The contrast between Isaiah 34 and 35

Isaiah 34 (Judgment) [Hell]	Isaiah 35 (Salvation) [Heaven]
Trusting the world/self	Trusting God
Becomes a desert	Becomes a garden
No way (34:10)	A highway (35:8)
Destruction and desolation	Restoration and renewal
The power of the Gentiles will be broken	The redeemed will see the kingdom of God
God's wrath against the nations	God's glory transforming Zion
God, not the world, is the one to fear	God, not the world, is the one to hope in

God, Not the World, is the One to Fear (Isaiah 34)

Titles for Isaiah 34: Judgment -- Listen, Look into the Scroll. When You Don't Trust God. Judgment, an Unpalatable Topic: Painful passages about divine wrath and judgment, such as Isaiah 34, are hard to read and take in, but Isaiah does not spare our feelings.

Listen, Pay Attention, Hear, Look, Read and Learn that (34:1, 16):

1. God will Judge the World (1-15).
2. God's Plan will Happen (16-17).

According to Isaiah 34, God-neglect will turn us into an eternally barren desert. But if we trust God, our desert will be transformed into a garden. That is what the grace of God can do (Isaiah 35). Each of us is moving in one of these two directions, either into judgment or into salvation. What God wants is to save you.

Hell or Heaven. Isaiah 34 shows us what will become of anyone who buys into this world, and Isaiah 35 shows us what will become of one who banks everything on the promised salvation of God. In these two chapters Isaiah shows us the seamless connection between what we embrace now and what we will have in the future. His point is that the salvation you prefer now, whether earthly or heavenly, is shaping who you are and which direction you will go forever (Rev 22:11). So in a sense, Hell or Heaven will be the eternal extension of the deepest, truest you that you become in this life. So the most important question of our existence is: What are you becoming? Whatever you are becoming reveals where you are going. C.S. Lewis says that hell is when you become the photographic negative of what you were meant to be when God made you. If you savor by faith a salvation and fullness from God, you're already on your way to Zion in Isaiah 35. But if you choose to live by faith in this world, Isaiah 34 is showing you your future.

Salvation by God must go through Edom. Though Isaiah mentions the whole world (Isa 34:1), the one nation he mentions is Edom (Isa 34:5, 6, 9). Why? It is because Edom typifies the whole world. The forefathers of Israel and Edom were the brothers Jacob and Esau (Gen 25:21-26). But Esau held a grudge against Jacob (Genesis 27). When the infant nation Israel was journeying toward the Promised Land, they requested passage through Edom (Num 20:14-21) but they refused. Edom tried to block the salvation that God was bringing into the world. Edom, then, is the antithesis to God's pilgrim people. The ethos of the Edomite culture is the spirit of the worle world, a spirit that finds its salvation in the resources of this temporal, physical order. We have to get past Edom to be saved by God.

How do we relate to such a savage text?

In Isaiah's day, blood and gore were a part of everyday life. Today most of us are far removed from the world of bloodshed. At most we see or hear about it from a distance. We are appalled just to hear about ISIS beheadings. We eat meat, but we never give a thought to the butchering process. The last horrifying slaughter that Americans experienced was during the Civil War. But for Isaiah's hearers, it was part of daily life. They knew firsthand the realities of brutal warfare where whole families were butchered.

The strange hope and comfort of the slaughterers getting "a taste of their own medicine." The language of Isaiah 34 is horrifying and offensive to our ears (Isa 34:2-3). But it was probably actually comforting to many of Isaiah's hearers. There is going to be justice in the world after all. The terrible words of judgment against Judah's enemies was a promise that God would balance the scales of justice, and that the Edoms of the world would pay for what they had done.

Why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. Almost certainly Jonah wanted the Assyrians to suffer for all the suffering they had brought to Israel. But he knew how compassionate God really is (Jon 4:2). He knew that if even an Assyrian would repent, God would not impose judgment on them. Jonah wanted the Assyrians to pay for what they did.

The bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. It was interesting to hear persons who lost family members in the bombing speak of the impending execution of the convicted bomber. There was a sense that they could not feel "closure" in their own experience until the one who made the bomb had paid the full price for his crime. They wanted the scales of justice balanced. And if we will not let God place his Son in the balance for us, then justice says that we ourselves must take that place and go to destruction with Edom.

Is my ultimate trust in creatures (Edom) or the Creator? If so, I am headed into the desert with those Edoms. To put my ultimate trust in creatures instead of the Creator is truly stupid. It is to ultimately crash into that reality with devastating effect.

How do I know if I'm trusting the creature or not? It is too easy to trust the creature. It's too easy for me to trust my youth (which incidentally is evaporating away rapidly!) and my health (which is also gradually ebbing away, beginning with my knees). It's too easy for me to trust my own experience, intuition, perceptiveness, assessment and plan my own course of action with the church, with people, with my medical practice, etc. After doing all that I can, do I truly trust God, or am I still trusting my own efforts? Do I truly pray and surrender the outcome to God, or am I still trying to manipulate the situation to fit my own preference and liking?

What does it mean to trust God radically? Sometimes it means deliberately not doing what I could for myself and letting God do it instead. Sometimes it is to take a radical step of faith without the absolute assurance that the ground is there to step on. When Harrison Ford faced a chasm he cannot cross in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he remembered words he had been told previously. Then he steps off into the chasm, and suddenly a walkway appears under his feet. Did I somewhat do this when I attempted to start WL church in 2008 despite the disapproval of many older leaders who interpreted my attempts as being insubordinate and disrespectful?

Do Jesus' words about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies radically contradict these words of Isaiah? Does the NT message of forgiveness contradict the OT message of vengeance? They key response is that of Paul: "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord" (Rom 12:19, NLT; Dt 32:35). How can we find the grace to not seek and take revenge? It is precisely in the knowledge that there is a just Judge of all the universe who will see that justice is done in the end. We do not need to destroy the Edom that may have crushed us because we can trust God to do the right thing in the end, both for Edom and us.

How freeing and liberating this is. It takes the justice of the world off our shoulders and frees us from carrying around a heavy load of anger and resentment. One of the things that brought down President Nixon was his "list of enemies." If he was not concerned about his enemies and more concerned to do what is right in the confidence that God would redress the balances, the Watergate scandal might never have happened.

How Satan Makes You Give Up (Isaiah 36)

Titles for Isaiah 36: The Ultimatum. How Satan Makes You Give Up. How Satan Attacks: Give Up and Surrender.

Isaiah 36-39 appears to have been designed to act as a bridge between its two halves (1-35 and 40-66). The issue in these chapters is absolutely central to the book's total message--the issue of trust and where that trust is placed. The Assyrian invader puts the issue most succinctly: "On whom are you depending?" (Isa 36:5, NIV) This is the question which the book of Isaiah forces us to ponder again and again, and with good reason, for our response to it will determine the whole shape of our lives.

The Rock of History (Isaiah 36-37; 2 Kings 18-19) [Alec Motyer]

1. The first Assyrian embassy to Jerusalem: The helpless king (36:1-37:7)
1. No salvation in faith (36:1-10). The first Assyrian speech.
   
2. A popular appeal for surrender (36:11-21)
3. The king's reaction: faith at last! (36:22-37:7)
   
2. The second Assyrian embassy: The godly king (37:8-38)
1. Hezekiah, man of faith (10-13)
2. Hezekiah, man of prayer (14-20)
3. Isaiah's message: Hezekiah, the man of the word of God (21-35)
4. The finale: Assyrian overthrow (36-38)
   

The Supreme Tests for Hezekiah (Isaiah 36-39) [Derek Kidner]

1. The Assyrian onslaught (36-37).
2. Hezekiah's illness (38).
3. The envoys from Babylon (39).
   

In Whom Shall We Trust? (Isaiah 36-39) [Barry Webb]

1. The enemy at the gates (36:1-22)
2. The tables turned (37:1-38)
1. The power of God's word (1-13)
2. Hezekiah looks up (14-20)
3. Sennacherib's fall (21-38)
3. Hezekiah's illness (38:1-22)
4. Envoys from Babylon (39:1-8)
   

Hezekiah's Challenge To Trust God (Isaiah 36-39) [Gary Smith]

I. Challenging Hezekiah's Trust for Deliverance (36:1-22)

1. The First Challenge: On Whom Can You Depend (36:1-10)
1. The setting of the conflict (1-3)
2. Rabshakeh's speech (4-10)
1. You have no one to trust (4-7)
2. Make a bargain with me (8-9)
3. God sent me (10)
2. The Second Challenge: Who Can Deliver You? (36:11-21)
1. Request to speak Aramaic (11-12)
2. Rabshakeh's speech (13-20)
1. Hezekiah and God cannot deliver you (13-16a)
2. Surrender and live well (16b-17)
3. No god can deliver anyone from Assyria (18-20)
3. No response from Hezekiah's representatives (21)

II. Cutting Off the Blaspheming Assyrian King (36:22-37:7)

1. The Hebrews respond with mourning (36:22-37:1)
2. Hezekiah's message to Isaiah (37:2-4)
3. Isaiah's oracle about God's salvation (37:5-7)

III. Sennacherib's Final Warning to Hezekiah (37:8-13)

1. Assyrian military action (8-9a)
2. Sennacherib's threatening letter to Hezekiah (9b-13)
1. Do not trust God for deliverance (9b-10)
2. Rationale: No other gods brought deliverance (11-13)

IV. God's Promise to Rescue Hezekiah (37:14-35)

1. Requesting God's deliverance (37:14-20)
1. Hezekiah goes to the temple (14-15)
2. Hezekiah's prayer (16-20)
1. Invocation (16)
2. First petition and rationale (17-19)
3. Second petition and rationale (20)
2. Promise to defeat proud Sennacherib (37:21-29)
1. God answers Hezekiah's prayer (21)
2. Jerusalem will mock Sennacherib (22)
3. Reason: Sennacherib has reviled God (23-27)
1. Question about reviling God (23a)
2. Quotation proving the king's pride (23b-25)
3. Rebuttal: God is in control (26-27)
   
4. Verdict: God's plan for Sennacherib's rage (28-29)
3. God's sign of survival and promise of protection (30-35)
1. God's sign concerning a remnant (30-32)
1. Instruction on food supply (30)
2. A remnant will survive (31-32a)
3. God will do this (32b)
   
2. God's judgment of Sennacherib (33-35)
1. Sennacherib will not lay siege (33)
2. Sennacherib will go home (34)
3. Divine defense because of David (35)
   

V. Assyrians Defeated (37:36-38)

Wrath and Judgment (Isaiah 34)

Serious passages about divine wrath and judgment, such as Isaiah 34, are hard to read and take in. Isaiah does not try to spare our feelings. If anything, for the most part, we do not feel as he did (Isa 21:4), with a heart broken for the lost when they feel the blow of the divine hand after a lifetime of hostility toward God. Like it or not, Scripture--from Genesis to Revelation--declare that there will be such a day coming.

The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23a), and death it will be. It will be the outpouring of divine exasperation when once divine patience had prevailed throughout one's life.

Isaiah's picture of mountains soaked with the blood of the slain (Isa 34:3) is gory and gruesome, just to read. What would the eventual reality be like? Alec Motyer's translation reads:

"For Yahweh has lost patience with all the nations;

his rage is hot against all their host.

He has appointed them to utter destruction,

consigned them to slaughter,

and, as for their slain, they will be thrown out,

and as for their corpses, their stench will rise up,

and mountains will be dissolved by their blood,

and all the host of heaven will rot..." (Isa 34:2-4).

Yes, and praise God that the company of the saved will be innumerable. But what about the multitudes who will stand unready, unfit, hopeless, in the valley of that eternal decision?

Jesus did not hide his face, or ours, from it (Mt 25:46), nor did John make any attempt to camouflage the grim procession to the lake of fire (Rev 20:12-15). Will these be people we know, people we love? Are they people for whom we have a responsibility in the gospel?

Today is the day to ponder these things. In light of God's word, it is also the day to look to ourselves and to determine to flee from sin. Even though our eternity is as secure as if we were already before the Throne, which, in reality, we are (Eph 2:4-6), yet, as long as God leaves us tarrying on earth, sin still brings death.

Like our ancestors we face daily the choice of life or death (Dt 30:15-16) -- to choose the good and not the evil, to refuse disobedience and cultivate obedience. For it is the Lord's Word, his commands, which bring life (that you may live) and progress (and multiply), blessings and inheritance (possess). Peter taught that God gives his Holy Spirit to those who obey him (Ac 5:32).

Judgment (Isaiah 34) and Salvation (Isaiah 35)

The theme of Isaiah 34 is the final overthrow of the world in all its hostility to God's rule. [Judgment: Listen, Look into the Scroll (34:1-17).] Isaiah 35 paints a glorious picture of the final pilgrimage of the Lord's people to their eternal and blissful destination in Zion. [Salvation: A Highway Will Be There for the Redeemed (35:1-10).]

1. Judgment: Listen, Look into the Scroll (Isaiah 34).
2. Salvation: A Highway for the Redeemed (Isaiah 35).
   

Trusting God to Ruin the Nations and Transform Zion (Isaiah 34-35) [Gary Smith]

1. God's Wrath against the Nations (34:1-17)
1. Learn that God will judge the nations (1-15).
1. Judgment on heaven and earth (1-4).
2. The sword against "Edom" (5-7).
3. The devastated land (8-15).
   
2. Learn that God's plan will happen (16-17).
   
2. God's Glory Transforming Zion (35:1-10). Ultimate realities: pilgrims to Zion.
   
1. God's transformation of nature (1-2): New world, a promise to the pilgrims.
2. God's transformation of the weak and blind (3-6a): New life, salvation for the pilgrims.
3. God's transformed people will return (6b-10): New highway, homecoming for pilgrims.
   

The Final Overthrow (Isaiah 34-35) [Alec Motyer]

1. Final divine judgment (34:1-15).
2. The Lord's sure plan: a final summons (34:16-17).
3. A transformed world (35:1-2).
4. Fortitude: the Lord is coming (35:3-4).
5. Salvation and renewal (35:5-7).
6. The highway and the homecoming (35:8-10).
   

[Barry Webb, Isaiah]

1. Final Judgment (Isaiah 34).
2. Final Salvation: The Joy of the Redeemed (Isaiah 35)
   

[Derek Kidner, New Bible Commentary]

1. The Universal Judgment (Isaiah 34).
2. The Flowering Wilderness (Isaiah 35).
   

The Summary of Judgment and Blessing [The Moody Bible Commentary]

1. The power of the Gentiles will be broken (Isaiah 34).
2. The redeemed will see the kingdom of God (Isaiah 35).
   

See The King in His Beauty (Isaiah 33): Questions

Isaiah 32-33 is about a king (32:1; 33:17), who is the Lord (33:22). Isaiah 32-33 tells us about:

1. A king and his kingdom (32:1-20).
2. A king who is exalted (33:1-16). Be Our Strength Every Morning (33:1-16). Dwell with Fire on the Heights.
   
3. A king in his beauty (33:17-24). See The King In His Beauty (33:17-24).

[Skim Isaiah 33. What is its tone? Compare to Isaiah 28 and notice the changing proportions.]

1. [33:1–6] What was the focus of the first five "woes" in Isaiah 28-33? How is this one different? What will happen to those who plunder others (1)? Who might the betrayer be (33:8; 2 Ki 18:13-16)?
2. In times of distress what does God desire of his people (33:2; 30:18)? Whose help has proven useless (30:7; 31:1)? How is the plundering described (3-4)? Who is always able to deliver from distress (5-6)? What seven gifts does the exalted reigning king bestow on his people (5-6)? What are some ways that you can practice this in your life?
3. [33:7–9] What suffering is described (7-9)? To whom is this referring? What is Isaiah doing here that is typical of him? What is the only hope in times of hopelessness (10-12)? Whose power will prevail, Assyria or God's (13)?
4. [33:10–16] What happens when God is exalted and decides to act (5, 10-12)? Who will be afraid (33:13-14; 2:6-22)? Who will be secure (15-16)? Who can dwell with "consuming fire" and "on the heights" (14-16)? What blessings will he receive (15-16)? There is no mention of grace (14-16). Are we talking about salvation by works? Why or why not (33:24)?
5. [33:17–22] How does the promise of 33:17 relate to the last statement of 6:5? What will righteous people see (17)? What does this king offer us (17, 20, 22, 24)?
6. What does 33:18-20 say about God's purpose in judgment (28:11; 29:14)? What would God's people no longer see (18-19)? Instead, where would they look and what would they see (20)? What would Zion become (20-21)? What is the river a symbol of (48:18; 66:12; Ps 46:64)?
7. How is God described (22)? What will He do for the people? What do the three roles (33:22) tell us about God and our relationship to him? How does 33:21 fit this description?
8. [33:23–24] What will happen to the prey of the plunderer? To those in the city (23-24)? What is promised to us (23b-24)? What will God do for the inhabitants (24)?

Psalm 64

Measure For Measure (Derek Kidner)

1. Insidious attack (1-6).
2. Exemplary punishment (7-10).
   

The Retributive God (J.A. Motyer, New Bible Commentary)

1. Praying for protection (1-2).
2. The attack (3-4).
3. Denial of retribution (5-6).
4. The counterattack (7-8).
5. Affirmation of retribution (9).
6. Rejoicing in protection (10).

Finding Solace from Tormentors (Moody Bible Commentary)

1. Unburdening the torment of heart to God (1-6).
2. Affirming the judgment of tormentors (7-8).
3. Anticipating the glory of the future with God (9-10).

The Psalms: Songs of Jesus (Tim Keller)

1. Voicing Complaint (1-6).
2. The Comfort of Judgment (7-10).
   

Righteous King, New Society (Isaiah 32)

In a day of national emergency, Judah looked to Egypt (31:1-3).

But what about us? What do we look at? Whom do we look to? These are vital questions. What direction are we moving in? Where are our eyes fixed? Are we ever and always getting closer to Jesus, ever and always "seeing him more clearly, loving him more dearly," turning our eyes on Jesus, looking full in his wonderful face?

In Isaiah's day, Judah was in a serious, life and death, national crisis. The Assyrian invasion spelled the end of all they had and hoped. They were in a "big" crisis that could destroy them. But it may not be the "big" occasions that defeat us. Often, out of sheer desperation, it sends us fleeing to Jesus in a more determined way. But what more often leads to our downfall are the "small" daily decisions.

Should I get up early to pray? Or take my time to make my coffee and check my emails? Do I read and reflect at night or watch late night TV and binge watch something on Netflix? These questions might be seemingly innocuous or silly sounding, but it could potentially be deadly serious. Does my heart long for Christ or for the world's attention? Do I enjoy dwelling in the presence of God? Is my inclination toward the kingdom that is not of this world?

Outline of Alec Motyer:

1. The king (1-2). The messianic king of Isaiah 9 and 11.
   
2. New people, new society (3-8). The light of the Lord's coming shines behind every darkness in our experience.
   
3. Call to listen in light of the future (9-14). This matches the call in 31:6-9.
   
4. Outpoured Spirit, new society (15-18).
5. Epilogue: humiliation and blessedness (19-20).

Gary Smith:

1. God's Exaltation of a Righteous King (1-8).
1. The rule of a righteous king (1-2).
2. Opening the eyes of the blind (3-4).
3. The folly of fools will be exposed (5-8).
   
2. Mourning from Complacency, Life from the Spirit (9-20).
1. Complacent women of Jerusalem must lament (9-14).
1. Call for women to listen (9-10).
2. Call for women to mourn (11-14).
   
2. God's Spirit will transform the world (15-20).
1. The Spirit's work of restoration (15-16).
2. The fruit of righteousness (17-20).
   

John Oswalt

1. Good Leaders Rule with Justice (32:1-8).
2. Quietness and Confidence Forever (32:9-20).
   

Re:

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Isaiah 31 and 32 questions

Trusting Egypt Doesn't Work (Isaiah 31:1-9)

1. Why does God pronounce a woe (1)? Why was it foolish for the people to trust in Egypt and her chariots (1-2)? Why could Egypt not be trusted (3)?
2. Who would fight for Zion and defend her? How is He described (4)? To what is God's defense compared (5)?
3. What should the people do (6)?
4. What would happen to Assyria, and what would the people learn (7-9)? How would Assyria fall (8; 37:36-38)?
5. What lessons should we learn from the mistake the people made in trusting Egypt without consulting God?

Peace is the Fruit of Righteousness (Isaiah 32:1-20)

1. What is foretold that gives hope (1)? What kinds of rulers are described (1)? Who is this king (33:17, 22)? What blessings are described (2)?
2. What will various parts of the body be able to do (3,4)? How do these promises work out in the lives of believers?
3. How is the foolish person described (5-6)? What is the difference between a scoundrel and a noble man (7-8)?
4. How are the women described (9-11)? What is the condition that concerns Isaiah (and God)? How does this manifest itself in our attitudes and behavior? What will happen to them?
5. What will happen to the land (12-14)? What is the literary relationship between 32:1–8 and 32:9–14? Why does Isaiah do this? (Remember what is characteristic of him after a promise.)
6. What will make the difference from barrenness to abundance? What will happen when the Spirit is poured out (15-17)? Notice four results of the Spirit's coming (16–17). What brings forth justice and righteousness (15-16)? What are its result (17-18)? How does this relate to our lives? When might this be fulfilled?
7. Describe the dwellings of God's people (18-20)? What circumstances will surround them? What will the Messiah make available to the world (11:1; 62:1)?

Sketch and Overview of Isaiah 28-33, 2016

The Foolishness of Trusting the Nations (Isaiah 28-35). John Oswalt's overview.

• Isaiah 28-29: Bad leadership. Human rulers implementing human rules. Leaders are drunken, blind and deaf to God's word.
• Isaiah 30-31: Bad solution/advice/decision. Trusting in Egypt, instead of God.
• Isaiah 32-33: Good leadership/government. When the Messiah reigns and rules.
• Isaiah 34-35: Conclusion of Isaiah 28-33 (13-33): A desert (Isaiah 34) or a garden (Isaiah 35).
  

28:1-19: Mocking Isaiah's Words (Isa 28:10, 12-13). Consider:

1. Two crowns (1-6).
2. Two words (7-13).
3. Two covenants (14-22).
4. Two parables (23-29)

Schedule:

Jan 17, 2016 David Weed. 29:1-14: Lips and Life Disconnect (Teaching Human Rules from the Bible). (Isa 29:13).

Jan 24, 2016. David Weed. 29:15-24: Creature and Creator Disconnect (Acknowledge the Holiness of the Holy One). (Isa 29:16, 23).

Jan 31, 2016. Tim Fitch. 30:1-17: Easy Shade, Easy Bible Study and Easy Salvation (Find Rest in Repentance). Isa 30:15 is the distinctive challenge of Isaiah (Isa 7:4, 9; 28:12).

Feb 7, 2016. Tim Fitch. 30:18-33: God Longs To Be Gracious To You. Isa 30:18 is one of the greatest statements in all of Scripture.

Feb 14, 2016. David Weed. 31:1-9: Trusting Egypt Doesn't Work (Return to God). (Isa 31:6).

Feb 21, 2016. David Weed. 32:1-20: Peace is the Fruit of Righteousness (True Productivity and Peace, Safety and Security). (Isa 32:17).

Feb 28, 2016. Rhoel. 33:1-16: Dwell with Fire on the Heights. (Isa 33:14, 16).

Mar 6, 2016. Rhoel. 33:17-24: See the King in His Beauty. (Isa 33:17).

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.
   

ABC 2016

Prayer for 2016:

1. Available.
• Accessible.
• Approachable.
• Amiable.
• Accountable.
  
2. Bible basics.
• Bible building blocks.
• Back to the Bible.
  
3. Communication.
• Community.
  
4. Discipleship.
• Discipline.
• Direction.
  
5. Encounter.
• Experience.
• Evangelize.
  
6. Friendship.
• Fellowship.
• Freedom.
7. Grace.
• Generosity.
• Gentleness.
• Goodness.
  

Ten Life Lessons from Isaiah for 2016

For about six months in 2015, I preached through the first 28 chapters of Isaiah in 23 sermons: West Loop sermons from Isaiah. Here are some life lessons that we can draw out and apply:

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).
    

Praise God As Long As I Live (Psalm 146)

"I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live" (Ps 146:2, NIV).

Psalm 1 began with "Blessed is the man" (Ps 1:1) and ends with "Blessed be the Lord" in the last five psalms--Psalm 146-150--the endless Hallelujah. In these psalms there is no reference to personal need and no petition. All is focused on God. All is praise, which aptly conclude the Psalms, as all five psalms begin and end with "Praise the Lord" (Hallelujah!). In early Jewish tradition an established practice is to recite these five psalms, together with Psalm 145 as part of the daily morning liturgy. Notice the step by step progression in this praise. It begins with the individual (Ps 146:1), involves the community (Ps 147:1,12), extends to heaven and earth (Ps 148:1,7) and to a people committed to mission (Ps 149) until everything that has breath praises the Lord (Ps 150:6).

Psalm 146 expresses individual praise.

1. The praise of God (1-2).
2. The power of God (3-6).
3. The provision of God (7-10).
   

I. The Praise of God (146:1-2)

The act of praising the Lord is lifelong: "all my life" and "as long as I live." The Lord is worthy of the praise of the whole person and the whole life.

II. The Power of God (146:3-6)

Ps 146:3-4 guard the praise of God negatively, because all human objects of trust, whether outstanding or ordinary lack ability, continuance and reliability. In mortal man there is no salvation (Ps 146:3; 118:8; Isa 2:22; 31:1). A truly blessed, happy and joyful person is simply a person who adheres to the principle of trusting and hoping in God rather than in human leaders (Ps 20:7). The Lord can be trusted because of his infinite power as Maker of heaven and earth and his faithful character (Ps 146:6; 115:15; Rev 14:7).

III. The Provision of God (146:7-10)

The psalmist then considered the various ways in which God's concern is expressed as provision for His people: He provides justice, food, liberty/freedom, healing, restoration, protection, care and moral justice (Ps 146:7-9).

Praise God (Psalm 150)

Praise God:

1. Everywhere (Ps 150:1).
2. For Everything (Ps 150:2).
3. In Every Way (Ps 150:3-5).
4. By Everyone (Ps 150:6).
   

Unacceptable Worship (Isaiah 29:1-14 questions)

Isaiah 29 (1–4, 5-8, 9-14)

1. [1-4] Note the opening word (Isa 29:1; 28:1). What does Ariel (Jerusalem) think will protect her (Isa 29:1)? What would God do (Isa 29:2-3)? What were they doing (Isa 29:4; 8:19)? Why? Were they genuinely worshiping God?
2. [5-8] What will God do with Jerusalem's enemies (Isa 29:5)? How does God compare with the nations fighting against Ariel (Isa 29:5-8; 40:15-17)?
3. [9-14] What similarities do you see in 29:9-14 and 28:7-13? How is it that the people have blinded themselves (Isa 29:9), yet God blinds them (Isa 29:10; 6:9-10)? Which comes first? Why would God blind us (Rom 8:6-7)? When does reading the Bible become unintelligible (Isa 29:11-12)?
   
4. When does worship lose its sense of wonder (Isa 29:13; Mt 15:8–9)? Can God be controlled by our worship of Him? Is worship utilitarian? Do you think God should bless you when you obey Him? How does one truly worship God (Ps 51:16-17)? What is ironic about Isa 29:14? Compare to Isa 29:2-3; 28:21.

God's Power on God's Terms (Isaiah 29; Ray Ortland)

Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond C Ortlund Jr.

Did you know that your greatest breakthrough might be when you hit a brick wall? Did you know that the most constructive thing that might happen to you is when your world falls apart? Sometimes we Christians need that, because we think we have God figured out.

We do know something about God, because he has revealed himself to us. But imperceptibly, unintentionally, we can slide into the feeling that if we know God at all, we should be able to explain everything. But the fact is, we can't explain everything. Sometimes God doesn't make sense, to us.

When God surprises you so that you can't see through what God is doing in your life into the reason behind it, when he becomes opaque and mysterious, you are seeing something. You are seeing that God is God and you are not God. You are encountering him at a new level of profundity. You are discovering what it means to trust God and surrender to God rather than control him. If God never shocked you, you wouldn't really know him, because you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between your notions of God and the reality of God.

If you are in Christ, God never gives you what you deserve. In grace, he gives you what you need. You need encouragement. He gives it. You need confrontation. He gives it. At all levels of the multi-layered complexity of your being, right down to the very roots of what you are, beyond your own self-understanding, God can see how you need victory and how you need defeat. And he enters into your subjectivity with mercies both severe and sweet. The gospel equips us with large understandings of God, so that we can make large allowances for the full range of his ways and stop resenting him and meekly surrender to the deep work of renewal he wants to accomplish in us.

The structure of Isaiah 29 highlights three glories of the God with whom we are dealing in every instance of life.

1.       The victory of God over all — his friends and his enemies (29:1-8)

a.       The complacent church brought low (29:1-4)

b.       The malicious world frustrated (29:5-8)

2.       The mystery of God over all — the learned and the unlearned (29:9-14)

a.       Willful blindness made blind (29:9, 10)

b.       Blasé ignorance made ignorant (29:11, 12)

c.        Religious dullness made dull (29:13, 14)

3.       The sovereignty of God over all — the ruthless and the meek (29:15-24)

a.       Practical atheism discredited (29:15, 16)

b.       Moral disorder righted (29:17-21)

c.        Spiritual greatness revived (29:22-24)

[29:1-8] The Victory of God

29:1 - Isaiah is addressing Jerusalem, the city of David, Mount Zion (29:8). Why does he call it "Ariel"? That word means "altar hearth" — that is, the stone surface of the altar where fire consumed the sacrifices (Ezekiel 43:15,16). So, why "Ariel"? What Isaiah can see is that Jerusalem itself is an altar, where sinners worship a holy God through sacrifice. But then Isaiah says, "Add year to year; let the feasts run their round." This is a sarcastic poke at their annual round of worship events and festivals and celebrations — so elaborate, so beautiful, so empty. He's saying, "Carry on with your religious routine. But it's getting you nowhere."

What is the problem? Jerusalem does not see her privilege and her peril. The God she worships is a fiery personality — not erratic but holy (Heb 12:28, 29). For us sinners, God is both high-voltage danger and overflowing salvation. And the only refuge from his holy wrath is his holy love in Christ, our substitute on the altar of his cross. In other words, the only escape from God is in God. But the worship of these people is impervious both to the heat of his anger and to the warmth of his love. They neither tremble nor rejoice in God's presence. They just go through the motions. In God's sight they are wasting their time "worshipping" God. So God pronounces distress, mourning and lament upon them (29:2).

Will our worship be consumed with God, or will it be consumed by God? But worship without the reality of who God truly is means nothing to him. This is when God does his strange work (28:21): "I will encamp against you... and will besiege you ... and I will raise siege works against you" (29:3). Our God on the attack against us? How does that make sense? It makes sense because we need it more than we know. We need to do serious business with God more than we know. If we are under siege, God is the one we must primarily reckon with, not just Assyria, their immediate obvious adversary.

When he brings us down into the dust, so low we can barely cry for help (29:4), that's when, as the gospel reveals, the Holy Spirit enters in to intercede with groanings too deep for words (Rom 8:26, 27). That's when God becomes more meaningful to us than ever before. Yield to the victory of God. Let him win. In your defeat, God will lift from your heart that old lust for control, and you will be free.

In 29:5-8 Isaiah says that the One who burns like a fire in Jerusalem will confront the world with "the flame of a devouring fire" (29:6). He is showing us what God is like. He is saying that the very forces through which God may afflict his own people — God turns that formidable human power into dust and chaff. He can do it "in an instant, suddenly" (29:5). All by himself, without our help, he frustrates the schemes of those who oppose his cause and his people (29:8).

The victory of God — the one who besieges us is also well able to defend both himself and us. He knows just what to do every step of the way. Surrender to him.

[29:9-14] The Mystery of God

Isaiah is so frustrated with the spiritual malaise he sees in his generation, he blurts out in 29:9-10, in essence, "Go ahead and be blind, if that's what you want! You have so offended God that, even as you continue to worship, he'll darken your minds from understanding the gospel" (cf. Isa 6:9-10). This way of thinking doesn't make sense to us. We don't understand how this can work, much less be fair. But we should respect it. This is very real. There is mystery in the ways of God. The key to this section is the picture of the two men in 29:11-12. You see a literate man, a learned man, in 29:11. Someone hands him a sealed scroll, like a closed Bible. But he's too lazy to open it up and find out what it says. You see an illiterate man, an unlearned man, in 29:12. Someone hands him a sealed prophetic scroll too. But he can't read, and he has no interest in learning. Isaiah sees both responses among the people of God. Both are symptoms of unbelief. And Isaiah is saying that God hardens a distaste for his truth into spiritual blindness. The blindness Isaiah is lamenting is not the darkness of a primitive pagan culture out in the bush. The blindness he is so worried about is the tiring, rote, habitual, ritualistic worship of the people in covenant with God (29:13-14).

Jesus applied this text to the Pharisees, who worshiped God punctiliously (Mt 15:1-9). They were saying all the right things, doing all the right things. They feared God. But their fear of him — even this interior dimension of worship — was only a doctrine taught by human instruction. It was just an idea, a concept in their minds, a catechetical answer, not a Spirit-imparted awareness transforming their hearts. Beneath the beautiful observance, they were using the worship of God as a mechanism for avoiding God, for controlling God, for setting limits on God. They were like Flannery O'Connor's character Haze Motes: "There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin." God-evasion can look good. You can deceive even yourself. In his  teaching on repentance, Calvin says that one way to get real with God is "to flee splendor and any sort of trappings." So which do you really prize — tradition or God? You cannot serve two masters. You must choose between authentic worship and pious blasphemy. "Without love in the heart, the seeming gift of worship is but mockery of the Most High." When form replaces freshness, when rote replaces reality, worship treats God as less than the living God, and he is offended. Isaiah says that God visits such worship with an unlikely miracle (29:14a).

"Wonderful" and "wonder" are OT words for "miraculous"and "miracle." And the age of miracles is not over today. God is able today to transform head-only religion into empty-headed religion with no answers for our real problems. "The wisdom of their wise men shall perish," Isaiah says (29:14b; cf. 1 Cor 1:19). Truly, God is not mocked. Outside the Bible itself, no one has explained the urgency of personal reality with God more helpfully than Jonathan Edwards:

"If we are not in good earnest in religion, if our wills and inclinations are not strongly exercised, we are nothing. The things of religion are so great, the responses of our hearts cannot be commensurate unless those responses are lively and powerful. In nothing is vigor in the actings of our inclinations so appropriate as in religion, and in nothing is lukewarmness so odious. True religion is evermore a powerful thing; and its power appears primarily in its inward exercises in the heart, its principal and original seat."

The Bible warns us that some people hold to the form of godliness, but their lives deny its power (2 Tim 3:5). They attend church dutifully, but their hearts are far from God. Their religion is orthodox, beautiful nothing. Older people need the power of godliness in their hearts because they have little time left to get ready for Heaven. Middle-aged people need the power of godliness in their hearts because they are strongly tempted to coast, to rest on their laurels, to become dull and mediocre. Young families need the power of godliness in their hearts because they are forging the convictions that will shape their home for a lifetime. Singles need the power of godliness in their hearts because they can gain or they can forfeit single-minded devotion to Jesus. Students and teenagers need the power of godliness in their hearts because they are being targeted by the world with brilliant and attractive seductions. Children need the power of godliness in their hearts  while they are young and open, to be set apart to God forever. We Presbyterians, for example, need the power of godliness in our hearts because the sin of the Presbyterian church is to settle for the doctrine of the power of God rather than pressing on by faith into the experience of the power of God.

If you have a troubled child, for example, what will be most helpful to your child? Wouldn't it help your child for him or her to see your heart enthralled by a sense of the glory of Jesus? Or would that damage your child somehow? Your child might just think, If God can change Dad and  Mom, maybe he can help me too.

The mystery of God — if he has poured out upon you "a spirit of deep sleep" (Isa 29:10), he can also awaken you (Eph 5:14). Bring your emptiness out into the open before him. If you come out of hiding, so will God, and he will do a new miracle of grace in your heart.

[29:15-24] The Sovereignty of God

I hope you love the sovereignty of God. You really can, because his sovereignty is his freedom to do whatever he pleases (Ps 115:3). Aren't you glad that God is free, unbound, supreme in this universe? Our unbelief doesn't neutralize God. Our unbelief is where God starts out with us (Eph 2:4, 5). The practical atheism Isaiah exposes in 29:15, 16 —this very American way of thinking — cannot stop God.

29:17-19   Isaiah sees in the forests of Lebanon a picture of human nobility and might. But God will cut it all down and humble it into a common field. And in an ordinary field the prophetic eye discerns such luxurious growth to come, it will someday be a mighty forest. The values of human society now don't make sense. But God is promising to change things around. "The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD...the ruthless shall come to nothing" (29:19-20). Fresh joy in Christ will flood the world. That beautiful eruption of unpersecuted spiritual vitality will not be a mid-course correction in the plan of God. This "fresh joy" will fulfill God's ancient covenant with Abraham, Isaiah explains 19:22-24. God has been moving in this direction from the beginning. This is salvation. He began it in sovereign grace; he continues it in sovereign grace; he will consummate it in sovereign grace. We should trust him for that, however perplexing his strategies may be along the way.

Our part is meekness. It is the meek and poor alone whom God blesses. In 1971 my dad and mom were ministering to the student body of Taylor University in Indiana. For one week in the dead of winter God visited that campus with fresh joy. I was listening the other day to a recording of my parents' report to their church soon afterward. They said that one night, as the students met in the gym, God gave them the meekness to begin confessing their sins. They began to get real with God and with one another. They yielded to the work he wanted to do. Their confessing went on for hours, because real repentance can't be hurried. Real repentance is not general and vague but detailed and thorough. At one point late into the night, Dad suggested they take a short break to stretch their legs. In my parents' own words,

We were not at all prepared for what was about to happen. When those kids stood up, you would have thought it was the split second after their most crucial basketball game against their toughest opponent, they had just won by a hair and became number one in the nation. They went wild with joy. It was like back in Leviticus, shouting and falling on their faces (Lev 9:24). We had never experienced anything like it. They were hugging each other. They would run for somebody and say, "Did you ever think this would happen to us? Praise God! Isn't this beautiful?" We kept trying to start a song to get them to calm down. But for ten minutes you couldn't stop it. It was like taking a Coke bottle and shaking it up and then taking the lid off. They could not be held down. They had to express themselves.

"The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel." God wants this for us. It is his ancient covenant purpose. He might have to do a strange work to get us there. Will we trust him and follow him in meekness, wherever he leads?