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Lesson 2 Video
Isaiah Part 1
Lesson 2, Video Pete De Lacy (54:25)
10/16/2008
The Word of the Holy One
The LORD Arises to Contend
The LORD arises to contend and stands to judge; His arm is out stretched, Isaiah tells us. What should we make of such hostile sounding words? That He arises to contend, that He stands to judge?
Isa 3:13
13 The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the people. NASB
Isa 5:25
25 On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down, And the mountains quaked; and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out. NASB
What kind of relationship must God have with Israel in which He would express such kinds of emotions? What is it that has happened? Why does He feel like this is appropriate? Well, what have we seen in our last two weeks of study? What have we seen about the relationship between God and these inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem whom Isaiah had the vision about? Well, I believe the verses right at the beginning of the book in chapter 1, give us information. I believe what we saw right away in Isaiah, was verse 2.
Isa 1:2-3[reads]
2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, what is the next line? "Sons I have reared and brought up, So, we immediately see the relationship God is establishing is as Parent/child, Father/son. It goes on to say: But they have revolted against Me.
3 "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master's manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand." NASB
Well, He’s drawing an analogy or a parallel. An ox knows who its owner is, there’s sort of a master relationship there. Someone who is in charge of someone else; the same with the donkey and the manger.
Isa 1:4[reads]
4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. NASB
Now, as we think about the last thing He says in verse 4, that they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him,we have to understand what He means by the Holy One of Israel. Two things are evident: there’s a connection to Israel and there’s a connection with holiness. He doesn’t come out and say right then and there He is God. But we know this from the context of everything we’ve read through Isaiah, in our first five chapters. Israel’s God is who is speaking to us. It’s the Lord, the God of Israel who’s making the statement. So, we have sort of a Father/son relationship, we have a Master relationship, and we have a God relationship.
Can those be different? Well, think about normal life. Do you have fathers that have nothing to do with God? The answer is yes. Are there masters who have nothing to do with being God? The answer is yes, especially in the context of the day of Isaiah. You certainly had master/servant or master/slave relationships. Which are not necessarily the same as a father/son relationship. And certainly in the day of Isaiah you had a relationship of a people to a god, which may or may not be thought of in the context of a father/son relationships or the master/servant kind of relationship.
There could be other relationships between a god and the people than master/servant. But I think those three relationships extend to the situation that God is trying to draw our attention to through Isaiah. So, you ask yourself, well okay, so I’ll accept the fact that we have a Father/son relationship, we have aMaster/servant relationship, and we have a God/people relationship.
How does that relate to a “rising to contend, standing to judge, stretching out His arm but His anger is not yet spent”? How does that relate? Well, let’s think about it. What does a master expect of a servant or a slave? Proper performance of task. They set the task before you. They say do this, and then you’re supposed to do it to the standard that the master expects. So, there’s a judgment that’s involved in: have you done the task as you were required by the one who was in authority over you?
We have that same issue in employee/employer, that we have an expectation of performing a task to the standard that the employer has given us.
Well, what about the father/son relationship? In childrearing parents place expectations on children, do they not? And expect performance to a certain standard. “I told you to do this. If you don’t do this then there are consequences for not performing up to standard.”
In the case of Israel, its relationship to God, when He says, “I am your God,” is there a standard of performance that God has set out for Israel to perform to? Because if these standards are there and the relationship is that the One setting the standards expects performance, then there’s a basis for contending, judging, and holding people accountable to something that is appropriate. So, let’s take a little look back through some Scriptures and see what we know for sure from Scripture.
Turn with me back to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4.
Last week we talked about the history of the divided kingdom. Here, we’ll have to go a little bit farther back in history. If you’re not familiar with the book of Exodus, it talks about the exodus of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt where they were enslaved, to go to Mount Sinai,and then journey on toward to the PromiseLand. But essentially it’s talking about coming out of Egypt. The early part of the book is where God meets with Moses, tells him he needs to go rescue His people and the events surrounding getting out of Egypt. Like meeting with Pharaoh and saying, “Let My people go,” and all the plagues and that stuff that you may or may not be familiar with. In chapter 4, when we look at verse 21: the Lord was talking to Moses here:
Ex 4:21-22[reads]
21 And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD," Israel is My son, My first-born. NASB
And in fact, that’s the first place in the Bible where God calls Israel His son. You’ll see a lot of mention about Israel as being the children of Israel, meaning the descendants of Jacob, that kind of language.But here He specifically says, “This is My son. Let My son go. You have control over My son. Let him go.”
Ex 4:22-23
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD," Israel is My son, My first-born.
23 So I said to you, 'Let My son go, that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your first-born."' " NASB
So, we can establish in Scripture all through that, not just in Isaiah, where the first couple of verses, where I read to you that He has a Father/son relationship. And in fact, if you look at the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel who follow Isaiah, you know, you have Isaiah in our Bible, we have Isaiah, then you have Jeremiah and then we have Ezekiel and Daniel, the four major prophets. And in time that’s about right as well. Isaiah’s first, then comes Jeremiah then Ezekiel and Daniel are in there also. So, that theme, that prophetic theme continues on as well as the minor prophet Hosea.
Well, what about this master idea? Well, turn over to chapter 34 of, also of Exodus. And in verse 23, we see an establishment.
Ex 34:23[reads]
23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. NASB
Now, that phrase, “The Lord God, the God of Israel,” first of all, establishes that He’s the God of Israel. But also He’s the Lord. Now, I also want you to look at how, if you have a New American Standard Bible, notice that the word “Lord” has the first letter capitalized “L” then the other letters are lower case. Correct? And if you look at the word “God,” you’ll see that the first letter “G” is capitalized and the other letters are what we call small capitals. Right? They’re capital letters, but they’re shorter. Small caps. And in the New American Standard whenever you see the word “Lord” or the word “God” so that it has the first letter big cap and the other letters small caps, that tells you that the Hebrew word that’s being translated that way is that personal memorial name of God, the Jehovah or Yahweh or YHWA.
[“Lord” “God” = “Jehovah,” “Yahweh,” “YHWA”]
That’s the memorial name of God that was revealed to Moses in Exodus. It could be translated “Lord” or it could be translated “God.” In this case you see Lord God with God having the small caps. That tells us in the New American Standard that the word Lord there, most likely, and you can check it out, is the word Adonai. So you have Adonai Jehovah together. The Lord God. That word Adonai is properly translated: Lord or Master.
In the Bible, in the Old Testament, you’ll also find the word “Ba’al.” Lots of people pronounce it like you were going to bail hay or bail water. The pronunciation is Ba’al. Two syllables with a little hesitation in-between there.
[Ba’al = “lord,” “master”]
That also means “lord” or “master.” You can actually use the word Ba’al for master. But what we find usually in Israel is Ba’al being applied to that other god and Adonai being applied to the Lord God of Israel. But they can be used even for people in the right context.
So, we see that Lord and Master relationship established here, not only the Father/son in Exodus; we see the Lord and Master relationship being established between Israel and God. So we’re establishing.
Does He have authority to arise, contend, stand in judgment, stretch out His hand? What gives Him that right? What is the basic idea here? So, we find that same idea.
Do you remember that vineyard that you studied?
Isa 5:1-7
1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 And He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.
3 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 "What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?, Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
5 "So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
6 "And I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed,, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it."
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah His delightful plant., Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;, For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. NASB
Right, He has a vineyard. Well, what, if you’re the owner of the vineyard, then you have expectations of fruit. That, “I’ve done all the caretaking. I’ve done the watering, the pruning. I’ve done the fertilizing. Why don’t I get good fruit out of this?” So, there’s that same kind of idea of mastery over, or ownership over.
Now, what kind of expectations does God place onIsrael? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 26. Deuteronomy chapter 26. We’ve got Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 26, verse 17.
Deut 26:17-19[reads]
17 You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.
18 And the LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments;
19 and that He shall set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken." NASB
So, what was God’s expectation of Israel? That they would be consecrated to who? To Him. That they would be His people, that He would be their God. That they would walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordnances, and listen to His voice. And what do we find in Isaiah? What have we found there in Isaiah? That they turned away from Him. That they rebel.
God’s voice came to them through the prophets. The prophets came saying, “Thus says the Lord.” And they did not listen to His voice. They did not keep His commandments. So, what options does God actually have? He could say, “Sure. Fine. No problem. I don’t care.” He could say that. Would He be a good Father? Would He be a good Master? You see, He has several reasons for which He should not allow them to just ignore Him and do as they please. He has reason to arise and to contend. To stretch out His hand in judgment against them.
If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 8, and without reading the whole chapter, He reminds them of why they should keep all these commandments.
Deut 8:2[reads]
2 And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years . . .
Now, in the context of Deuteronomy, they’re at the end of that forty year traveling in the wilderness until that first generation who rebelled at Kadesh-barnea dies out and that next generation, the ones who were twenty, under twenty at that point, have taken leadership.
Num 14:1-23
1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 "And why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"
4 So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us — a land which flows with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?
12 "I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they."
13 But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Thy strength Thou didst bring up this people from their midst,
14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of this people, for Thou, O LORD, art seen eye to eye, while Thy cloud stands over them; and Thou dost go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if Thou dost slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Thy fame will say,
16'Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.'
17 "But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as Thou hast declared,
18'The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.'