on the Book of Isaiah this is session number 14 Isaiah chapters 28 and 29 [Music] let's begin with prayer father we rejoice in your goodness your goodness is new every morning rain snow fog gray clouds Sun warm breezes green grass you are the same you do not change your intentions toward us are always good and we praise you thank you that though we are often as changeable as the do you are unchanging thank you thank you for your presence here among us tonight thank you for your deep desire that we might understand your word and apply it to our lives and thus know you and know life help us lord help me as I teach help all who listen and interact help us to learn from one another speak O Father for we are listening in your name we pray amen I have for many years used a book called the one year book of hymns put out by Tyndale House Publishers I've referred to it in the past I have always loved the one for today they know the very day when the hymn was written February 4th and it was Francis haver gal's all for Jesus and the commentator William Peterson says that she had been a guest at ardently house I presume a country home I don't suppose as big as Downton Abbey but anyway a country home in England for five days and she said I pray when I came that everyone here would have an experience of Jesus before the days were over and it's true everyone here has been converted or has rededicated their life during these five days and she said I just spent all night thinking and praising and praying and these couplets came to me talking about the rest of the hymn and all I could think of was all for Jesus all for Jesus all my beings ransomed powers and then the commentator who I don't think is a Wesleyan his last sentence is this two weeks before this event she had given her life in full consecration to Christ she'd been sanctified and 14 days later she's winning everybody in the house to Jesus that's what sanctification is ultimately about so anyway great day Isaiah 28 to 29 Karen reminded me that I have this great facility for spending 45 minutes on the first chapter in 15 minutes on the second chapter so I wonder are there questions on chapter 27 before we rush on anything that you wanted to talk about and we didn't that that I should all right Taron they had their chance okay we're looking now at the next section of these lessons in trust the first section was chapters 13 to 23 and what was the theme of those chapters oh my maybe I will have to take up a truck-driving after all don't trust the nation's yes the Oracle's of judgment against the nations and God is saying don't trust them they are all under judgment from your God and several of them are going to turn in faith to your God then we looked at chapters 24 to 27 what was the theme they're continuing the lessons and trust God is the sovereign actor on the stage of history he's not the reactor it's not the nation's who are deciding what happens and then God saying well I wonder what I should do about that God is in control of history and is accomplishing his good purposes tonight then we turn to the third section in chapters 13 to 35 we saw 13 to 23 24 to 27 now we're looking at 28 to 33 34 and 35 are the conclusion so we are beginning to look at that division we said last week these chapters are rather particular talking about particular nations these chapters are somewhat more general talking about God's rule of the nation's and now we go back to particular talking particularly about Judah and Judas situation now as time has passed if you remember chapter 6 can be dated to 739 BC and we know that chapters 36 to 39 are roughly around 701 BC so these chapters between chapter 6 and chapter 36 are roughly following this chronology now not absolutely in fact the very first passage will talk about here tonight raises one question there but generally anybody remember what happened in 722 BC Sumeria fell the capital of the northern kingdom the last holdout so from this time on Judah is on her own the border of Assyria is six miles north of Jerusalem now Assyria did not occupy like we think of an army today occupying they would establish a military unit there with a military governor and they would soak the place for all the taxes they could get but it wasn't really occupation in the sense but still after 722 Judah is really the only one of these little countries with the exception of the Philistines that are still in place and so as I've said to you before Assyria is headed toward Egypt that's the ultimate goal that's who they want to get to that's the that's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and so they are coming down the coast road you've got again this Ridge that runs up sort of like that and then that that way and so the main highway comes down here and across and down the coast so here is Judah here are the Philistines and down here of course is Egypt so during these years after 722 when Samaria has fallen there's really nothing in the way for the Assyrians except the Philistines and they're sometimes a lie the Judeans so the issue is what are we going to do syria is gone israel is gone these two nations that we were so terrified back there in chapter 7 Ammon is pretty much out of the picture Moab is pretty much out Eitam is still there but they're not going to do anything for anybody the Philistines are being demolished year by year and again remember that during the rainy season the winter season armies tended not to campaign you remember David got in trouble because in the spring of the year when Kings go out to war he didn't he said his army out and he stayed home to look at the girls so what are we going to do the Assyrians might wait until after they get the Philistines taken care of but they're not going to go much farther south as long as they've got a potential enemy in their rear here so we know we're slated we're next what are we going to do and these chapters 28 to 33 are clearly focused on that time period from roughly 710 to 701 when the terror is mounting steadily as the Assyrians were not nice people they make the Nazis look nice they ruled by terror and brute force so what are we going to do and that's the challenge that is facing the Judean leadership at this time this is exactly what Isaiah had predicted back there in 735 or so chapters 7 & 8 if you won't trust God now it has the day will come when the Assyrians are flooding your nation right up to here it has happened so what are we going to do and that's what these chapters are dealing with now one of the repeated elements in these chapters is that Hebrew word that we've talked about before whoa not WH o ay but wo e now I I do not know why I wasn't on the committee but for some reason or other the English standard version translates the first floor of these as aa and then goes back to whoa for the next one so I don't know what they're doing as I've said to you before I know why they translated ah because there is no contemporary English translation for that word the best English translation is alas but it of course is archaic none of us say that but this gets the sense of grief that are frequently when we use use the word will or read the word whoa now in the Bible we often don't think of that we often just think of it as condemnation woe to you you're gonna get it and I'm gonna be glad but there is more of this sense of grief and I'm sure that's what the ESV translators we're trying to do but I don't think ah gets it either but it is there's a funeral coming here folks yeah yeah we in in the New Living Translation we struggled to try to come to some sort of a contemporary expression of it and it's it's very difficult to do but that's the idea yes there's doom ahead of you there's tragedy ahead of you and this word is repeated if you've got your Bible there the first one is 28:1 the next one is 29 one the third one is 29 15 the fourth one is 30 verse 1 the fifth one is 31 1 and this is the one where ESV now for some unknown goes back to whoa and the last one where he sv goes back to AA again is 33 1 there is not one beginning chapter 32 and we'll talk about why I think that is the case when we get there but so whoa now the other thing that we're gonna run into and we'll see it especially next week but here's the whole issue of wait and so the title that I give this subdivision 28 through 33 is woe to those who will not wait woe to those who will not wait how many of you have been so faithful at these sessions so I hope you remember what's the synonym for weight in Hebrew trust yes give that one a gold star woe to those who will not trust God in this hour of crisis in this hour of tragedy there is a funeral ahead for those who won't trust God and demonstrate it by waiting for him to give his guidance reveal his solution demonstrate his power so that's an overview of what we're seeing here two other things that I want to mention I think you'll see an increasing specificity in the woes just exactly what is the problem that we're dealing with here tonight going to be still fairly general but next week it'll be focused a little more and the week after that it'll be focused even more sharply on what's going on so that's one thing increasing specif specificity in the woes another thing that I want you to be looking for is look at the proportions between judgment and hope we can illustrate it like this I think when we start out in chapter 28 the majority of attention is given to judgment and the minority to hope but by the time you come to the end at chapter 33 the majority emphasis is on hope so there is a it's not it's not as neat as that but broadly speaking it is so you you've got almost no hope in these chapters you've got very little judgment by the time you get to 33 so those two things to watch for increasing specificity in the woes what's the problem and the shift in proportion between judgment and hope okay any any questions on that sort of rapid survey all right let's look at tonight then chapter 28 verses 1 to 6 woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim the fading flower of its glorious beauty which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine behold the Lord has one whose mighty and strong like a storm of hail a destroying tempest like a storm of mighty overflowing waters he casts down to the earth with his hand the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot the fading flower of its glorious beauty which is on the head of the rich Valley will be like a first right fig before the summer when someone sees it he swallows it as soon as it is in his hand now Ephraim is Israel the Northern Kingdom Judah is the major tribe in the southern kingdom Ephraim is the major tribe in the northern kingdom so when you see Ephraim that's code and you're talking about the northern kingdom so in other words this particular prophecy must have been given before 722 now I said on the grounds of the rest of the material here it looks like this is focused on Judah sometime after 710 so that's one of the things we'll want to think about why has Isaiah or one of his disciples an editor why have they brought it here into this section what's what's the purpose of it and we'll we'll want to talk about that as we go farther along okay now why is this crown and I think yeah I talked about Samaria looking like a crown on the top of the hill the the crenelated walls looking like a crown on the top of the hill and that was the way the cities were built they were built on Hills then when they were destroyed you simply had the rubble you didn't have any RG Letourneau to come along with an earthmover to move the rubble away you just built the next city on top of that so the natural hill built up and ultimately you've got this sort of a thing so here's this crown at the head of a rich Valley and the the valley of which Samaria is up toward the top is a very very rich Valley now why are they being judged verse 3 they are proud and what drunk proud and drunk now how do those two issues relate to each other okay when you're proud you think you can drink as much as you want yeah I can handle my liquor yeah mm-hmm till you're rolling on the floor you think you're more intelligent yes sir you're the smartest most charming person ever been around celebrated achievement yes yes I I can imagine there are some drunk people in New Orleans tonight they can't make the right decisions yes yes it's it's a it's a great irony that the rest of the world is laughing at you and you're think you're the smartest best-looking most charming person in the world and in fact you're being laughed at as a fool so here we have these two elements of Pride and drunkenness the there are two words for crown here the one is a it can be translated as a wreath number two verse three the proud wreath you know the party goer who has a wreath of flowers on his or her head and/or a lampshade and and the morning after there it is trampled in the mud and Isaiah says that's what's going to happen to your wreath of celebration your crown that you've been wearing okay now let's go to verses five and six in that day Lord of heavens armies will be a crown of glory a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate now I ask you what's the relationship between verses 1 to 4 and verses 5 and 6 what word would we use to describe that relationship contrast yes a contrast between two different crowns the crown of my drunken arrogance and the crown of the Lord and what does the Lord give when he is king justice and strength mm-hmm yes yes now I've talked about this a lot it's up there in the background but remember that again we've got a translation problem you've got a Hebrew word and the word is mish pot not a very elegant sounding word in English transliteration but the three consonants the SH consonant the P consonant and the emphatic T consonant have to do with the idea of order a judge a show fate is somebody who restores the proper order to a society and miss pot then is that proper order it will be translated it's the same word that's translated two different ways here it's translated justice it's also translated judgment both of those are not wrong but the problem is if we think that's all that's intended then it's too narrow the spirit of justice is not merely legal equity now I've know I've said this several times but repetition is the heart of Education in case you didn't get that repetition is the heart of Education so what we're talking about here is God will come as the king to establish the order in human society in creation that he intended as the creator now that'll involve legal equity of course but legal equity is only a part of what God comes to do for us when God brings mish pot into your life he restores that order that was intended to be there which drunkenness in fact flies directly in the face of just as arrogance flies in the face of so he will come as the king and he will do what these drunkards in Ephraim these leaders have failed to do okay let's push on 28 7 to 13 these also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink they're swallowed by wine they stagger with strong drink real envision they stumble in giving judgment all the tables are full of filthy vomit with no space left to whom will he teach knowledge to whom will he explain the message those who are weaned from the milk those taken from the breasts for it is as the brew kava kava kava kava and I've forgotten the next word but it's lay the lathe lathe the lathe the people have struggled ever since Isaiah wrote this to figure out what he's talking about precept upon precept precept upon precept line upon line line upon line probably isn't right probably these are nonsense syllables the one possibility is that they might be the simple syllables that could be used to teach reading and writing but it's not precept in line that's that's way that's same way too much his point is just like Paul in Corinthians you guys ought to be way past milk you ought to be on to the meat of the gospel but hey I can't give you anything but milk it's kava-kava love Bob that's all you folks are up for verse 11 for by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to his people to whom he has said this is rest give rest to the weary this is repose yet they would not hear so the word of the Lord will be to them kava kava kava cob love the love love the love that they may go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken whoa now how does this relate to verses 1 to 4 I know that well what's the answer [Music] okay verses 1 to 4 give us sort of that general picture now we're being much more particular we're being much more specific who is it that's drunk it's all the leadership that's who the priest the prophet the king the noble everybody and if that's true of the leadership what's going to happen to the people look at verse 9 they're going to be they're gonna be left in the dark aren't they they can't understand what these drunks are supposedly trying to teach them the people in with the failure of the leadership are going to be left as little babies with no understanding of what the real issues of life are Isaiah is and this is true all the prophets they are they are bitterly antagonistic toward the leadership who have failed the people and the people therefore are in this tragic situation because the leaders are and here's the question has to be asked are they literally drunk or are they metaphorically drunk are they drunk on their own pride are they drunk on their own achievements are they drunk on their own degrees I don't I answer that I think it may be both and I think it may be literal drunkenness but I think also it's very possible it's spiritual drunkenness point being they are focused on their own self gratification and not on their responsibilities to their people and the people then are in this position of infants who really yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I think that's a good point I don't know whether y'all heard that she's saying that it might make more sense if it is metaphorical because people cannot understand what the leaders are drunk on if it's metaphorical drunkenness whereas if they're really drunk Fitness it's real obvious yeah yeah he's the leader so he must know what's going on yeah yeah verse 11 the people of strange lips this is the Assyrians now a Syrian is a Semitic language that is fairly closely related to Hebrew but still it's enough different that the common people are not gonna know what's going on so he says you know since since your leaders have not taught you the truth about reality in life I'm gonna have to bring in these folks to teach you the realities of life and ask here who are some of the strange lipt people God may be speaking to us with how about Arabs and what might God be trying to say through these strange lipped people to us we think they're just our enemies we just think they're terrorists ooh out to get us and that's certainly true but at the same time it's just so fascinating to me how instantly the repentance that followed 9-1-1 disappeared churches were full for two weeks and what is God trying to say to us well how long are you gonna live in your materialism how long are you gonna live with your passion for entertainment and with your pride yes yes yes yes we're the greatest nation in the world anybody ought to know that yes yes yeah yeah you can certainly you can certainly find illustrations of that through the course of history so hear me I'm not I'm not suggesting that I think quote we deserve terrorism or anything of that sort I'm simply saying God in his rule of the world is able to use all of these kinds of incidents if we've got ears to hear if we're not drunk I'm afraid America is pretty drunk we're not listening let's just destroy those people and we'll be fine and God says well maybe you can destroy them but you won't be fine when you do all right end of sermon at this sermon anyway okay now I ask in in verse the end of verse 13 that they may go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken doesn't God want them to be healed do you remember our discussion in chapter 6 of course he wants us to be healed but like Isaiah's generation we may be to the point where the only hope is to go through the fires of judgment deliver us O Lord because we're such nice people deliver the Lord because with best servants you got deliver us O Lord because what are you going to do if we're not around to go to church for you kava-kava la strong stuff okay now look at the change in verse 14 who is he talking to in verse 14 where yes yes we have gone from talking about ephraim to talking about jerusalem my my hunch here is that isaiah or one of his disciples his editor has pulled a speech that he gave to ephraim some time before 722 which has now been fulfilled in spades and has brought it down here now to join with this section speaking to jerusalem about 710 in other words folks 15 years ago isaiah said this about samaria where is samaria today trampled on the ground like one of those party wreaths Jerusalem can you hear anything now I say I cannot prove that but it's just very interesting that the rest of this whole section is going to be addressed to Jerusalem and Judah but just these first 13 verses were addressed to the Northern Kingdom as I say I think it's been pulled in to say that one was fulfilled what do you think is going to happen to this message Oh okay now I mentioned in the background scoffer is the worst word of condemnation in the Old Testament and it is sometimes translated fool that's why Jesus says in the New Testament don't go around calling people fools now for us you know that's just a clown you fool but but here know this is the person who not only does wrong but mocks the right and they are the fool you know the psalm The Fool has said in his heart there is no God the scoffer the mocker and in psalm one you don't want to sit you don't want to walk with the sinner you don't want to sit with the wicked excuse me I'll get it right stand with the wicked or sit with the scoffer so this is strong language therefore hear the word of the Lord you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem what have they done verse 15 they have made an agreement with the devil with death now it's interesting to wonder I think there are two possibilities one is that Isaiah is mocking them he says you've made an agreement with Egypt but I want to tell you what you've really agreed with his death that's one possibility that he's mocking them the other possibility though is and I'm I'm a little bit more inclined in this direction there is a God among the Canaanites who is called death moot and in the Canaanite myths Bale the storm God and moat the god of death fight and in the early going moat defeats Bale and eats him up his sister has to go and make moat coughing back up again you know big sisters but it's it's not at all impossible that they actually have entered into a covenant with the god of death who can protect them than from death supposedly and Isaiah is saying in any case whether Egypt or this God he's gonna fail you what are some of the lies we sometimes are tempted to take refuge in military strength yeah if we've got enough armaments nobody can hurt us money money oh yes oh yes materialism yes if I've got enough money in the bank if I've got enough stuff in my house so called peace peace yes gated community God is on our side yes we've got him in our back pocket a lot of these kinds of things that prevent us from facing reality by our own lives and Isaiah says frightening Lee in many ways that's to become a scoffer you have denied real goodness and replaced it with this other stuff now again again thank God for this wonderful country of ours thank God for all the blessings that he has given to us I think though again and again of dietrich bonhoeffer z' words you can really only truly own something if in your heart of hearts you know you would be better off without it isn't that interesting as long as I think I have to have something it owns me when I know hey this is a gift if it's gone I probably be better off now I I'm talking to myself as much as I'm talking to any of you here but I think we in this blessed country are walking on the edge of a cliff and that every one of us has got to constantly be aware what is it I am really depending on again hims the the him for yesterday was Spofford it is well with my soul it's often the star is often told of him losing the four daughters on their way to England but it's not often told that in fact he had lost a fortune in the Chicago Fire and their only son had died when peace like a river attendeth my soul when sorrows like sea billows roll wow that guy knew what mattered he could lose everything and still singing oh that's where I want to be pardon the this this is it's probably not exact but it was you can only safely own anything if you can honestly feel yourself better off without it okay in verse 16 then is God's antidote you've made lies your shelter but I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion a stone a tested stone a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation whoever believes will not be in haste I always forget that last line I remember you've laid this cornerstone in Zion a tested stone yes that's Jesus and that means whoever believes will not be in haste yes there is a cornerstone that lasts that will stand regardless of what else happens and if we know that then we can live in confidence we don't have to rush off to our Egypt's to somehow solve our problems yes ting life won't topple that's Peterson yeah good okay well we come to the end yes and yeah I've spent fifty minutes on three-quarters of chapter okay we come to the end of chapter 28 with a long graphic illustration now remember that because I'm gonna ask it again next week I know because I wrote next week study guide this afternoon what is Isaiah famous for graphic illustrations he will draw an extended picture to try to make a point he did that with the women of Jerusalem back in chapter 3 with all their list of finery that they were depending on he did it again with the vineyard in Chapter five when this beautiful expensive vineyard all it produced was bitter grapes here it is again now God has been saying look the world is made to operate in certain ways if you live in a court with those ways you can be secure the world can be flying to pieces around you but you can be fixed on that cornerstone and you know who you are you know where you are you know what you are that's the way the world is made but these drunks in Ephraim these scoffers in Jerusalem they can't seem to get it through their heads no no no the world exists for me it exists for my pleasure for my desires I think always of first John he captures it so well the lust of the flesh physical pleasures all I really need the lust of the eyes if I could just own everything I see and the pride of life that's it that's it No if the pleasure is taken away if things are taken away if all positions and achievements are taken away you stand forever and I'm secure in you and I don't have to run around from here to there and the other place trying to nail it down now what's the lesson then that he's teaching in these seven verses 23 to 29 well I think it's a pretty simple lesson look at this ignorant farmer out here he doesn't have any of the education that all these drunks coffers in the capital city have but he's smart enough to know you don't Harrow and then plow he's smart enough to know you don't plant the seed before you plow he's smart enough to know you don't plant the seed in the hot summer he's smart enough to know the world is made to work in certain ways why can't you people get this through your heads yeah yeah and you see how it ends the last verse there in 28 this also comes from the Lord he is wonderful in council and excellent in wisdom yeah the world is made to operate in certain ways you live those ways you're gonna be secure you don't live those ways and Athens gonna work and you wonder why it doesn't work again you you look at our world and you say oh my I say where are you now we need you now all right four minutes chapter 29 [Laughter] erielle dunder was asking about this yesterday we really don't know for sure what that means it could be City of God Arielle arias city and L is God it could be that although if it is this is the only place it would be used that way the other there is a word REO which means a hearth and some people think that but it's clear enough that we're talking about Jerusalem the city where David encamped ad year-to-year let the feasts run their round it's not gonna do any good as I've said to you before the the problem was the people said well hey what's God gonna eat if we're not here to give me sacrifices where's God gonna sleep if his house is burned down so he's got to have our sacrifices he can't let the house get burned down and God said just watch verse 4 you will be brought low from the earth you'll speak from the dust your speech will be bowed down your voice will come from the ground like the voice of a ghost from the dust your speech will whisper that's low as the man said I'm so low I have to look up to see the worms but now look verse 5 but the multitude of your foreign foes will be like small dust and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff in an instant suddenly you'll be visited by the Lord of hosts contrast dramatic contrast and now for the first time we begin to get a longer passage of hope and it goes down through verse 8 verse 7 the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel all that fight against her and her stronghold and de-stressor will be like a dream a vision of the night so yes judgment is coming but judgment is never God's intended last word I hope when we're through with this you'll say I remember one or two things Oakes well said I hope that'll be one of them let's say it together judgment is never God's intended last word now it may be if I will not allow his refining fire to do its work judgment may be his last word but it's not his intended last word judgment is always intended to lead to repentance and cleansing and renewal and that's what you see here but then verse 9 astonish yourself and be astonished blind yourselves and be blind be drunk but not with wine I think that supports what Mary Jo was saying earlier stagger but not with strong drink for the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep here again is something that's typical of Isaiah he's whenever he presents a great picture of hope of coming Redemption coming renewal he brings us right back to the present don't don't say oh well everything's gonna be fine so I can continue in my sin there's good news at the end we win so I can live like hell and Isaiah's gonna call you back every time and say no you can't no you can there is hope out there but it's hope for people who are refined not for people who continue in their arrogance so again you get this picture of people who are ignorant verse 11 the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed when men give it to one who can read saying read this he says I can't for it's sealed when they give it to the someone who can't read saying read this he says I can't read yes and then this verse 13 is one that I can't personally get away from this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips well their hearts are far from me and their fear of me that is their behavior is a commandment taught by men why am i living a godly life well because my parents were Christian because I went to a Christian College went to a Christian seminary teach at a seminary that has an ethics statement is an outgrowth of my relationship to God oh my Savior I don't want to offend you I don't want to nail you to the cross again I want to be like you my Savior externally the two behaviors may look a lot alike but if you trace them back to their sources this one is the result of habit and pride and that one is a result of love for the Lord all right I think we'll stop there we'll pick up this next whoa next week twenty nine fifteen and we'll try to do two and a half chapters in an hour and why are you laughing let me pray father thank you thank you for words of admonition words that challenge us oh it is so easy here in this blessed country in this blessed small town how easy it is for us to draw near you with our mouths and for our hearts actually to be far far away from you have mercy upon us O Lord help us not to be those drunks who are so stupid they cannot learn even something that a farmer knows there is a way that leads unto life and there is a way that leads unto death help us Lord to be on the way of life not because we're afraid you're gonna send us to hell but because we love you for having found us in the darkness and sticking with us through thick and thin thank you in your name Amen thanks so much I really do appreciate your coming out Monday after Monday I have to do this and it would be difficult if there were nobody here so thank you [Music] [Applause] this is dr. John Oswalt in his teaching on the Book of Isaiah this is session number 14 Isaiah chapters 28 and 29 [Music]

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Length: 62min 59sec (3779 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 25 2018