Exposition by Max A Forsythe
In 1966 I was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, my First Sergeant took me under his wing and set up the perimeters of my command. The first lesson was about officers. We walked over to the bulletin board in the office. Over the bulletin board was a standard set of pictures, common in all headquarters. At the top of our chain of command was President Johnson, then the Secretaries of Defense & Army. After these top civilians there were five officers from General rank down to our own First Lieutenant. In military terms this series of leaders was called the chain of command.
These, Top told me, were the men to whom we were accountable. These were the men with whom we shared responsibility. Then he paused and said, "Isn't it awesome to think that our responsibilities are only eight ranks away from the White House?" As a new noncom, I was impressed! So was my mother, as only mothers can be, when I wrote home and explained how Top and I were eighth in rank below the White House! Months later I think I began to understand the mischievous smile of my favorite Top as the responsibilities of command became more of a burden than a delight.
Now I share this illustration for two reasons. The first reason has to do with introducing the year and a half series on Isaiah which we begin today. The second reason has to do with the purpose of Isaiah's message to the people of Judah.
Let me introduce the series and give you a broad overview first. This series came about because of a request from Mike McCabe two years ago. At that time, I had to beg off because there were absolutely no Evangelical or Reformed commentaries in print that I could find outside of rare book stores or expensive sets. This winter I picked up a paperback published in England by an evangelical scholar. Then I read that the best Isaiah commentary in the English speaking world was coming back into print. And along the way to this series I picked up two additional books published by conservative scholars.
The newer younger scholars all admit their dependence upon the meticulous evangelical three volume work of Edward J Young. Young admits that his work would not have been possible without the reformational labors of Calvin. So once again we have a chain of accountability and responsibility. That chain of orthodox and responsible scholarship is one to which every Pastor who claims the Name of Christ must be held accountable!
That evangelical accountability is one which has cost me a fifteen year delay into ordained ministry. I well remember the last Presbytery meeting of the liberal church where I stood for two hours while my future was debated. One of my accusers brought serious charges of "heresy" against me. This man, he charged, actually believes that Isaiah is one book and that Isaiah could predict the future. This was in a modernistic denomination that knew better than that! Well, that was then, this is now - I am in much better company - the company of the committed! And you deserve God's honest truth simply put and biblically orthodox.
Our second responsibility this morning is to briefly outline the purpose for Isaiah's message in his day. This purpose is seconded by Paul in Romans 9: 29 where verse nine of our passage today is well quoted. The experience noted by both Paul and Isaiah is within the experience of our age. "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." Very many of us whose views were unpopular in the liberal church have been replaced by modern day Sodomites. In its way, that is just as sad as the state of the Old Testament Church in Isaiah's & Paul's time.
Shakespeare's King Lear well voices the inspired lament in the opening verses of Isaiah. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have a thankless child!" Those words verbalize the ache that unresponsive children cause a parent who has sought to bring them up with love and care. The Holy Spirit takes that same experience and gives it to us through Isaiah to show us the heartache felt by our Father in heaven over the actions of His children in all ages.
Look at the pain of human experience laid before the conscience of God's elect in all ages. Let the very heavens and the earth itself hear the heartfelt charges against God's elect. "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me." Now, these are not dumb animals , these are creatures in the very image of God, created with intelligence and with souls that they might appreciate and worship their creator.
And yet, even the dumb animals have affection for their masters. Our baby calves are raised by bottle, and sometimes while they are nursing, we rub their foreheads to calm them and slow their nursing. Months later, in rare moments a thousand pound animal may remember his calf hood and lick a kind hand and pause for his ears to be scratched. Do they really learn that such affection will be rewarded with extra grain or the best quality hay?
Now, I have not had experience with donkeys which were never large enough for Ohio farms, but those pet Oxen of the last century were much like our steers and donkeys very much like the Horse teams with which I grew up. I always marveled at the close affection of the teams for my Father. Yes, they would greet any of us who might have some corn or sugar. But there special joy was reserved for the master who trained them from their birth and cared for them in their declining years.
But Israel had not the common affections of livestock! Here were the very descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yes, it was some generations later for certain. However, the God of their Fathers would be their God as well even if they had been unfaithful and were worse than the residents of pagan cities. How can this be we may ask? Well, Jesus Himself condemns the "Church" of His time in these words: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethesda! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago." In the prior verse, Jesus even insists that "it will be more bearable on [the last] day for Sodom." Luke 10:12
This is the common estate of man to be found in disobedience and rebellion. Unfortunately, this state affects every generation under the sun. In Isaiah's time, the Lord had blessed the people with political and economic prosperity, but like our modernist churches, Israel had turned their backs upon the God of their Fathers who wanted to be their own Father as well.
Still today, he desires to be our Father and rightly as Isaiah teaches in our closing verse: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." Except by the grace of God we all would and could feel at home in denominations which welcome Sodomites into full fellowship and even leadership.
May we count it a wonderful blessing that like Isaiah and others who have the Spirit of the Father, we have been delivered from sin, rebellion and disobedience. May we appreciate that blessed gift by coming into His presence with a humble and contrite heart and a life that conforms to His will.
Resources Used:
Allis, Oswald.
The Unity of Isaiah.
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Smith, George..
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Isaiah.
Thomas, Derek..
Welwyn Commentery Series: God Delivers.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
Youngblood, Ronald F. The Book of Isaiah: An
Introductory Commentary.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America) -
Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213
(c) 2001
11 September 93
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.