Is God Confused

Isaiah chapter nine. Everybody there, all right, welcome back, I.

Mischief.

I'm gonna read our text this morning. It is a

segment of text I will tell you Isaiah chapter nine

and ten. So to prepare us for this, let me

just say, it's crazy going on. What's happening amongst the

people that Isaiah is preaching to and writing to in

Isaiah nine and ten, it's crazy. Here come their enemies.

They're already taking big bytes out of the northern part

of their country, the people who had been claiming to

be the people of God, but who are living however

they wanted to.

God starts bringing.

His on those who claimed the name of God but

whose hearts were far from them. And as he does so,

he uses a people far worse, way more wicked, the

brutal Assyrians. And one of the questions it just comes up,

is like, God, how can you do that? How can

you make use of people who are even worse than

the people who call themselves yours? What kind of justice

is that? I don't understand how this all fits together?

Seems confusing. Guess who's not confused.

God's not confused.

He's architecting this whole thing and we're gonna talk about that,

but before we do, let's read this text in its entirety,

chapters nine to ten. So I'm gonna ask you to

stand to your feet for the reading of God's word

if you can.

If you can do that, I think it'll.

Help us focus, because it's gonna take some of our attention.

So everybody, get out your wiggles.

Let's buckle in and read these two chapters of scripture

Isaiah nine. But there will be no gloom for her

who was in anguish. In the former time he brought

into contempt the land of Zebulen and the land of Nephthali.

But in the latter time he has made glorious the

way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee

of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have

seen a great light, and those who dwelt in the

land of deep darkness on them has light shone. You

have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy. They

rejoiced before you, as with joy at the harvest, as

they are glad when they divide the spoil for the

yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder,

the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on

the day of Midian. For every blot of the tramping

warrior in battle tumult in, every garment rolled in blood,

will be burned as fuel.

For the fire.

For unto us, a child is born, to us, a

son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.

His name shall be called wonderful counselor Mighty God, everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and

of peace. There will be no end on the throne

of David and over his kingdom. To establish it and

to uphold it with justice and with righteousness. From this

time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of

Hosts will do this. The Lord has sent a word

against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel, and all

the people will know Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

who say, in pride and in arrogance of heart, the ricks.

Have fallen, but we will build a dressed stones.

The sycamores have been cut down, but we will put

cedars in their place. But the Lord raises the adversaries

of Resin against him and stirs up his enemies, the

Syrians on the east and the Philistines.

On the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this,

his anger has not turned away, and his hand is

stretched out still.

The people did not turn to him who struck them,

did not acquire.

Of the Lord of Hosts.

So the Lord cut off from Israel, head and tail,

palm branch, and read in one day. The elder and

honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches

lies is the tale. For those who guide this people

have been leading them astray, and those who are guided

by them are swallowed up. Therefore, the Lord does not

rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on

their fatherless and widows. For everyone is godless and an

evil doer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this,

his anger has not turned and away, and his hand

is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a fire.

It consumes briars and thorns. It kindles the thickets of

the forest, and they roll upward in a column of

smoke through the wrath of the Lord of host The

land is scorched. The people are like fuel for the fire.

No one spares another. They slice meat on the right,

but are still hungry. They devour on the left, but

are not satisfied. Each devours the flesh of his own arm.

Manassa devours Ephraim, Ephraim devours Manassa. Together they are against Judah.

For all this, his anger has not turned away, and

his hand.

Is stretched out still.

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers

who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice,

to rob the poor of my people their right, that

widows maybe their spoil, and that they make the fatherless

their prey. What will you do on the day of

punishment in the ruin that will come from Afar? To

whom will you flee for help? And where will you

leave your wealth? Nothing remains but to crouch among the

prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this, his

anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched

out still.

Woe to Assyria.

The rot of my anger, the staff in their hands

is my fury against a godless nation. I send him

against the people of my wrath. I command him to

take spoil and seize plunder, to tread them down like

the mire of the streets. But he does not so intend,

and his heart does not so think. It is in

his heart to destroy and to cut off nations, not

a few, For he says, are not my commanders all kings.

Is not Kalno like car Kamash, is not Hammeth, not

like Rpad, is not Samaria like Damascus. As my hand

has reached to the kingdoms of the Idols, whose carved

images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, shall

I not do to Jerusalem and her idols what I

have done to Samaria and her images. When the Lord

has finished all his work on Mountain Zion and on Jerusalem,

he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of

the king of Assyria, and the boastful look in his eyes.

For he says, by.

The strength of my hand, I have done it by

my wisdom. For I have understanding. I remove the boundaries

of people's and plunder their treasuries.

Like a bull, I bring.

Down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found

like a nest the wealth of the peoples, as one

gathers eggs that have been forsaken. So I have gathered

all the earth, and there was none that moved a wing,

or opened a mouth, or chirped. Shall the axe boast

over him who hewes with it, or the saw magnify

itself against him who wields it, as if a rod

should wield him who lifts it, or as a staff

would lift him who is not wood. Therefore, the Lord

of Host will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,

and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like

a burning of fire. The light of Israel will become

a file fire and his holy one of flame, and

it will burn and devour his thorns and briars.

In one day, the.

Glory of his forest and of his fruitful land, the

Lord will destroy both soul and body, and it will

be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant

of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child.

Can write them down.

In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors

of the House of Jacob will no more lean on

him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel. In truth, a remnant will

return the remnant of Jacob to the Mighty God. For

though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea,

only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed

overflowing with righteousness.

For the Lord God of Hosts will make a full end,

as decreed in the midst of all the earth.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Hosts, O, my

people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the

Assyrians when they strike you at the rod and lift

up their staff against you, as the Egyptians did. For

in a very little while, my fury will come to

an end, and my anger will be directed at their destruction,

And the Lord of Hosts will wield against them a whip,

as when he struck Midian at the Rock of Arab,

and his staff will be over the sea, and he

will lift it as.

He did in Egypt.

And in that day his burden will depart from your

shoulder and his yoke from your neck, and the yolk

will be broken because of the fat.

Yeah, he's come to aaf. He's passed through Migron.

At mcmash he stores his baggage. They've crossed over the

pass at Ghiba. They lodge for the night. Rama trembles.

Ghibia of Saul has fled. Cry aloud, Oh daughter of Galim,

Give attention, O Lesia, oh poor Anathoth madmena is in flight.

The inhabitants of Gabem flee for safety. This very day

he'll halt at knob. He will shake his fist at

the mount of the Daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold,

the Lord of Hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power.

The great in height will be hewn down, and the

lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the

thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will

fall by the majestic one. This is the word of

the Lord, and men you may be seated. Thank you

for your attention.

And endurance.

How's a lot of text, And you might say a

lot of relatively confusing text. I mean it's confusing in

its content.

Not to mention the.

Fact that you know, here we are reading like Hebrew

poetry multiple millennia removed that it has been translated into

a different language.

Even if we could read it when it was.

Written in the language it was written in, it would be,

I promise you confusing, because Isaiah is speaking of things

that are hard to understand and incomplete to the eye.

I'll give you an analogy. I don't understand much about architecture,

or construction. I've been on construction sites. I've dealt with

construction budgets.

I need a guide.

I show up on a work site, I'm like, Yeah,

what is all this? What's going on? I heard you

were almost finished. This does not look almost finished to me.

The budget looks almost finished. I don't understand where all

the money went. I don't understand how that connects to this.

I don't understand how the load bearing works. I don't

understand why you have to dig a hole that deep.

I don't understand. I'm not an architect. It's confusing to me.

But what scripture makes clear and Isaiah is focusing in on,

is that there is an.

Architect of history.

There is an architect designing his community of faith. There's

an architect for your life. And is confusing as it

is to see the things that are difficult to understand

and incomplete to the eye, you can count on the architect.

God is not confused. The architect has a plan, and

if we don't, if we don't trust his scheme of work,

we will find ourselves in the same kind of despair

or corruption or bitterness that he judges throughout all of history.

So we'll look at his.

We'll look at his prophecy here, and we're gonna take

it in three pieces.

God's not confused.

You can count on his promise, you can count on

his dealing with phonies, and you can count on his

dealing with his own instruments of punishment. You don't have

to write all that down right now. We can take

them one at a time. I'll repeat myself, but there,

here's what they are. You can count on his promise,

you can count on his dealing with phonies, you can

count on his dealing with his own instruments of punishment.

Let's start with the first. You can count on his promise.

God's not confused. The people of Isaiah's day were confused.

They were doubting the fact that God, as an architect

of redemptive history, had made these promises to them of

protection of a messiah of flourishing, And yet what they're

experiencing at the moment is an incursion of their enemies

already in the north.

Of their country.

They're coming, big bites are already being taken, and Isaiah

has a lot.

To say about why. But that's not what he speaks

to first. Not here.

When he speaks to first, in the midst of these

people's confusion and their doubt about God being in charge

of all this is he says, don't forget that God

is building something, and he breaks out God's promises in

many cases, reminders of God's promises in layers, in layers.

Does anybody know what onion paper is? Raise your hand, right?

Few young people raised their hands there, because the onion

paper is a tool that architects would use back when

they would use pen and paper. Right, anybody know what

pen and paper is? Okay, So onion paper would work

like this. You would have sort of like an initial

set of plans on regular paper. You know, this is

kind of like the base construction, and then what's going

to happen after this phase of the project.

Then you put down a piece of onion.

Paper and you draw kind of like the next piece

of the work, and that goes down on top, and

you can see the two things together like a transparency, right,

And then another sheet of onion paper and you put

on the next phase of the work, and then another

sheet of onion paper.

And then if you stack them all up and sometimes

hold them up to the light, then you can see

the completed work.

And so Isaiah lays out the promises of God something

like that.

He starts with this.

He starts with this regarding the Galilee, right that's the

north of the country. He says, Galilee of the nations.

What you need to know is the yoke of your

burden will be broken, the staff and the row of

your oppressor will be broken, the boot of the tramping warrior,

and the blood soaked clothes that have that have come

about through these this fighting, that's all gonna land in

the fire.

You're gonna be free. You're gonna be free.

There's a reason why all this has happened. And Isaiah

talks about why this has happened. But what I want

you to understand, people, is that you are going to

be free. God has made a promise. And what we

know is that one hundred and twenty years after this started,

they were free. It was like that that part of

the of the construction installed.

Huh. It's like somebody's in control of all this.

And then then Isaiah lays out another layer of this construction.

He says, not only that, but unto us a child

is born, unto us a son is given. This promise

that you have received.

Of a Dividic king. It's coming. That's how that's where

all of this is headed. There will be.

One just like has been promised, who will reign and rule,

and he will be born of the line of David.

He's coming. They didn't know that. They didn't know they

were going to be free. They didn't know they were

going to receive a son unless they had trusted on

the promise of the architect. But what we know is

that along comes Jesus, born of the Davidic line.

Unto us, a son is born, unto us.

A child is given. And the people looked at him

and they said, I don't know. That's not what we

were expecting. They weren't expecting to do all that he did.

And he died, and he was raised, and Isaiah lays

down another layer. He says, not only will you be freed,

not only will the son be born to you, but

also get this part of the construction. His name will

be called Wonderful counselor Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,

of the increase of his government and of peace.

There will be no end.

Historian will be established and upheld with justice and righteousness

from this time forth, and forever more.

One day Christ will rule. Christ will rule.

In such a way as he has the joyful allegiance

of everyone.

Praise the Lord.

The blueprints will be rolled up, the ribbon will be cut,

the construction will be complete, redemptive history will come to

its place. Yes, but it's not finished. And since it's

not finished, counting on this architect gets real personal. See,

it's easy for us to smile and nod as we

look at the promises that have already been fulfilled.

It's easy for us.

To smile and nod as we read Isaiah like, Hey,

you know, Galilee, you're gonna be You're gonna be rescued,

You're gonna be freed. The yoke will be broken.

And you're like, yeah, that happened one hundred and twenty

years later.

Unto us, a son is born, unto us, a child

has given it. Yeah, Jesus was born ministered in Galilee.

Matthew made a big deal out of his genealogy. Matthew

made a big deal out of the fact that he

was ministering in Galilee. He quotes Isaiah here, that's already happened.

That's awesome. He's going to set all things right, everything evil,

everything twisted, will become undone by his rule. And at

that point, because that part of the construction hasn't been

installed yet, I know most of us go.

I don't know if I can count on him.

I don't want to be a sucker. I don't want

to be a fool. Suddenly we find ourselves in their

position of counting on an architect to come through for us.

And I'll say, if you look at what he's already built,

if you look at what he's already invested in, giving

his son in dying on a cross, to welcome in

strangers into his family and his kingdom, and to form

himself in them, you realize you'd be a fool not

to count on this architect. You'd be a fool not

to count on his promise because he's kept everyone. What

kind of fool are you if you won't trust this architect,

even if it all seems confusing, even if.

You're like me on a work site and you're like,

I don't know. He knows, he's not confused. You can

count on him.

And that includes counting on his promises, But it also

includes counting on him dealing with phonies.

Huh, that's a zag, well not really. That's where he

goes next.

That's where Isaiah goes next on God dealing with those

people who called themselves the people of God but whose

hearts were far from him. And throughout redemptive history there

have always been those who claim to be God's but aren't.

They claim to belong to him, but they don't.

And what Isaiah has to say about those people no,

is that God's.

Plans are demolition plans.

I mean, he deals with them in four stanzas, each

one ending with and for all this, his anger is

not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

These are the people who call themselves the people of God.

In verses eight through twelve. These are people who claim God,

but whose hearts are marked by arrogance. They say, in

the pride and in the arrogance of their hearts, you

can knock us.

Down, you can't keep us down.

God says, yeah, You're You're gonna be completely down.

And in verses.

Thirteen through eighteen, these are people who claim God, but

they don't look to his word for direction. They didn't

turn to him verse thirteen. They didn't turn to him

who struck him in order to.

Acquire of the Lord of hosts.

So he says, I'm cutting you off head and tail

with those who've been guiding this people and leading them astray.

Every mouth is godless, every mouth speaks folly. You claim me,

but you don't look to me. Verses eighteen through twenty one.

Isaiah speaks of those who claim God but devour others. Says,

no one spares another. And I love this, I love

this word picture. They devour the flesh of their own arms.

This is how they treat one another. Verses one through

four of chapter ten.

Isaiah speaks of those who claim God but who mistreat

the needy, turn aside the needy from justice, rob the

poor of God's people. And what Isaiah has.

To say is.

The Architect has demo plans for you, not joking. If

you've been with us in Isaiah for a while, you

see God will have a holy people. And this has

been the case from the beginning, and it is the

case throughout the New Testament, and it is the case now.

And Matthew seven Jesus says, there are going to be

those who say Lord, Lord, and I say to them,

I never knew you. And Paul says to was protege Titus,

Chapter one, verse sixteen. There are those in the church

they profess to know God, that they deny Him by

their works. They are detestable, disobedient, on unfit for any

good work. If you don't think the architect is still

in the business of demolition, should read your New Testament

more closely. The blood of Jesus Christ is not a

declaration by God that those can There are those who

can just claim Jesus and live however they want, put

their faith wherever they want, live as if they don't

know Him, have a heart that's far from Him, and

then somehow their sins are still forgiven. That's not what

the blood of Christ declares. In fact, the blood of

Christ is a declaration that those who will not trust

Him in truth their punishment is absolutely and demonstrably deserved

because they have trampled the blood of Christ. And his

blood is also a declaration that those who do trust

Him in truth, for those whose hearts are His, their

sins are absolutely demonstrably paid for. But listen, I've seen it, man.

I've seen those who started out looking like Christians turned

out to be wolves, predators. I've seen those who started

out looking very rough, demonstrate that they're true believers. We've

seen leaders, people who actually led communities of faith turn

out to be phonies in it for who knows what,

money power, fame control. I've seen people who seemed like

pillars in churches turn out to be living completely double lives.

And I've seen people who had very open struggles become pillars.

It's confusing, isn't it. Guess who's not confused? God's not confused.

In all of this. You can count you can count

on God to deal with phonies. And because of that,

let me just say, quite simply, don't be a phony.

I'm serious. Like, if you if you're sitting there and

your spine is tightening because you're like, I know, I'm

playing games with God, go to him in repentance. Like

if the spirit is bringing conviction there, that's for a

reason you got a chance. Go to him in repentance.

Stop playing games. But also, don't be rattled by phonies.

They'll be rattled.

It's it's it's It can be demoralizing, for sure, But

after you you experience a few rounds of people not

being what they appear to be, and then you open

up the Bible again and you read about them and

you realize, Man, they're everywhere in there. Don't be rattled.

Don't be rattled, and don't doubt that he'll deal with them.

God is clearly more bothered than we are.

For all this.

His anger has not turned away. Like God takes his

name seriously, he has patience, but he will not. He will,

by no means clear the guilty. Lastly, this, when it

comes to this topic, please don't worry that just because

you stumble, you're a phony. Like being a sinner who's

being sanctified by the Holy Spirit is not the same

thing as playing games with God or being a It's

not the same. I mean, consider Peter. Consider Peter and

how many times he.

Just that piece of work. He just keeps, He just keeps.

Letting his Lord down and then coming back in repentance

and being restored. I mean, Jesus is a friend of sinners.

He has made way for your forgiveness. He has a

plan of mercy for you. Go to him in that

and you will walk in sincerity.

God's not confused.

You can count on him, you can count on his promises,

you can count on his dealing with phonies. Lastly, this

you can count on him handling his own instruments of punishment.

You can count on him handling his own.

Instruments of punishment.

Let me explain what I mean, because when I laid

this out for Kara last night, she's like, Yeah, what

do you mean. You're gonna have to explain that one.

You see, the rest of chapter ten sort of proposes

a philosophical problem. Here is Israel that God is bringing

demolition to through the Assyrians, and here is Judah that

God is bringing refinement to through the Assyrians. But the

Assyrians are worse than them.

Both.

The Assyrians are brutal, inhumane, just a gruesome society. And

the question is can God use something like that? And

God said, not only can I use the evil of people,

I can.

Judge them for it too.

Check it out verse five of chapter ten. He says,

woe to Assyria. The rod of my anger. The staff

in their hands is my fury. I send him, I

command him. They're doing a job. I have a plan

in this whole construction project. I've got a plan for

these evil people. But they don't think so. They're actually culpable.

They're making this decision themselves verse seven. But he does

not so intend his heart, does not so think it's

in his heart to destroy. They're just planning on march

them straight on down to Jerusalem. That's what he means

by Kalno and kar komshon heart, hay math and rpod

and so on. It's just it's a straight line down

to Jerusalem what he is saying. But the King of

Assiria is saying, nothing can stop me. I have my

mind met made up on destruction. Who's in control? Like?

Does God have real control? Or is this guy making

real choices?

Yes?

That means God is right to judge even the instruments

he uses. Confused, guess who's not God can both construct

and demolish. God can use and then tear down the scaffolding.

He can do it as he so chooses. And no

place is God the author of evil. The guilt is

always human.

Verse twelve.

When the Lord has finished all his work, he will

punish the speech of the arrogant heart of King of Assyria. Right,

the King of Assyria saying, it's my hand, by the

strength of my hand, my wisdom, that has caused me

to be able to conquer all of these nations.

I've gathered them, and.

God says, oh, yeah, you're like the axe who's bragging

over the one who holds it. Their choice to brutalize

doesn't mean God is confused about who's in control their instruments,

and God using their choice doesn't mean God is confused

about judging them. We can count on God to be

perfectly in control and perfectly just.

At the same time.

Did the Sadducees have Jesus crucified, the Pharisees and the

Sadduses had Jesus crucified?

Yes?

Did the soldiers nail him to that cross, yes, But

yet he says, no one takes my life.

I lay it down on my own a cord.

The architect of history can use man's evil and judge

man's evil at the same time, and in verses twenty

through thirty four, God says that's exactly.

What he will do in that day.

Israel no more lean on him who struck them, but

will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel

in truth. Therefore, do not be afraid in a very

little while my anger will be directed at their destruction.

They're going to march all the way to Jerusalem, and

they are going to do the demolition work in Israel

that I have set them to do, and they're gonna

do the refining work in Judah that I have set

them to do. And then they are going to get

to the walls of Jerusalem and they're gonna shake their

fists and I'll say, job's done, guys, go home, and

I'm gonna send them home.

And it ain't gonna be pretty, because what.

They have done is evil in my sight, even though

I know how to use it. He says, I'm gonna

take out the phonies, I'm gonna refine my true people,

and I'm gonna judge the evil involved. How then, is

God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.

In all of this stuff work out together? I don't know.

I'm not just a guy on a work site looking around.

I don't know how all this all fits together. Guess

who does.

I didn't come up with the way that redemptive history works,

and neither did you.

Neither did Isaiah.

But there is an architect who understands how to fit

it all together, what he will use and how he

will use it, and how he will judge even those

whom he uses. He is perfectly in control, and he

is perfectly dropt just and we can count on him.

And that is the basic question that comes to us

is will we count on this architect?

Will you count on his justice? Will you trust his sovereignty?

Will you count on his discernment of the heart of

the people who call themselves by his name, Because if

you're not counting on his ability to discern your heart,

you'll play the phony. And if you aren't counting on

his ability to discern the hearts of the people who

call themselves by his name, even if you aren't a phony,

you'll be embittered by the fact that they exist at all.

He knows what he's doing. And will you count on

this architect to keep his promise and finish this job?

If you will, If you will.

Count on him, then you will live a life of hope.

But if you won't, your confusion

Will only devolve into despair, not into faith, where it belongs.