Acknowledge the Holiness of the Holy One (Isaiah 29:15-24)

Unacceptable Worship (Isaiah 29:1-14) [Lips Life Disconnect; Hypocrisy and Insincerity.]

The Deaf Hear, the Blind See (Isaiah 29:15-24) [Acknowledge the Holiness of the Holy One]

"Oh, your perversity!" (29:16). In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see" (29:18). "...they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob" (29:23).

1. [15-24] What is the rebuke of the third "woe" (Isa 29:15; Gen 3:8)? What are they hiding (Isa 30:1-2; 31:1)? What are the first two woes that brought sorrow (28:1ff [1-13]; 29:1ff [1–14, esp. 9–14])? What brings woe and sorrow here? How does it relate to the first two woes (Isa 2:22; 7:9b)?
2. Isa 29:16 is an exclamation: "Oh, your perversity!" Why is this so perverse and offensive to God (Gen 2:7; Job 10:9; 33:6; Isa 45:9; 64:8; Rom 9:20-21)? Can you hide things from God (Gen 3:7-8)? Do you attempt to take on the role of God by trying to control your situation/others? Why is this foolish (Isa 14:24-27)? Do you use God to get what you already decided to do? How do we not do this (Prov 3:5)?
3. [Notice the proportion of condemnation (29:15-16) to promise (29:17-24) here as opposed to the proportions in 28:1–22 (28:16-21) and 29:1–14 (29:5-8). Keep this in mind in the next four chapters.] What is promised (29:17-19, 20-21; 32:3; 35:5)? How does it reverse the problems in ch. 28–29 (28:1, 9, 23; 29:1, 9, 13, 15-16)?
4. What is the response to conviction, repentance and redemption (29:22-24)? What will change (17, 19, 20)?

Three different settings addressed by Isaiah:

1. 1-39 (740-700 B.C.): Isaiah's own times. The Assyrian threat.
2. 40-55 (585-540 B.C.): Judean exiles in Babylon. The Babylonian exile.
3. 56-66 (539 B.C. onwards): Conditions in Judah after the return from exile.

Isaiah 1-39 Outline: Trust God--The Assyrian threat.

• 1-5 The problem: A lack of servanthood.Trust God and do not rebel.
• 6 [740 BC] The solution: A call to servanthood. Trust God and your sins are covered.
• 7-39 Lessons in trust, the basis of servanthood. [Trust God--NOT Assyria (7-12, 36-39), NOT the nations (13-23), NOT the world (24-27), NOT Egypt (28-33).
• 7-12 God or Assyria: No trust. The need to study lessons in trust again.
• 13-23 God's judgment over the nations. Don't trust the nations.
• 24-27 God's triumph over the nations. God is the sovereign actor on the stage of history.
• 28-33 The folly of trusting the nations. Woe to those who will not wait/trust God.
• 34-35 The results of trusting God or the nations: A desert or a garden.
• 36-39 God or Assyria: Trust. [701 BC]

Repentance and Rest are Inseparable (Isaiah 30:15)

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it'" (Isa 30:15, NIV).

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it'" (Isa 30:15, NLT).

The Connection between Repentance and Rest (John Oswalt, Isaiah, the NIV Application Commentary, 2003):

Repentance and rest and inseparable (as well as quietness and trust/confidence). God's appeal to his people is "In repentance and rest is your salvation" (Isa 30:15). Both concepts are important, and each is integrally related to the other. There is no real rest (complete dependence on God) without repentance, and there is no real repentance that does not issue in rest.

Repentance is not just to "stop certain sins." The fundamental idea behind repentance in the OT is to turn around or to turn back. It is to stop going in the direction you were, namely, one of self-dependence and self-pleasing, and to turn away from that life to one of depending on God and pleasing him. To talk about resting in the Lord while still keeping hold of one's life and its direction is a contradiction in terms. By the same token, to stop committing certain sins and to "clean up one's act" merely for the sake of avoiding punishment (or to get what we desperately want) is not to turn back to God. It is only to turn away from sin and may be just as selfish as any other act.

Jesus began his ministry with a call for repentance. The NT development of the idea, as expressed in the term metonoia, is the same. To repent is to turn about mentally, spiritually, and behaviorally. How did Jesus begin his ministry? It is by declaring that "the kingdom of God is near." How does one welcome and receive this kingdom? Jesus states that it is by repentance (Mt 4:17; Mk 1:15; Lk 5:32). Unless we repent, i.e., reject the old king--ourselves--and his ways, sin, there is no way we can come into the kingdom of God.

Who is your real king? Just as the OT put the correct relationship with God within the context of absolute loyalty to a covenant king, the NT calls us to turn from loyalty to ourselves and become the glad subjects of heaven's King. If we find real trust difficult, perhaps it is because there has never been a real change of king in our lives. The idea that we can have the benefits of the kingdom without turning away from our own kingship is a fallacy.

God Longs to be Gracious (Isaiah 30)

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it" (Isa 30:15). "Yet the Lord longs [waits] to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Isa 30:18)

Despite our refusal to trust God, yet God is gracious. In one of the greatest statements in all of Scripture, God says that since Israel will not wait for [trust in] him (Isa 30:15), he will have to wait (NIV "longs") to be gracious to them (Isa 30:18).

Man's common problem: Not waiting. This leads to making bad decisions. Then we regret as we experience undesirable results and consequences. The problem of God's people during Isaiah's time was that they could not wait on God to deliver them when they were under duress from the threat of Assyrian invasion. So they rushed off to depend on Egypt for help, which God regards as useless.

1. Waiting to rely/depend on what is useless (1-17).
   
2. God waits for us in grace (18-33) as a:
1. Teacher (19-22) who opens their spiritual eyes (20-22; 29:18; cf. 6:9-10).
2. Healer (23-26) who blesses them with physical (23-25) and spiritual blessings (26).
3. Conqueror (27-33) whose mouth, breath and voice (27, 28, 30, 31, 33) will soundly defeat all enemies (27-30, 32-33); for Judah, it was Assyria (31).

Questions:

1. [30:1–5] Compare this "woe" with the previous three (28:1 [glory]; 29:1 [assumption]; 29:15 [secrecy]). How is it similar to and different from those? Why are they "stubborn/obstinate children" (1)? What is the implication of calling them this (30:9; 1:2)?
2. What have they done wrong (1-2)? Shouldn't this sin of seeking Egypt's help have been obvious (1-2)? What does this say about their decision-making (3-5; Heb 12:1)? Why might Egypt have been an acceptable choice (30:3; 4:6; 25:4; Ps 91:1; 121:5-6)? Why is it not (29:15; 2:22; 31:1)?
3. [30:6–7] What literary device is used in 30:6-7? (It is also used in 3:16–4:1; 5:1–6; etc.) What is its function? What are the donkeys carrying? To where are they carrying it? In the context why are they doing this? What do Isaiah (and God) think of this (7)? What things are we tempted to try to buy (futilely)?
4. [30:8–14 ] Why does Isaiah write down his prophetic words (30:8; 8:1, 16; 29:11)? What is their attitude toward the instruction (torah) of Yahweh (9-11)?What do they want to hear (10b)? Dislike hearing (10a, 11)? Despite their protest, what does Isaiah tell them (30:12a; 7:9b; Lk 13:3, 5)?
5. Why is God not pleased with them (12)? ["Oppression" and "deceit/perverseness" (12) are practices of the Egypt they were tempted to rely.] How might this apply to us? What would happen as a result (Isa 30:13–14; 47:11; Prov 6:15; 1 Th 5:3)?
6. [30:15–18] What does God plead with them to do (30:15; 7:4)? What happens when they refuse (16-17)? Note the two "therefores" (15, 18)? So what should we not do (31:1)? And what should we do when faced with a threatening situation (Prov 3:5; Ps 40:4)?
7. What are the four things Yahweh wants to do for us (18)? What prevents him from giving them to us?
8. [30:19–22, 23-26] What will be the characteristics of the remnant (19–22)? Relate to 6:9–10. What is the point of the imagery (23–26)?
9. [30:27–33] Why don't the Judeans need to enter into an alliance with Egypt? Why say that Yahweh's "name" comes from afar (27)? What does "name" refer to in the OT?
10. What is the setting in which God's judgment on the nations (as represented by Assyria) is placed (29, 32, 33)? Why is this?

[31:1–9] "Substantiation" occurs when the effect is stated first and the cause second. Notice the "for" beginning v. 4. What is the effect and what is the cause in these verses?

Notice the title in vv. 4 and 5. What is its significance here?

Why should the people turn to God (vv. 6–7 substantiation)? How does this apply to us?

Look at the events reported in 37:36–38 and compare to the prediction here in v. 8. Trust Egypt?

Remember that "to be shamed" (cf. 31:3, 5) in OT context is to be disgraced, often by a failed trust.

The Negeb (30:6) is the northern edge of the Sinai wilderness, progressively more hostile as one goes farther south. Perhaps the coast road to Egypt was blocked by the Assyrians so that communication with Egypt had to be round about through the desert.

Although the name Rahab (30:7) has not yet been found in any of the myths, it is apparent that this was another of the names for the chaos monster. Here Isaiah mocks Egypt with an oxymoron: a helpless monster. 

"Inscribe it in a book" (30:8) suggests again that Isaiah's words were not for his own generation, which would not listen (cf. 6:9–10), but for generations to come (cf. 8:16–17).

Note the changing proportions of hope and judgment the farther we go into chapters 28–33.

The Deaf Hear, the Blind See (Isa 29:15-24 questions)

"In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see" (Isa 29:18).

1. [15-24] What is the rebuke of the third "woe" (Isa 29:15; Gen 3:8)? What are they hiding (Isa 30:1-2; 31:1)? What are the first two woes that brought sorrow (28:1ff [1-13]; 29:1ff [1–14, esp. 9–14])? What brings woe and sorrow here? How does it relate to the first two woes (Isa 2:22; 7:9b)?
2. How do they turn things upside down (Isa 29:16; Rom 9:20-21)? How easy is this to do? Do you think you can hide things from God (Gen 3:7-8)? Do you use God to further what you want to accomplish?
3. Notice the proportion of condemnation (29:15-16) to promise (29:17-24) here as opposed to the proportions in 28:1–22 (28:16-21) and 29:1–14 (29:5-8). Keep this in mind in the next four chapters.
4. What is promised (Isa 29:17-19, 20-21)? How does it relate to the problems detailed thus far in chs. 28–29 (28:1, 9, 14, 23; 29:1, 9-14, 15-16)?
5. What is the predicted response to conviction, repentance and redemption (Isa 29:22-24)? How do we do that?

When thinking of the tone of this section [29:9-14] as compared with the previous one remember Isaiah's typical approach to promise: it is to bring his audience back to the present reality.

Isaiah 2015 at West Loop, Philippines and Malaysia

The key verses for the rest of my life emphasize "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24) and "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). As part of the whole counsel of God, I was inspired to study Isaiah in 2015. I have been reluctant to study Isaiah because it is 66 chapters in length! But as I studied and prepared for each sermon each week in 2015, I have been in awe with wonder as to the depth and scope and majesty of Isaiah.

So far I have preached 23 sermons from the first 28 chapters of Isaiah (West Loop sermons from Isaiah). Very briefly, here are ten life lessons from Isaiah:

1. Grace: The grace of God (Isa 1:18; 5:4).
2. Stupidity: The stupidity of man (Isa 1:3; 28:23-29).
3. Hypocrisy: The outward Christian life (Isa 1:13; 29:13).
4. Authenticity: The Christian life (Isa 2:5, 3; 7:4; 8:12b-13).
5. Disillusionment: The sure disappointment (Isa 2:22; 22:8-11; 31:1).
6. Calling/Theophany: The call and the vision (Isa 6:1, 5, 8).
7. Faith: The challenge (Isa 7:9b; 26:4).
8. Wonder: The perennial solution (Isa 9:6; Isa 26:3).
9. Security: The eternal kingdom (Isa 11:6-9; 25:6-8; 26:19; 28:16).
10. Certainty: The only salvation (Isa 12:2; 25:9).

Not only at West Loop UBF but in November and December 2015 I also taught and preached on Isaiah for 3 weeks in Philippines UBF in Manila. I also met with Malaysia UBF in Kuala Lumpur and had several group Bible studies on Isaiah, and preached on Isaiah 6 at their newly rented Bible house. Thank God for the flourishing work of God being carried out in Philippines and Malaysia UBF. God willing, I may continue to visit and be encouraged by them in 2016 and beyond. God willing, we may have an Isaiah conference with the theme: My Eyes Have Seen the King (Isa 6:5) with the following sermons:

• Isaiah 1 (The problem): No calling. No vision.

• Isaiah 6 (The solution): Hear the call. See God.

• Isaiah 7 (The challenge): Trust God.

• Isaiah 9 (The child): The one you trust.

God willing, we may finish studying and preaching through the book of Isaiah in 2016 at West Loop.

How To Seek God First, Jan 2, 2016

I wrote about how I first applied Matthew 6:33 in the 1980's and 90's in my first post of 2016: How To Seek First God;s Kingdom. How might I apply Matthew 6:33 today? These are my random, rambling, ruminating, reflections:

1. Don't cheat my conscience. Paul says, "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man" (Ac 24:16, NIV). I cheat my conscience when I do and think of what I should have no business doing and thinking of. Yet like Paul I know that I do not do what I want, but instead do what I do not want to do (Ro 7:15-16). Lord, have mercy.
2. Guard my heart. Proverbs says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life" (Pro 4:23, NLT). I need to do so because "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jer 17:9, NLT)
   
3. Delight in the Scriptures (Ac 20:27). The psalmist cried out, "Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long" (Ps 119:97, NLT). Also, the psalmist said, "Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night" (Ps 1:2, HCSB).
4. Check my priorities (Mt 6:33). Is God's name and honor my utmost concern, or is it my own wounded pride and ego that deceptively gets in the way?
5. Love others (Jn 13:34-35; Lev 19:18). This is always easier said than done! This needs intensive work every single day.
6. Never get angry and loose my temper. "Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm" (Ps 37:8, NLT). This is only possibly by the Spirit.
7. Seek wisdom from God (Jas 1:5).
8. Never depart and deviate from grace (Ac 20:24).
   

A shorter simpler list might be:

1. Love God. Heart.
   
2. Love others. Community.
   
3. Love Scripture. Solitude.
   
4. Love justice. Communication.