Introduction to Isaiah (Isaiah 1:16-20)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“16 ‘Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 18 'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword’; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Introduction
When King Hezekiah passed away, King Manasseh became king. Isaiah went the danger of King Manasseh becoming king so Isaiah started praying. A false prophet accused Isaiah is plotting against King Manasseh and when King Manasseh heard this, he ordered Isaiah to be captured. When Isaiah heard this, he fled and ran away. While Isaiah was running away, there was a huge tree and he hid before the huge tree. When Isaiah saw that huge tree, he saw that there was a hole within that tree and hid inside there. But the soldiers who were looking for Isaiah, they found him inside this hole. When they found Isaiah, they reported of Isaiah’s location to King Manasseh so King Manasseh commanded for that tree to be cut down with Isaiah inside. When they received that order, they cut the tree down and King Manasseh knowing that Isaiah was inside, King Manasseh commanded for the tree to be cut down laterally. Isaiah ended up becoming matured, he was sawed. One of the most evil kings was King Manasseh. His father, King Manasseh served his people well but King Manasseh was very evil and was not a believer of God. He even sacrificed his son to idols. God was so angry with King Manasseh and placed His wrath on King Manasseh. God commanded that He will destroy Judah because of King Manasseh. The entire kingdom of Judah ended up facing destruction because of King Manasseh.
We have to understand that King Hezekiah was a righteous king and great works arose during his time when 185,000 Assyrians soldiers were destroyed. Not only that but because of King Hezekiah, the land of Judah lived a prosperous life but how did King Hezekiah’s son become one of the most wicked and evil kings? This is very important for us to look at. When we look at King Hezekiah, he was a great king but he had a problem of not implanting the word of God to himself and his children. He thought that he was a living a good, Christian life so he thought his children will naturally be okay. He failed to relay the gospel into his children, he taught his children only how to rule and become a king. To our children, we may relay the gospel with earnestly. We shouldn’t relay how to make money but we should relay the gospel alone.
1. The Prophet Isaiah
1) Isaiah's background
The book of Isaiah is a very important book and in the book of Isiah, there were 40 major prophets and 14 minor prophets. I think the book of Isaiah explains the gospel very well. The name Isaiah means, the salvation fo the Lord. The entire content of Isaiah was the salvation of Jeuss Christ and the gospel. As you know Israel faced destruction and were in the midst of wars but when Judah saw that, they didn’t repent before God but ended up going towards the same path of destruction and lost hold of the gospel. God seeing the state of destruction of Judah and Israel, we need to think about what kind of message God is wanting to give us today. Today’s message, we will explain many Bible scriptures so look at these scriptures very well.
Isaiah 1:1 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” -
2) The state of Israel
Isaiah 1:2-7 “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: 'I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; 3 The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.' 4 Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. 5 Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.” - Isaiah was proclaiming with these Bible verses. The state of Israel was in so much corruption that Isaiah was yelling out in agony. Israel was called by the grace of God and they didn’t become the people of God because they did something good or upright before God. God called Abraham and blessed his descendants but Israel ended up throwing the grace that God bestowed upon them.
Isaiah 1:3 - What does this mean? Israelites were considered less than animals because even animals know who their masters are. Ox and horses know who their masters are and will follow their master. God blessed the Israelites so that they can live within God’s great grace but they threw away God’s word and lived in corruption and destruction.
1 Timothy 4:2 “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” - Why did they leave God when God gave them great grace? This was because their consciousness was seared with hot iron. This means that they were controlled by Satan.
Psalm 49:20 “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.” - Children of God were given great blessings but they don’t enjoy them so they become like beasts who ended up perishing.
God continues to speak in Isaiah 1:4. God called the Israelites as evildoers. The people of God who were called as children of God, they were rebelling against their Creator, God. Due to this, Israelites had no choice but to fall destruction and failure.
Isaiah 1:5 - This shows how scary and dangerous the state of those forsake and have left God. God is asking, how much beating do you need from God? God is saying their whole heart and head is sick and afflicted. This is the state of those who have left God. The fact that their head is sick means they are facing mental problems and afflictions. Those who leave God, they have no choice but to live a life controlled by Satan. Satan seems like a very smart being but you end up doing very foolish things. You start doing very foolish things and end up going towards destruction. This will lead to severe, mental problems. What happens when people remain in this kind of state?
It says in Isaiah 1:6 - It is very strange. When people leave God, they become sick and their whole body aches. There are diseases everywhere. They are bound by severe physical problems. They don’t know how to solve and heal them. You try to do everything to solve them, you go deeper and deeper into problems. Look at people around you, all people are in sicknesses and diseases. Their lives are in places where their lives are held by a thin thread due to either illnesses and sicknesses.
Isaiah 1:7 - Problems with their future and destiny are limitless. People who are separated by God, they think that they are living a very diligent life but problems are constantly coming. You meet a strange person and you end up become conned. Everything you worked for, it is all gone. Someone steals from you or someone puts a gun to your head. Or, you get assaulted. You think that if you save all of your money for your future, in one split of a second, all of that money goes away because of a disease or an incident. This is the life that people who have become separated from God lives. There are peel who come to church and face these prelims, and cannot come out of them. But God does not forsake His children and continues to pour down His great love upon us.
2. God's Mercy
1) Those who were left behind
Isaiah 1:8-10 “So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city. 9 Unless the Lord of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah.” - The land of Judah was completely destroyed but God poured His grace upon the Israelites and saved the land of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1:9 - The Israelites rejected and ignored God but even though they did all that, God continued to pour down His great grace and mercy upon the Israelites. The people of God left God and waited for His people to return back to Him, and paved a way for them to do that. If you don’t do that, then they would’ve wasted like Sodom and Gomorrah.
God spoke to His people at that time in Isaiah 1:10. God said that the people were like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and pleaded them to hold onto and keep His word. God was speaking to them with agony and in pitifulness. God gave them the word at that time that they needed to hold onto receive healing. God gave them an answer at that time.
2) Topics for healing
Isaiah 1:11-15 “'To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?' Says the Lord. 'I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.' 12 'When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.' ” - This was what the Israelites had to keep hold of and remember. This is what we must hold onto as well. We come before God with their cattle but God was telling them that they were giving an incorrect worship. They were offering worship without thanksgiving of their salvation.
Isaiah 1:12 - God was commanding them to restore worship. You think that coming to church on Sunday is enough and showing up is enough. Worship is giving glory to God. Many people come to worship with empty hearts before God.
Isaiah 1:14 - They came to worship but when God saw their worship, God was telling them to do stop doing evil. How scary is that?
Isaiah 1:14 - God was very happy with the worship services of the harvest, ingathering, and the pentecost but they were giving the incorrect worships to God. During those feasts, they were capturing and killing 18,000 animals sacrifices. When God saw this, God was accusing them of doing evil. God did not want this kind of worship. What does this mean? During harvest, ingathering, and pentecost, these worship services were meant to forgive the sins of mankind. They were to receive forgiveness of their sins and start anew. In other words, worship is a time through the word of God, you are able to re-examine your spiritual state and place. When offering animal sacrifices, you are confessing that this animal is dying on the behalf of your sin. You are becoming aware of your sins before God. But these people did not have this kind of heart and understanding.
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” -
Joel 2:13 “So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.” and Isaiah 1:15 - When we give worship to God, we must worship holding onto John 4:24 “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” - When we give worship and pray to God, we must worship and pray in earnestness and sincerity. But we are not like this at all. That is why God said that when we pray, God will close His eyes. Even though we pray for a long time before God, God said that He will not listen. Why is that? Our prayers and worship to God was like a worship full of blood. Their worship and prayer to God was only for the sake of their prosperity. In other words, their prayer topics were only filled with Genesis 3, 6, and 11. They only wanted to be successful, wealthy, and become prosperous. This is what we live for. You are asking people to go to hell and not to go to heaven. There may be people who pray this way. There are people who are wicked to you so you pray for that person to suffer. You only pray for your life to be better and for your sake. That is why God said that your hands are full of blood. What kind of prayer topics did the Israelites have. God didn’t want this prayers and worship services. Spiritually, they were so corrupt. But even in the mist of that, God continued to pour His grace upon them.
3. God's Infinite Grace
1) How to heal
In other words, God was giving them the method of healing and restoration.
Verses 16-20 - It says here, “Yourself”. When mankind left God, they choose to leave God. They faced destruction as a result and ended up becoming bound by Satan. Because of their choice to leave God, they choice to fall into Satan and as a result, they faced ultimate destruction and suffering. That was God’s punishment. God punished mankind so that they could realize and return back to Him. When we hear God’s voice, then mankind should realize and return back to God. You realize that you only have God alone and you repent before God, and able to return back to God. That is what it means to wash yourself, make yourselves clean as seen in verse 16.
Verse 17 - Change your life. The most weak people, we should go to them and help them in Christ. Those who are spiritually, physically, and mentally sick, we should go to them and help them in the gospel.
Then, an important message is given in verse 18. It says let us reason together. Let us come together and talk. God said that if you talk to Him then God will answer you. The way to this you must wash and cleanse yourself first. You must make that decision first, yourself. Then, God will pour down the blessing of repentance in your life. We must go before God and repent. You remember Judas Iscariot sold Jesus Christ, he regretted but he didn’t repent before God but committed suicide instead. He should’ve gone before God and talked to God but he decided to end his life with his own hands. Not only did he face destruction but he faced the ultimate death. We must go before God.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - In today’s sermon in verse 18 - Our sins that made us fall into destruction, we will be made clean like white as snow. If we come before God, then we will receive blessings.
Verse 19 - If we come before God and repent, then God promised that He will restore all things. When we have disbelief and start doing strange things, and suffer from physical, spiritual, mental, and financial problems but that all be forgiven and solved when we come before God. When we come correctly before God, then God promised that we will eat the good of the land.
Verse 20 - When we fall into unbelief and don’t repent, then that way is a path of destruction and failure. Then, how can we find the answer in Christ? We can find that answer in the first message.
2) Healing from the fundamental reason
In Korea, there was a shopping center that collapsed and many people died. Also, a bridge in Korea collapse and many people died. What is the reason for this causes? Whoever built these infrastructures, they created a weak foundation. This is the same thing with our Christian life. Our Christian life falls down because our foundation is weak. that is why when we face problems, we will collapse and fall apart. What is our foundation? It is the chief cornerstone, that is how important our foundation is.
Psalm 118:22 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” - This was what King David was saying regarding the people. The people rejected Jesus. The reason why they failed was because of this.
Matthew 21:42 “Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes?' ” - Our rejected chief cornerstone was Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:20 “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” - This was what Apostle Paul said. Our basic, Jesus Chirst, if we don’t set our foundation and basics correctly, then we have no choice but to fall apart.
Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' ” - Jesus Christ blessed Simon Peter after Peter made this confession. Through this confession, the great three blessings were given. What is this? All of the start of blessings come from Jesus Christ. When we seek after only Christ, then all blessings will be given to us. What kind of problems do you have? If you hold onto Christ, then that problem is not a problem at all. Some people may find something to be impossible but when you enter into Christ, it becomes possible. May you find your answers in Christ.
Conclusion
Isaiah 1:25 “I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy.” - This was what God said. How is this possible? Go before God and communicate with Him. Communicate with God regarding your problems and ask God for strength. When you fall down, if you repent before God and you entrust your life to God; when we do this, then God will start His work of healing in your life. That healing will become complete healing. At that time, the start of blessings will come in your life.
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