Who Will You Trust?

“Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” ­– Isaiah 7:9b NLT

Life is all about trust. Every day we are faced with opportunities to trust. We trust that our alarm will go off in the morning and wake us up for work or school. We trust that when we flip the switch on the wall, the lights will come on. We trust that the food we eat will provide us with nourishment, not make us sick. We trust that our cars will start, our drives to work will be safe, and our jobs will still be there. We spend our days trusting. We trust the chairs we sit in, the traffic lights that tell us to go or stop. We trust the cashier to give us the right change. We trust the government to do what is right. Okay, so maybe that one is a stretch. But we trust in a lot of things, including people. But why do we have such a hard time trusting God?

This section of the book of Isaiah is all about Judah’s lack of trust in God. In the face of pending trouble, they are turning away from God and planning to place their trust elsewhere. King Ahaz of Judah is being threatened by King Pekah of Israel and King Resin of Syria. They are getting ready to attack Judah if King Ahaz does not make an alliance with them against Assyria. And this situation had the king and people of Judah scared. “So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm” (Isaiah 7:2 NLT). But God tells Isaiah to take his young son, Shear-jashub, whose name means, “a remnant shall return,” and go to King Ahaz and tell him “to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers” (Isaiah 7:4 NLT). Isaiah is to tell Ahaz that this invasion will never happen. God is in control, not the kings of Syria and Israel. But God needs for Ahaz to stand firm in his faith. God wants Ahaz to trust in Him, not these two kings.

Immanuel – God with us

God gives Ahaz a sign. A young, unmarried woman would have a child and she would call his name Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” From the time she became pregnant to the time this young child learned to speak, approximately three years, the two invading kings would be destroyed. This prophecy should have reminded Ahaz that God was indeed with him, as well as with Judah. But Ahaz had placed his trust elsewhere. He was already planning on making an alliance with Syria and Israel. So God would destroy these two nations and then call on the Assyrians to destroy Judah. But as Isaiah’s young son’s name reflects, God would preserve a remnant. And as the young woman’s son’s name illustrates, God would be with them. Why? Because of the promise He had made to David so many years before to keep his dynasty alive. Another king would come from David’s line – the King of kings and the Lord of lords – Jesus. He would be the ultimate Immanuel – God with us.

But while God will ultimately save Judah, He will still bring judgment on them for their rejection of Him. He will use the Assyrians to punish them for their rebelliousness. Their refusal to trust God would have serious consequences. Isaiah has another son and calls his name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Not exactly a household name, but it means “swift to plunder and quick to spoil.” God was about to deal with the sins of His people. “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloh, but they have rejected it” (Isaiah 8:5 NLT). The gently flowing love of God was about to turn into an overwhelming, devatating flood. “The Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood … submerging your land from one end to the other” (Isaiah 8:7 NLT). Their unwillingness to trust God would lead to their destruction. The closing verses of chapter eight are a reminder to us all that God is the one in whom we should place our trust. He will keep us safe. He will watch over us. He will protect us. We should put our hope in Him. We are to seek Him for help, guidance, comfort and protection. So who are you going to trust today?

Father, help me trust You today. Replace my fear with faith. You have never given me a reason to doubt You, yet I do so every day of my life. I want to learn to turn to You and rest in You.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Great Expectations.

“The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden.” ­– Isaiah 5:7 NLT

God had chosen the people of Israel as His own possession. He had hand-picked Abraham to be the father of the nation of Israel. God had blesses Abraham and his descendants. He had given him a land, blessed him with a child in his old age, and promised to give Abraham a multitude of descendants – too many too count. Years later, when Abraham’s descendants found themselves living in the midst of a famine in the land of Promise, God led them to Egypt where He had arranged for their care through the unlikely intervention of Joseph – who had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and was now the second-highest ranking official in all the land of Egypt. While in Egypt, the people of Israel would prosper and multiply. Their expansion would cause the Egyptians to persecute and enslave them. So God provided a savior to lead them out of captivity and back to the land He had promised to Abraham. God miraculously provided their release from Egypt and met their needs all during their travels through the wilderness. He even gave them victory after victory over the inhabitants of the land once they arrived. Time after time, God had blessed the people of Israel. He had given them David as their king. He had graced them with His constant presence and protected them by His power. He had allowed Solomon to build a temple as His dwelling place on earth. God had provided a sacrificial system to deal with their sins and to assure their access to Him.

But as we have read in the stories of the kings of both Judah and Israel, the people continued to sin against God. They rejected His leadership. They proved unfaithful to Him time and time again. God had expectations of His people. He chose them for a reason. He had blessed them for a reason. So through the lips of Isaiah He laments, “What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?” (Isaiah 5:4 NLT). God uses the analogy of a vineyard because it was one the people of Israel would have readily understood and appreciated. Wine was a necessity in that day. Vineyards were vital to survival. So the idea of an unfruitful vine or a non-productive vineyard would have struck a chord with the people to whom Isaiah was speaking. God makes it clear that He is talking about Israel. “The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s armies. The people of Judah are His pleasant garden” (Isaiah 5:7 NLT). God’s chosen people were not producing the “fruit” He expected. Instead of justice (the righting of wrong), they oppressed (inflicted wrong). They replaced righteousness (right relationships) with violence (wrong relationships). They were guilty of greed, hedonism, willful sin, mocking God, pride, and corrupt values. It wasn’t that they were fruitless. It was that they were producing the wrong kind of fruit – bitter grapes instead of sweet. Their fruit was worthless. And as a result, God was going to have to deal with them. Branches that produce worthless fruit are worthless themselves. They have no value to the vineyard owner. Listen to what Ezekiel says, “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. Vine branches are useless both before and after being put into the fire! ” (Ezekiel 15:2-5 NLT). Vine branches don’t even make good firewood. They have one use and one use only – to produce fruit.

God had great expectations for Israel. But they failed to deliver. And in chapter six we get a contrast between the unrighteousness and worthlessness of Israel and the righteousness and worth of God. Isaiah is given a vision of God in which he is blown away by God’s holiness and his own sinfulness. Before God can use Isaiah as His messenger, Isaiah must come to grips with His sinfulness and God’s righteousness. What God is about to do to Israel is just and fair because God is righteous and holy. In the midst of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God would reveal His own holiness and righteousness by doing what is just and righteous. He would carry out His moral commands. He would honor His holiness by dealing with His people’s sinfulness. But as always, God would show mercy and grace by providing a hope for the future. These two chapters end with the promise “But as the terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed” (Isaiah 6:13b NLT). God would not completely abandon Israel. He would not destroy them all, but He would preserve a remnant, so that He could fulfill His promise to Abraham. From the seed of Abraham would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God would reveal His holiness, righteousness, mercy and grace – simultaneously. Just as the cross was a representation of God’s wrath against sin and His love for men by providing a sin substitute, God’s dealings with Israel would result in their ultimate preservation and the provision of the Messiah. God would fulfill His own expectations of the people of Israel by providing a means of salvation and a process by which holiness is achievable – through the death and resurrection of His own Son.

Father, like Isaiah, I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. I am incapable of living up to Your holy expectations. Left to myself, I am a worthless vine producing worthless fruit. I am good for nothing. But because You provided Your Son as my sin substitute, I have hope and holiness. They have been provided by You, and I can’t thank You enough.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Retribution and Restoration.

“But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel. All who remain in Zion will be a holy people …” ­– Isaiah 4:2-3 NLT

Isaiah is all about the coming judgment of God upon the people of God for their sins against Him. They have refused to obey Him. They have given their affections and worship to other gods. They have become arrogant and prideful, placing their faith, hope and trust in themselves and other nations. In the final verse of chapter 2, Isaiah warns, “Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?” (Isaiah 2:22 NLT). In chapter three Isaiah tells the people that God is going to take away from them everything they depend on. Every bit of bread, every drop of water, all their heroes, soldiers, judges, prophets, fortune-tellers, elders, army officers, high officials, advisers, skilled craftsmen, and astrologers. In other words, they are going to learn the hard way just how much they really need God. All the things they have learned to lean on and prop them up will be removed. It will be a devastating time with no leaders, little provision, and no hope. But Isaiah is to “tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned” (Isaiah 3:10 NLT).

This is a prediction having to do with future events. Some of these will be fulfilled with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But most of it will come about during the Tribulation, that seven year period of time after the rapture of the church and the removal of all believers from the earth. During that time, Israel will become the target of the Antichrist, who will persecute the people of Israel like never before. The last three years of the Tribulation will be extremely difficult for those who are Jews. But God will raise up a relatively small group of Jews who will come to faith in Christ and become His witnesses during this dark period of time. There will be those who survive the Tribulation and remain faithful to God. God will punish Israel for its sins, but He will also restore Israel and preserve the nation from annihilation. God will remain faithful. So while the book of Isaiah is full of warnings and predictions of doom and devastation, it is also full of promises of restoration and reminders of God’s faithfulness. “The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment” (Isaiah 4:4 NLT). God is good. He is faithful. He has a plan for preserving His people and protecting His name. He will restore. He will redeem.

Father, never let us lose hope. In the midst of all the difficulties of life, never let us lose sight of the fact that You have a plan that You are working and it is perfect. While we may abandon You, You never abandon us. You have not forgotten the people of Israel or their land. You will someday send Your Son to bring order and righteousness back to the earth. You will restore this world to the way You had intended it when You created it. You are far from done yet.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Enough Is Enough.

“Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.” ­– Isaiah 1:16 NLT

God is loving, patient, and kind. He is long-suffering. He extends mercy and grace. He is faithful and keeps His promises. But God is not a doormat to be walked on, taken for granted, and treated with disrespect. He is the God of the universe, the creator of all things. His patience has its limits. And Isaiah 1 and 2 give us a somewhat unsettling glimpse of God when He has had His patience tested one time too many. He never stops loving the people of Israel, but He does become fed up with their actions and attitudes, their unfaithfulness and hypocrisy. And He lets them know exactly what is going to happen unless they repent of their sins and turn back to Him. Isaiah has the not-so-fun responsibility of bringing a message of warning and judgment to the people of Judah regarding their rebellion and God’s coming response to it.

God has had enough. He is loving, but He is not going to allow the people He has chosen as His own to continue to live in open rebellion and mock His name. He is sick of their religious rituals and observances. It is nothing less than hypocrisy. “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” he asks them (Isaiah 1:11 NLT). “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams” (Isaiah 1:11b NLT). “Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts” (Isaiah 1:12 NLT). Unlike the northern kingdom of Israel, Judah was still worshiping at the Temple and keeping the religious observances God had established for them. They were making their sacrifices, giving their offerings, and observing all the appropriate feasts and festivals. But their hearts weren’t in it. In fact, God tells them their hearts are sick. Their faith was worthless, impure and diluted. They were just as idolatrous as their northern neighbors. They were just as unfaithful. And so God sends Isaiah with a message that is partly a warning of judgment and a call to repentance. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me…” (Isaiah 1:18-19 NLT).

God is calling them to return to Him. He warns them that if they don’t, He will be forced to deal with their pride and arrogance. They have wealth, power, pride and idols in abundance. But God tells them, “Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled” (Isaiah 2:11 NLT). God will cause them to return to Him. He will not allow them to continue to live in open rebellion to Him. So He warns them of the consequences and pleads with them to repent and return. “Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?” (Isaiah 2:22 NLT). Trust in God. Turn back to God. Put your faith and hope in God. That same call could be issued to many of us today. We are going through the religious motions, serving God outwardly, but refusing to trust in Him inwardly. The message of Isaiah is timeless. May we listen to what the Lord has to say.

Father, help me hear what You are saying through Isaiah. Don’t let me read this book just as some historical document, but as the living, breathing Word of God. Show me my own sins through the lives of the people of Judah. Call me to repentance. Reveal Yourself to me through this incredible book.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org