The Actual and the New-Isaiah 3:1-4:6; 4:2

Isaiah, Old Testament, Sermons

Isaiah 3:1-4:6; 4:2

“In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel” (Isa 4:2, NIV).

Theme: Are you going to remain proud and trust in man/yourself, or are you going to humble yourself and exalt God alone?

Recap: The Ideal and the Actual: Walk in the Light (Isa 2:1-22, 5)

* Salvation is not a position. It is a ____ (Isa 2:3, 5), a way of life.

* The evidence of our faith is not just what we say but how we live.

* Be brutally honest with yourself before the light of truth (1 Jn 1:5; Jn 8:12). Refusing to face the truth guarantees that one will remain in permanant and incurable self-deception (Jer 17:9) and slavery (Jn 8:32).

* God desires that we live a ______ life (Gen 17:1; Eph 1:4).

* To trust God requires that we STOP ___________ (Isa 2:22).

* Fight against _____ which God always opposes and learn _______ which God always blesses (Isa 2:9, 11, 17; Prov 15:33; 18:12; 22:4; 29:23).

Isaiah 1: Be a rebel? Or a redeemed person? Isaiah 1 and 2 provides choices and challenges to his audience that compels them to make a decision between two options. In ch. 1 the choice is to be a rebel or a redeemed one (Isa 1:2, 27)? Be willing and obedience or resist and rebel (Isa 1:19-20)?

 

Isaiah 2: Choose whom you will trust? God alone? Or man? Isaiah 2 also provides two choices to any reader/listener: 1) Follow the proud, or 2) Stop trusting in man (Isa 2:22).  The two alternatives with two opposite consequences are: 1) Life with God in his glorious kingdom (Isa 2:1-5), or 2) Frightful humiliation and destruction (2:6-22). There is nothing more important than exalting and glorifying God. Conversely, there is nothing more devastating than glorifying yourself or putting something else higher than God. Thus, all listeners who hear Isaiah’s words must choose whom they will serve and glory. Will it be God—or man?

God’s commands are grounded in his grace. Isaiah’s challenges and commands in ch. 1 and 2 are rooted in the grace of God (Isa 1:18) and his glorious promises (Isa 2:1-5).

Outline of 2:1-4:6

  1. The Ideal: Our Glorious Future Hope (2:1-5).
  2. The Actual: Our Dark Present Reality (2:6-4:1).
  3. The New: Our Glorious Future Hope (4:2-6).

God’s judgment on man’s pride. To deal with the pride of man expressing itself in self-exaltation (2:6-4:1), God will humble:

  1. God’s people (2:6-11)–for their idolatry (magic, money and military might).
  2. All people (2:12-22)–resulting in humiliation, disillusionment and fear.
  3. Men–for their oppressive leadership (3:1-15). Thus, God removes Judah’s arrogant male leaders.
  4. Women–for their vanity leading to flirtatiousness, ostentation, shame and insecurity (3:16-4:1). God’s judgement would be the removal of Judah’s proud women.

I. God’s Judgment on Men’s Pride (3:1-15)

  1. The problem: Childish, Immature Leaders (3:1-7).
  2. The judgment: According To Your Deeds (3:8-11).
  3. The indictment: Oppressing Others (3:12-15).

Leadership failure. 3:1-15 addresses the questionable character of leaders. It is closely related to 2:6-22 for Isaiah is addressing the people of “Judah and Jerusalem” (Isa 2:1). The leaders were proud. They trusted in their human accomplishments and in human security (cf. Isa 2:22). Isaiah 2:6ff emphasizes the demise of mankind in general, but Isaiah 3 considers the specific removal of the unqualified arrogant leaders (3:1-15), as well as the proud and vain women (3:16-4:1).

Trusting in man (leaders) could suggest not trusting in God. In 2:6-22 Isaiah repeatedly focuses on the humbling of the proud, the exaltation of God alone and the rejection of idolatry (Isa 2:9, 11, 17, 8, 18, 20). But in 3:1-15 he illustrates the hopelessness of trusting in the specific accomplishments of the human leaders in Judah (Isa 3:4-5, 12, 14-15), which is in sharp contrast to the general exhortation not to put one’s trust in mankind in Isa 2:22. People should not trust in human leaders to solve their difficulties (Isa 2:22; 3:7), because they do not have the power to bring about any real, lasting solutions.

II. God’s Judgment on Woman’s Pride (3:16-4:1)

Proud men oppress others, proud women draw attention to themselves. The pride of man–their essential sin–is expressed as oppression, while the pride and essential sin of women is expressed as ostentatious vanity.

God deals with proud women resulting in:

  1. Judgment: Proud women will be judged (3:16-17).
  2. Loss: Her objects of pride will be removed (3:18-24).
  3. Humiliation: She will be humiliated and become desperate (3:25-4:1).

Check your heart for pride. God loathes arrogance in his people. God’s judgment on people (2:6-4:1) should compel and challenge each person to test their own heart to see if anything is motivated by pride or if it will result in pride. [In my case it might very easily be my desire to study in depth “less common” books of the Bible to feel different and unique, though my initial motivation is my desire for “the whole counsel of God” (Ac 20:27).] Also, an excessive concern for my rights, my opinions, my way, and my honor is a sign of a sick self-centered society that fails to give complete honor and glory to God. Isaiah desires that we evaluate the central motivations and highest priorities that guide our lives. If we (males and females) exalt ourselves and thus fail to exalt God, we cannot but experience what the proud men and women of Judah experienced on the day of God’s judgment.

III. The New: God’s Glorious Future Hope (4:2-6)

God’s plans can never be thwarted by man. The immediate future will be terrible for Judah if the nation does not stop trusting mankind and start exalting God alone. Isaiah wanted God’s people to know that their rebellion and pride (2:6-4:1) will not defeat God’s ultimate plan to establish his glorious kingdom in the future (2:1-5; 4:2-6). In contrast to 2:1-5 which focuses on the coming of the foreign nations to hear God’s laws, 4:2-6 focuses on the purification of a holy remnant.

The New will be characterized by (4:2-6):

  1. Beauty (2).
  2. Holiness (3; Rev 21:27).
  3. Cleansing (4).
  4. Glory (5).
  5. Security (5).

The New will be:

  1. Beautiful (2).
  2. Holy (3).
  3. Clean (4).
  4. Glorious (5).
  5. Secure (6).

Reference:

  1. Smith, Gary V. Isaiah 1-39. The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. B & H Publishing Group. Noshville, TN. 2007. 143-149.
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