God's Greatest Concern (Isaiah 31:1-9)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord! 2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And will not call back His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of those who work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together. 4 For thus the Lord has spoken to me: 'As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice Nor be disturbed by their noise), So the Lord of hosts will come down To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. 5 Like birds flying about, So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.' 6 Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold--sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. 8 'Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, And his young men shall become forced labor. 9 He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,' Says the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”
Introduction
When I was watching this week’s headquarter’s message, I heard a testimony of a pastor. This pastor established a church in a rural area but since he was living in a rural area, there was no one who would gather at his church. But one day, an elderly man arrived at the church, but this elderly man was mute. This pastor did fasting prayer with this mute elderly man to provide this man healing for three days. After 3 days, there were no results or evidence of healing. After those 3 days, the elderly man told the pastor that he wanted to quit this fasting prayer so this pastor told the elderly man that there are only a few more hours left so let’s continue and finish until the last minute. Three days passed and a miracle arose. This elderly man’s problem was solved. This rumor of healing spread throughout the whole neighborhood and they were able to experience that God was truly alive. What is absolute is that God is alive. We read today’s main Biblical Scripture and all of the words spoken in the Bible are the living word of God who is alive.
1. God's Justice
1) The immutable law
Verse 1 - Isaiah was saying that the people did not believe that God was not alive. The reason for their unbelief was written here. If they believed in and prayed to God, then they would receive answers but they did not believe in God nor prayed. From here, we need to think about something. God was aware that the Israelites were in a lot of distress because of Assyria and how Assyria was tormenting Israel. So, the people were angry at God because God did not get rid of Assyria and their source of suffering. If we look in the Bible, anyone who tormented and persecuted the people of God, God’s judgment would fall on them.
An example is written in Genesis 12:17 “But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” - Abraham went to Egypt because a famine hit his land but on their way, his wife was so beautiful that a pharaoh wanted to take Abraham’s wife as his wife but at that time, Abraham lied saying that his wife was his sister. When Pharaoh heard Abraham’s lie, he took Abraham’s wife as his wife. But after that, God appeared before Pharaoh and scolded Pharaoh, and threatened him and commanded him to give Abraham his wife back. Even though it was Abraham who was the one who lied, it was Pharaoh who was punished instead. Abraham was able to survive this whole ordeal. With this power of god, God could destroy Assyria so easily so they were wondering why God didn’t destroy Assyria yet. If you look in the Bible, these miracles would arise but sometimes other events would arise in the opposite way. But sometimes God gives problems to help His people realize His word and covenant. The law of God was made so that we could discover and see what sin is.
Exodus 19:5-6 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” And Deuteronomy 27:26 “Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ” - When God made a covenant with the Israelites, He led them to the path of blessings. What determined if the Israelites were blessed or not were if they held onto and kept God’s covenant or not. When they disobeyed God’s covenant, God would use His rod to help them to come back to their senses. This is not just a relationship and the way of law with just the Israelites, this applies between us who have the covenant with God. Anyone who believes in God, the way to blessings is if you keep hold of God’s covenant. This is so simple. It is the same thing with salvation.
Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” - What determines if you receive blessings or not, if you believe in God or not. This is astounding and so simple. It is so simple for us to be blessed.
2) What God hates the most
Verse 2 - The Israelites did not follow God’s word but they relied on their own knowledge and wisdom. This was what King Hezekiah said. There is something that God hates the most. What God hates the most, He will curse three to fourth generations if we do what God hates. If we don't do what God hates, then God will bless us and our next generations.
Exodus 20:3-4 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' ” and Numbers 14:18, 3, 22 “The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. 3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? 22 Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice.” - There were 10 spies who returned from spying on the other nation and reported that they cannot overthrow this nation. They continued to say that they wanted to return back to Egypt and threatened to kill Caleb. God warned that He will curse the 3rd and 4th generations of those who spoke with this unbelief. Anyone who challenges God’s covenant, God will curse their 3rd and 4th generations.
Numbers 14:22 - If you still test and challenge God even after all of the answers and miracles God gives you, then God will curse your 3rd and 4th generations. God continues to give warnings, which are not to worship idols, don’t challenge God, and don’t test God. Don't do three things and if you do these three things, then God said that He will not forgive you. Isaiah was warning the Israelites of these 3 things. Isaiah was saying this and God was telling them this, so that they could go towards the upright path.
2. God's Love for His People
1) Remember the exodus
Verse 3 and Exodus 22 - God destroyed all of the idols of Egypt and brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God was telling them to remember what He did for them. But why were they trying to go back to Egypt?
Isaiah 2:22 “Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?” - There is no need to rely on weak and unnecessary things that possess and bear no fruit for us. Humans are so weak but we tend to rely on them. God is saying that there is no need and it is useless to rely on weak humans. When electricity shuts down, we can’t do anything and we start shivering in the cold during the wintertime. When this happened in Texas, I realized that we humans, even America, a powerful nation, couldn't even do anything against the cold winter storm. There are so many natural disasters that occur in America like hurricanes because this powerful nation, America, couldn't even do anything. If God brings a natural disaster, there is nothing mankind can do. This is how weak mankind is. This is what God is saying to Isaiah. What is the point of relying on human beings who are so weak? It makes sense to rely on God, who is Creator and the almighty. God was telling them to come to their senses. People are living wondering and mindlessly while relying on other humans and the things of this world. And on top of that, they are saying that they don’t need God at all. But during this time, God continued to give them His word. God was telling them that this is how much He loves them.
2) God's protection
Verses 4-5 - God was protecting His people and helping them to realize this. A lion is protecting his prey and even though other beasts may try to grab his prey, they cannot take the prey away. It is the same thing.
Verse 5 - God gave another example with a mother bird protecting her chicks. On TV, I watched a bird give birth to an egg but a lizard tried to eat the egg. But the chicken stood still and tried to fight the lizard, and eventually the lizard lost and ran off. When I watched that, I realized that chickens are strong and they will do anything to protect their eggs. Today’s Biblical passage is speaking about that, God will protect us this way.
John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” - This is what God said. God will never forsake His children and will protect us till the end. God who is still alive and living said this.
Verse 5 - “…Passing over, He will preserve it.” - This is talking about the passover. Any doorpost that had blood on it, the angel of death passed over it. Just like how the doorpost that had the blood of the young lamb, within our hearts, we have the blood of Jesus Christ wiped all over it. No one can harm or touch us. God is completely protecting us. We possess this blessing. God spoke to the Israelites once again.
3. Return to the Covenant
1) The power of repentance
Verses 6-9 - Isaiah was telling them to return back to God. Throw and discard all of your idols. If you think you will succeed with this one thing or idol, throw it away. You think you need something and you can’t throw it, God is telling you to throw that away because God has prepared something better for you. Don’t be deceived.
Verse 8 - God was giving them a spiritual message. Assyria will fall not by the swords of men but by the sword of God. It was God who defeated the Assyrian army, not the men of Judah. It was the sword of God that defeated the 185,000 Assyrian men. The sword of God is the Holy Spirit and the word of God. Before the word of God, all darkness will flee. Before the word of God, all powers of Satan will be destroyed. It didn’t end there.
Verse 9 - The Assyrian army also represents Satan. The Assyrian king will fall by terror. What terror was that? It was the word of God. By the word of God that the Assyrian army will fall down. The sword is the word of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the darkness and Assyria army will fall. What Satan fears the most is the word of God. This is what we must hold onto.
Zion is referring to the church. The fire in Zion is referring to God who is present within the church. Through the fire of the Holy Spirit, works will arise. They will all flee and be afraid because the word of God appeared and was proclaimed. If we want to live, then return back to God and hold onto God’s word. Don’t use your own knowledge but hold onto the word of God. May we hold onto this.
2) Three things to know
We may face hardships and conflicts but for nonbelievers, these crises may be their destruction. They may think that it is their end and demise but for believers, it is our opportunity for us to pray and receive blessings. Why do we receive blessings in the midst of a crisis? Because the blood of Christ is within us as well as the power of the Holy Spirit. Forces of darkness cannot defeat us.
Exodus 2:15 “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” - Moses was living as a fugitive and he faced a lot of difficulties as a result but in Midian, he used this time to organize and meditate on the Word of God. As a result, he was able to write the book of Genesis. For 40 years, he organized the word of God and wrote the book of Genesis, and God gave him a covenant and commanded Moses to return back to Egypt. His greatest crisis became his greatest opportunity.
Secondly, John 21:5-6, 15 “Then Jesus said to them, 'Children, have you any food?' They answered Him, 'No.' 6 And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. 15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.' ” - The disciples said that they were not able to catch any fish and when Jesus heard this, He commanded them to throw the fish nets into the water. The moment they did this, they felt so much fish in their fish nets and couldn’t bring their fish nets into the boat because there were so many fish. When they felt so much despair because they couldn’t catch any fish but the moment Jesus spoke and listened to God, they received so much fruit and answers. When God answers and responds, then He will give you His greatest word. God prepares the best things for us in advance. When problems and incidents arise, hold onto God’s word. Because within the word of God, God works.
Thirdly, John 21:15 - Jesus asked Simon Peter a question. Peter answered that he loved Jesus more than anything. At that time, Jesus responds for Peter to feed His lambs. Jesus gave one condition to Peter, and we must hold onto this. Jesus asked Peter if he loved Jesus or not. Do you love Jesus? Peter answered that he did love Jesus and that Jesus knew the answer more than Peter did. What a beautiful answer. When we pray, do we confess our love to God? When we confess our love to God, I think this would make God most happy. When Jesus heard this, He commanded Peter to feed His lambs. God knows everything and it ends with that. I truly know that you love God and when we love God, then God will give us a great mission in our lives. Whenever I look at our church members, I realize that God truly loves all of us. I am so thankful for this. God knows all things.
Conclusion
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.” - What does this mean? God is alive and living even now. When we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, works will absolutely arise. If we pray anything in Jesus’ name, God promised that He will answer it. God promised this and said that we must believe in this. Do you believe in this? If we believe in this and pray, then works will arise. May you receive tremendous answers this week.
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