Isaiah 1-5: The Prologue

I was reminded this last week.

I went down to Denver to pick up the floor for the community center.

And I was just encouraged by all the stories of what God is doing in all these churches.

And briefly I got together with some people and we were praying, and it just reminded me of this heart of prayer that we kind of revived in Denver, or at least revived in me through you know the years being there.

And I always, it seemed like had a knack for finding people who wanted to pray for the city, wanted to pray for the city, and it reminded me when I first came, the when I first came to New Song, actually just in kind of I think the first sermon, I talked about effectual prayer.

Effectual prayer, and it's actually pretty simple.

We all want to be effectual in our prayer, right?

We want to we want to know that when we ask God for something, it's gonna happen.

We want to believe in big things for God from God.

I mean, I talked about what is effectual prayer, and it's asking in agreement for the right things with the right motives persistently, asking in agreement for the right things with the right motives persistently, and it seems like a pretty simple formula, right?

We can get that together, and if you just do that, you can see a city awakened, a town revived, you can see people saved, move a move of God, right?

Why?

Because it's effectual.

We know God responds.

He comes in answers, asking in agreement for the right things with wrong motive with the right motives persistently, but it's actually a lot harder to find that effectual prayer than you would think.

Why?

Because we might not ask in agreement, right?

Getting a group together, I discovered in Denver consistently is always challenging.

There's always once a group starts really pressing into prayer, there's every distraction in the world that comes up.

Why?

Because I think the enemy knows, okay, well, that's a factual prayer.

They're moving toward it.

So asking in agreement can become challenging because the more we as a body press into praying, sometimes the more challenges come up.

But for the right things is also challenging.

Because oftentimes, I don't know about in your prayer life, but in my prayer life, right, we focus on not just the daily bread, but we just want the life of bread, right?

We want the life of bread.

And that is our prayer, and that's where we focus, and that's where we kind of begin and end.

God, give us the life of bread, not even just the daily bread, losing sight or kind of putting back in the back burner.

God, we're wanting your will to be done.

We want your kingdom to come, we want your salvation to occur.

But aligning with the things of the heart of God, moving beyond just our own needs and moving toward the mission of God can become challenging.

But also with the right motives can be difficult.

Because oftentimes we want things for ourselves, right?

Or we want things for our own glory.

Even if we're praying the right things, we can be like, well, but it this will be for our great glory.

So getting a pure motive where no, we want your glory, we want your honor, we want you to be known can be challenging.

And finally, persistently can also be challenging.

Why?

Because I've seen so many groups that we will get together for maybe one or two or three weeks, and then it just like becomes a grind almost.

The persistence becomes challenging.

But I just want to start with that of just giving us the encouragement that God does hear our prayers.

It is effectual.

We can believe God to save and to move and to bring salvation, to bring the redemption of the prodigals back to the church.

We can believe in God to move, right?

If we're just asking in agreement for the right things with the right motives persistently.

And that's kind of what I the vision for the next six months, or however long it takes, for us becoming a people of prayer, that we're moving into effectual prayer.

It's not about us, it's not for us.

We're wanting the things of God, the kingdom of God, the glory of God, and we're gonna stay there persistently.

And just as I was kind of reflecting in Denver, you know, I was thinking, well, you know, there's probably tons of different groups doing that in Denver, right?

I didn't lead them all, right?

There's lots of people yearning, praying, wanting for God to move there, and now we're seeing it.

Lots of salvations.

I I heard a testimony last week, not even at a big church, of seven people raising their hand to come to faith in a church in Denver, a smaller church.

I mean that those stories are kind of continually happening, and all of that was seated in these groups of prayer.

And I was thinking, you know, I know that we were praying.

We certainly weren't the only ones, but it kind of made me reflect on like, I wonder, wonder who's praying for Gunnison.

You know, you always think that, like, oh, somebody else is probably doing that.

They're on their knees, they're waking up in the middle of the night, they're earnestly seeking God.

God, we need you to move here, we want you to move here.

We're thinking, oh, that person's out there somewhere, right?

And I was like, Well, what if they're not?

What if they're not?

And so then the encouragement, the challenge to myself and to you, to us as a body, is that we can become that, right?

That we're going to press in to become this people who we know that we're watchmen on the wall, praying for this town, praying for the move of God, praying for the kingdom of God, the will of God, persistently, wholeheartedly.

Why?

Because we're not just putting it on the back burner, well, somebody else might do that.

It's a big city, right?

There's there's thousands of Christians out there.

They can pray for it.

No, it's like we're stepping into the gap.

And so that's kind of, I just want to start with the vision where we're going.

Six months, right?

We want to continue to be a people of prayer.

Why do we be why?

Because we believe God responds in that.

It's not our talents, it's not our treasure, it's not our ability, it's our desperation.

God, we need you to move.

We know you're powerful.

Like everything is so simple for you.

So we're gonna press ourselves into depending on you, waiting on you, effectually praying in agreement for the things of God with the motive of the glory of God.

We're gonna pray persistently.

Just wanted to start with that encouragement as we're moving into season two, becoming a people of prayer and praise, just a vision for why we're doing it, why we're hungering for the things of God.

With that, I'll pray and then I'll get started.

But Lord Jesus, we do just thank you that Lord, you stir our hearts, Lord, with the things that you love.

And Lord, you spirit are within us, Lord, to move and just bring just the the request of your heart to you, Lord, and that in that, for some reason, somehow in the economy of God, Lord, you respond in that, to do the things you're wanting to do, and that you're will do, that you're you're you're moving us to ask you to do.

So, Lord, I just pray that we would just be awakened in that, encouraged in that, emboldened in that, committed in that.

And Lord, you would just revive us as a people of prayer.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

We're starting a new sermon series in the book of Isaiah today.

I sent out the email and I said we're gonna do 18 weeks of Isaiah, right?

And my buddy responded, he said, Well, you're gonna do like four-hour sermons?

You know, like 18 weeks in the book of Isaiah.

He's a lot of times when pastors go through Isaiah, right, they might take a year and a half, maybe two years.

You know, and I for me, I was like, you know, well, we won't give every single detail, but I just want to give enough of Isaiah that so that in your own personal study, in your own personal reading, you kind of have a framework for how things are moving, the the this the gist of the book, the theme of the book, and so you can grow in your knowledge of the Bible.

And so the encouragement for you really is just that you can you can also read the three or four chapters a week and you can reflect.

And so instead of giving you every detail in the book over a year and a half, I'm gonna try in 18 weeks just to give us a bigger window, bigger picture of what the book is, so that it can more equip you in your personal time with God.

But I thought I'd start out with just kind of giving an overview of the history of Israel because you really can't really understand Isaiah unless you understand the context of the history that it's in, obviously.

And I was just reflecting, it probably wasn't until after college, right?

I had been in Sunday school growing up, all kinds of classes.

I had grew up in a church, I you know, studied, I read, I read the Bible.

It wasn't until after college that I really started understanding the history of the Bible, which it kind of struck me of like, I don't know what I was sitting through through you know 25 years of my life, but I'm guessing it's pretty common that the history of the Bible, we know a lot of the terms, we know a lot of the ideas of Assyria, and I'll send you these these these slides.

The point necessarily isn't to go through every detail, but that the the the you know, we kind of have a maybe a general idea of terms or people, but really understanding the intricate context of things is probably foreign for a lot of people in the church.

Why?

Because in reflecting on it too, it's not common for it to be taught in sermons, at least it wasn't in my experience, of like we're going through the history.

So I and so I just wanted to kind of just give a broad overview of history, which I'll probably do on repeat occasionally, so that over time you will know it.

When you go out, you'll get it of like I understand the divided kingdom, I understand the different prophets to different kingdoms.

Um, and so when you're personally studying reading, it all makes more sense to you.

But just starting out with the patriarchs, right?

We had Abraham coming over to this promised land.

He was given this covenant, this everlasting covenant that was not conditional that he would that God would bless it through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and God would bless him with this land, right?

So they're traveling nomadically in the in in what is currently Israel, anticipating this promised land.

Moved down to Egypt, right, when there was this drought.

And we have the story of Joseph.

We have and and and and uh uh the Israel is Israelites uh spent years in Egypt, and and from there Moses is sent to set the people free, right?

As we know from the movie, even though that's not in the Bible, but he's he he is sent to Pharaoh to send them back from their captivity, moving back toward the promised land.

We have this exodus from the wilderness, the wandering in the wilderness.

They move from Joshua into conquering the land, Israel entering the promised land, and then it's led by a series of judges for years, led by a series of judges for hundreds of years.

Key figures Jude, Joshua, Gideon, Deborah, Samson.

So we have a series of tribes living in the land of Israel for for hundreds of years.

Tribes living in the land of Israel for hundreds of years, and judges would rise up when need be based off of on oftentimes based off of war or challenges.

Based on those war and challenges, the people cried out for a king, right?

They were twelve distinct tribes.

There was not not perfect unity, they thought.

So they wanted a king, then we which is where we see Saul and then David and then Solomon.

David expanded the territory.

The you can see it almost up through Syria.

David is conquering, expanding the territory during the tribal days.

Really, they didn't conquer a lot of the land.

David, David was solidifying kind of the promised land, and then it expanded under Solomon all the way up to the Euphrates, and that was the pinnacle of this land of Israel, ruled under Solomon, right?

After Solomon, the land was divided.

Why was it divided?

The kingdom split because Solomon violated God's covenant, failed to keep his decrees, they worshiped foreign gods and did not walk in obedience or keep his laws as David had done.

So after Solomon's death, Rehoboam became a very harsh ruler.

So ten of the tribes split out under another son of Solomon, Jeroboam, and they separated their cultic system from Jerusalem into Dan and Bethel.

And this is the context through most of really the stories of Kings and Chronicles as well as the prophets.

There's two separate nations essentially, the northern kingdom of Israel, right?

And they've separated out their cultic system from Jerusalem.

Why did they do that?

Because they didn't want their people to be dependent on the southern kingdom of Judah.

So you have two ruling factions, both of them considering themselves Israel, and there are ten tribes in the north, there's two tribes in the south.

The prophets of Israel and Judah from that point forward, the prophets that we see throughout the Bible are generally either going to Israel or Judah.

So and it's starting with Elijah.

Elijah is primarily in the northern kingdom of Israel.

Elisha, his protege, the northern kingdom of Israel.

Amos, Hosea, the same thing.

They're speaking to this northern kingdom of Israel, whereas we'll see Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk speaking to the southern kingdom of Judah.

So you have two separate kingdoms going on after Solomon, right?

It's split into two kingdoms under one Israel.

They're both considering themselves Israel.

The prophets are going, you know, throughout the scripture, either to primarily the northern kingdom or there's they're staying in Judah because they're operating in almost these separate competing kingdoms.

Isaiah was a prophet to Judah.

The other thing that I think that's helpful to understand and just kind of getting the framework of where Isaiah is coming from, is there's three other other empires that we see throughout the Old Testament, other than Egypt.

Egypt is the fourth one that most people know about because of the pyramids and whatnot.

But the the the Assyrians was the first empire that we saw trampling through the land, which we'll see throughout the book of Isaiah.

The Babylonians is the second empire that we see trampling through the land.

And finally, the the Persian empire seen trampling through the land.

Persia is modern day Iran, Babylon and Assyria, but mostly modern day Iraq.

And three different empires that are moving toward competingly conquering the land of Israel.

These empires are in this period of X eventually leading to exile of first the northern kingdom and then second the southern kingdom of Judah.

I give all that because I think to understand Isaiah, you have to understand at least the context that there was this tribal period, right?

Of twelve tribes, they were essentially competing as tribes.

They would come together to some degree of different sense of unity under judges when they they were under attack, moving to a united monarchy, appointing Saul and David and Solomon.

After Solomon, it splitting into two kingdoms, two competing kingdoms.

There's a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom of Judah.

And then different prophets will come through, some to the northern kingdom.

Elijah is speaking to this northern kingdom, Elisha is speaking to the northern kingdom, and others to the southern kingdom of Judah, which will which is where we see Isaiah.

But the point is, even though a lot we're reading through the history of Israel, it's really kind of two kingdoms that you'll see that are often competing with one another.

The prophets are moving one in either one kingdom or the other.

Isaiah is in this in the southern kingdom of Judah.

He's speaking in what we what we'll know is the time of the rise of the Assyrian Empire.

And Isaiah 12 1 through 5 is what we'll just kind of give a brief overview today.

And it serves as the prologue, introducing three major three themes.

Many people think Isaiah 1 through 5 is a chiasm.

And we talked about chiasms with under with the Psalms, and that they're mirroring ideas leading to a center point.

A lot of people in just reading of like, why did are certain passages structured or placed the way they are, they're thinking this was intentionally designed as a chiasm, focusing on the sinfulness and corruption on both sides at the beginning and end, this future hope of Zion, this breaking of human pride and idolatry and power, with the centerpiece being the Lord alone will be exalted.

But Isaiah 1 through 5 really is giving three main um themes.

And I and we'll see these themes throughout the book of Isaiah: the judgment of God, the saved remnant, and a vision of redemption, starting out with the judgment of God.

We read in verse 1, chapter 1, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

So from the beginning, we're saying, okay, he is he saw this vision concerning the southern kingdom of Judah, of Jerusalem, and it's in the days of these kings of Judah.

We often date things through through kings, sometimes with battles, and we can use other exterior histories to try to line it up.

And so we know from this read this starting of the passage that in the day he began in the days of Uzziah, which we anticipate or we guess is somewhere in the 740s or 730s before Christ.

What is that time?

At that time, probably six or seven years before Isaiah came on the scene, we have Tiglath Pelezer III seized the throne in 745 in Assyria, and he transformed Assyria from a stagnant state into this aggressive, highly organized military superpower through structural reforms, personal stand, professional standing armonies, and systematic mass deportations of coupled of conquered populations.

So just before Isaiah comes on the scene, this Assyrian leader transforms the Assyrian Empire, initiates a standing army, and he becomes very aggressive in wanting to conquer lands.

Now, standing armies is common in all nations, but in the ancient Near East, to have a standing army was was was relatively unique.

But he thought it can be very financially fruitful.

Why?

Because if we have these people that are professional soldiers, we can continue to conquer more lands, it could be fruitful for the empire.

So he was a very aggressive leader, very quickly started moving south towards Syria, conquering lands, conquering peoples with professional soldiers.

This is right before Isaiah came in the land.

Israel is sitting between Turkey, what is modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, which were three power centers of power even in that day.

Israel's in the middle of it.

What will stand in the way of conquering Egypt?

But Israel.

So when Isaiah is coming on the scene, there is this rising power of Assyria, who is incredibly aggressive, has a professional army, and they're they're in the they're also using this deep uh deportation of populations, which which completely shifts cultural makeups.

So as they conquer one city, one town after another, they move the entire town to another place.

They move other people into the other town.

And it was just their way that he he discovered of both conquest as well as control.

Assyria is this rising power, and then Isaiah comes in the scene under Uzziah, the vision of Isaiah in the days of Uzziah.

The people of Judah, the people of Israel, anticipate.

Okay, we have this Assyrian Empire who's who's moving quickly through Syria.

We're probably the next in line as they move toward Egypt.

Isaiah had a vision or a word of revelation.

Continues, hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken.

Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly, they have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, and they are utterly estranged.

Here is in this situation where the people of Judah are anticipating this rise of this Assyrian warlord, and the message that Isaiah is giving them as that you have rebelled against God.

You have rejected the Holy One of Israel.

That meant something to the people in that day.

Why?

Because they knew that the blessing of God, the covenant God of God was conditional.

And here is this prophet saying, this rising power is trampling through the land.

And you have rejected God.

If you remember back through when I talked through the six major covenants when we were going through Psalms, the Mosaic covenant was clearly conditional.

What was the promise of that covenant?

That God will walk among them and be their God and they will be his people.

But it was conditional.

Continues in Deuteronomy 28, if you fully obey the Lord your God, carefully follow all his commands.

All these blessings will come upon you and it will accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.

However, if you do not obey the Lord, these curses will come on you, overtake you.

It was a conditional covenant where they would be blessed if they were obedient to God.

They would be cursed if they would were disobedient to God.

What is their obedient?

It's in following this law of Moses.

And here Isaiah comes on the scene and says, You have rebelled, you have rejected him.

You've essentially broken the covenant with God.

We talked about that through the covenant, major covenants, God interacts with humanity based in covenant.

Right?

His through from the beginning with Adam and through Jesus, his whole all of his interaction with humanity is based in covenant.

We realize covenant or no covenant through marriage.

But God is is is acting in covenant as well throughout scripture.

The Mosaic covenant is saying he will be their God, they will be his people if they fully obey.

Isaiah is coming on the scene and saying there's they're clearly broken the covenant.

As this Assyrian Empire is marching through Syria, looking southward to conquer the land.

What was their breaking of the covenant?

It continues in verse 12.

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord?

I have had enough of burnt offerings, of new moon and Sabbath, and the calling of conga convocations.

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

Here you have the people of Judah very diligently trying to keep up with all the ceremonial law.

They're giving sacrifices, they're following in great detail what they think the instructions, the commands ceremonially are.

They're doing new moons, they're keeping the Sabbath.

They think they are fully keeping the covenant, but here he starts with, I'm tired of your sacrifices.

I've had enough of them.

I cannot endure them any longer.

People generally think the Mosaic law or the covenant law contains three different aspects.

There's a moral aspect, there's a ceremonial aspect, and there's a civil aspect.

And they're all integrated.

So the moral aspect is how we're interacting with one another, right?

It's relational.

Ceremonially is all the diet laws, right?

All the things that we need to present at the temple, all our offerings, the peace offerings, all the all the keeping of the Sabbath, the civil is how things are governed.

They're all integrated.

The people of Judah at the time, they thought they were fully keeping the covenant, but they were keeping it ceremonially.

What we'll see is they are neglecting it morally.

Therefore, they were judged by God.

How were they breaking the moral covenant?

It continues, it gives us a clue.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Biblical righteousness isn't merely ceremonially following God, right?

It is relationally, morally pursuing good.

It is loving perfectly, it is relationally.

Clearly, their breaking is some sort of abuse to those who are weak, the fatherless, the widow, those who are vulnerable.

They oppressed the vulnerable.

We see this later in chapter 4.

The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and the princes of his people, the leaders of the community.

It is you who have devoured the vineyard.

The spoil of the poor is in your houses.

What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor, they ask?

The Lord said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go.

They were oppressive.

They were morally breaking the law of God.

Right?

In that moral breaking the law of God, they had rejected the covenant of God.

Isaiah is starting with saying their moral breaking of the law of God is in itself a rejection of God, where the He becomes utterly estranged to them.

You have to wonder how it was received by the people of Judah in that day.

They were incredibly diligent and trying to keep all the ceremonial law.

They probably were very proud and how effective, how fruitful, how they were continuing on in the covenant of God.

Isaiah and this Assyrian Empire is showing up, trampling through, looks like they're coming to go south.

Isaiah shows up on the scenes with a prophecy, not of you've been faithful, God is true.

It's no, you've rejected him, you've rebelled.

Not in your ceremony, but in your morality.

And how are you relationally breaking the covenant of God?

You're abusing the weak, the fatherless, the widows, the vulnerable.

Your self self selfishness is oppressing others.

So there will be judgment.

Your country lies desolate.

Your cities are burned with fire.

In your very presence, foreigners devour your land.

It is desolate as overthrown by foreigners.

It's likely a vision of what Assyria will eventually do.

Where most of the country, except of Jerusalem, is destroyed.

There is judgment, it is a vision of judgment for the Lord of, but that judgment, it clearly throughout Isaiah, is not just merely limited to the people of Judah.

It says in verse 12, for the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low.

The point is one of the major things that we see throughout Isaiah is this judgment of God.

There's a coming judgment of God.

And that judgment is seen particularly or uniquely in the situation of Judah.

But there's also this wording that this judgment is universal for all who break the moral covenant of God.

The second theme that we see throughout Isaiah is a saved remnant.

We read in verse 9 of chapter 1 if the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.

It's a theme that as we read, we'll see time and time again that there is a coming remnant, that his judgment doesn't destroy all peoples.

There still remains somehow a people of God for God.

Chapter 4, verse 3, and he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy.

Everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord should have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.

The point is throughout Isaiah 1 through 5, we're also seeing this beginning of this language of this saved remmit.

And finally, the main theme probably throughout Isaiah is this vision of redemption.

We see it in verse 25.

And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning.

Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.

Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent by righteousness.

Chapter two It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it, the mountain of the Lord, a symbol of the coming kingdom, and all nations shall flow to it.

So from the beginning, in this prologue of chapters one through five, we're seeing this vision of redemption somewhere out there, after this judgment, where this saved remnant is blessed in all the nations, every tongue, every tribe, every nation.

In that day, the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious.

The fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.

There is a vision of redemption.

These three themes we'll see throughout the book of Isaiah time and time again.

There's the coming judgment of God, based us on us morally breaking the covenant of God.

And how we morally breaking that covenant of God, or how is Judah morally breaking that covenant of God?

They're living selfishly in such a way that is abusing there are victims.

There is a saved remnant after the judgment of God.

So the judgment is not final, it's not complete, it's not total.

There is some sort of saved remnant.

And then there is a vision of redemption.

Many people call Isaiah the Messianic prophet because there's so much of this vision of redemption connected into this coming Messiah.

And so when the Jewish people of the day, of Jesus' day, were anticipating a Messiah, a lot of it's coming from the language of Isaiah because they're reading through it and they're saying, okay, clearly this seems to be, this vision of redemption key seems to be aligning with this coming Messiah, where this king as the son of son of David will be part of this vision of redemption.

And so looking backward, I mean, it's easy for us to line up Isaiah and to see all the pieces.

But Jews looking forward were reading Isaiah in the same way, lining up the pieces, saying, okay, we know there was a judgment of God.

We know there will be a saved remnant.

We know there is this vision of redemption that's aligned with this coming Messiah, but they still missed him.

For us as those who can who know Jesus and the story of God, Isaiah, I think, can be incredibly encouraging.

And just the wisdom of God, the brilliance of God, the vision of God, where he can communicate the truth of God.

Years, hundreds of years prior to Jesus' arrival, where we can know the truths of his judgment based on our morally breaking the covenants of God, anticipating that we are part of this remnant in this vision of redemption that is based in this Messiah.

That's just the general themes of Isaiah that we see as the prologue in 1 through 5.

Some people question why even Isaiah 1 through 5 was added to the beginning of the book, because it almost seems like a separate little introduction.

And I think it was intentional to give a prologue for what the themes, what the message of the book will be, the judgment of God, the saved remnant of God in this vision of redemption.

As I was reading through just Isaiah this last couple weeks, just reflecting on for the people of Judah, what were they thinking in that day?

What were they believing?

What were they anticipating, right?

They're personally more than likely thinking that they are the faithful covenant of God.

Whereas the northern kingdom, those are the people who broke away from Jerusalem, broke away from the temple, they established other gods.

We're the righteous ones, faithfully following the ceremonial law and the as the people of Judah, the northern kingdom.

Now they're the ones who will be punished by the Assyrians for their breaking of the covenant of God, for their rebellion, right?

And Isaiah shows up and he's he's giving them the direct confrontation.

You're the people who broke the covenant of God.

There's a coming judgment.

But even though that judgment is coming, there will still be a remnant, there is still redemption.

We have hints of kind of what they were thinking in that day of chapter 5.

They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feast, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord or see the work of his hands.

So clearly the people of Judah were celebrating, they were rejoicing, they were happy, right?

They think they are the people of God, faithfully following God.

Isaiah comes in and he confronts them.

Actually, no, you've broken the moral God.

They bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.

But he says, Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw in sin as with carts of rope.

What are those cords of falsehoods?

Probably lies even about themselves.

Who say, Let him be quick, let him speak his word that we may see it.

Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near.

With their mouth they're saying, We want to know the truth of God.

Let it come that we may know it.

It sounds like a great people.

They're wanting to know what's true, they're wanting to follow what is true.

God responds, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

This had to be a very confusing message to the people of Judah.

Why?

Because again, they're celebrating, they're dancing, they're happy, they're saying the right things.

God, we want to know your truth.

In the council of the Holy One of Israel, please draw near.

Let it come that we may know the truth.

The immediate response is, Woe to you, that is the truth.

The people of Judah, again, living in this place of ignorance.

Probably a sub-theme that we see throughout Isaiah is probably just the ignorance of the people, which is possibly the most convicting.

We have this people of Judah living in perfect ignorance, thinking they're following God in all the right ways, right?

They think they're obeying God.

They're even with their mouth saying, God, we even want you to be near.

We want you to be near.

And the near, the nearness, the truth of the nearness is woe to you.

Why?

Because yes, you're ceremonially keeping all these things.

You're showing up in the right places in the way that you think are the right ways.

But morally, your heart is still after yourself, for yourself.

Morally, you you're you you that morally you are have broken my covenant.

So the judgment is coming.

Incredibly unnerving in a sense.

But we also see kind of that as a sub theme throughout Isaiah.

It's just the ignorance of the people, of people who think they are near to God, but far from him.

People that are celebrating, doing, thinking they're doing the right things, though they do not know him.

Just a general overview of what Isaiah is going to communicate to us.

Those three things.

The judgment of God, a saved remnant, a vision of redemption.

This is the people of Judah, as Isaiah is starting, watching this Assyrian Empire, who's incredibly brutal.

They're not, they're they're the warlords and brutal.

Trample through Syria.

Looks like they're coming south.

This prophet Isaiah is getting up saying, You have rejected the covenant of God.

They all know the consequence of rejecting the covenant of God because they all knew from Deuteronomy, it's very clear.

But even still, in spite of that judgment, there's a promised remnant, a vision of redemption.

The hope for us as we read Isaiah is that we don't remain in the ignorance of the people, but our hearts are attuned to that vision of redemption, that saved remnant, the this coming judgment of God, that we can celebrate rightly the Messiah.

We talked about last week being after God, seeking his presence above all and in all.

So as we read Isaiah, the hope is that we don't just see a story through history, but we see the wisdom of God communicating the salvation of God in Christ.

That I'll pray for us.

And then we go to communion with it.

Lord Jesus, we just thank you, God, for Lord, just your wisdom through history, God, and that Lord, we can look back, Lord, on the people of Judah, Lord, and how how confusing and challenging, Lord, just initially the message must have been, Lord, as this Assyrian Empire, Lord, is rising from the east, Lord, that they were receiving this word that somehow they were had rejected your covenant, even though they thought they were following you, God.

Um Lord, just to pray that as we read through Isaiah, Lord, in the next couple months, Lord, that Lord, our hearts would just be stirred to just greater love for you, greater awe of you, greater passion for you, Jesus.

That Lord, you were you're so clearly interwoven throughout Isaiah, Lord, that the the Messiah is the vision of redemption for the remnant.

And Lord, we wouldn't receive this book just as a word of judgment, Lord, but it would be just a hope of salvation that we find in you, Christ.

Thank you, God.

Amen.