PITP #06

The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah... Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. For the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people does not consider... Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been like Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

God stands as prosecuting attorney against His own people — and yet pleads for them to come, wash, and be made white as snow.

Isaiah the Seer and His Times

This passage opens powerfully. We read that it is the vision of Isaiah, something he saw. Many of the Old Testament prophets were called seers because they saw what others did not. In 1 Samuel, when Saul was searching for his father's lost donkeys, his servant suggested they consult the seer in the city — that seer was the prophet Samuel, the last judge over the nation.

Not all the prophets received visions. Some simply received words from the Lord, like Jonah, who was told to go to Nineveh and proclaim judgment. Amos was a fig picker from Tekoa to whom God spoke through a basket of plucked figs. As the author of Hebrews said, God in times past spoke to our fathers by the prophets in many diverse ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He made the heir of all things. So God speaks in various ways, and many of His prophets saw visions — Daniel's are powerful, Ezekiel's are rather odd, and Isaiah's are very graphic.

Isaiah primarily spoke to the southern tribes. After Solomon's son Rehoboam refused the people's plea for kinder treatment and promised to be harsher than his father, the nation split into the northern ten tribes and the southern two tribes, Benjamin and Judah. By Isaiah's day many kings had come and gone. If you want to study the surrounding history, read 2 Kings 15 through 21 and 2 Chronicles 26 through 33.

Isaiah had a long ministry, prophesying under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, all kings of Judah. Many Bible students believe he also prophesied under Hezekiah's son Manasseh, and tradition holds that Isaiah was killed during Manasseh's reign — placed inside a tree and sawn in half. Hebrews 11 speaks of those "sawn asunder," and many believe this refers to Isaiah. Like many Old Testament prophets, he was ridiculed, mocked, persecuted, and ultimately killed for his message. A prophet's life was often a short one.

The Courtroom Opens

We don't know much about his father, Amoz. Some believe Isaiah was of the royal family, which would explain his access to the kings. The book opens in a powerful way, with God standing as the prosecuting attorney against His own people. The courtroom opens in verse 2: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth." It is as if God stands before the jury — the heavens and the earth — while the nation of Judah sits in the defendant's seat. He declares, "The Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they've rebelled against me."

Over the past weeks we looked at God tenderly bringing His people out of bondage in Egypt after over 400 years of slavery. Then He cared for them in the wilderness even though they were the biggest complainers on earth, constantly crying out for food and water, murmuring like children on a long trip: "Are we there yet? Can we stop?" Yet God faithfully and graciously brought them to the promised land and fought their battles for them. He was to be their King, leading by judges, but they rebelled and finally demanded a human king. Most of their kings completely departed from God.

As you go through Isaiah, you find that so goes the leader, so goes the people. God says, "Your leaders cause you to err." The kings, the prophets, and the priests all turned away — whether the politics of the nation or its religion. By this time, 2,700 years ago and 700 years before Jesus, the northern ten tribes were completely filled with idolatry and sorcery; they never had a good king. The southern tribes occasionally had a good king, but for the most part their kings were wicked and led the people astray.

The Indictment

Notice the indictment in verse 3. God uses a striking illustration: "The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib, but Israel does not know. My people do not consider." Even the brute beasts know where to turn when hungry, where to find satisfaction. But Israel had no idea where to go — largely because of their wicked leadership.

In verse 4, God cries, "Ah, sinful nation." Underline that word; in some Bibles it reads "Woe," which is a better translation. For the book of Isaiah the most fitting definition of woe is "judgment is certain" or "judgment is coming." These are the same kinds of words other prophets used. The last prophet of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, said, "Brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the wrath to come?" Here it is "seed of evildoers... children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord... and they have gone away backward" — literally, they have backslidden.

The Father Pleads

Having declared their sin, the prosecuting attorney now cries out like a loving father in verses 5 and 6: "Why should you be stricken anymore?... From the sole of your foot, even to the top of your head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores... not closed up, neither bound, neither mollified with ointment."

The picture of these sores is that of a leper. In Scripture, leprosy is a type of sin. It is a disease that attacks the nervous system, often internal at first, so that as a person loses feeling in their fingers and toes, they injure themselves without knowing it. Over time they become gangrenous, losing fingers and toes — it has even been said that rats would gnaw at their extremities in the night without their feeling it. God says these sores have not been mollified with ointment or bound up. Who was to bind them? The Great Shepherd of Israel, our God and Father, longs to bind us when we are bruised and broken — yet they had turned from Him, so there was none to bind them.

The Vision of Desolation and the Lone City

Verse 7 declares their country desolate, their cities burned, their land devoured by strangers. These things had not yet come to pass — this was a vision. I believe it came during the reign of Uzziah, when on the surface Judah looked fine, prospering and enjoying relative peace under a strong, largely good king. But when we reach chapter 6, Uzziah dies — and the way he dies is sad. Late in life his heart was lifted up with pride, and he insisted on entering the temple to offer incense like a priest. Though priests withstood him, no man could stop him — but as he came into the temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead, and they had to carry him out, for no unclean person could be there. He died a leper because of his sin. Isaiah only says, "In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up," but Kings and Chronicles give us the backstory.

Beneath the surface prosperity, Isaiah sees the nation completely desolate — the vision of what comes to pass in chapters 36 and 37, when Assyria under Sennacherib devastates every city of Judah but one: Jerusalem. In verse 8 the daughter of Zion is left "as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." Think about it: cucumbers don't grow on majestic trees; they sprawl across the ground in a funky little shrub. If you wanted to hide, you wouldn't camouflage yourself in a cucumber field. Yet that is the picture — Jerusalem left exposed, unprotected, a besieged city standing alone amid total destruction.

Verse 9 is the key: "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a small remnant, we should have become like Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." If not for God, Judah would have been wiped off the earth.

Like Sodom and Gomorrah

In verse 10, God calls His people — those who had the temple, the city, and the law given through Moses — "you rulers of Sodom... you people of Gomorrah." We know Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 18 and 19. Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, and after a famine drove him briefly to Egypt, he and his nephew Lot returned to Canaan. To end the contention between them, Abraham let Lot choose, and Lot chose the plains of the Jordan near Sodom. Those cities were exceedingly wicked, and the cry of them rose to God — likely from righteous Lot, who first camped outside Sodom, then dwelt in it, then sat at its gate as a leader. Two angels went down and were taken into Lot's house for protection from the wicked men of the city.

We sometimes think Sodom was destroyed simply for their wicked lifestyle, but Romans shows that lifestyle is the result of a sinful heart. What was the underlying sin? Ezekiel 16:49 answers: "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness was in her heart... neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy." They were proud, gluttonous, lazy, and unloving toward their neighbors. Verse 50 adds, "They were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away as I saw good." In Genesis 19, God rained flaming brimstone — like burning road tar — and five cities were destroyed in a day, their smoke rising like a furnace.

Worship God Will Not Receive

To His own people in Judah — who had the priesthood, the law, the line of David, and the temple — God says, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices?... I am full of your burnt offerings... Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me. The new moons and the Sabbaths... my soul hates... And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, and when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Why? Because your hands are full of blood."

These were the religious people who believed themselves righteous. They kept the feasts, the fasts, the new moons, the Sabbaths; they offered incense. But because of their wicked hearts, their worship had become wicked and their sacrifices had become sin. God says, "Everything you do to me — even though you go to temple, even though you go to church — is wicked to me, and I will not receive it. Even if you cry out, I will not hear your prayers."

The Call to Repentance

Then, in verse 16, comes the call of every Old Testament prophet — the call of repentance: "Wash, make clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

How does one wash and make clean? Scripture makes clear that only God can make us clean. In this very book, all our righteousness, all our good works, are as filthy rags before God. If even our good works are unrighteous, what can we possibly do to make ourselves clean? Only be cleaned by God. So He says, draw back to me; learn to do well; come, let us reason together. Verse 18 is a wonderful memory verse.

Verse 19 promises blessing in obedience: "If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." It is not the works of the law that save us — no good deed can save us — but God has given a promised blessing to the willing and obedient. "But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." There are blessings in the law, and there are curses (Deuteronomy 28–29; Leviticus 26).

Judgment for Purification

Verse 21 mourns, "How is the faithful city become a harlot?" Once dedicated to God, she now ran after every false god under every tree and high place. Once full of justice, now full of murderers. Verse 23 says her leaders loved bribes, loved gifts and rewards, and so brought no right judgment, neglecting the fatherless and the widow.

Therefore the Lord declares, "Ah" — Woe — "I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of my enemies." Notice He now calls His own people His enemies. James tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God; these had made themselves friends of the world. "I will turn my hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin." How does a refiner purge dross? By the fire. He puts the precious metal into the refining fire so the impurities rise and can be cleansed away. Fire in Scripture is always related to trial and tribulation — but here the fire is for purification.

Note this: God's judgment, God's fire, is always for the purpose of purification. He had already promised a remnant in verse 9. He is so faithful and gracious that He always brings forth a remnant from judgment. After the purging come restored judges, and "afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city... Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." Yet the transgressors and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed, ashamed of the oaks and gardens they desired — a reference to their idolatry in the groves and high places — burning like an unquenchable fire.

Application to Our Nation

Why are we looking at this heavy passage? Contextually it was spoken to Judah 2,700 years ago, because from king to commoner, from priest to congregant, every individual had become unrighteous, mingling with the ways of the world. God says, "Even though you are my people, even though I've loved you like a father, I will judge you." Yet this has application for our nation today.

If God would judge His own chosen people, will He not judge America? Many in our nation, and in this world, presume that God will never judge them because He is a loving God. And He is a loving God — He is good, He is awesome — but He is also righteous and holy, and His holiness does not simply clear over guilt. Israel's sin was hidden and almost justified; the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was right out in the open. Billy Graham once said that if God does not judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe judgment will come, and in some ways already has.

I don't say this only to scare you — though maybe I do — but to bring us back to verse 16. This is the good news: "Wash, make clean... come now, let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." This was the call of the prophets of old and of preachers throughout church history: turn to God while there is time. He is gracious, merciful, longsuffering, not willing that any should perish — but He is also just and holy and will judge sin.

Our nation is not very different from Judah 2,700 years ago — a people abundantly blessed by a loving Father, yet largely departed from Him. There is always a remnant who serve and seek God, but the overwhelming majority have turned away, and now they no longer hide their sin; they parade it openly for all to see.

The Vineyard of Chapter 5

Turn to chapter 5. "Now I will sing to my wellbeloved a song concerning his vineyard." God fenced it, cleared its stones, planted the choicest vine, built a tower and a winepress, and looked for good grapes — but it brought forth wild, poisonous grapes. He asks Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard: "What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?" Therefore He will take away the hedge and break down the wall — removing its protection — so it will be eaten up and trodden down, no longer pruned or watered. Verse 7 makes it plain: "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry."

As we saw last week in Isaiah 19, when God moves in judgment He removes the things a nation trusts in, removes its protection, and the enemy comes in like a flood. So here He removes the vineyard's protection and ceases to weed, prune, and water it.

A String of Woes

Verse 8: "Woe unto them that join house to house and lay field to field, that there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth." Certain destruction comes on those who build up great estates to isolate themselves from everyone else. And the Lord declares that many houses shall be desolate and empty — even great and fair ones without inhabitant. Notice how interesting this is: verse 8 speaks of piling up real estate, and verse 10 says many houses shall be desolate. Do we see that in our nation today — so given to building economic wealth through real estate, now reaping foreclosures and empty homes? God's word stands true.

Verse 11: "Woe to them that rise early in the morning that they may follow after strong drink, that continue until night till wine inflames them... but they regard not the work of the Lord." Verse 12 follows: "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge... and hell has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure." Woe to those who rise early only to live for pleasure and party all night long; they are brought low while the Lord of hosts is exalted in judgment, and God who is holy is sanctified in righteousness. Then comes a remnant — "the lambs shall feed after their manner."

Verses 18–19: "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart and a rope, that say, Let him make speed and hasten his work, that we may see it." These are people who do not hide their sin but parade it behind them on a cart for everyone to see, all the while mocking toward heaven, "Where is God? I thought He was going to judge this. Obviously there's no God, because He hasn't shown up." Do we see these things in our nation?

Verse 20: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness." Are there those in our nation who call wickedness good, who say the good word of God is hate speech, and who say the wickedness of murder through abortion is acceptable? Verse 21: "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes" — professors of great wisdom who deny God. Verse 22: "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine... which justify the wicked for reward" — speaking of judges and leaders who take bribes. A study some years ago found that the city in our nation that per capita consumes the most alcohol is Washington, D.C.

Verse 24 speaks of complete destruction "because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." When a person disregards and despises the counsel of God's word, these things follow.

His Hand Is Stretched Out Still

Verse 25: "Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people... and for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." The picture is of God ready to strike — He has struck once and is ready to strike again. He lifts up a banner to the nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth, and they come with terrifying speed: none weary, none stumbling, none slumbering, their belts not loosed and their sandal-straps not broken, their arrows sharp and bows bent, their horses' hooves like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind, roaring like young lions, seizing the prey so that none can deliver. And if one looks to the land, there is only darkness and sorrow.

These are scary words spoken to the people called by His name, and they had not yet come to pass. Isaiah spoke of the coming Assyrian invasion years before it arrived under Hezekiah. Though it came in the form of an invading nation, it was still the judgment of God, His hand prepared to strike because they had departed from Him. None would be guiltless, and there was only one shelter — to turn to God in repentance. If they would turn, He would restore them, purge away the dross, make their sins white as snow. But by Isaiah chapter 36 we find they would not turn.

The Coming Judgment and Our Calling

I believe God is raising up in our nation today people to give that same call: turn to the Lord, for refuge is found only in Him. Will He judge America? In some ways He already has and is. Will He completely judge America as He did the people of this passage? I do not know. But this much is sure: Hebrews tells us it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. Every one of us will stand before this God who speaks in Isaiah, and the books will be opened. Oh, that you, that I, and all we meet would be written in the Lamb's Book of Life rather than in the books recording all our deeds — that on the day of judgment we would stand with Jesus by our side as He says, "Forgiven." That is the glorious gospel.

This whole world abides under God's judgment because of sin. No one is guiltless — not you, not me. The law shows us all guilty, and refuge is found in only One who calls us to draw near and find the forgiveness only He can give. I share this because it is my desire that God would raise up from this church men and women who boldly proclaim these truths, even though they may mock you as they mocked Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Amos, Haggai, Zechariah, Zephaniah, and Malachi. They chided, beat, and killed the prophets, yet the prophets still spoke — because God is a God of love who does not desire that any would perish.

One day a group came to Jesus and tried, as men often do, to shift the focus of sin onto others, asking about those on whom the tower fell. Jesus said in Luke 13, "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish." Man is always shifting focus: "What about the pygmies in Africa? What about Hitler, who was more wicked than me?" Yes, you may be better than that man — but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. The day of judgment is fast approaching, and we have the words of eternal life.

A Good Report and a Great Cloud of Witnesses

Oh, that when we stand before the Lord, He would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I have no doubt that we who know Christ, whose sins He bore on the cross 2,000 years ago, will be with Him forever — but I want to give Him a good report on that day, and I want to be standing there with multitudes who accepted the Lord because we shared the truth. Paul said this was his hope. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19 he wrote, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy." Paul knew he was going to heaven, but his rejoicing was that his converts would be standing there beside him.

Though they call us crazy, foolish, or stupid, may we continue to preach Christ crucified. It will likely grow more difficult in our nation, but may we never back down. Hebrews 11 describes the men and women of faith, and Hebrews 12:1 says, "Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame... For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."

We are surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses. So let us press on with endurance, looking unto Jesus, for there is coming a day when we will cross the finish line and fall into the arms of the Lord. God is coming quickly to execute judgment upon a Christ-rejecting and sinful world — but oh, when He comes, may He find fewer to judge than He would today, because we have faithfully proclaimed the truth of the gospel.

Closing Prayer

Father, I do love Your word. I love that You have spoken to us and revealed Your heart. Lord, You have made it clear that You love us, that You desire that none would perish, that You desire we would come into Your presence — but You have also made very clear that judgment will one day come, because You don't want anyone to be ignorant of it. So Lord, as we've looked at this passage in Isaiah tonight, plant deeply in our hearts this truth, and by Your Spirit give us boldness to share it with those we work with, those we live with who don't know You, and those we encounter in this community. Because of the work You've done in us, we too are not willing that any should perish; we would not wish upon our worst enemy the judgment You will one day bring. We look forward to Your soon return, but God, equip this church and give us boldness by Your Holy Spirit as we go from here. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.