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When Jason approached me and asked if I would like to join him in a course of study on preaching and teaching I was elated, I was overwhelmed with joy. In that very moment of time I couldn’t help but to reflect on the life that I have lived and the details of such a life. I do get to stand here today in awe of what God has done, in awe of what God is doing, and in awe of what God will continue to do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, for all eternity. Studying Isaiah has brought me even deeper into this place of awe over God and His Sovereignty.
The reason I can stand before you in awe, despite the details of my life, is because God, having chosen me before I was formed in the womb, has revealed Himself to me.
He has shown me that by no merit of my own do I stand before you, by no works or efforts do I come before His church to edify, encourage, to build up, and to exhort. He has reminded me that I am the clay and he is the potter, I am the axe and he is the hand, I am the child and He is the Father, I am the servant and He is the King, I am the mouth and He is the speaker, I am in desperate need, WE are in desperate need, and He is the provider.
Through this passage I am reminded to identify my place in God’s plan of redemption and to humbly remain there, this is also my desire for each of you as we work through Isaiah 14.
As Kurt alluded to last week, the book of Isaiah was a game changer for the NT writers. It is one of the most quoted Old Testament books. This book has been carried across oceans by sailors, and proclaimed by dying martyrs. Isaiah has impacted people in many ways with his preaching. Before ever having a right knowledge of God I tattooed Isaiah 43:2 to my arm as a verse that carried me through Basic Training. How fitting it is that I now get to preach to you all from the Book of Isaiah.
If Kurt is correct, that the way in which we perceive God will determine how we perceive His word as well as how we apply it in our life, then I must ask this vital question before we even begin…How do you perceive God? When you think of God what comes to mind?
The challenge of Isaiah 14 is not figuring out where is God, but rather, do we have enough time to talk about every aspect of God that is seen in Isaiah? Because we are limited in time, unlike God, I am left to choose just a few things about God that I saw as I studied this passage, and which I believe can help you find joy in the book of Isaiah.
Last week we discussed a Distant Hope, this week I will cover 3 reasons we can hope in God and His future work, because of what God has already done. We can hope in God because
One - God is a Promise Keeper,
Two - God is a Vindicator
and Three- God is Sovereign over all.
We will begin with the fact that we can hope in God because God is a Promise Keeper.
The promise keeping attribute of God is first seen in the opening verses of the chapter.
Read Isaiah 14:1-3
“For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And the peoples will take them to their place and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them. When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve.”
“For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel”, and even more so this attribute of God, as Promise Keeper, is amplified in verse 3 “when the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,”.
In preparing to preach, seminary teaches that questions are a good thing, and there is no limit to the number or type of questions you can ask during your studies. Likewise, as I have been encouraged to do so, I encourage you to ask tons of questions as you study scripture. Even if the answer is obvious, you should ask the question. One question I asked while studying this passage was regarding this “rest” that God provides His people in verse 3. What do the people need rest from? Clearly the passage says they are in need of rest from pain and turmoil. Ok, but what pain and turmoil, where in scripture can I find examples of this pain and turmoil? … OHHHH, AHA, wait a minute. Then it hit me, I didn’t need to research a cultural book on Israel to understand this pain and turmoil. All I needed, this time, was scripture. Open with me to Genesis Chapter 3. Beginning in verse 16, this is where I found the answer to my question, we learn of God’s punishment on our first parents, and well, all of us as a result of sin.
Genesis 3:16-19
To the women he said, I will surely multiply your PAIN in childbearing; in PAIN you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you [TURMOIL].” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in PAIN you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Well how does this apply, not only to the people of Judah over 2,700 years ago, but to all of us here today? Why should you care? After all, this is a punishment that was imposed on Adam and Eve, right? Surely this pain and turmoil imposed on Adam has nothing to do with me…what did I do?
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came in to the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spreads to all men because all sinned.”
1 Corinthians 15:21
“For as by a man came death...” and the first half of verse 22 “For as in Adam all die...”
James 1:15
“Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
Ephesians 2:1
And you were once dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
(SLIDE)
Brothers and sisters, what does God say is the punishment for sin? DEATH.
Based on what we just read, who has sinned? EVERYONE, all of us, you and me.
Well if all we deserve is death, and clearly we don’t want to die, what do you desperately need?
A SAVIOR
Isaiah in Hebrew is “Yesha ‘yahu,” GOD SAVES!!!
Do you see it now? Do you see why the book of Isaiah is one filled with encouragement, joy, excitement. Isaiah is not a book of condemnation but a book of salvation.
As if this isn’t enough as is, and we could end this day in such a way as this, Isaiah, the first prophet of Judah, does something else equally magnificent.
Isaiah not only provides us with the theological need for rest but also a historical need. Isaiahs primary genre is prophecy, and this is my own thought now, but it’s secondary purpose and genre is history.
(SLIDE)
Isaiah 1:1
“In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
Isaiah 6:1
“In the year that king Uzziah died”
7:1 “In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah...”
10:20 “In that day” speaking of the day when the Lord would finish his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, when he would punish the king of Assyria.
14:28 “In the year that king Ahaz died...”.
Basically, what we are seeing is that Isaiah, the most quoted prophet in the New Testament, is displaying that history matters just as much as prophecy. I take it a step further and assert that if you want to understand, truly understand prophecy you MUST have an adequate understanding of history. Isiah is implying that gaining a proper historical context is important and must be done if we desire to understand his prophetic message.
To understand Isaiah Chapter 14 I had to go back a bit further, to Chapter 7 of Isaiah, 2 Kings 15:37- Chapter 16, and 2 Chronicles 28.
I don’t have time to take you through the entire history of the 8th - 6th century B.C. but what I can do is provide a quick summary.
King Ahaz was 16 years old when he began to reign as king of Judah. Like many other kings of Judah Ahaz did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. He was 16 years old when he was thrown in the middle of a regional war between many nations. On every side he was facing attacks. 16 years old. How many of you were ready to do your homework at 16, let alone be responsible for the health and welfare of an entire nation of people? In his fear Ahaz turned to the safety and protection of men, specifically Assyria. He took the treasures of God, from the temple, and gave them to the king of Assyria as an offering in exchange for protection from his enemy number one at the time…Damascus. The king of Assyria leads a conquest successfully overthrowing Damascus. While in Damascus Ahaz sees something he likes…the altars of Damascus where the people presenting offerings to their gods.
Ahaz orders Uriah, the high priest, to make a replica of this altar. This isn’t even the worst part. After completing the replica and returning to the land of Judah, Ahaz does the unthinkable…he places the altar in the temple of God. Seeing that there wasn’t much room, he moves the altar of God and in its place he sets the altar of Damascus, where he proceeds to make offerings to God. Clearly the altar of the Lord was of no help. So what does the king do, he does what all kings do and asserts his authority in ordering the people of Judah to do likewise.
God, having been provoked by the wickedness of his people shuts them down, by using the very same people that protected Ahaz and the house of Jacob…the Assyrians. Only now the Assyrians are filled with pride beyond measure. Not only do they defeat Judah, they humiliate Gods people in Israel. Having gained such power they begin to abuse said power for selfish gain and proclaim that they are mightier than the hand of God, to be feared and honored.
This is important to realize to understand God as a Promise Keeper. You see, God, despite all that the people of Judah did to oppose Him, has compassion on them and once again chooses them. Isaiah 9:2 reflects the way in which God’s choosing of people has nothing to do with them or their actions, but solely on His plan alone.
“The people who have walked in darkness” that’s the entire house of Jacob, all of them, ALL of us. These who have walked in darkness, “have seen [WILL SEE] a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” On you the light of Christ has been shown.
Furthermore, in verse 6, “for to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,” HEAR THIS NEXT ONE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, “Everlasting FATHER”
(Our Father who art in Heaven…Do you hear the glory of the Lord in this prophetic message? Do you see now why Isaiah is the most quoted book of the Bible? He proclaimed Christ, and he, Isaiah, confessed Christ crucified. This is the promise of God, that despite all that you have done, and ALL that you WILL do, He, God, would make a way, He would provide a source of salvation from death, and this provision would come from the seed of EVE. He, Jesus Christ is the one that would bruise the head of Satan Genesis 3:15. This is the hope we have in God the Promise Keeper, that though we have sinned against Him, He shows mercy and compassion on us.
Much like the history of Judah we too are in desperate need of relief from the pain and turmoil of living amongst those who are opposed to God. Wars, pestilence, famine, human trafficking, persecution, abortion, bondage to immorality, and the likes. We truly need an advocate, a guardian, one who stands between us and those opposed to God…We need vindication, protection, and a defense.
Which brings us to our second point.
We can hope in God because God is a Vindicator
To Vindicate is the same as to advocate, defend, endorse, uphold, support, and many other nouns. It’s vital to see that Isaiah is not preaching with the present circumstances in mind, Isaiah is preaching with the knowledge of what is to come.
Listen to what Isaiah says is to come:
In the Lords timing, the house of Jacob, along with all the sojourners and all the foreigners that join them, Verse 4 -6 “you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.”
These are the same rulers that have “said in [their] heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the most high.’
Well hold on a second Mike, that’s not what this is about. This section is about Satan, not man. This section is about Lucifer, not some real king in a real land during a real time, verse 12 does read.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low.”
Yes, in a most methodical, carefully planned way this section is speaking of the fallen one, but do not forget verse 4, our introduction to this taunt. Who is it that Isaiah says the people of Judah will taunt? -----BABYLON. The king of Babylon was a man like each of us. Verse 12-20, while seemingly portraying Satan, is not, in and of itself about Satan, rather, it’s about the king of Babylon, and to take it deeper it is about all who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord. After all, the first sin, the one that has placed us in this fallen state, was an attempt to be like God, and attempt to usurp His authority and rise above His creation, His law, and well, to rise above Him. We need a vindicator because without one we are those Isaiah warns.
Those who are opposed to the things of God will experience a great welcoming in the day of judgement. Here is their great welcoming.
Verse 9-11 “Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.”
Continuing with verse 15, in direct response to the pride of the king of Babylon, “But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’ All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people.
Is this the one they call Mayhem…
Last year, we were camping at ___________. The night was sky was beautiful, Tiff remembered to bring her telescope this trip so we could star gaze. The air was cool and crisp, and the stars were clearly visible, yet there is always a sense of caution that comes with camping in the wilderness…at least for those of us that grew up in the city. In a decent sleep I was awoken by an alarming sound. The sound of fierce claws dragging across metal in search for food was piercing my ears. I could here the growl of a dreadful beast seeking survival and I just knew that I was not far from its consideration of nutrition. I laid still in bed for a moment, carefully assessing the situation. I made up my mind. To protect my family, I must act. So, I grabbed my firearm, checked the chamber, slid on my flip-flops, and crept outside. With a light shining in the distance, I was ready to take on the grizzly bear that must have been nearby. Nothing. Turns out, due to some diligent investigation, the culprit was actually a chipmunk that could fit in the palm of my hand. In the moment I was quite fearful. I thought there was a bear outside of my camper. I couldn’t see it, so my mind was left to its own imagination.
How often do we, out of fear, imagine the wicked as being much more than they really are. Isaiah makes it clear that in the day of judgement all will see just how wee little the enemy really was. We will be shocked at the little guy that reeked such havoc in the land, and in our lives.
We have no choice but to understand such turmoil. Listen again to some of the treatments the people faced in the 8th century.
The king of Babylon made the earth tremble, shook kingdoms, made the world like a desert, overthrew its cities, took prisoners and refused to let them go,
Erika Belibtreu from the Biblical Archaeology Society studied Assyrian inscriptions and pictures that recorded the history of Assyria’s conquest. One such inscription, from an Assyrian king, reads
“The king I hung up in front of the gate of his city on a stake. His land, wife, sons, daughters, property, treasure of his palace, I carried off. All its good I took to Assyria. The nobles and elders of the city came out to me to save their lives. They seized my feet and said: “If it pleases you, kill! If is pleases you, spare! If it pleases you, do what you will!”
These people needed a protector, a vindicator, moreover they were in need of a Promise Keeper. Among the tough words written in Isaiah 14, amongst all the ashes there is beauty to be seen. In this day, because the LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
“The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you [king of Babylon] were laid low [by none other than God] no woodcutter comes up against us.’
Additionally, as a result of the LORD breaking the staff of the wicked,
“May the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named! Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.”
Victory, eternal, everlasting victory, can only come from God. Find any story of victory from the past that solved the people’s problems for good. Do we not continue to see wars, illness, murder, adultery, abuse, neglect, and other horrors? Well, it seems that our victories truly are like a mist. The words of Isaiah bring about the reality of a permanent victory, one that will continue forever. Listen again to the victorious outcome of the LORD when He steps in.
May the offspring of evildoers NEVERMORE be named…NEVERMORE. Not just for a period but NEVER. You may not be able to trust military generals, political officials, law enforcement, the education system, doctors, lawyers, neighbors, spouses, or even yourself, but there is one that you can trust, there is one that you can hope in because when He moves He shakes the entire universe, when He speaks all hear, when He is present there isn’t an eye that wont see nor knee that won’t bend at the appearance of His Holiness, He is Jesus Christ and:
we can Hope in Him because He alone is our Vindicator.
Some of you may be wondering why there is a 14a and 14b, and why I am not preaching the entire chapter. While the translators have placed chapter marks and pericopes (a fancy word Jason taught me that means headings of biblical ideas) in the text where they place those breaks don’t always seem to fit. We deemed it appropriate that this section would end at verse 27. The final verses of this section puts on a clear display of Gods Sovereignty. Which brings us to our final attribute of God.
We can hope in God because God is Sovereign over all.
Read and hear the confidence of the Lord in His Sovereignty…
“I WILL rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and WILL cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. “And I WILL make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I WILL sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.
Just listen to the power in these statements of action. Church...we serve an active God:
I will rise, I will cut off, I will make, and I will sweep. Such language is reserved for an unchanging, limitless, all-powerful God. Who here can say with full confidence “I WILL wake up tomorrow”? We would be better off saying there is a chance I will wake up tomorrow. God speaks this way because He holds the power in His hand to both destroy and to create, no one else has this power.
To see the Sovereignty of God more clearly it would help to once again visit history. Some 188 years, this is a estimated figure, some 188 years after Isaiah’s prophecy Babylon fell. During the 6th century Nebuchadnezzar led Babylon to the greatest level of authority ever experienced by any one empire in the history of man. We learned last week that Babylon was to epicenter of all culture, trade, political dominance, and wealth. This Nebuchadnezzar is the same ruler we read about in the book of Daniel, the one God gave a dream to, which could only be interpreted by Daniel, the one who God caused to crawl on the ground like an animal after he, Nebuchadnezzar claimed to be a god.
The Jews, after more than a century of oppression, starvation, slavery, murder, abuse, torment and pain, were able to renter the home land, their place of rest. What happened? Nebuchadnezzar died, leaving the Babylonian Empire to the reign of subordinate kings. The dream prophesied in Daniel came true as the golden head of the statue, Babylon, was conquered by the Persians.
When God says He will do something, brothers and sisters, He means it. He does not go back on His word because that’s not what a Promise Keeper does. He is the standard of integrity; the standard of what it looks like to make yes’s yes and no’s no. God is the one who promised to vindicate a fallen people and vindicate them He did, vindicate them he does, and vindicate them he will continue to do until the final day of his judgement when his vindication will be complete. He does all of this because he is Sovereign and fully in charge.
Verse 24: The LORD of hosts has sworn: ‘As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him under foot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.”
This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”
We can hope in God because God is Sovereign over all.
So what does all this mean for us today. What should we draw from God’s Word? How should we respond to what we have heard in His word this morning? First and foremost we should take a deep breath. This text is a relief to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This message is a surety of salvation, both eternally and presently. In His glorious plan God both saves a remnant for himself to dwell with him for eternity, but he also actively works to preserve them through increasing their faith in trials. These trials that we face today are a testing of our faith. In these trials we are being refined, instructed, and trained to lean on God and God alone. Trained to cry out to Him and Him alone.
The kings of this world look to one another for salvation, the laypeople do the same. In later chapters you will see how God not only calls the Jew, but also the gentile. Some of the kings and kingdoms that once placed their hope in false gods and man, such as Egypt and Assyria, will be regenerate, turning their hope to God, in true worship of the one true God. I don’t want to spoil this for the next preacher so I will leave it at that.
What’s the point? Listen, while we do a fine job of pointing out the opposition of others, and identifying the rebelliousness of our culture, we need to be reminded that we too fall into this mode of living from time to time. The take away we should draw from Isaiah is that God is the judge, he is the vindicator, and He has all authority to call who he calls and to judge who he judges.
The government seems to be crumbling, thanks to COVID public health is in question, nations are being conquered by terrorist regimes, babies are being aborted at alarming rates, divorce is running rampant in the church, Severe poverty is escalating in all nations, false religions are growing in number, drugs are being legalized, homosexuality is gaining ground, people want you dead because you believe in Jesus Christ. The bear seems to be clawing his way in the camper and fear creeps in. What do you do?
God delivered the house of Jacob from the hand of Babylon and Assyria, He to will deliver us from our present day pain and turmoil. In the end Jesus Christ will deliver us all from the enemy in the final day of judgement. Isaiah pointed to the coming of a savior, the Messiah, and it came to pass. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, came down to our level to redeem us, His people. And to save all who believe in the Son Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes shall not parish but receive everlasting life.
This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the WHOLE earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all nations.
From the beginning with the sound of Gods voice, to the end with the sound of Gods voice, all who have been called, chosen by God before being formed in the mothers womb, are in receipt of Gods Promise, are in receipt of Gods vindication, and fully under the all powerful sovereignty of God.
In the beginning, Genesis 1:3, God said let there be light and there was light. This was immediate because when God speaks it happens.
This is so amazing, listen to the amazing way God works, hear and be in awe of how wonderfully He designed His word in scripture. In the beginning of the Bible God spoke and in the end of the bible God spoke again…
Revelation 22:20 “Surely I am coming soon.”
You are either the one who says in his or her heart, “yes Lord, come quickly”, or one who says in their heart “I’m not ready”.
For the first group, let us rejoice with psalms and spiritual songs until the day of his return, however, lets display love to those who aren’t sure and who aren’t ready. For to die is to gain, but to live is Christ and I would rather live in pain and turmoil if it only means the salvation of one more. You see, we who live for Christ can withstand the pain and turmoil because in our weakness he is made strong. Imagine those who have no faith in Christ. If you are not sure, if you don’t feel quite ready for the coming of our Lord, if you have been living in fear of this world, there has never been a time better than this. Join us under the shadow of the wings of a God we can hope in because he is a promise keeper, a vindicator, and he is sovereign over all, yes, even you. Lets pray.
Pray