In That Day: God’s Way vs Man’s Way • 02.04.24

Nick Lees   -   February 4, 2024

In That Day: God’s Way vs Man’s Way
Isaiah 2-4

Trusting the Lord is the best way

1. The biblical ideal: Peace on earth as all walk in God’s ways
2. The present reality: Man’s pride has turned them against God
3. The command: Stop trusting man and worship God
4. The future hope: God uses judgment and trials to produce holiness

Good morning church family! Welcome visitors + introduce self.

We’re picking back up today in week 3 of our study in Isaiah – The Lord Saves.

Dismiss 4^th + 5^th graders.

Ushers + Bibles (Isaiah 2; page 673)

If you hadn’t noticed last week or via our church’s Facebook post on Wednesday, please let me point out that today we are covering chapters 2-4 of Isaiah! I hope you were able to read these chapters prior to coming here this morning, as it will be impossible for us to read them verse-by-verse today. If you notice at the bottom of the bulletin, it shows you what we’ll be studying next week. It’s always a good idea to read through that at least once before Sunday!

Don’t worry if you weren’t able to read ahead of time. I’ll still make sure to explain things as we go and seek to tie it all together. You’re just not going to hear me read every verse from each chapter.

Are you ready to study God’s Word? I hope so! Today, we are going to hear God’s continued revelation to his prophet, Isaiah. By way of reminder, Isaiah was sent by God to prophesy against the southern kingdom of Judah (Map) because they had forsaken Him in exchange for trusting in themselves and the idols that their hands had made. As we heard last week, God called them out for their rebellion against Him while still going through the motions of worship. They were putting on a show of fake faith… acting like they followed Him while their hearts were far from Him! God called them to turn from sin and obey Him if they wanted to be forgiven. He promised them that His judgment could either purify and restore them or destroy them, based on how they responded.

Now, you’d hope that they would hear and obey, right?! Of course, who would want the Creator of Heaven and Earth opposing them?! Well, unfortunately, Judah is not going to listen. God knows they will reject his perfect plan for their own proud plan. That’s what you’re going to hear more about today.

Isaiah 2-4 continues to reveal the folly of man. (When I say man here, I mean humanity.) Man believes his way will lead to exaltation, so he pursues it, but, in reality, it only leads to humiliation! What you are about to see and hear is that man’s way of proud independence invite the opposition of our Creator, but God’s way of humble dependence upon Him leads to blessing.

Let’s read starting in chapter 2:1.

Isaiah 2:1–4 (ESV)

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

  ²    It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

       shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

       and all the nations shall flow to it,

  ³        and many peoples shall come, and say:

       “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

       that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

       For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

  ⁴    He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

       and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

       nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.

As part of Isaiah’s continued vision from God, he is now shown an idealized future. This is where God intends to take the nation and the rest of the world. Isaiah is getting an opportunity to hear and share the outcome of God’s ways. My aim this morning as we discuss this and what follows is that we would all see…

Trusting the Lord is the best way

And it begins with…

1. The biblical ideal: Peace on earth as all walk in God’s ways

That is what you’re seeing and hearing in 2:1-4. Isaiah speaks of what will happen in “the latter days”. What does he mean by that? Well, just from the context alone, we understand that he is speaking of a far-off future. He speaks of a time when God’s house will be exalted above everything else, and all the nations shall flow to it. A time when many peoples will come with the desire to learn of God’s ways so that they may walk in his paths. This is a surprising shift from focusing solely on Judah to now speaking about all nations! God’s plan has always been to create a people for himself from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

What we’re hearing in 2:1-4 is describing an idealized future. Never in history has anything like this happened. This type of language is similar to what we encounter in passages that discuss the New Heaven and New Earth in Isaiah 65 or Revelation 21. A time in the future where war has ceased, peace reigns, and everyone desires to come and learn from God how to walk in His ways.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds sweet to me! How incredible would it be to have peace on earth and peace with God and man!?

I wonder how the people of Isaiah’s day responded to this biblical ideal. Did it motivate them to walk in righteousness? To abandon their own sinful ways so they could walk in God’s ways?

That’s certainly what Isaiah calls them to do in verse 5. Look with me at his exhortation to the people:

Isaiah 2:5 (ESV)

  ⁵    O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord.

Come, let us walk, in the light of the LORD. This is an invitation or plea for his people to respond rightly to God’s will and ways. By identifying that the Lords’ way is in the light, he implies that any other way is in darkness. Isaiah is calling them to forsake the darkness of their sinful rebellion for the light of God’s righteous rule and the glorious outcome it brings.

Unfortunately, the people aren’t going to listen… That’s a recurring theme in Isaiah’s ministry. God sends him to a people who will not obey! Do you recall the snippet I shared about Isaiah’s calling two weeks ago? Let me remind you:

Isaiah 6:9 (ESV)

⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

       “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

       keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

The nation was spiritually deaf and blind. They would not respond well to Isaiah’s words. In fact, that is what Isaiah 2:6-4:1 address. This extensive section reveals people who are full of the wrong things. Rather than walking in the light of the Lord, they sought to fill themselves with silver and gold, horses, and idols. They turned to fortune-tellers and foreigners as allies rather than to the Lord. They bowed down and worshipped the very things their hands had made! You see, rather than trusting the Lord, the present reality of Judah was…

2. The present reality: Man’s pride has turned them against God

Isaiah spends an extensive amount of time in chapter 2 laying out the manifestations of the pride of man. Many of which I already mentioned to you. And the result of this self-exaltation and self-worship is that God promises to oppose them!

2:11-21 reveal that man’s pride has turned God against them! There is a terrible price to be paid for pride and rebellion against God. Listen to some snippets of this passage:

Isaiah 2:11–12 (ESV)

¹¹    The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,

and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,

       and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

¹²    For the Lord of hosts has a day

against all that is proud and lofty,

against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

Isaiah 2:17 (ESV)

¹⁷    And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,

and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

Isaiah 2:20–21 (ESV)

²⁰    In that day mankind will cast away

their idols of silver and their idols of gold,

       which they made for themselves to worship,

to the moles and to the bats,

²¹    to enter the caverns of the rocks

and the clefts of the cliffs,

       from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.

There is no scenario where man gets to be proud and exalted. Pride always ends in humiliation before the One, True God. He alone will be exalted!

Isaiah repeatedly warns them that there is a day when they will flee and forget their idols. In that day the created things will suddenly lose their importance and significance. Why? Because God has been revealed in the splendor of His majesty. Meaning He will be revealed in such a powerful way that no one will be able to deny He is God alone.

It’s hard to imagine what that might look like… until you consider how God had already revealed Himself to them in the past. We’ve read about some of these already in the Annual Bible Reading plan our church is going through… The God who sent the 10 plagues on Egypt, utterly humiliating Pharoah and his so-called gods. The God who went before Israel as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. The God who split the sea in two so they could walk across on dry ground. The God who engulfed Mount Sinai in the fury of fire and smoke like a furnace. The God who routed their enemies before them to get them safely settled in the Promised Land.

The Bible is very graphic about the glory of God’s majesty. It doesn’t leave you wondering. But humans are forgetful people. Judah is case study #1. It is far too enticing to forget God and trust in self. To focus on what you can control and your own abilities rather than trusting the unseen God.

Why do I need God if I have lots of money? Why do I need God if I have houses and horses that satisfy me? Why do I need God if I have this idol that I made and can control? Why do I need God when I have allies who will support and protect me in my time of need?

These are intended to be just like what we hear in Isaiah 2, but it doesn’t take much imagination to hear them coming out of our own mouths today. The struggles of Judah are not unique to them… To be human, at least this side of eternity, is to struggle with trusting in self or riches or something other than God. And yet, as we saw in verses 20-21, in the day when God reveals himself, these things will be revealed as utterly useless and unable to save. When God shows up mankind will cast away their idols to the moles and the bats… why to those creatures? Because they’re tossing them aside as they run deep into the caves or hide in the clefts of the cliff. Who are they hiding from? God! They are terrified by His majesty and glory in light of their rebellion against Him. You DO NOT want to be found trusting in yourself or your idols when God returns!

Which is why Isaiah’s command in 2:22 is a timeless one for both Judah and us today…

Isaiah 2:22 (ESV)

²²    Stop regarding man

in whose nostrils is breath,

for of what account is he?

Or to put it a bit more fully…

3. The command: Stop trusting man and worship God

Isaiah’s negative command to “stop regarding” or “stop trusting” man implies that you are instead trusting or worshiping God. Or walking with God, as he invited them to do in 2:5.

Isaiah is holding out two ways to live before them! You have God’s way, which leads to life. We already saw the idealized outcome of God’s way in 2:1-5… Or you have man’s way, which leads to… judgment.

As if chapter 2 wasn’t an effective enough warning, Isaiah gives even more evidence for why they should stop trusting man in chapters 3-4:1. Let’s take a peek at the warnings they are given:

Isaiah 3:1–5 (ESV)

For behold, the Lord God of hosts

is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah

       support and supply,

all support of bread,

and all support of water;

  ²    the mighty man and the soldier,

the judge and the prophet,

the diviner and the elder,

  ³    the captain of fifty

and the man of rank,

       the counselor and the skillful magician

and the expert in charms.

  ⁴    And I will make boys their princes,

and infants shall rule over them.

  ⁵    And the people will oppress one another,

every one his fellow

and every one his neighbor;

       the youth will be insolent to the elder,

and the despised to the honorable.

These are not small things! God is literally planning to do these things as Isaiah is prophesying about them. God will upend their support and supply (the objects of their trust). He will take away their food and water. He will remove their leaders and leave them with young boys to rule them. Rather than prospering, the people will oppress one another and treat each other terribly!

It doesn’t get better as the chapter goes on. By the end of the chapter, we read:

Isaiah 3:24–4:1 (ESV)

²⁴    Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;

and instead of a belt, a rope;

       and instead of well-set hair, baldness;

and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;

and branding instead of beauty.

²⁵    Your men shall fall by the sword

and your mighty men in battle.

²⁶    And her gates shall lament and mourn;

empty, she shall sit on the ground.

And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

This is a total upheaval of the nation! The devastation will be far-reaching and complete.

Can you imagine your neighbors turning against you? Opening your cupboards or fridge to find them empty with no hope of them being filled again? To be so physically deprived of nutrients that your hair falls out? That your clothing is made up of rough, itchy sackcloth that you’ve scavenged? That the men of the land have been killed off in wars, leaving few behind to provide protection or a family name?

The language here is intense! Please do not read Isaiah as if it were some far off idea or concept. These are recounting for us real historical events that would happen in Judah due to the people’s sins! They really went through all of this with the wars with Assyria and exile into Babylon. Yes, we are not Judah, but the point remains that sin has terrible consequences. Putting your trust in man/self/idols/anything other than the One, True God will not end well for Judah or for you!

After all, that is why all of this happened! They have spoken and lived against the Lord, defying his glorious presence!

Isaiah 3:8–9 (ESV)

  ⁸    For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

       because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,

defying his glorious presence.

  ⁹    For the look on their faces bears witness against them;

they proclaim their sin like Sodom;

they do not hide it.

       Woe to them!

For they have brought evil on themselves.

God gave them a righteous way to live, and they rejected it. Not only did they reject it, but they have proclaimed their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it! This is what is known as sinning with a high hand; meaning they know they are doing wrong but DO NOT care! Isaiah’s cry against them is “Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves!”

Judah has no one else to blame but themselves. They made their choice to reject God and turn and go their own way. They have consciously chosen to trust in their own way rather than God’s way. They would rather have the fleeting, false pleasures of sin than the eternal, true pleasures of God.

The outcome is given in verses 10-11:

Isaiah 3:10–11 (ESV)

¹⁰    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,

for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹¹    Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,

for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

God will bless/protect the righteous but not the wicked. He will judge the wicked, which is what 3:13-4:1 is all about. Because of their willful sin and rebellion, God will hold them accountable. Everything they turn to and trust in will be removed and replaced. God’s judgment will completely reverse their prosperity into poverty. He will turn their beauty into ashes as foreign nations conquer them and take them into exile.

I don’t think I can emphasize this enough… Sin has terrible consequences! You cannot escape judgment. That was true for Judah, and it is true for us today.

So, what does our response need to be? How should modern readers of Isaiah 2-4 take this to heart?

Well, we need to look and learn. Look at the text, study it, understand what it is telling you. Recognize that there are two ways to live in this world – God’s way or man’s way – and they lead to two radically different outcomes. Understand that what is being presented to you in Isaiah is not fiction but fact. It is there as a warning and for your benefit.

Paul’s wise counsel to the church in Rome is timely for us:

Romans 15:4–6 (ESV)

⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to learn from these teachings in Isaiah. We must learn to walk in the light, in God’s ways. We must regard/trust God, not man/self. That is easier said than done.

If it were just a matter of saying it, then Judah would not have ended up in exile in Babylon! They would have listened and changed. So, what did they miss that we need to get? Conviction of sin. Brokenness before the Lord. Do you take your sin seriously? Do you view it as an affront against a perfectly Holy God? … Or are you more concerned with having life your way?

• “No one is going to tell me how to live!”
• “So what if I look at pornography!”
• “Who cares if I live with my girlfriend/boyfriend!?”
• “It’s no one’s business if we’re sexually active before marriage.”
• “If I want to turn to food for comfort, who are you to say otherwise?!”
• “I can spend my evenings scrolling my phone because I worked hard to earn this ‘me-time’!”
• “I don’t need to read God’s Word. I know what it says.”
• “Prayer is overrated. I’d rather focus on getting things done.”

These statements, and many more that are just like them, are self-justifying statements. They are ways we make excuses for doing what is right in our own eyes rather than trusting the Lord and living His way. These are the types of things that we are either tempted to think/believe or are already acting out in our daily lives. I may not have hit your exact scenario on the head, but I hope you know what it is… If not, I would encourage you to ask others who know you well to help you honestly assess what it might be.

These examples are meant to point out the ways in which we are already heading down the same path as Judah. If not checked, our selfish desires and excuses will take us down the path of darkness rather than light. We need to be actively searching out these lies in our lives and putting them to death. In their place, we must turn to the Lord and trust in Him.

Do you believe it is a delight to walk in God’s ways, in the light? Does your daily life give evidence that you delight in His will and ways?

Remember Judah has already been rebuked for going through the motions of faith. God is not interested in rote rituals; he wants your authentic worship. Here are some diagnostic questions to ask yourself this week to get an idea of where you are and where you might need to confess/repent:

• Do I desire to read God’s Word? Is it a delight in my day?
• Is my prayer life dying, surviving, or thriving? How do I know?
• Are there any areas of my life that I know are sinful and I am unwilling to change? If yes, then who will I ask for help in confessing and repenting this week?
• How eager am I for God’s return? What does my eagerness say about my trust in Him?
• If God removed all my worldly goods/relationships, would I still trust Him and love Him?
• Do I truly believe that God has a far better plan for my life than I do? How should this affect the way I live this week?

Again, this isn’t exhaustive, but I hope it will be helpful to you as you evaluate your own walk with God. This is, of course, assuming that you have a walk with God. The only way to be right with God and have a genuine walk/relationship with Him is through the Suffering Servant, the Messiah.

Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)

  ⁵    But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

       upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

This Suffering Servant took the penalty for our sins and brought us peace with God through His suffering. We know this to be His Son, Jesus of Nazareth aka Jesus Christ. After preaching about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection in the early days of the church, the crowd was convicted of their sin and need for salvation. Listen to how they responded:

Acts 2:37–39 (ESV)

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

There is one way to God – faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only way that will allow you to be made new and to be able to live in God’s way. So please do not leave here thinking you need to just do better or try harder… that’s not the message of the Bible. The message of the Bible is that you are a sinner who is unable to save yourself and you are facing God’s judgment; however, God has provided a way of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. You can be forgiven and redeemed. You can be at peace with God instead of his enemy. You can have a genuine desire for and trust in the Lord. I’d love to talk with you more afterwards if that is of interest to you.

Before we wrap up today, we need to address the final portion of chapters 2-4. If you recall, our goal is that we would all see trusting the Lord is the best way and there is one more lesson to learn here from chapter 4:2-6. Let’s read it now.

Isaiah 4:2–6 (ESV)

² In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. ³ And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. ⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. ⁶ There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

Thankfully, God continues to provide hope through Isaiah. Though they are incredibly wicked and deserving of judgment, there is a future hope…

4. The future hope: God uses judgment and trials to produce holiness

God wastes nothing. Even though the nation of Judah would go through very hard times of judgment at God’s hand through the nations of Assyria and Babylon, He would not give up on them. In fact, He is actively producing something in them! He is preserving and protecting a faithful remnant of people. He brings beauty back out of the ashes! He describes these people as beautiful and glorious (v2) and holy (v3), because He has washed away the filth and cleansed the bloodstains of their sin (v4). We see an amazing picture of God with the people and protecting/providing for the people (vv5-6). The imagery reminded me of God’s presence with the people at Mount Sinai during the Exodus! How powerful this promise must have been to them. These are incredible promises given what has just been said about Judah for the past several chapters!

We are not told why God chooses to operate this way in relation to the nation. It is an unanswered question at this point in the book. However, in light of the greater scope of Scripture, we know that it is because God is merciful and gracious. He has determined to use the trial of the exile to purify His people and prepare them for Himself. He is accomplishing His plan all along the way.

This gives us great hope as well. If God is able to use judgment and trials to produce holiness in Judah, He is able to do the same for us. This is much better than a defeatist attitude of “why try to please God” or a cynical attitude of “nothing good can come from God’s judgment/trials”… Instead, we can say with James:

James 1:2–4 (ESV)

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Trials are an opportunity. For those who are in Christ, we know that God is refining us through them. He is going about His work of producing holiness or completion in us. He is preparing us to spend eternity with Him! Would you ask God to help you view trials this way? Ask Him to help you embrace His refining fire of judgment/discipline as well. All of it is for your good and His glory.

How sweet that God bookends Isaiah 2-4 with these beautiful promises of future hope. Even though Judah’s beauty will be turned into ashes through conquering nations, God will not leave them in that state. He is always at work to refine and purify a people for himself. A people for His own possession, with whom He can enjoy eternity forever, a people who are holy and completely trust and obey Him. This is a promise for Judah, but it is also a promise for believers throughout the ages too. Let’s put our hope and trust in God alone this year. In “that day” when God returns, may we be found walking in God’s ways, not man’s.

Let’s pray.

Pray