Studies in Isaiah Oerfection and His Promises by C. R. Oliver (free ebook reader for iphone .txt) 📖

Studies in Isaiah
Perfection and His Promises

Introduction:
          Isaiah is the great "Re-introducer of God." In profound language, both in prose and poetry, he addresses a nation that had "forgotten with Whom they were dealing." In today's study of the first five chapters, there builds a crescendo of interaction between God and His people that will culminate in the wonderful sixth chapter.
          The character and person of the Lord manifests itself in emotional tides meant to show why God will no longer tolerate a nation of "disregard." Verbiage alone tells the story: nourished, brought up, rebelled, laden, forsaken and stricken. Reading these words in order causes the reader to understand the whole cycle of "those who have turned away backward."
          God's heart is heard in His multitude of appeals for His people to turn toward Him. Wash yourselves, put away evil, cease to do evil, learn, seek, reprove, defend and plead. 

Midway in Chapter One comes that beautiful passage most quoted in evangelism:

Isaiah 1:18-20
Come now, and let us reason together,
Says the LORD,
Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool. 
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land; 
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. 
                                        NKJV

Within this heart appeal is a dire warning, resulting in a passage with two promises from the God whose words never fail: forgiveness with restoration or destruction. (There is no more salient word for America and the civilized world today.) 

Sprinkled, throughout the text, are another set of words: purge, restore, redeem, hedge and draw near. These words tell the story of mercy and grace pouring out of a Father who will not see His children continue in sin without correction. 

It is as if Isaiah was speaking to the nation as one person, and with urgency, saying, "If you could just see Who it is who loves you and is capable of caring for you, you would seek Him readily." 

Isaiah is not alone in this quest. He is number six in the chronological line of the prophets. In order, they are: Obadiah (840BC), Joel (835BC), Amos 760BC), Jonah (760BC) Hosea (755BC), then Isaiah (740-680BC). They all call out for repentance. 

The prophet penned a book often called the "mini Bible," because the number of chapters and subject matter parallel the Old and New Testaments. This alone would constitute the fact he was one of the best educated and sophisticated of the prophetic line. He was married to a prophetess and they had two sons. He was an urban dweller, living in Jerusalem and interactive with the rulers of the day. All this, however, did not keep him from being martyred by them: he was sawn asunder. 

Wherever religious order rules as government, there is gross sin and corruption. It is true, whether in the Vatican, Islamic regimes or religious communities. Favoritism, rather than justice, prevails. Authoritarian edicts abound in such arrangements. These governments are not friendly to truth bearing prophets or the clandestine "man of God." 

On the national horizon was Tiglath-Pileser, of Assyria, who would eventually conquer the northern tribes and take them away, thus, separating the civil war divided kingdom even further. 

Picture after picture will be drawn for a nation that considered themselves, "above reproach." Isaiah draws closer and closer to the conclusion, "repentance is now or never." Penned 700 years before Christ, the portraits of the redeemer get clearer as they progress through the book. 

Enter this book as you would approach a gallery; there are "things to see on every line." Pause and gaze at the pictures God draws and how similar are the "days of our lives." Take no word for granted, for all of them are placed as they form patterns that make a composite. They are so eternally relevant that its lines were quoted by Jesus and the disciples as they wrote. 

The Themes of the following studies will be: Perfection and Promise:

These are the two areas:
1. The Holy One of Israel
2. His Promises to His Holy people

When the person of God is lost in religion, it is necessary to re-introduce Him to the powers that be and to the people who follow them. The further away God is from a person's everyday scene, the easier it is to perceive that the Lord does not care about sin or circumstances. 

Yes, I am aware the first thirteen chapters of Isaiah address the sins of Judah. Yes, I am aware that other nations are also targeted. Truthfully, the bulk of this prophetic word is taken up in developing a greater and greater knowledge about Whom Israel is dealing. He is the Mighty God. 

Recognizably, Isaiah's Oracles derive from the Great and Majestic God pictured in chapter 6. What about chapters 1-5? Respectfully, please dissect the passages dealing with the person of God and see if they don't draw you and the prophet toward chapter six with increasing revelation? I believe they do. I also believe that seeing the Lord, "High and Lifted Up," changes one's life forever and increases the boldness of one's witness. 

Chapter One
          Situation: Jerusalem and Judah have a corrupted authority system which teaches corrupting ideologies. The Religio-governmental agencies had forgotten to whom they are answerable to: The Holy One of Israel. 

Since they are ignorant of their benefactor, Isaiah's task is one of re-introducing the nation to their God. Since God's opinions matter, it is also necessary to let them hear His estimate of their "State of the union."

          God describes the religious leaders and their followers in succinctness, like a razor cut. I am sure their self-appraisal, concerning their activities, would include none of the following. God says they are:

Rebellious children, who have rebelled against Him
Ignorant subjects, who don't know their God, when even animals know where their food comes from, Israel does not. (They thought their economy and system functioned without God's intervention. After all, they were ruled by the highest of theologians.)
They are a sinful nation, a brood of evil doers (Their perversions were deeply pervasive and deeply engrained)
Corrupters (making disciples of sin and error ... taking innocent people and deceiving them.) 
Those who turned their back on God: v. 4
Untrainable: God's past disciplines did not affect them. V. 5
Sick from head to toe: This is a major indictment, being called sick in the head (v. 6).
Their National scene is a disaster v. 7-9. They are like Sodom and Gomorrah.

(Being called Sodom and Gomorrah, in Israel, always draws fire. It did in Jesus' day, and it did here. [The reason this comparison agitates so much is that Sodom had no Bible, Israel did. They had considerable texts: the Torah, Job, Psalms, Solomon's writings and five other prophets. This is precisely why Isaiah, as well as other prophets, addresses the hierarchy as the "rulers of Sodom"]). This is like throwing the dead cat into the cathedral!

Isaiah, throughout his prophecy, refers to the whole nation of Israel as, "The Daughters of Zion." In Chapter One, God said that if He had not intervened, they would have perished. When a nation's excesses reach the attention of heaven-look out! What a graphic picture ensues!

Isaiah 1:8-9
So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city. 
9 Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
                              NKJV

A booth in a vineyard is a ragged, torn frame, left flapping in the wind, abandoned after the harvest. A hut in a garden of cucumbers is a similar image. Both pictures get across the point that to God, Judah and Jerusalem look pretty "God forsaken." 

Perfection Speaks:

1. Fact one: Your Religion Stinks. God's remedy is not more religious activity with an increase in sacrifices. His remedy is repentance and coming to Him.
2. Fact Two: "I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred embracing one another." V. 13 Amos said, "Can two walk together unless they be agreed?" (This indictment is applicable to the clergy and government of today!)
3. Fact Three: God said, "New Moons and Sabbaths and the calling of assemblies My soul hates (v13)." (Be careful Messianics, be careful!)
4. Fact Four: "Spreading out hands before heaven and making many prayers accomplishes nothing, 'I will not hear (your hands are full of blood).'"
          (Be careful charismatics, be careful about your declarations.)

Perfection Speaks: The Scripture below is His ONLY remedy: (This remedy would require a transformation in government and religion, during that day. It would do so in this day!)

Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean v. 16
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. V. 16
Cease to do evil v. 16
Learn to do good
Seek Justice
Reprove the oppressor
Defend the Fatherless
Plead for the widow
(Get the God kind of cleansing) v. 18

An Immutable Promise: Isaiah 1:18
Do these things and I will make you white as snow.
           If you are willing and obedient You shall eat the food of the land.
Don't do these things, you will be devoured by the sword! 

A Promise of judgment: Series of "I WILL" passages, God determined outcomes. v. 24 

I will rid Myself of My adversaries
I will take vengeance on My enemies
I will turn my hand against you and thoroughly purge away your dross, alloy
I will destroy the transgressors and sinner together (transgressors are those who once obeyed the law of God and turned away. Sinners are those who never knew God at all, v. 28.)
I will take away your places of lust and idolatry.

          A Promise of Deliverance: Isaiah 1:24-ff (This verse is connected to subsequent passages where God says their judgment will be the loss of these leaders. So, in essence, God is saying: "Once I have destroyed these, I will restore them as I first intended.")

I will restore your judges like the first
I will restore your counselors as at the beginning
I will see that Jerusalem is a city of righteousness and is faithful, v26
Zion will be redeemed with justice (righteousness)
Those who have repented will be redeemed with righteousness.

Gleaning from Chapter One:

God knows your every sin and shortcoming and is willing to talk to you about them.
God hates religious activity as a substitute for true repentance
The Lord sees through makeshift changes that do not affect the heart and one's way of life. 
God makes a way to return to Him by re-establishing what has been lost: 
          v. 21 (Jerusalem once was faithful and 
          full of justice and righteousness.) 
The Lord will not allow His Glory to be tarnished by His People. The law of God will prevail ( v. 10).
The Lord always re-asserts His Authority in Power and in Love.
          Note the beginning of v. 24 ...
          (I am) The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel

Chapter Two:
          Isaiah takes his prophecy into the drawing room of God, and he shows the long range plan of the Lord for Judah and Jerusalem. Remember, sometimes it is necessary to step back and view the whole picture, rather than the fragmented one of the moment.
          There are several "sealed" passages in this chapter. They are sealed in the respect of being "unchangeable." No amount of prayer, repentance or countering