Refusing to Rest and to Rely on God (Isaiah 28-29)

Isaiah 28:1-29; 12, 16

"God has told his people, 'Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.' But they would not listen" (Isa 28:12, NLT). "So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic'" (Isa 28:16, NIV). "Therefore the Lord God said: 'Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable'" (Isa 28:16, HCSB).

Why is "woe" pronounced on God's people, Ephraim [northern Israel] (Isa 28:1) and Ariel [Jerusalem] (Isa 29:1)? It is because they were:

1. Remaining in pride (28:1-6).
2. Rejecting rest in God and his word (28:7-13).
3. Refusing to rely on God (28:14-22).
4. Resisting instruction (28:23-29).
5. Relying on ritualism and politics and hiding their plans from God (29:1-24).

References:

1. We Reject God's Sure Foundation by Our Faulty Reliance on Man (Isaiah 28). My daily bread from Dec 2010.
2. Empty Ritualism, Clandestine Politics (Isaiah 29:13,15). My daily bread from Dec 2010.
   
3. Motyer, J Alec. Isaiah. The first woe: The word of God and the purposes of God (28:1-29).
• Samaria: a surprising hope (1-6).
• Jerusalem: the inescapable word (7-22).
• The discriminating Lord (23-29).
  
4. Webb, Barry G. The Message of Isaiah. Foolish leaders and false counsel (28:1-29; 29:1-24).
• The drunkards of Ephraim (28:1-13). Too proud to listen to God and his Word.
  
• The covenant with death (28:14-22). Determined to depend on Egypt.
  
• The parable of the farmer (28:23-29). Insistent on being stupid.
  
• Fire in the fireplace (29:1-24). Depending on politics, the real world and human wisdom, rather than God.
  

Human Schemes and God's Plans (Isaiah 28-35)

Isaiah 28-35; 28:16; 30:18; 31:1; 33:17

"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic'" (Isa 28:16, NIV). "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you..." (Isa 30:18a). "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord" (Isa 31:1, NIV; Ps 20:7). "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar" (Isa 33:17, NIV).

Whom will you trust and rely on? Isa 26:4 says, "Trust in Lord Forever." The key issue in Isaiah 28-35 (and one of the key themes of the entire book of Isaiah) is whether Judah--in particular its leaders--will rely on Egypt or on the Lord in the face of the growing threat posed by the ever-increasing power of Assyria. This is immediately before the account of Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in Isaiah 36-37. This invasion was a punitive action taken by Sennacherib in response to a revolt led by Hezekiah (Isa 37:9ff). He had refused to pay any further tribute to Assyria and had annexed the Philistine cities as far south as Gaza which, like Judah, had been part of the Assyrian empire (2 Ki 18:7-8). Chs. 28-35 show how strongly and consistently Isaiah had opposed the foolish counsel of those at court who counseled Hezekiah to rely on Egypt, as the crisis deepened leading up to the events recorded in ch. 36-37. Isaiah 30-31, which stand more or less centrally within the unit (chs. 28-35), are wholly taken up with this issue, as pointedly and succinctly pointed out in Isa 31:1.

Trust in the Lord Forever (Isaiah 24-27)

Isaiah 24-27

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal" (Isa 26:3-4, NIV). "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! ⁴ Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock" (Isa 26:3-4, NLT).

Trust in the Lord (Isa 26:4)--which results in perfect peace (Isa 26:3)--is the practical challenge that Isaiah lays down for God's people throughout the entire book (Isa 7:9; 10:20; 12:2; 30:15; 31:1; 32:17; 36:15; 42:17; 50:10; 57:13).

• "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all" (Isa 7:9b, NIV).
• "In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel" (Isa 10:20, NIV).
• "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation" (Isa 12:2, NIV).

But You Did Not Look To God (Isaiah 22-23)

Isaiah 22:1-15, 11; 23:1-18

"The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest. ⁹ You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places; you stored up water in the Lower Pool.¹⁰ You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall. ¹¹ You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! 'Let us eat and drink,' you say, 'for tomorrow we die!' ¹⁴ The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: 'Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,' says the Lord, the Lord Almighty" (Isa 22:8-14, NIV).

Theme: Where do you find your security? The charge against Jerusalem is her self-sufficiency (Isa 22:8-11). In Isaiah 22, when the city (1-14), individual (15-19) and family (20-25) become self-sufficient, they have committed the unforgivable sin (Isa 22:14).

You Have Forgotten God Your Savior (Isaiah 17-21)

Isaiah 17-21; Key Verses: Isa 17:7-8, 10-11

"In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made" (Isa 17:7-8, NIV).

"You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, ¹¹ though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain" (Isa 17:10-11).

Theme: Idolatry causes us to depend and rely on our idols for our human security, and thus we forget that only God can be our Savior (Isa 17:10-11; 31:1; Ps 20:7; 118:8-9). Repentance involves turning away from our idols and turning to God (Isa 17:7-8).

Pride Rejects God's Gracious Promises of Salvation (Isaiah 15-16)

Isaiah 16:1-14; 4b-5

"Make up your mind," Moab says. "Render a decision. Make your shadow like night—at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. ⁴ Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer." The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land. ⁵ In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. ⁶ We have heard of Moab's pride—how great is her arrogance!—of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty (Isa 16:3-6).

Theme: Despite God's gracious offer of justice and righteousness, pride rejects it.

1. Despite Your Failures, Let's Meet and Talk (Isaiah 1).
2. The Ideal and The Reality (Isaiah 2-4).
3. A Worthless Vineyard (Isaiah 5).
4. I Saw The Lord (Isaiah 6).
5. Trust or Bust (Isaiah 7).
6. Is God Your Sanctuary or Your Judge? (Isaiah 8).
7. See The King in His Beauty (Isaiah 9).
8. Destruction and Deliverance (Isaiah 9-10).
9. A Glimpse of Heaven (Isaiah 11-12).
10. How You Have Fallen (Isaiah 13-14).

What Happens to You After You Die (Isaiah 14): The Destiny of the Arrogant

Isaiah 14:9-21; 12

"How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" (Isa 14:12, NIV)

What happens to you after you die? What happened to the king of Babylon after he died? By extrapolation and inference, could we not say that this is how Isaiah explains what happens to all people after they die? If anyone is proud or arrogant, oppressive, violent, cruel or unjust like the king of Babylon, will this not be what will happen? Let us draw this out from Isa 14:9-21: