Exposition by Max A Forsythe
I would imagine everyone here today is familiar with the Oreo cookies described in our children's lesson. The whole section here in Isaiah may be described in such a similar pattern. In chapter eight there were dark dealings from the Assyrians, then the bright lights of the first third of chapter nine. Today, we are back to considering dark themes. Let us not dwell too much on the Oreo symbolism here, even though we well know that people's taste for theology varies between darkness and light. Like little children may we so prefer the lightness of Christ to the darkness of the worldly? However, and we have to be careful here with this thought, is it the contrast of the darkness that makes the light so preferable? Our carefulness should be crafted from knowing first hand the choices made by our first parents in the Garden of Eden. They, the first generation of God's elect knew first hand the sweetness of the light of God, and yet they chose also to know the darkness of sin.
Were it not so, and were we not the natural children of Adam and Eve we too could live a carefree life in the constant and present light of God. But reality must step in and we all know that we must await the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to live in such a state. Meanwhile, as the world waxes on its natural course, we are all learning that there are dark periods of history that must be passed through before the end. Judah is being prepared for just such a case in the context of Isaiah's prophecy here. But just as in the case of Adam and Eve's being put out of the garden, there are reasons for the coming judgment on Judah. Derek Thomas in his commentary God Delivers identifies four sinful reasons why the country of Israel is about to fall. Isaiah may well wonder if Judah will learn the lessons Israel failed to understand?
The first lesson is described in verses eight to twelve. Here we may understand that Israel had been fully warned, even as Judah is being warned in the present prophecy. However, when told and shown by the experience of Damascus that the walls of brick may easily be thrown down, Israel in its arrogance says with pride,
"we will rebuild with dressed stone" When told that the weaker fast growing trees (whether sycamore or fig) will be chopped down, they promise to plant slow growing cedars. Even though enemies from the north, east and west may surround Israel, they appear unconcerned. In their own strength have they depended? In human terms, strengths and solutions they will depend. How little the world has learned since Isaiah's time! More and more it seems the worldly today want to invent their own solutions to the problems that plague us. In 1975 there was published a little read book called
The Socialist Phenomenon by a Russian named Igor Shafarevich. For 285 pages of socialist history Shafarevich details the historical attempts to create a man made Utopia. Even as he condemns the plans and especially the Soviet version of Utopia, he wonders aloud at the end of his magnificent analysis if the Soviet enterprise will be enough to teach the world the essential lessons. He well asks
"is mankind destined to pass through this experience on an immeasurably larger scale?"
That question has been echoed in different words in discussions of the great health care plan being proposed. Is it social medicine, or Socialism - pure and simple, as Rush Limbaugh would describe it. Must we in the west go through the same terrible experiences common to all of the Russians? Things did not work out well in Russia even though they have had two generations to perfect their plan. Must we go on and imitate the same slow strangulation of freedom and economy? What do you think will happen - can or will this country put away its liberal socialist plans to manage and control access to health and wealth in time?
Well the people of Israel thought that they were in control of their future and fate and they had confidence in their anointed leaders. This brings us to Isaiah's second lesson in verses thirteen to seventeen. The images that here describe the role of leader, people and prophet reminds me of patterns of warfare waged down to the early part of this century. The head and tail concept is similar to the organization of a battle line for regimental battalions. The soldiers would string themselves out in two lines. Going into battle, the officers would go forward to lead the troops and the sergeants would follow the troops to encourage and hurry them forward to follow the leaders. Given godly leaders and prophets, the people of Israel might have been herded in the right direction. However, this is not the case in Israel. Neither the leaders nor the prophets have pointed the people in the right direction and look what happens to the battle line of our image in verse seventeen. The young men will be cut down and the orphan and widow will have no pity. The reason is in verse seventeen: "for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness."
Earlier this week one movie allowed a child to use the Lord's Name in vain. The so-called adult agreed that while the words were extreme they were appropriate for the situation at hand. Language in our time is certainly degenerating rapidly, comics and cable shows are so bad that the major networks want to be able to use the same foul tongues so that they can compete for the same audience that finds distasteful subjects and language normal. Are we as a people as bad as the images portrayed in the media? How long can the hero of the youth of this age go on ignoring the charges being made against him because he might think such activity entirely normal? How much longer will we be able to find a jury that won't agree with his right to enjoy his sexuality any way he can? Have you noticed how very much like Israel in verses eighteen to twenty-one this country has become? We come to the third lesson well described in Isaiah's prophecy. Isn't it ironic that in verse twenty Isaiah uses the terms right and left to describe the political and emotional infighting that would plague Israel? Israel without a common Godhead had grown apart. Each tribe slowly went its own way to perdition. In our own land it is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to arrange any kind of consensus on any topic whatsoever! I would think that this fact in our day is so obvious that I will not have to dwell on it any longer.
We come to the last lesson to be learned in verses one to four of chapter ten. We may well wonder if Isaiah had not been in our century after all? Unjust laws, oppressive decrees, deprivation and oppression on the part of those in power. No tribes were closer in relationship than Ephraim and Manasseh. These were after all, the sons of Joseph. Yet their descendants would war against each other, only finding common cause against Judah itself. How easily in our time it is to start a fight between God's own people. When Francis Schaeffer spoke in Indianapolis many years ago, I heard him plead with several factions in the audience to abandon their arguments against each other so that the Church could speak with one voice on more important matters. I do not think that that advice has been heeded, and as the catholics observed in the time of the Reformation the seamless robe of Christ was torn asunder. Then, there were only three or four major branches; today in this country there are over three hundred. We even find it difficult to bring into one group the Reformed bodies that claim allegiance to one Confession!
At least the Christians of our day are not in the position of leadership where we might be charged with the unjust laws and oppressive decrees being fashioned in Washington and elsewhere. However, all of these things happen and however miserably we fail to learn these four lessons as a people, we should know even as Israel and Judah were told time after time - God would judge! Look at the common phrases in verses
12b, 17c, 21c and 4b: "Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."
I remember a quiet little puppy that we were given a few years ago. We figured that the reason she was so quiet was the fact that she was so abused. All you had to do to correct her was to raise your hand and she would tremble.
Well Israel was certainly never abused! We see here that while the Lord has raised his hand in anger and sent warning after warning he has not smashed the people for their just deserts. He has withheld punishment to give them time to repent. Isaiah asks the people who have not learned their lessons three questions in verse three:
"What will you do on the day of reckoning, ...?" "To whom will you run for help?" "Where will you leave your riches?"
These are important questions for everyone who would flee God's righteous avenging wrath.
Yes, these lessons of these prophecies may well be acted out again within God's providence in our near or distant future. How will we react in the midst of such well-deserved punishment of our nation and people? Calvin observes that
"all the instances of punishment that now produce fear or terror, are nothing more than preparations for that final vengeance with which he will thunder against the reprobate, and many things which he appears to pass by, he purposely reserves and delays till that last day."
Even if we in time have to endure the enslavement or diminishing of our Republic, the lessons of any such times must be applied not to life in this world, but as Calvin encourages us, to preparation for the next life in Christ eternal. May we learn the lessons that fell on deaf ears in Israel and in Judah? Amen.
Resources Used:
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Shafarevich, Igor. The
Socialist Phenomenon.
Thomas, Derek..
Welwyn Commentery Series: God Delivers.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
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
28 November 93
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.