The Marvelous Work of God – Part 2
Isaiah 29:1-24 (2-24)
October 22, 2023
We started this chapter this morning which outlines
“The Marvelous Work of God”
• We are talking about God’s supernatural work.
• We are talking about God’s miraculous work.
• It is that which is too difficult for men, but it is not too difficult for God.
And as we said this morning, this is the work of revival.
This is the work of redemption.
This is the work of opening blind eyes and deaf ears.
Jerusalem certainly had both.
They were a hypocritical people whose worship
Was nothing more than learned tradition.
They had no love for God.
They had no fear of God.
They were robots going through the motions.
They were in need of revival.
What a blessing it is to know that God is in the revival business.
For all the miracles that typically get sought after today,
The one miracle God still does on a daily basis
Is the miracle of redemption and revival.
It is the miracle that is outlined for us in Ephesians 2
Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
• It is God who opens blind eyes.
• It is God who opens deaf ears.
• It is God who softens hard hearts.
• It is God who awakens dead souls.
The story of Lazarus is but one of many examples of God taking what is dead and making it alive.
The salvation of Saul of Tarsus is another example of God taking those who are blind and making them see.
The salvation of Zaccheaus is an example of God taking what is deaf and making them hear.
This is the marvelous work of God.
And as we saw THIS MORNING Jerusalem needed it.
We looked at the first point of this chapter.
#1 THEIR UNACCEPTABLE WORSHIP
Isaiah 29:1
This city, “where David once camped”
That is to say “This city that was once full of genuine worship”
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”
It was a sarcastic statement as if to say, “What good is that going to do?”
• You keep showing up.
• You keep going through the motions.
• You keep doing the same old things.
But even though your words are near, your hearts are far away.
1. You’re nothing but robots following tradition.
2. And the second you get out of the temple you run into your sin as though I don’t see you.
THEY WERE PEOPLE IN NEED OF REVIVAL.
Fortunately God is the type of God who can bring revival.
He is the type of God will correct our faulty worship.
Tonight we move on to see exactly how God will do just that.
#2 THEIR UNSEEN ASSAULT
Isaiah 29:2-4
You’ll see why it is unseen in a moment,
BUT FIRST let’s look at the assault.
You will remember in verse 1 God referred to Jerusalem with a nickname.
He called her “Ariel” which means “Lion of God”
And here in verses 2-4 we see that this lion
Is now being hunted, surrounded, and put down.
God says, (2-3) “I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me. I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.”
It paints the picture of a group of hunters tracking a lion, encircling it,
Throwing up barricades and preparing to attack.
This is of course exactly what Sennacherib did to Jerusalem
During the reign of Hezekiah.
But here, before Sennacherib ever occurred,
God is promising that this “distress” IS COMING.
And for what purpose?
(4) “Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.”
It is extremely clear.
• The purpose is NOT destruction.
• The purpose is NOT total eradication.
THE PURPOSE IS HUMILITY.
God is going to break the pride of this complacent city.
• This city is full of hypocrisy and tradition.
• This city is full of worldliness and comforts.
• Their worship is unacceptable to God and they are filled with pride.
So God is rising up to do His marvelous work and it begins with distress.
This is how God brings revival to His people.
SOMETIMES IT IS LITERAL PHYSICAL DISTRESS.
• We’ve all experienced times of pain or suffering or hardship which humble us
and drive us to the ground.
• We’ve all experienced times of suffering which causes us to loosen our grip
on the things of the world and renew our interest in God.
BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS PHYSICAL DISTRESS.
Many a man has been led to revival
Because of the distress of his soul.
AND REVIVAL NEVER OCCURS WITHOUT THIS.
Revival always starts with a time of confrontation
And conviction from the Lord.
It always begins with God bringing conviction to the heart.
He always begins by crushing the pride of the sinner.
• We are talking about people who have grown comfortable in phony worship.
• We are talking about people who talk a good game on Sunday, but then live
in sin throughout the week.
The first leg of revival is when
God will crush that phoniness and love of sin.
The Assyrian assault is in many ways a metaphor for what God does to the soul to bring about revival for His people.
Can we go again to Psalm 32?
Psalms 32 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”
You see that point of conviction in David’s life.
“day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality drained away as with the fever heat of summer”
EVER BEEN THERE?
When God just seemed to put His thumb on you and lay you bare before Him?
• He began to put you in distress of soul and crush your pride
• Until you let go of all your self-reliance and love of sin.
That is the first step to revival in your heart.
And that is what God does here.
We have a city of proud hypocritical people
So God is bringing distress in the form of Assyria.
“Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also whisper like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech you will whisper from the dust.”
What a statement of humility!
• “brought low”
• “from the earth”
• “from the dust”
• “you are prostrate”
• “from the ground”
• “from the dust”
• “whisper”
It is a man who has lost all pride and dignity.
It is a man who has nothing left to hang on to.
And God is promising to bring that to Jerusalem.
It is the first step in revival.
But we said that this assault would be UNSEEN.
That is to say, despite the fact that Isaiah has been talking about it,
The people of Jerusalem would be caught totally off guard by it.
WHY?
Well, look down to verses 9-12
(9-12) “Be delayed and wait, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
Isaiah speaks of “the prophets” and “the seers”
And he says that God “has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep”
• They are “delayed”.
• They are “blind”
• They “stagger”
In other words, God has not allowed them to see what is coming.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHY?
We saw it back in chapter 28.
Because when God did try to speak to them,
They responded with scorn and mockery.
Isaiah tried to call them to repentance, but they wouldn’t listen.
• Remember, they made a covenant with Sheol.
• They had a plan…Egypt would protect them.
So when God spoke they saw no need to listen.
And in response to this arrogance
God has now hidden the plan from them.
(11-12) “The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
You have two men there.
• One is literate and learned.
• One is illiterate.
• You hand the first guy the book and he’s too lazy to open it and read it.
• You hand it to the second guy, he can’t read, and he’s too lazy to learn.
You have men here who have no interest in the word of God.
They don’t care what God has to say.
They don’t care to listen to God.
And because of this, they are totally unaware of what God is about to do.
God will bring Assyria right up to the neck of this city
And they will be totally shocked when it happens.
There will be no plan to prevent it.
There will be no plan to evacuate and escape it.
Assyria is going to show up unaware and bust you right in the mouth.
Can I state the obvious to you?
Perhaps God wouldn’t have to hit so hard if His people would simply listen to His word.
• If one cared to read what God had to say and do it…
• If one cared to investigate what God has said to do it…
• Perhaps God’s warning alone would lead to the necessary repentance.
But when a man won’t listen and a man won’t learn,
God has more severe means of getting their attention.
Here God is bringing and army to the gates.
WHY?
So “you will be brought low”
God is going to take you down a notch.
This is the first step of His marvelous work of revival.
• It is conviction…
• It is discipline…
• It is those things in life which pry our idols out of our hands…
• It is those things in life which refute our faulty speculations…
• It is those things in life which crush our self-love and pride…
God must take people who won’t listen
And change their demeanor to make them ready to listen.
JESUS
• Knocked Saul of his horse and struck him with blindness.
• He brought to the surface the immoral decisions of the woman at the well.
• He confronted the darkness and total depravity of Nicodemus’ heart.
THIS IS WHAT GOD DOES.
Even Isaiah first stood in the presence of God and cried, “Woe is me! I am undone!”
God must first crush that pride.
And while this is not pleasant it is so important.
Charles Spurgeon once said,
“I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me against the Rock of Ages.”
Well that is what God is doing here.
Because of their pride.
You see this spoken of yet AGAIN in verse 17
(17) “Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?”
It is the picture of degradation.
• Cities become fields.
• Fields become pastures.
It is a picture of God bringing upon this city His distressing hand
In order to drive them to the dirt.
So far they have been unwilling to listen when He called.
By the time He is finished not only will they be listening, but they will be seeking Him.
This is part of His marvelous work.
This is how He brings revival and redemption.
But it is at this point in the chapter
Where it almost seems like God does a complete 180.
He goes from talking about the distress of Jerusalem
To the destruction of the one who will distress them.
Look at verses 5-8
(5-8) “But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly. From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire. And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night. It will be as when a hungry man dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty man dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations will be Who wage war against Mount Zion.”
So God just said that He was going to drive Jerusalem down into distress.
But then
• He will pulverize their enemy “like fine dust”.
• He will blow them away “like chaff”
According to vs 6, “From the LORD of hosts you will be punished”,
But then He will totally do away with those who punish you.
In fact, in verses 7-8 He compares the Assyrian invasion to a dream.
It will be horrible and terrible, but it will end instantly and suddenly.
Like when you have a nightmare and it’s horrible,
But you wake up and instantly have relief because it was only a dream.
And we know from history that this is exactly what happened.
• We know how Sennacherib surrounded Jerusalem.
• We know how his commanders read that letter to the men on the wall.
• We know how they promised to destroy Jerusalem.
• We know how Hezekiah humbled himself.
• We know that he spread that letter out to God.
• And we know how God killed 180,000 Assyrians in one night.
They came bringing distress.
They drove Jerusalem to the dirt in humility.
Then God blew them away like dust or like chaff.
And in the same breath which God announced their coming,
God also announced their demise.
What do we make of this?
Well this is the 3rd point of Isaiah’s chapter.
Their Unacceptable Worship
Their Unseen Assault
#3 THEIR UNFAILING COVENANT
Isaiah 29:5-8
Do you understand what is happening here?
• Is God angry with His people? Yes
• Is God frustrated with their worship? Yes
• Is God going to distress them and drive to the dirt? Yes
BUT THEY ARE STILL GOD’S PEOPLE
It has never entered His mind to abandon them.
It has never entered His mind to just do away with them.
They deserve discipline and they will receive it.
They need humility and God will teach it.
But He will not cast them away or abandon them.
They are His people.
He made promises to Abraham and He will keep those promises.
They need revival to be sure, and God will bring it.
But total destruction was never on the table.
REMEMBER THAT WHEN GOD BRINGS DISTRESS INTO YOUR LIFE.
He will humble you, but He will not discard you.
His punishment may even be severe.
(6) “From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.”
That’s how you drive a proud people to their knees in humility.
He will do that.
• But as soon as humility occurs…
• As soon as repentance happens…
• God will also remove their distresser and blow him away as though he was never there.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS IN YOUR LIFE?
• God brings about conviction and it is painful and it is harsh.
• He crushes you under the weight of His holiness and His word.
• He relentlessly squeezes until you turn loose of your idols and your sin.
But the second you do, that conviction is gone!
It is replaced with the most amazing peace and joy!
The goal of God was not to crush you beyond hope,
It was to drive you back to Him.
And so look now at THE END RESULT of God’s marvelous work.
Look down to verses 18-21
(18-21) “On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off; Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.”
Do you know what we call this?
We call it revival.
• “the deaf will hear”
• “the blind will see”
That is not physical blindness or physical deafness.
That is when God opens the eyes and ears of the stubborn.
At this point “the afflicted will increase their gladness”
Those who were driven down to the ground in humility
Will be grateful for what God has done.
“the ruthless will come to an end” – that’s called repentance!
“the scorner will be finished” – no more mocking God’s word
God will put an end to evil and liars and defrauders.
It is the end result of God humbling His people.
And listen, only God can do that!
Can a leopard change its spots?
Can an Ethiopian change his skin?
• Can a deaf man hear?
• Can a blind man see?
• Can a dead man live?
No, not unless God does a marvelous work in their life
And that is what Isaiah sees here.
Because God has an unfailing covenant with His people
He will not allow them to remain in their unrepentant state.
Instead He will do a marvelous work that
Starts with distress, produces humility, and ends in revival.
This is the marvelous work of God.
• This is the supernatural work of God.
• This is the miraculous work of God.
• This is what man can’t do, but God can do.
We praise God that He does this in our lives.
And then we take a look at the celebration after revival occurs.
(22-24) “Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel. “Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.”
There is that chief analogy we talked about this morning.
“Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham…”
That God who took a moon worshiping pagan
And transformed him into the father of faith and a friend of God.
THAT SAME GOD is about to go to work “concerning the house of Jacob”
Here Isaiah speaks of Jacob
As one who looks down through the centuries
With shame and embarrassment for what his children had become.
REMEMBER JACOB?
• The deceiver…
• The conniver…
• The self-sufficient…
• The one who had it all figured out…
Remember how God humbled him with Laban?
Remember how God terrified him with Esau?
Remember how God crippled him to teach him to rely on God?
• Jacob came out of that sanctified.
• Jacob came out of that as a man who listened to God.
• Jacob came out of that as a man with no need for the world.
How ashamed Jacob would have been
If he could have seen his descendants.
But Isaiah says, after God finishes his reviving work on Jerusalem, “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.”
Is that just a little bit of a contrast to what we saw earlier?
Look up again to verse 13
(13) “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
That is what they were.
And what did God say He would do?
(14) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
I’m going to take
• Those self-sufficient self-proclaimed wise men who trust in their own logic more than my word…
• Those hypocritical surface only worshipers who don’t love Me in their heart…
• Those celebrated wise men who have no need to listen to My voice…
I’m going to deal marvelously with them.
• I’m going to put them in distress until it drives them into the ground
• I’m going to humble them until they cry out to Me.
• And then I’m going to deliver them, revive them, and wake them up.
And after that, they will no longer scoff.
After that, they will no longer mock or reject.
After that, “they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.”
He goes on:
(24) “Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.”
What a statement!
• God will take and transform those who think wrong!
• God will take and transform those who won’t accept instruction!
NOW BEFORE YOU START THINKING
…Of all the people out there who are wrong and need to be corrected…
…Of all the people who need to learn to listen…
STOP AND PRAISE GOD THAT HE DID THIS IN YOUR LIFE!
That was you!
That was me!
We were those who “err in mind”
We were those who “criticize” and would not “accept instruction”
• We were men and women of a depraved mind.
• We called what was evil good.
• We called what was good evil.
• We thought wrong about everything.
But God has transformed us.
• He has renewed our mind with His word.
• He has given us the mind of Christ.
• He has removed our heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh.
We didn’t do that, God did that!
He redeemed us.
He revived us.
He did His marvelous work in us.
And He can certainly do it in others.
You should also stop and consider what TRUE REVIVAL LOOKS LIKE.
REVIVAL IS NOT SOME EMOTIONAL FRENZY.
So much of the time when people speak of some revival occurring
They are talking about some emotion laden event with people crying and laughing
And filled with ecstatic happiness.
And look one ought to be happy and filled with joy.
But the fruit of genuine revival
Is far different and far more long lasting.
When God brings revival it starts with distress.
• Distress of soul
• Perhaps even distress of body
When God brings revival it produces humility.
• Men are confronted with their perilous state and are driven to the dirt in brokenness.
When God brings revival it is motivated by His sovereign grace.
• God revives those whom He has chosen to revive.
• God works on behalf of His children.
When God brings revival it results in love for His truth.
• It results in people who previously wouldn’t listen to God starting to listen to God.
• It results in people who leaned on their own understanding now leaning on God’s word for understanding.
• It results in obedience as opposed to mocking and scoffing.
Revival takes hypocritical worshipers
Whose hearts are far away from God
And leads them to genuine humility and obedience.
It turns their hearts back to God
And evidences that return with a love for God’s word
Over their own logic and understanding.
THIS IS THE MARVELOUS WORK OF GOD.
NOW,
Has God done that work in your life?
Is God doing that work in your life?
Are you in a state in your life where you can say that you “sanctify His name”?
Are you in a state in your life where you can say that you “sanctify the Holy One of Israel”?
Do you currently “stand in awe of the God of Israel”?
OR
• Do you merely draw near with your words while your heart is far from Him?
• Do you merely honor Him with your lip service?
• Is your reverence nothing more than practiced and learned behavior that was taught you through tradition?
DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
If your heart has been revived
Then praise God for doing this marvelous work that only He could do in your life.
If your heart is in need of revival
Then confess that to Him and ask Him to go to work on your heart.
“On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”
