It’s called grace!

The very fact that God wanted to encourage wicked King Ahaz!

How wicked? “Ahaz (father of good King Hezekiah) was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.” 2 Chronicles 28:1-4, terrible!

But still, when Ahaz’s Kingdom (Judah) was under dire threat from two warring (attacking) neighbors (namely Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel) … God wanted to show Ahaz that He (the Lord) could protect both his family and his country!

So the Lord dispatches Isaiah the Prophet to the scene!

“Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz,  thou, and Shearjashub thy son …” Isaiah 7:3 (Isaiah’s children were often “object lessons” in his preaching, his sermons!)

The name “Ahaz” means “he has grasped.” But this King did not live up to the meaning his name! He did not “comprehend” the real impact of the sermon Isaiah was commissioned to preach to him that glorious day long ago! He either did not “get it,” or he “rejected” it once he did see the light!

The name “Shearjashub” (Isaiah’s oldest son) means “a remnant shall return!” God already trying to tell this wayward King that though the nation may face perilous times, she would not be totally destroyed! God would always preserve a believing “remnant,” a godly “few,” to stand true to the nation’s heritage. To its godly moorings!

Now to the matter at hand. Here is what Isiah was to preach to King Ahaz: “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted (too soft) for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin (the first enemy king) with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah (the second enemy, Pekah, King Of Israel). Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel (plotted) against thee (Ahaz), saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king (thus killing Ahaz and placing their king on the throne) in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal (a “puppet” king): thus saith the Lord GOD, IT SHALL NOT STAND. NEITHER SHALL IT COME TO PASS.” Isaiah 7:4-7

God says that feeble (rebellious) effort was doomed!

Judah would survive!

King Ahaz should have been shouting with joy!

Then, displaying even more grace, God Almighty wants to provide Ahaz a “sign” that this two-nation confederacy (again, consisting of Syria and Israel … King Rezin and King Pekah) is to be short lived! 

Read this! “For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim (Israel, thus called this because of her largest tribe) be broken, that it be not a people.” God is clearly talking, here in Isaiah 7:5. Within 65 years, both nations would be GONE! And history says this happened! In less than 65 years really! (How’s this for specific Bible Prophecy?)

Wow!

But there is more, not just the promise … but the “sign!”

“Ask thee (King Ahaz) a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt (he was living a sinful life, and could not honestly interact with God) the LORD. And he (Isaiah) said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? (Wearying God by not taking Him at His Word, by not obeying Him.) Therefore (anyway) the Lord himself shall give you a SIGN; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (meaning ‘God with us’). Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest (Syria and Israel) shall be forsaken of both her kings.” Isaiah 7:11-16

God is going to decimate Syria and Israel … soon! Within the time frame that it takes for a little boy to grow from infancy to adulthood (by ancient Near East standards) … about 12 years!

And that too (much sooner than 65 years) did occur! The giant nation Assyria attacked and conquered Syria and Israel within a few years of Isaiah’s prophecy here! 

Wow!

But wait a minute!

What was that about a “virgin” conceiving?

Matthew, in his groundbreaking Gospel, boldly revels to us that this “virgin” is none other than the young lady we now know as “Mary,” the mother of the humanity of Jesus.

Watch … “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

Watch again … “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet (Isaiah), saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:22-23

Thus Isaiah’s prophecy has both a local and a long range emphasis. (As does a lot of Bible Prophecy!) Something that happened soon. Then Something that happened a few hundred years later, the miraculous Virgin Birth of Jesus!

Locally … a little boy would be born and before he reached the age of accountability (“for before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good”) … Syria and Israel would be gone!

Long range … God would send His Son Jesus into the world through the womb of a Virgin! 

History … with a spiritual perspective!

History … with a prophetic perspective!

History … as really HIS STORY! (The Story of Jesus and the Gospel!) 

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Yes, Mary was a virgin, literally so.

What a chapter, Isaiah 7. It is chock full of history, with a major sliver of prophecy embedded therein, as well as being loaded with a cast of interesting characters!

There is “wicked” King Ahaz of Judah, sort of the chapter’s protagonist or main character. This man is in the Davidic line, Grandson to great King Uzziah. (Uzziah, who just died at the beginning of Isaiah 6, proving the Book is not slavishly in chronological order.)

There is also a coalition (confederacy) of two more wicked Kings; Rezin King of Syria and Pekah the King of Israel. This pair hates Ahaz, largely because he is not anti-Assyrian enough!

Oops, I just introduced the fourth royal character! The sitting (and by far most powerful) King of Assyria, whose proper name is not given in the chapter.

Our Text today (Isaiah 7) opens with a recording/detailing of the prevailing spirit in Judah, soon as this perilous threat was made know. “And it came to pass in the days of AHAZ the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that REZIN the king of Syria, and PEKAH the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem TO WAR against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David (AHAZ), saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” Verses 1-2 only are given here. See the “panic?” (The King of Assyria not being mentioned until verse 17, actually.)

Next, in a thrilling “Sermon,” God (through Isaiah the Prophet) predicts (foretells) His future Plans for these men! The Lord scoffs at the two (most wicked) Kings in the Syro-Ephraim block (Rezin and Pekah), calling them “smoking firebrands!” In English, “has-beens!” Literally, “torches” that have nearly expended themselves, on the verge of being completely “burned-out!” 

Wow!

Then God suggests that if King Ahaz (again a very wicked monarch but legitimately in the ling of King David) would repent and obey … blessings (nationally) would ensue. But should he disobey (by trusting in the mighty King of Assyria for “help,” rather than leaning on the Lord God for protection) … quick judgment would result, and harshly so!

Then God informs all who will listen that the King of Assyria will be used to nearly decimate both Syria and Israel (Rezin and Pekah) in an impending future invasion! (Which was prophecy when Isaiah penned these words, but is history now, ancient history!)

The aforementioned coalition (Rezin and Pekah) had planned to violently assassinate Ahaz, and place a “puppet” king in his place, one they could control at will! Verses 5-6: “Because Syria (Rezin), Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah (Pekah), have taken evil counsel against thee (Ahaz), saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach (by killing the king) therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal (meaning ‘God is good,’ but they didn’t mean the God of Israel, rather some false deity, some idol): THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, IT SHALL NOT STAND, NEITHER SHALL IT COME TO PASS.”  

“Not going to happen,” vows our God!

Wow!

And so far, we have just begin to relate the data in Isaiah chapter 7!

But this much I am clearly seeing, already! “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1, but here a cadre of Kings!)

Never have I seen this verse illustrated any more fully!

God’s mighty HAND, directing in the affairs of mankind! To the point of setting up one king … and deposing another!

Psalm 75:6-7 … “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”

Wow again!

I am amazed at the Power of God today!

By the way, let’s pray for our President this morning. Many hate him for his policies. Yet God has placed him in power. (Romans 13:1 … “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”)

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

The remaining half of Isaiah chapter 6 is a stark statement of reality.

God has just “called’ Isaiah to preach, but then (immediately) God told the Prophet of the meager results his ministry would realize, accomplish!

The Lord speaking to Isaiah …

“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” Isaiah 6:9-13

This thing goes from virtually “no hope” to maybe a “little hope,” but then definitely to “some hope!” 

No, God is not a Pessimist, but a Realist!

The people, at large, will REJECT the preaching of Isaiah!

Their heart will be “fat” (lazy), their ears “heavy,” and their eyes “shut!”

And God did not command this to be so! Nor “foreordain” it, either. (God is not the Author of sin!)

But when the Jews freely rejected the Truth … God did allow their hearts to be hardened!

Every single sin makes the next sin a little easier!

Yes … “the cities (shall) be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the LORD have removed men far away (deportation, exile), and there be a great forsaking (a deserting, an abdication, a mass exodus) in the midst of the land” … cruel Captivity was coming! (Into the Assyrian Empire for the Northern Kingdom … and into the Babylonian Empire for the little Southern Kingdom!)

No hope, sounds like!

Then immediately, God promises, a verb not too strong here, something great! (A “glimmer” of hope!) “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return …” God always seems to reserve for Himself a “remnant,” a “handful” of faithful followers. And here they surely are, this “tenth!” (Whether exactly 1 out of 10 will be spared … to come back home, or whether this is a lovely euphemism for a “small minority,” I cannot tell.)

But then again, our Text goes back to a dark picture with a ‘hint” of daylight barely visible! The Land (the Holy Land) … “shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”

The Land will be “eaten/devoured” again and again!

Conquered and overcome … because of the sins of its inhabitants!

But like a “teil tree” (some sort of an elm apparently) or an “oak tree” … cut to the ground mind you, by enemy invasion … there miraculously will come forth a “sprout” … out from that presumably dead trunk!

Hope … a “shoot” off the root system!

And this group will be “holy seed,” that righteous remnant again!

Yes Isaiah, a few will believe!

Yet, keep on preaching!

Reminds me of Acts 28:24 … “And some BELIEVED the things which were spoken, and some BELIEVED NOT.” Paul’s ministry (as well as Isaiah’s) summarized in a line!

“Whosoever will!”

Alas, but many won’t!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Maybe this particular Lesson today is something I should not have said, written. But it is in the Text (Isaiah 6) … and I must try to be faithful to God’s Word!

Jesus may be agreeing in Matthew 7:14 … “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it.”

Isaiah had already been preaching for five whole chapters … before he related his “call” to the ministry! Yes, Isaiah chapter 6 begins with what is often classified as a “call narrative” in Scripture.

These (“call narratives”) must be important!

Because we have so many of them.

For example, the inspired record of the “call” of Moses to serve the Lord. And then add the “calls” of Samuel and Jeremiah and Gideon … as well as (I think) several of the Disciples (Peter and John being prime examples) and Paul the Apostle in the New Testament.

Wow!

But Isaiah’s autobiographical Piece is paradigmatic, exemplary.

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people ….” Isaiah 6:1-9a

There are “tons” of nuggets in this Paragraph!

Isaiah knew WHEN God called him! (The very year!) “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord.” History tells us this was 740 BC. The event (the “call”) is quite impressive! (I am as sure God “called” me to preach as I am sure God “saved” my soul.) 

Isaiah’s “call” was wrapped in the Aura of the Glory of God, a high view of Deity! “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” I believe this would have been the Temple in Heaven, based on the accompanying data. As opposed to the Solomonic Temple on earth during Isaiah’s lifetime.

Isaiah’s “call” came during a time of worship! In the very atmosphere of adoration and praise (of God). Such worship continues this very second in Heaven, we are led to believe. “Above it (that Throne) stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Isaiah’s “call” included the marks of a “theophany.” (GOD BEING PRESENT!) He was certainly there (although spiritually, not physically) the day he called me to preach! “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”

(Yesterday I ordered a new book on this very subject, a study of the times in Scripture God so “manifested” Himself, a discussion of all those theophanies, or Christophanies!)

Next, Isaiah’s “call” involved the humiliation of the potential servant, conviction leading to confession of sin, and a sense of unworthiness. “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Isaiah’s “call” also led to the “cleansing” of those sins! (In the New Testament, 1 John 1:9 would be the “go-to” verse to explain this phenomenon. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”) God can only use “clean” vessels! Listen to the Prophet once again: “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” (This fiery “coal” is likely taken from the brazen altar, implying bloodshed!) “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22

Then Isaiah’s “call” expects his response, personal obligation.  “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Wow! “For US?” Yes, another Old Testament indication of the Triune God’s Essence! God asks here, He does not command! And Isaiah (having been properly prepared) freely volunteers, acquiesces!

Now lastly, Isaiah’s “call” included a “commission.” (To whom shall he go?) “And he said, Go, and tell this people ….” The many (religious but lost) Jews of the Land. (Although most of them would not listen to the Prophet’s warnings! And God told Isaiah that in advance.)

Wow!

Yes, this is a full call narrative, one of the most explicit in the Bible.

I recently read a Preacher who summarized these verses in the following manner:

First, Isaiah saw the Lord!

Next, Isaiah saw himself!

Then … Isaiah saw the need!

But I would add: Isaiah also “heard” the Voice!

And obeyed!

Then later, praise the Lord, he wrote a Book! 

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I am just thrilled this cold, rainy Saturday morning that God’s uses us humans to help in His Work! To preach His Word! Paul was excited too: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” 1 Timothy 1:12

The bulk of Isaiah chapter 5 (from verse 8 through verse 30) consists of a blistering Sermon Isaiah preached, part of a longer Message really. This Paragraph is clearly marked by its use of a series of “Woes” announced by the Prophet. (Some Bible teachers label the whole Section “the six woes of Isaiah.”

Today, since yesterday we focused on verses 1-7 (God’s Vineyard), we’re going to notice each of those pronouncements. These six indictments (for that is exactly what they are) actually reveal WHY God is going to reap havoc on His Vineyard, on Israel … because of their “wild” sinning.

Are you ready to begin?

Some scholars think the six woes represent an intentional progression into sin, digression into sin! (One “wrong” leading to another “wrong,” each being worse than its predecessor!) Although honestly, it’s hard to distinguish “little” sins from “big” sins, even if such a dichotomy exists.

First … “WOE unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.” Isaiah 5:8-10

This presents love of money. Rich people buying house after house, no matter who they hurt in the process. Looking out for “number one.” This looks like “real estate” has become a new god for the people! Until only the rich tycoon lives on a vast expanse of his own creating!

But God says He can empty those houses, all of them! Even the mansions among them! And those pretty (likely wrongly acquired) vineyards, God can withhold the rain and warmth … and they will produce very little!

Remember that in Israel God has bequeathed to each family a plot of land. Land that has here somehow been “taken” from them. (Think of the Naboth’s Vineyard scenario of King Ahab’s day.)

Second … “WOE unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.” King James Version, Isaiah 5:11-13a

Here is the love of “strong drink,” alcohol from morning to night! As a lifestyle! And (as is usual) they added (wild) “partying” to that mix. The (sensual)  “music” and the (gluttonous) “feasting!”

But God here directly says this is one of the reasons WHY His people have been sent into captivity! (Assyrian Captivity for the Northern Kingdom, Israel. And later, Babylonian Exile for the Southern Kingdom, for Judah.)

No “knowledge” of God … leads to sin, de facto.

Third … which I would call “serial sinning” … ” WOW unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: that say, Let him (God) make speed (hurry up), and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!” Isaiah 5:18-19, brashly confronting, challenging  Almighty God!

Sins have now piled on top of sins … to the point they have become “heavy!” Too many sins to just “carry” in one’s arms! They need an ox to pull them, they are now so ponderous!

They now have to “tow” them (their many iniquities) with cords! Even with ropes, strong ox-cart ropes! All the while “doubting” God! As in: “We have not seen him do anything lately!” Sheer Blasphemy! Irreverence to the maximum!

Wow!

Fourth … a reversal of values! “WOE unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

This sin is self-explanatory. What God once called “good,” is now considered “bad” … by these erring folks! (Sounds like contemporary society, doesn’t it?)

Then fifth … “pride!” No doubt here either. “WOE unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21

Whereas we should be humble, lowly … fully dependent on God! An attitude like that depicted in Proverbs 3:5-6 is optimum. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

Last of all … one more imprecation … “WOW unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Isaiah 5:22-23

They reward the wicked! They denigrate the righteous! They place as “heroes” the most “vile” of men and women! (America, take heed!) And it appears that their perverted judgment is tainted by strong drink, once again!

And here’s the root of this sixth injustice: “Because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Perennially ignore God’s Word … and soon a society will no longer honor the “righteous” of the land!

What a list!

Thank you, Isaiah, for preaching the Truth!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell