3. The Vision of Isaiah (3)
Hymns: RHC 8 Holy, Holy, Holy 10 Still, Still with Thee 21 O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
The Vision of Isaiah (3)
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3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Dumb animals the ox and the ass have the capacity to recognize where they are going to get their food but Israel does not know and my people do not understand, they are worse than animals. Animals never sinned, just people sin. Only people are depraved. Only people will be judged. But God expects a few things from animals, at least they know where they get their nourishment but my people Israel have forgotten me. They do not understand. To know and understand means a covenant relationship knowledge. It has to do with a bond with someone. It’s a covenant bond together. As a marriage bond, between Adam and Eve. Adam knew his wife. They did not know the covenant. They did not know the relationship. They did not recognize it. They did not ask in light of it. And how sad. [Whitcomb]
He charges them with base ingratitude, a crime of the highest nature. Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse. Let heaven and earth hear and wonder at, God’s gracious dealings with such a peevish provoking people as they were: “I have nourished and brought them up as children; they have been well fed and well taught” (Deut. 32:6); “I have magnified and exalted them” (so some), “not only made them grow, but made them great–not only maintained them, but preferred them–not only trained them up, but raised them high.” We owe the continuance of our lives and comforts, and all our advancements, to God’s fatherly care of us and kindness to us. Their ill-natured conduct towards him, who was so tender of them: “They have rebelled against me,” or (as some read it) “they have revolted from me; they have been deserters, nay traitors, against my crown and dignity.”
All the instances of God’s favour to us, as the God both of our nature and of our nurture, aggravate our treacherous departures from him and all our presumptuous oppositions to him–children, and yet rebels!
He attributes this to their ignorance and inconsideration (v3): The ox knows, but Israel does not. The sagacity of the ox and the ass, which are not only brute creatures, but of the dullest sort; yet the ox has such a sense of duty as to know his owner and to serve him, to submit to his yoke and to draw in it; the ass has such a sense of interest as to know his master’s crib, or manger, where he is fed, and to abide by it; he will go to that of himself if he be turned loose. [Matthew Henry]
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isaiah exhausts the vocabulary to tell us the situation is serious. It is a crisis ready to burst out into catastrophe. [Whitcomb]
Isn’t Israel the seed of Abraham? Were they not made to be a holy nation?
Exodus 19:6 (KJV) And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
They were a holy nation, the people of Jehovah, LORD, the children of the LORD. Isaiah 41:8 the seed of Abraham was used to describe Israel.
Isaiah 41:8 (KJV) But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
The Apostle Peter showed us the relationship the church has with God and how it was the covenant relationship enunciated.
1 Peter 2:9 (KJV) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1 Peter 2:10 (KJV) Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
God loves His people and Isaiah uses those terms, nation, people, and offspring and reverses the picture completely. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. That’s Isaiah’s special Name for God appearing 12 times in the first 39 chapters, 14 times in the last 27 chapters and only 6 times in the rest of the Old Testament.
One thing in Isaiah’s encounter with God is His holiness, the seraphine constantly chanting those words, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. That’s His central basic attribute, not love. He was not minimizing the significance of the love of God. Love is the expression, the outworking of holiness, not the reverse. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. Israel was degenerating spiritually. God is watching. He is weeping. God is preparing to deal with it. We see here the heart of Isaiah who has been overwhelmed by the holiness of God. The presupposition is that chapter 6 has already happened. Isaiah is able to say, Woe is me, for I am undone.; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (v5). He is reflecting what God put into his mind and heart – Israel is a sinful nation, evil, corrupt. They have abandoned the LORD, provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger and departed from Him. [Whitcomb]
He sought that they would be awakened from their spiritual slumber and come back to God. Isaiah has not been deported out of the land. But they have forsaken the LORD, not in an outward sense, they are still attending church as it were, but their hearts were far from Him.
Deuteronomy 4:30-31 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Our rejecting God is not because God has abandoned us, but because we have turned every one to his own way.
Isaiah 53:6 (KJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We are culpable when we depart from God, we cannot blame Him for not saving us! His grace is given to us through the gospel but if we have chosen to reject it, worse still, after professing Him, to turn from Him!
It is deliberate, it is intentional, we are accountable, we are responsible. We are not just robots that are forced to obey but given free will, we are not forced to be bad when we want to be good.
How he aggravates their sin and shows the malignity that there was in it (v4). The wickedness was universal. They were a sinful nation; the generality of the people were vicious and profane. They were so in their national capacity. In the management of their public treaties abroad, and in the administration of public justice at home, they were corrupt.
It is ill with a people when sin becomes national. It was very great and heinous in its nature. They were laden with iniquity; the guilt of it, and the curse incurred by that guilt, lay very heavily upon them. It was a heavy charge that was exhibited against them, and one which they could never clear themselves from; their wickedness was upon them as a talent of lead (Zech. 5:7-8). Their sin, as it did easily beset them and they were prone to it, was a weight upon them (Hebrews 12:1).
Zechariah 5:5-8 (KJV) Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
An ephah was a measuring basket used for dry measure by the Jews. The ephah equalled three-fifths of a bushel or in metric measure, twenty-two litres. The ephah was a measure used often when preparing sacrificial offerings or food. Israel was to keep honest measures as a part of her righteousness. Micah observed her rebellious and unrighteous practices. Israel had shortened her ephah (Mic 6:10). The business practices of God’s people were to be based on true weights and measures in the marketplace. Is this your practice?
A young man had volunteered and was expecting daily to be conscripted. One day his mother gave him an unpaid bill together with some money and asked him to pay it. When he returned home at night, she said: “Did you pay that bill?” “I really don’t remember, mother; you know I’ve had so many things on my mind.” “But you said you did.” “Well,” he answered, “If I said I did, I did.”
He went away, and his mother took the bill herself to the shop. The young man had been in town all his life, and what opinion was held of him this will show. “I am quite sure,” she said, “that my son paid this some days ago. He has been busy since, and has quite forgotten about it; but he told me that he had, and says if he said then that he had, he is quite sure he did.” “Well,” said the man, “I forgot about it; but if he ever said he did, he did.” Was that not a grand character to have? His word was trusted!
Honesty is the best policy. But no man can be upright amid the various temptations of life unless he is honest for righteousness’ sake for it pleases his Lord. Dear friends, in the long run, the character is better than capital.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Help me, Lord, to build an honest character that glorifies Your Name.
The interpreting angel speaks to Zechariah, commanding him to lift up his eyes and see. The “ephah” that goes forth through all the earth represents business transactions, and global commercialism. Zechariah saw a woman in the midst of the basket. There was a “talent of lead” that was lifted up. The word “talent” means “a circle” or “something round” (2 Sam 12:30). It was a unit weight usually in silver or gold. Here it means a round weight, serving as a cover to a bushel basket. The talent was the largest measure of weight and it was made of lead, the most common heavy metal which is employed in all commercial transactions for weighing out money. The prophet saw a talent of lead that is lifted up from its position as a cover on the ephah (v 8).
He beheld a most unexpected sight – one woman sitting comfortably in the middle of the ephah. The word “sit” has the idea of sitting quietly, contentedly, and remaining in a relaxed position, or “dwelling” comfortably in a place. The woman was apparently enjoying the luxury and wealth of commercialism. She evidently flourished in the center of godless commercialism and mammon-worship. Her sitting or dwelling in the midst of the ephah implied the woman’s intimate contact with worldly wealth and commerce, by which she was supported and in which she delighted. “This is their resemblance throughout all the earth” (v 6) speaks of the multiplying of this false measure everywhere. Is this not a picture of the godless rich men of the earth today? This woman is defined as “wickedness” (v 8). This is the word for “lawlessness,” there is no fear of God in their heart. This is the sad picture so precisely painted by James of the last days before the coming of the Lord.
God has given us commandments and rules as guidelines for living a victorious Christian life.
Lord, You see into my very soul. Please help me to be honest with You. Let my every wicked thought be removed. Cleanse my heart, so that I can turn from the things that are an abomination in Your sight.
They came of a bad stock, and were a seed of evil-doers. Treachery ran in their blood; they had it by kind, which made the matter so much the worse, more provoking and less curable. They rose up in their fathers’ stead, and trod in their fathers’ steps, to fill up the measure of their iniquity, (Num. 32:14). They were a race and family of rebels.
Numbers 32:14 (KJV) And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel.
Those that were themselves debauched did what they could to debauch others. They were not only corrupt children, born tainted, but children that were corrupters, that propagated vice, and infected others with it–not only sinners but tempters–not only actuated by Satan but agents for him. If those that are called children, God’s children, that are looked upon as belonging to his family, be wicked and vile, their example is of the most malignant influence.
Their sin was a treacherous departure from God. They were deserters from their allegiance: “They have forsaken the Lord, to whom they had joined themselves; they have gone away backward, are alienated or separated from God, have turned their back upon him, deserted their colours, and quitted their service.” When they were urged forward, they ran backward, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, as a backsliding heifer (Hosea 4:16).
Hosea 4:16 (KJV) For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
It was impudent and daring defiance of him: They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger wilfully and designedly; they knew what would anger him, and that they did. The backslidings of those that have professed religion and relation to God are in a special manner provoking to him.
To be continued…