33. Take and Write (2)

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Hymns: RHC 43 God Is Still on the Throne 46 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God 47 Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Isaiah 8:5-22

5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. 11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. 

Take and Write (2)

OUTLINE

(1) Witness of the Written Word (v1-2)

(2) True and Faithful (v3-4)

(3) Comfort to His Own (v5-10)

(4) Trust the LORD amidst Uncertainties (v11-18)

(5) Trust not in Sorcery (v19-22)

INTRODUCTION

In every age, the people of God will surely be tried. But through the trials, they see their blessed Lord caring and undertaking for them the many cares and burdens of life. They are comforted. 

Let us petition for more faith, let it form part of all our daily prayers. “As ever,” JC Ryle observed, “we would have peace, and calmness, and quietness of spirit, let us often say, “Lord, increase our faith.” A hundred painful things may happen to us every week in this evil world, of which our poor weak minds cannot see the reason. Without faith, we shall be constantly disquieted and cast down. Nothing will make us cheerful and tranquil but an abiding sense of Christ’s love, Christ’s wisdom, Christ’s care over us and Christ’s providential management of all our affairs. Faith will not sink under the weight of evil tidings (Psalm 112:7). Faith can sit still and wait for better times. Faith can see light even in the darkest hour, and wait for better times. Faith can find room to build ebenzers under any circumstances and can sing songs in the night in any condition. “[H]e that believeth shall not make haste.” “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isaiah 28:16; 26:3). Once more let the lesson be graven on our minds. If we would travel comfortably through the world, we must ‘believe’.” 

The prophet Isaiah was told to prophesy unto Judah of impending war and the threat of invasion from the Assyrians up north. It spoke of future judgment when Assyria would conquer Syria and invade both Israel and Judah and when Babylon would take Judah to exile. 

A child would start speaking meaningful sentences about the age of two. In 732 B.C., about two years after Isaiah’s son was born, both Pekah and Resin were dead (Isaiah 7:1), and Assyria had conquered Syria and begun to invade Israel (2 Kings 15:29).

2 Kings 15:29 (KJV) In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. The army was quick to plunder and swift to take the spoil.

In the doomsday message as it were, the lining of hope and help for the remnant of His people who trust in Him.

(3) Comfort for His Own (v5-10)

5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

Amongst the people of God, there were two groups. The faithful remnant in Judah and the unfaithful in Judah who sought ways to live on lacking dependence upon God.

For the faithful, Isaiah brings forth the word of encouragement that the enemy tread on Immanuel’s land, can they prosper? Certainly not! In fact, the enemies won’t succeed. It is pointless there to make an alliance with Assyria to protect against Israel and Syria up north. 

9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

Their enemy has now the power to overwhelm them, this is God’s promise to the remnant.

(2) Trust the LORD amidst Uncertainties (v11-18) 

11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

That if they kept up the fear of God, and kept down the fear of man, they should find God their refuge (v11-14).

Isaiah is exhorted by the LORD to trust Him when the nation is turning to find security in their confederacy with Assyria against the threat of Israel and Syria. 

Let not their fear get into your heart to cause you to fear as the LORD’s words to Isaiah.

To sanctify is to give regard to the LORD as holy; that is, worship and honour him with pious fear and reverence. Regard him as the source of safety, and the true defence. Ahaz and his people sought aid from Assyria against the armies of Syria and Samaria. The direction here is rather to seek aid from God. [Barnes]

The LORD shall be a sanctuary for His people. The word translated sanctuary means, literally, a holy place, a consecrated place, and is usually applied to the Tabernacle, or to the Temple. It also means an asylum, or a refuge, to which one might flee in case of danger, and be safe. Among all ancient nations, temples were regarded as safe places to which people might flee when pursued, and when in danger. It was deemed sacrilege to tear a man away from a temple or an altar. 

That the temple was so regarded among the Jews is manifest. In allusion to this, the prophet says, that the LORD would be a sanctuary; that is, an asylum, or refuge, to whom they should flee in times of danger, and be safe Psalm 46:1, ‘God is our refuge and strength;’ Proverbs 18:10: ‘The name of the Loan is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe.’ [Barnes]

We are reminded of the psalmist’s words in Psalm 46.

Psalm 46:10-11 (KJV) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

We have God as our refuge, we must not fret but commit ourselves afresh to His care.

1 <To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.> God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

There is much assurance experienced of God’s care for his life that the psalmist affirms with the opening words to this psalm – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He did not say “God is my refuge and strength, but he said, “God is our refuge and strength”. God’s power to protect and God’s ability to give strength is not limited to only certain individuals like the psalmist himself but he claims this truth for all of God’s people.

He seemed to be speaking in a concerted voice enunciating the truth of God’s protective power and care for His people so that the posterity of God’s people may know for sure, with assured certainty that the invisible God is indeed able to be there in our time of need and to meet it well.

What is the primary emotion that runs through the mind and the heart in times of distress? It is fear. Fear that calamity will indeed overtake us. 

Though war is at our doorstep. Though the enemy is fierce and has better weapons, look to the LORD for your safety and protection in the midst of this crisis.

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

The conjunction “therefore” implies, because of what has been said, the result must be this – Because God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore, will we not fear.

God is to us a place of shelter and strength. He is found to be the most trustworthy, reliable Source of help in times of need. This is a statement of affirmation, a statement of declaration out of experience, out of truth, of absolute fact. You are to take hold of this truth in your heart in times of need.

When we allow this truth to slip from the centre of our focus in life, we begin to be gripped by a servile fear of insecurity and uncertainty and instability. That fear will not overwhelm and overcome you!

The negative “not” in verse 2 is the word “lo” in Hebrew. It is making a negation of fact. If you know that God is a very present help, I emphasise to you “very present”. He is very much able to help and He is very much with you to help you.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones observed well, “Doctrine and application always go together. Indeed it is possible to be very well versed in the Bible, and yet it does not profit them in the end because they never apply it. They analyse it as if they were analysing a Shakespearean play, and they are just concerned to do that, but Scripture never does that. There must always be application. These things are not said for the sake of saying them; they are said with great practical interest.”

The people of God must take hold of the truth and find strength by exercising faith in obeying God’s Word.

God Shall Surely Help

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. 

God is in the midst of His people. He is with us by His Holy Spirit. He was with Israel in the wilderness as they were encamped around the Tabernacle.

The Temple that Solomon built was still there, God promised His presence to help His people.

1 Kings 8:22 (KJV) And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

1 Kings 8:28-29 (KJV) Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

1 Kings 8:30 (KJV) And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

1 Kings 8:44-45 (KJV) If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

And while others stumbled, and fell into despair, they should be enabled to wait on God and should see themselves reserved for better times (v15-18). [Matthew Henry]

Isaiah, in faith, was resolute in his heart to trust God even when others defect. The scroll that he wrote of God’s advice to Judah, he shall keep as a testimony against them. He will wait up the LORD. He shall hope in the LORD. This is the sense of the word “wait”. It is not a hopeless wait but a hopeful wait, fully trusting in the LORD’s ability to secure them in the midst of calamity.

Not only himself, but the two children that God has given him whose names are signs of what God will do and the remedy that He prescribed for their safety, would trust in the LORD.

God is still living and enthroned in Mount Zion, in the city of God. As such, he will not fret. 

(4) Trust not in Sorcery (v19-22)

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. 

Lastly, He gives a necessary caution to all, at their peril, not to consult with familiar spirits, for they would thereby throw themselves into despair, but to keep close to the word of God (v19-22). And these counsels and these comforts will still be of use to us in times of trouble. 

In these verses we have a prophecy of the successes of the king of Assyria against Damascus, Samaria, and Judah, that the two former should be laid waste by him, and the last greatly frightened. [Matthew Henry]

Before Israel entered the Promised Land, the LORD has categorically warned them against the abominations of consulting with familiar spirits, or wizards. These are the powers of darkness and Israel must not delve into them.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (KJV) When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

These are the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites. We see that the Canaanite influence was very much alive after they entered the Promised Land for more than 800 years since 1400 B.C. 

Alas, this is the hardness of the hearts of God’s people. Life will become extremely precarious before God is against them – behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. 

But there is a remnant that God will protect.

CONCLUSION

Let faith in the LORD be increased for there is much to fear. Amen.