Acknowledge the Holiness of the Holy One (Isaiah 29:15-24)

Three different settings addressed by Isaiah:

1. 1-39 (740-700 B.C.): Isaiah's own times. The Assyrian threat.
2. 40-55 (585-540 B.C.): Judean exiles in Babylon. The Babylonian exile.
3. 56-66 (539 B.C. onwards): Conditions in Judah after the return from exile.

Isaiah 1-39 Outline: Trust God--The Assyrian threat.

• 1-5 The problem: A lack of servanthood.Trust God and do not rebel.
• 6 [740 BC] The solution: A call to servanthood. Trust God and your sins are covered.
• 7-39 Lessons in trust, the basis of servanthood. [Trust God--NOT Assyria (7-12, 36-39), NOT the nations (13-23), NOT the world (24-27), NOT Egypt (28-33).
• 7-12 God or Assyria: No trust. The need to study lessons in trust again.
• 13-23 God's judgment over the nations. Don't trust the nations.
• 24-27 God's triumph over the nations. God is the sovereign actor on the stage of history.
• 28-33 The folly of trusting the nations. Woe to those who will not wait/trust God.
• 34-35 The results of trusting God or the nations: A desert or a garden.
• 36-39 God or Assyria: Trust. [701 BC]

God's Power on God's Terms (Isaiah 29; Ray Ortland)

Isaiah 29

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught'" (Isa 29:13, NIV).

[Oswalt, John N. Isaiah: The New Application Commentary. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2003. Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond C Ortlund Jr.]

Do you think you have God figured out? Did you know that your greatest breakthrough might be when you hit a brick wall? Did you know that the most constructive thing that might happen to you is when your world falls apart? Sometimes we Christians need that, because we think we have God figured out.

Do you think that you should be able to explain everything as a believer? We do know something about God, because he has revealed himself to us. But imperceptibly, unintentionally, we can slide into the feeling that if we know God at all, we should be able to explain everything. But the fact is, we can't explain everything. Sometimes God doesn't make sense, to us.

Does God confound you and you're OK with not being in control? When God surprises you so that you can't see through what God is doing in your life into the reason behind it, when he becomes opaque and mysterious, you are seeing something. You are seeing that God is God and you are not God. You are encountering him at a new level of profundity. You are discovering what it means to trust God and surrender to God rather than control him. If God never shocked you, you wouldn't really know him, because you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between your notions of God and the reality of God.

Empty Ritualism, Clandestine Politics (Isaiah 29:13,15)

Immorality was not necessarily the grievous sin of God's people in Jerusalem, but empty habitual ritualism and secretive politics behind the scenes were. How would God deal with them?

God Will Punish and Save Jerusalem (Isa 29:1-14)

Out of great sorrow and compassion, God laments at "Ariel" (Isa 29:1), which may mean "lion of God" or "hero," perhaps referring to Jerusalem's former strength and glory. God will distress them greatly through the Assyrians (Isa 29:2-8), for they depended on Egypt (Isa 28:15,18), instead of trusting God, their sure foundation (Isa 28:16). Because of their stubbornness, God would blind them (Isa 29:9-12). They worshiped God ceremonially and habitually, while their hearts were adrift (Isa 29:13; Matt 15:8,9). Though their ritualistic worship was worthless, God's purpose would prevail (Isa 29:14; 1 Cor 1:19).

God Will Expose Clandestine Underhanded Human Politics (Isa 29:15-24)

What was their problem? They made their own secret plans by their politicking (Isa 29:15), thus rejecting God as Creator. They were like clay thinking itself as the potter (Isa 29:16; Rom 9:19-21). But one day, God himself, through Christ, would transform them (Isa 29:17), until "the deaf shall hear" and "the eyes of the blind shall see" (Isa 29:18, 35:5, 61:1-3; Matt 11:5). The oppressed would be liberated, while the powerful oppressor's dominance will end (Isa 29:19-21). God will keep his promise to the descendants of Abraham (Isa 29:22-24). Secrecy, furtiveness, surreptitious behavior will one day be replaced with openness and transparency.

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