Software requirements and requirements analysis is an important aspect of any software project. Requirements define what the software is suppose to do. Without them, there is no way of knowing when a project is complete or whether a completed project does what it is supposed to do.
I have written fair amount of communication protocol software. The protocol specification defines, down to the bit level, what is required to successfully interface to a remove system. Certainly I can ignore some of the specs, but sooner or later, something catastrophic will result. An application will crash. Employers will be irked or worse.
There is always an end user of every software application and often they are also the ones that specify the initial requirements of the project. And they are the ones most interested in the end results as well.
As I was reading through this section of Isaiah this week, I wished I had completed the application that I keep wishing I had -- "lecto-generator". It provides a text box for entering a Scripture reference, a couple of check boxes (one labeled “Good Illustrations” another labeled “Applicable to Life”) and then a single button labeled “Render” which, when pressed, generates a great, practical, and easy to remember
lecture.
Instead, I moved and fertilized the lawn and when I came inside had this requirements idea.
Ultimately, you and I are responsible to One primary customer for our lives. That One is the Lord, the Lord Almighty. He is the primary one from whom we receive instructions for life. We have the technical specification in the Scriptures. And certainly there are dynamics that we will come across throughout the pathways of life. But always we must keep in our sights the fact that He is the one we are working for as His people.
And so I have taken this long passage and chosen to look at God and how this passage portrays certain characteristics of Him.
Then I move on to look at Isaiah as the man called by God to go with God's message. I want to use his attitude and example to illustrate similar things that God's people should consider today.
And finally I want to look at the message that God gave to His servant and how that message is relevant even today.
The Lord, the LORD Almighty (Isaiah 15-23)
When in doubt, look for descriptions of God in Isaiah. Above all else, the Bible is a book in which God reveals himself to mankind. It is the only place we see that plan of God to redeem his covenant people – both in the Old and New Testaments. We come face to face with a Loving, Righteous, Holy, Sovereign, Just and Compassionate God. Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
So that's where we will begin tonight, with the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
This will be three-pass lecture in an effort to point out three interdependent aspects of this lesson. (I apologize to those who were interested in a geography lesson or a lesson on the fulfillment of prophecy)
1) Faithful
[Read 17:4-6, 7]
In spite of the unfaithfulness of God's covenant people, God remains faithful to that covenant.
V6, The LORD, the God of Israel. He still identifies himself with his own.
That is true with His covenant people in the Old Testament and it is true with His covenant people in the new.
There are times when we ask, “Where is God in this? Why is He silent? Why do I feel so alone?”
But God has not moved. Verse 7 tells us that in that day they will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
It wasn't that God had moved, but that man was not looking to Him.
He is faithful to His word and to all His promises.
In verse 10, God points out that YHWH is their God, their Savior, their Rock and fortress.
[Prudential commercial]
But they had forgotten God, not the other way around.
God is often silent and His silence can have two effects. One is that man might seek him diligently. The other is that man becomes
complacent or doubtful and completely forgets God.
18:4 points this aspect of God's silence out. [Read 18:4]
But He, above all things is always faithful in every aspect to His divine nature. He will never do anything (and cannot do anything)
that is contrary to His divine nature.
2) Sovereign
When we think about sovereignty we think about someone who has all control over the events that are under his authority.
This is no less true when we speak of God except that there is nothing that is not under His divine authority.
This does not mean that God causes all things to happen. But this does mean that God causes all things to work according to His divine purpose and plan.
He is in control. He is not a reactive God but the LORD Almighty. The Most High.
He is All-wise and All-knowing. He is Omniscient.
When we talk of His power we use the term 'omnipotent'. Omni meaning all and potent meaning power. And in fact all power in creation is derived from Him.
He is the creator of all things and in Him all things hold together.
So how do these passages point out the Purposeful Plans of God and His divine Authority and Omnipotent Power to carry them out?
I suppose a better (and easier) question would be, how do they not show these things?
But we will look at a couple of the ways they do point this out.
First of all, from chapter 15-23, every one of these disastrous outcomes for the nations are a direct result of God's hand at work in judging these peoples.
None of the foretelling was some form of vague probabilistic predictions. Instead they are clearly pointed out as acts of God, planned and carried out to His specification.
Over and over we see the ending of sections, “declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”
This is the signature and seal of the King of the universe. It is His edict and it bears His divine signature.
We also see over and over how God takes the things that each of the nations had relied upon, i.e., their gods, and He confounds them.
Take Egypt for example.
Verse 19:1 says that the “idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
This is a description of God's supreme authority even over the godless.
God is not sovereign merely over those who acknowledge Him, He is sovereign over all of His creation.
In verse 2, God stirs up the people in the nation so that there's infighting. I am not sure how much unity their had been in that nation, but certainly their civilization had survived for 1000's of years. They had such advances that there must have been a sense of unity, but not when God says otherwise.
They were a people that prided themselves in their wisdom and their wise men. But God will confound that in verse 3.
You see, all that man sets up as a god is subject to destruction because God is the only God. He is Sovereign and cannot allow another to take His place.
And no other can!
Every chapter of this 9-chapter collection is filled with examples of God's sovereign will being accomplished in His way and according to His timing.
3) Grace & Mercy
Grace and mercy don't mean the same thing although they are related. They both deal with what man does and does not deserve.
Mercy is God not giving what is deserved. Without God's mercy, we all would be consumed. Sin deserves immediate and complete condemnation.
So God's patience with sinful man is a merciful thing. Many of these nations had lived for 100's of years in rebellion and obstinacy toward God. And He withheld the punishment due.
And He also shows mercy in these chapters toward those that turn in repentance to Him. There's a remnant of Jews and Gentiles that ultimately come by faith to the One who saves.
And Grace is God giving something that is undeserved. We see that in the beginning of chapter 16, offering the invitation to Moab to bring lambs to Zion.
But His grace is often rejected.
We see the Lord providing for His people, Jew and Gentile, one from the house of David to judge in justice and righteousness.
You and I know that to be Jesus Christ. The One who rules and reigns in the hearts of His covenant people.
He is the one through whom his covenant people obtain mercy. For the punishment for our sin was upon him.
And God's grace to his people is made available only through this One who fulfilled the righteous requirements of the the law.
In Him we have redemption through his blood.
In 17:7,8 we see men looking to their Maker once again and repenting of idolatry. God's grace at work.
In 18:7, Cush will bring gifts to Mount Zion. Figurative of a people entering into a covenant relationship with God. Not by their goodness or own righteousness, but due to God's grace to them.
19:18-25, Shows a beautiful picture of the unity found in Christ. These nations who had undergone such judgment by God will cry out to God.
His judgment was an act of mercy to drive them to the only One who could save them by His grace.
Egypt being a place where an alter to God is set up. Symbolizing the true worship of YHWH.
And in addition, two nations who were hostile to each other are at peace (3 nations actually), Egypt, Assyria, and Israel.
This evokes to me a picture of what God has brought about in Christ. He has fulfilled this promise in that in Him their is neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male nor Female. All human distinctions and hostilities are done away with at the cross of Jesus Christ.
God's grace and mercy in bringing about the salvation of His people.
Larenelle Harris wrote a song, “Were It Not For Grace.” It is a song of thanks to the Lord for His unspeakable gift:
Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I’d never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain
Chorus
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to the Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His love would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost
4) Just
God is Just. His character demands justice.
He is not carrying out judgments against man because He likes to see the wicked suffer. He is bringing about the just payment due all who reject Him.
God's just judgments have at least two consequences. They stop the schemes of the wicked.
Many of these calamities brought down world powers that were propagating wickedness and peddling it to other nations.
God puts a stop to it. But also it affords an opportunity for man to stop and ponder the consequences of sin. The reflect on life when all of its distractions are stripped away.
When all the things that man had put his hopes in are gone there is only one way to look and that is up.
Up to the One who sovereignly brought about a time of pruning.
And many who look up will see a Just and Righteous God, their own sinfulness, and God's Mercy and Grace. That this Judge is also the Justifier.
That I deserve no less than the full force of His wrath. But He offers life and redemption.
Is there anything in life like God? Is hope found in anything else you and I have around us?
I hope that your hope is found only in this Faithful, Sovereign, Merciful, and Just One – The Lord, the LORD Almighty.
He is the only Rock. The only Salvation. The only Fortress. There is none other!
Principle: Hope can only be found in the One who has the power and authority to give it.
Illustration:
If hope is found only in this life, what kind of hope can the doctor provide if there's only bad news? Where does hope come from when I have no resources to address the issue? Can I assume I ever have the resources to address any issue in life? Or must I always look to my Maker?
Applications:
1. What hope do you find in God's justice?
2. How have you experienced the mercy of God? If you are here tonight, you have experienced it for however long you've been
alive. Have you thanked the Lord lately for being a God of mercy?
3. How has the grace of God impacted your life? How has His grace sustained you lately?
4. In what way are you resisting God's grace?
The Lord's Messenger: Isaiah (Isaiah 15-23)
Just as God is faithful, as we saw in this text this week, He also demands that His messenger remains faithful. Faithful to God's purpose, to His leading, and to the message that He gives. God never gives His messenger liberty to “fly by the seat of the pants” so to speak. He is called to carry out his calling with glorifying the Lord as His primary objective. And secondly seeking to lead others to the Lord through a message of hope and a message of warning.
1) Faithful to His Calling
First, let's deal with the idea of faithfulness to his calling.
At least 8 times in these 9 chapters Isaiah begins a section with the words, “An oracle concerning...”
This word oracle means a burden.
That this was not a light thing that he was bearing. It was not something that was easy for him to do.
But is was his calling and he knew the One who gave him the vision and the message.
It was his cross to bear, so to speak. He did not like being the bearer of bad news but this was what he was called to do.
And I am certain that their was joy in his heart knowing that he was being obedient to the Lord.
And their was joy as well when he was able to point out the hope of salvation found in Messiah.
Of this coming kingdom in which injustice would be forgotten and righteousness would be the characteristic of all who entered in.
And so the oracular message was a burden but a blessing and Isaiah was compelled to faithfully bear this burden.
What has God called you to do for Him? Do you know? If not, when will you begin seeking?
If you know, how faithful are you in that calling? Who are you serving God or people?
2) Faithful to God's Message
[Like a developer doesn't have liberty to alter or deviate from a protocol specification, so God's messenger must be true to God's message]
If you read through this at least once, you could not help but notice that there were some common patterns that emerged as Isaiah presents this material.
Judgment is coming and it will reveal man's false hopes and false gods.
That the Lord, the LORD Almighty has spoken. These are His words and His alone.
There was no deviation from the truth of the message no matter how uncomfortable the message and how dangerous it might have been for the messenger.
There was no lessening the impact in order to draw in the audience. He did not mince words. This is God's word and God has spoken.
These are not my words, they are my burden to bear, but they are the words of my Master.
And they bear the full weight of the Name of God.
They are not valid because I am a renowned prophet. They are valid solely on the basis of God's authority.
And I must not add to or remove from these words of God! Period.
What message has God given you to share with your neighbor, or co-worker, or family? Are you maintaining the integrity of that message?
If you are God's child, then you have a message of hope for this world. That message is that God is Holy, Righteous, and Just. That sin separates man from God. That sin results in death and separation from God. That there is no hope found in any other than the person of Jesus Christ. That no other way can be found to the Father but the one provided in His Son, Jesus Christ. That man is destined to die once and after that face judgment. But that by grace, through faith, comes salvation. It is not a salvation that man can attain. No works can achieve it. That would be unjust. Not by works of righteousness but according to his mercy He saved us by the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
God Saves!
3) He Lived the Message
The next thing I would like us to consider is the fact that he lived out the message that he brought.
Isaiah is seen weeping with those that weep. Filled with compassion for those who seek salvation in their own devices.
He bears this message to a world who largely will reject that message. And this causes him to weep.
I can't help but think that he may also be recalling his first encounter with God, back in chapter 6. He was confronted with the consuming presence of Almighty God. And he was undone! He could do nothing to respond but fall on his face and confess his wickedness and the sin of his own people.
He saw this same scenario for these people, but without hope. Once their life on earth was over, they were going to face the wrath of God and miss the grace of God that He offers in Messiah.
So there was no attitude of you are sinners and I am not. He didn't partake in their debauchery, but he wept for their lost estate.
He also was called on by God to live out the prophecies in some cases.
If you ever think it is hard to share the gospel with a friend or co-worker, keep Isaiah in mind.
He bore the humiliation of baring himself for 3 years. This is not what God will ever call us to do in our day. But it had a purpose to picture the humiliation that would be upon Cush and Egypt when they were carried into captivity.
We are called by God to be in the world but not of it. We do not have to become like the world, and must not, in order to bring the truth of the gospel message.
Those that you and I talk with should know that we are not perfect. That we have come out of a life of rebellion and animosity toward God. But that by God's grace we saw who He was and what we are and were reconciled to God.
Were it not for grace, you and I would be headed in the same direction as any lost person. Without a care in the world, or so we think.
And so it was with Isaiah, compassion and sympathy for the lost. Those who could care less for the message he had to bring. But he bore it just the same.
4) Faithful to God's Leading
This last section I wanted to cover briefly.
It's the idea that all those that God calls will have the same work to do. That is not true.
It's clear in Scripture that God is the one who plans and sets out the work for us to do.
Isaiah had a unique ministry. There were not many in his day called to a similar task. But that didn't mean he was the only one obeying God.
Each servant of God is answerable to God for what he has done.
I will be answerable for how and what I teach. For the way I have raised my kids. For the way I have witnessed for Christ.
For the way I conduct all the affairs of my life.
And so will you if you are a child of God.
No two servants of God are called to exactly the same task in exactly the same way.
And each better ensure that he is following God and God alone. Not what those around are saying he should do.
This is not to say that we don't seek Godly counsel, but that ultimately we can never say, well so and so was doing this so that's what I did.
Just as Jesus called Peter to follow Him at the end of John. He called the Apostle John to something quite different. Peter was ultimately called to martyrdom. John had another path.
Equally valid. Equally God honoring. But as unique as the person being used by God.
Principle: God's messenger must be faithful to God and His message.
Applications:
1. Where is God leading you? Are you being hesitant?
2. What are you more interested in, winning an argument or winning a soul?
The Lord's Message: Judgment and Salvation (Isaiah 15-23)
Just as the faithfulness of the messenger was essential, without the message, the messenger would be unemployed.
There are two aspects to this message. I will begin by dealing with the aspects of Judgment and why this was important and how it is an essential aspect to the message of Salvation. Then we will move on to Salvation and highlight the hope of this part of the message.
1) Judgment
This message of judgment and impending doom is something that mankind needs to hear. This must never be our only message. And we should not have a cavalier attitude about this aspect of the message.
But Judgment points out fundamental problem with all of humanity. Namely that we are under a sentence of death due to sin.
And that we compound that sentence by seeking to find our hope in created things rather than in our Creator.
All throughout these 9 chapters, Isaiah points out the folly of false gods, false alliances, human wisdom, human ingenuity, personal planning, etc.
The problem for man is that sin has so corrupted us that we think we have the solution to our greatest need but we don't. Our sin causes us to use the good things that a Good God has given to generate sin.
Our minds become a god: wisdom, learning, self-actualization, planning, plotting, etc.
Our ability to reason and think is from God but we use it the scheme and plot and sin against God.
Our wealth becomes a god: God gave man work, the ability to make money, the resources to create stuff.
But often our hope is in what we have and what we can buy rather than in the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Our nation or leaders become a god: we entrust ourselves to a national identity, to a leader or party, to military might.
But we don't realize that they are placed where they are by the One who can also bring them down.
The list could go on and on. Even those with the most light in their day, Israel, was turning every way but Up to solve their crisis.
It was as if they were saying, we can handle this. But God judges such arrogance and pride.
He does this to take the rightful glory that is due Him and had been squandered on frivolous things. Things that are created rather than the Creator.
And some of us have had to feel the heavy hand of God upon us before we came to our senses. Before we realized what a mess a life of sin yields. But what a gracious and merciful Savior or Lord is.
When He strips away all the trimmings of life that we place our hopes in, suddenly there is clarity. Suddenly the distractions are gone.
Suddenly all hope is lost but the true Hope that is God Himself.
Which leads us to salvation.
2) Salvation
This God who Saves is a God of salvation.
Until man comes to grips with the reality of God, man's sin, and God's wrath, the news of salvation doesn't seem too necessary.
After all, aren't we all pretty good people.
The common message of our day is often seek the Lord for all of His blessings.
If you have marital problems, he will fix your marriage.
If you have illness, he will heal you.
If you have bad self-esteem, he will give you purpose and meaning in life.
If you have [fill in the blank], he will give it.
All these things, God is able to do and more.
But never ought a message about Christ be a message of fulfilling my felt needs.
The message of Salvation deals with man's greatest need. And it is the only message that brings hope to people under God's judgment.
It is the hope of Salvation that God alone has authored and completed.
It is not a multi-step plan. It is a complete surrender under the authority of God alone.
All these nations around Israel were alienated from God. And most of the descendants of Abraham at this time were as well.
But in the middle of each of these sections of God's judgment, He offers a picture of other nations entering into a covenant relationship with God too.
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we are under God's wrath in our sin. But in Jesus we are made righteous before God. It is a righteousness, not our own, but Christ's righteousness that makes us right before God.
Here is the message of Hope: Christ died for our sins according the Scripture, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scripture.
In Him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin.
Even while we were dead in our trespasses and sins, Christ died for us.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone. Behold the new has come.
Acts 4:12: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Principle: God's message of hope is found only in Messiah.
Applications:
1. Which aspect of God's message, judgment or salvation, applies to you?
2. How well are you doing at sharing the complete message with those God puts in your path?
Conclusion
We all know who the customer is in this life. Every one of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of what we did in this life. We all know what God requires of us. But will we deliver what He requires? That is the question.
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