The Sin of the Rabble
Isaiah 9:8-10:4
May 14, 2023
As you know we are now in a segment of Isaiah’s book
Which is dealing with the salvation of the remnant.
It is a segment which contrasts the fate of that remnant
With the lack of faith of the rabble.
When God commissioned Isaiah
• He had told him that his ministry would be primarily one of blinding eyes and
hardening hearts.
• Isaiah had been told that 90% of the people he preached to would not listen.
Yet, there would be a remnant that would be saved.
Isaiah 6:13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
• God promised that the majority of the nation would fall into judgment,
• But there would be “a tenth portion” which would remain and would enjoy the
salvation of the LORD.
Isaiah 7-12 tells the story of the salvation of the remnant
And at the same time the judgment of the rabble.
What we have said from the beginning is that it is clear in Scripture that GOD IS NOT SAVING EVERYONE.
Romans 9:27 “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;”
God is NOT saving everyone, He is only saving the remnant.
We understand the GRACE involved that God would save anyone.
• God owes salvation to no man.
• If He has saved you, it is by grace alone that He has done so.
• We bring no merit to the table whatsoever.
Yet, even though men recognize the grace of God in salvation,
Arrogant men still have enormous difficulty accepting the fact
That God will send some to hell.
Last Sunday morning we started the sermon by talking about the “Doctrine of Eternal Punishment”
• We talked about how universalism is not true,
• Neither is annihilationism,
• But rather that God will punish sinners for eternity in hell.
The reality we are forced to accept is that a sinner can suffer in hell
For all eternity and still NOT SATISFY the wrath of God.
And that is the reality that is the chief focus of Isaiah
Here as he talks about the sin of Israel.
In fact, Isaiah repeats the same phrase 4 times.
• (12b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• (17b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• (21b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• (10:4b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
If Isaiah repeats the exact same phrase 4 times in just a few verses
I think it is clear to us what the main point is.
We are dealing here with UNSATISFIABLE WRATH
Israel, regardless of the degree of their suffering,
Is not able to suffer enough to satisfy God’s righteous anger.
The reality is that God is NOT saving everyone.
But for those who lift their fist to heaven and cry, “That’s not fair!”
Allow Isaiah to give you the facts of the matter.
THE REASON God is not saving all men is because not all men repent of their sin.
• Men go to hell because they refuse to repent.
• Men go to hell because they offend God and then reject His atonement found in
Christ.
• Men go to hell because they are sinners and they love their sin.
And just to make sure we don’t find some injustice with God,
Isaiah allows us a segment of Scripture
Were we are allowed to see the consequences of Israel’s sin.
Very simply put Israel has sinned
And has failed to satisfy God’s wrath on their sin.
And God’s anger remains.
Let’s take a look at some of the CARICATURES OF GOD’S ANGER.
For Isaiah describes God’s anger in quite a startling fashion.
(READ 8-12)
You see that this message is focused on the northern kingdom of Israel.
(8) “The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.”
And at this point we AREN’T even dealing with people
Who are surprised by the message of God’s displeasure.
THEY KNOW THEIR BEHAVIOR OFFENDS GOD.
(9) “And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:”
The message that God is displeased with their lifestyle is not.
They have been well-informed of God’s displeasure.
• They know…
• He hates idolatry
• He hates wickedness
• He hates worldliness
• He hates corruption
But they just arrogantly ignore the message that God is angry
And they turn an apathetic ear to it.
WE AREN’T DEALING WITH IGNORANT SINNERS HERE.
We are dealing with people who know God is displeased,
THEY JUST DON’T CARE.
What is more, they turn a blind eye to God’s discipline.
• It is apparent that God has sent discipline into their land in the form of some
sort of military attack
• Because it has torn down their brick walls and cut down all their sycamore
trees.
But Israel isn’t concerned, nor do they fear the wrath of God.
They take the discipline of the Lord
And see it as an opportunity to build back better.
(10) “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”
It’s like God burning your house down and you saying, “So what, I didn’t like that house anyway. I’ll build a better one!”
You see their arrogant and apathetic response
To the will and judgment of God in their lives.
Isaiah 28:15 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
Isaiah 30:15-17 “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.”
THAT IS THE MINDSET OF SINFUL MEN.
Romans 1:32 “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
So, IN RESPONSE to their arrogant persistence to sin
God would up the intensity of their punishment.
(11-12a) “Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on, The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.”
So God’s response was to
• Take a nation in which He had already torn down their walls and cut down their sycamores
• And now he will send more enemies inside their borders to totally devour them.
The phrase He uses is “devour Israel with gaping jaws.”
He’ll use Aram, He’ll use Philistia, ultimately He’ll use Assyria,
BUT GOD IS GOING TO SWALLOW THEM ALIVE.
It’s a harsh picture of coming judgment.
(12b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
Even though God would inflict such heavy punishment,
That will not soothe His wrath.
And if you think that analogy of judgment is bad, look at THE NEXT ONE.
We find out in verse 13 that
Even though God greatly afflicted Israel they still would not repent.
(13) “Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.”
No wonder God won’t relent.
They won’t repent.
(14) “So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.”
The next picture Isaiah paints is that of decapitation and mutilation.
God “cuts off head and tail”
It is symbolic language certainly, but it is graphic on purpose.
He is about to decapitate Israel and then mutilate her too.
(15-17a) “The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion. Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness.”
You find out the problem there.
God is fed up with the entire nation.
Verse 17 paints the grim picture when we find out that “the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; for every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness.”
Look, when God is sick of the widows and orphans
You know He has come to the end of His patience.
But even the widows and orphans are part of the corruption.
But the reason they are so corrupt
• Is because Israel has had bad leadership.
• Bad kings, bad elders, bad leaders, bad prophets.
And those are the ones God is about to cut off from Israel.
They are the “head” and the “tail” God spoke of.
(15-16) “The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.”
So God is so angry at their wickedness and their wicked influence
That God is going to enact spiritual decapitation and mutilation.
He is going to kill off all the leaders in Israel.
IT IS A SEVERE PUNISHMENT.
And yet we still read:
(17b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
God’s fury endures even after such a harsh judgment.
So you’re telling me that
• God can afflict a nation
• And then devour them
• And then kill all their leaders
And God can still be angry with a nation even after all of that?
Yes
And that’s still not the worst picture Isaiah paints.
(READ 18-21)
There you actually get a picture of CANNIBALISM
(20-21a) “They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah.”
What in the world is that?
It is a society that is eating itself; devouring itself.
Paul warned the Galatians against selfish living and said:
Galatians 5:14-15 “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”
But that is what was now happening, by God’s design, in Israel.
He is removing all leadership and thus all restraint.
The people were free to just tear themselves apart
And that is what they were doing.
(18-19) “For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke. By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.”
Isaiah describes it as a fire from the Lord.
He just turns their sinful passions loose and lets them have at each other.
And they do exactly what unrestrained sinful men
Will do every time, they eat each other.
NO ONE SPARES ANYONE.
It is a horrible culture in which to dwell.
Incidentally, it is exactly that same type of culture which Paul describes in Romans 1 when he three times uses the phrase, “Therefore God gave them over to…”
• He has told them, they know, but they won’t listen.
• He has punished the leaders who led them into sin.
• Now He just pulls back the restraint and lets them have all the sin they want.
When you read the Revelation
• That is exactly what you see happening in the Great Tribulation.
• You see God pull back His restraint
• And when God lifts the restraint wickedness runs rampant in the streets.
And the people literally burn themselves down.
And we would be remiss if we did not stop
And see the parallels to God’s wrath on our own country.
Are we not a country that has been warned about our sin?
• Have we not heard over and over about the dangers of the love of money?
• Have we not heard over and over about the dangers of sexual immorality?
• Have we not heard over and over how God hates the shedding of innocent blood?
• Have we not heard over and over that homosexuality is an abomination?
• Have we not heard over and over that you can’t love God and the world?
And our nation, like Israel, routinely turns a deaf ear to the warnings.
And even when God sends a temporal judgment upon our land
We ignore it and determine just to build back better,
And return to our sin.
Has God not also judged our nation with the removal of qualified leadership?
Do we not have a nation that runs into sin and is willing to devour one another?
Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
DOES THAT NOT SOUND LIKE OUR NATION?
Could we not expect even more blows and hardships?
“In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• Our nation suffers under corrupt leaders and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?
• Our nation has begun to taste the bitterness of inflation and supply shortages and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?
• Our nation suffers various natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and drought and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?
And the answer is: NEVER
• Do you suppose that a decade of corrupt politicians will satisfy God’s wrath for millions of aborted babies?
• Do you suppose a couple of years of drought will appease God’s anger on a nation that parades sexual immorality?
• Do you suppose that a little inflation or rising prices or trade wars or a border crisis will cause God’s fury on our materialism to cease?
IT WILL NOT.
God has routinely called men to repentance
Until repentance occurs there will be no end to His chastisement.
It was true for Judah.
It was true for Israel.
John Calvin wrote about it 500 years ago and said it was true for England saying, “What then should we expect but to be bruised with heavier blows?”
(Calvin Commentary, pg. 319)
And it is true for us today.
GOD’S ANGER ON MAN’S SIN
Cannot be appeased through eternal suffering in hell,
Much less through a few temporal judgments on earth.
Now that is JUST THE INTRO to what Isaiah wants to say.
Those are nothing but MERE OBSERVATIONS on his part.
• All he did in those verses was tell you what he sees taking place.
• He just pointed out the sufferings of the people and attributed it to the
unsatisfiable wrath of God.
The first 4 verses of chapter 10 are the sermon.
And let me give you the 3 points to Isaiah’s sermon found in 10:1-4.
It is 3 words.
#1 WOE
Isaiah 10:1-2
We know the word by now.
• It is the word Isaiah first pronounced upon himself in the presence of the holy
• It is the word which he several times pronounced on Judah.
OY in the Hebrew and it is a declaration of intense grief and pain.
“Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.”
He speaks again of the SOCIAL INJUSTICE that occurred in the land.
If you read the Kings
• They are consumed with the rise of idolatry and all the paganism in Israel.
But Isaiah
• Is always concerned about the lack of love for your neighbor.
• Isaiah loves to point out Israel’s love of the world as the reason for her judgment.
It is people who are only concerned about their own well-being
And not that of the poor.
It is EASILY APPLIED to political leaders who enact corrupt legislation
But it is not limited to them.
• We may not write laws for congress
• We may not make executive orders to govern the land,
• But you and record our own decisions every day.
Every day we decide what to do with our resources.
Every day we decide what to do with the world.
And the decisions that Israel was making
Were all together offensive to God.
They “deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans.”
They deprived the needy in order to live in luxury.
And Isaiah’s message to the nation of Israel is that:
“I know you’ve been afflicted and oppressed and suffered at the hands of bad leaders, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
Isaiah pronounces “Woe” on them.
James obviously read Isaiah:
James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
James doesn’t use the word “Woe” but he does call upon the worldly to “weep and howl” for what they are about to face.
“You have lived this entire life for the pleasures of this world
And have ignored the commands of God
And you are not prepared for the miseries that are going to come upon you.”
The calling of Jesus has always been clear.
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
It ought to be ever ringing in our ears,
The message that was preached by Abraham to the rich man in Hades.
Luke 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
God forbid that any of us live our best life now.
God had been seeking to get the attention of the nation of Israel
To TURN BACK from their worldly ways and THEY WOULD NOT.
So now Isaiah pronounces woe upon them for what is coming.
#2 WHAT?
Isaiah 10:3
There is actually 3 questions here:
What? – Whom? – Where?
As in “WHAT will you do in the day of punishment..?”
And “To WHOM will you flee for help..?”
And “WHERE will you leave your wealth..?”
Those are intense questions that every man of the world ought to answer.
As Jesus told the rich man who built those bigger barns:
Luke 12:20-21 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
In the day that your soul is required of you, what will you do then?
• The rich man in Hades tried to get Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch it to his tongue and even that request was denied.
In the day when God determines to judge worldliness,
What will we do on that day?
Hebrews 2:3a “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
“To whom will you flee for help..?”
If you have forsaken the Lord in order to obtain the world,
Who are you planning on calling?
Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”
Where are you going to go for help during the judgment?
We remember Jesus spoke of that unrighteous steward
• Who was going to lose his position because he was squandering his master’s
wealth.
• But when he found out he was going to lose his position he started using
wealth instead of hoarding it.
Luke 16:3-9 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
Jesus praised that man because he used wealth for the sake of eternity.
“And where will you leave your wealth?”
• John reminded us that this world is passing away.
• Paul told Timothy that we enter this world with nothing and we go out the same way.
What is your plan for transferring your wealth from this life to the next?
Jesus told us not to store up treasure here, but to store it up in heaven.
Isaiah is simply looking at this nation
Who has forsaken the commands of God to enjoy the world
And he asks them to think about how this is all going to play out.
You need to look beyond to day and think about how this is going to end.
• “WHAT will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar?”
• “To WHOM will you flee for help?”
• “And WHERE will you leave your wealth?”
Those are good questions.
Woe, What
#3 WRATH
Isaiah 10:4
“Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain.”
Isaiah answers the question for them.
These people who have refused to repent
And have loved the world at the expense of the poor.
Isaiah tells them what is coming.
Slaughter or Slavery
Those are your only two options.
“Nothing remains…” but those two options.
And then Isaiah DRIVES HOME HIS POINT one more time.
“In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
DO YOU UNDERSTAND HIS POINT?
MAN WHO HAS SINNED CANNOT APPEASE GOD’S WRATH
It doesn’t matter how much suffering you endure on earth, eternity awaits and men will suffer there for eternity without ever having earned parole.
Sinful men cannot satisfy God’s wrath through their own suffering.
They will suffer for eternity and never see the end of it.
So first, take a warning about the dangers of sin.
• It is no laughing matter.
• The warnings of God about sin are not something to be scoffed at.
SIN IF OFFENSIVE TO GOD
On one hand it is the offense of behavior which is totally contrary to the nature of God.
• He is not greedy and so greed is offensive to Him.
• He is not immoral and so immorality is offensive to Him.
• He is not a liar and so lying is offensive to Him.
But even more than that all sin is offensive because it is an act of treason against the Sovereign Head and Creator of all things.
• Sin is doing that which God expressly told us not to do.
• And that invokes just punishment from Him as well.
This was the offense of Adam who transgressed the command of God.
He did that which He was specifically told not to do
And the effect of his sin is that all of his posterity are consigned to death.
WE CANNOT STATE ENOUGH THE FOLLY OF SIN.
And that is seen clearly in the fact that
Even sinners in hell cannot ever satisfy His righteous anger.
And so we understand also WHY GOD IS NOT SAVING ALL men.
• It is because they are sinners who love their sin
• And whatever minor punishments they endured on earth
• Have not even come close to satisfying the debt of their rebellion before God.
Do not suppose that your few hardships on earth
Have somehow atoned for offense of God.
Your offense is so great that no amount of suffering on your part
Will ever atone for your sin.
BUT…
Let’s talk about how God’s wrath can be satisfied.
There is a word in the New Testament that is so rich and wonderful.
It is the word “propitiation” (HILASTEREON)
In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) it is the word used for the mercy seat.
It is a word that means “appeasement” or “satisfaction”
And it is never applied to the suffering of man.
It is never applied to the works of man at all.
It is only applied to One event.
THE CROSS
Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”
• Christ’s blood was “a propitiation”
• Christ’s death before God satisfied God’s wrath.
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
• Here we see again that Jesus Christ “is the propitiation for our sins”
• He is the One who satisfied God’s wrath.
It was Jesus on the cross saying, “It is finished!”
That means that if you have placed your faith in Christ
Then what you cannot accomplish by spending an eternity in hell
Jesus accomplished for you on the cross.
Isaiah is headed here eventually.
Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”
Did you see that?
“As a result of the anguish of [Christ’s] soul, [God] will see it and be satisfied.”
This is where we find forgiveness of sins.
This is where God’s wrath is satisfied.
Now, that DOES NOT MEAN that you now say,
• “Oh good, so I can keep in my sin as long as I have Jesus.”
• “So my worldliness is ok now since I have Jesus…”
• “So my sexual immorality is not a problem any more since I have Jesus…”
Not hardly, it does not work like that.
Romans 6:2 “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
Romans 6:8-11 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
We don’t use the sacrifice of Christ as a loop-hole to continue in sin.
But, if you repent of your sins and place your faith in Christ
Then you too can find God’s unsatisfiable wrath satisfied for you.
That is actually how you become part of the remnant.
But for the rabble who know the truth and reject it…
For the rabble who choose to stay in their sin…
For the rabble who choose to keep this world…
Their punishment will never reach its end.
Only Christ has the ability to satisfy God’s wrath.
