South Valley Community Church

The Scroll of Isaiah closes with a stunning picture of a new heavens and a new earth, ruled by the one true King and filled with joy and peace. This picture of new creation is not unique to Isaiah; similar pictures are painted by other biblical prophets, and picked up by the authors of the New Testament as well. This picture of the end of suffering and sin is beautiful and provocative, evoking in the reader a sense of hope and longing for a reality that the present world cannot satisfy. But Christians are not called to a passive hope. What does Isaiah’s vision of the future mean for us now, in the present? What can the Church do, as God’s servant on earth, to offer a glimpse of this future to a world without hope?

Isaiah: Christmas Eve Service • Isaac Serrano 12.24.17 by Gospel Centered Mission Focused

Isaiah begs the reader and hearer of his words to ask the question, “who is this servant?” If not Hezekiah, if not Israel, if unfound in Isaiah’s world, who can it be? Who is this holy seed, righteous branch, and Immanuel character? The New Testament authors scream “Jesus! Our King is the Suffering Servant!” The implications are immense, but when you live in a world where authority, power, and violence can be so intertwined, is the Suffering Servant a beautiful image or absolute stupidity and weakness? As Christians saturated in the military power struggles from the Cold War to North Korea, which has more weight—our arsenals or our attitudes toward our enemies?

We must return to the beginning, the first few pages of the Bible, to recognize that the treasonous seed of the serpent begets the day star. To end the evil, someone will have to end the serpent. But what about the seed of the serpent spread throughout the nations? Does killing the serpent mean killing its seed? Isaiah has revealed a serious tension in the story of God and His people. The evils of the day star ultimately find their beginning in a garden, where a dragon seeks to dismantle and dethrone. But Isaiah speaks of a “day of YHWH,” not only bringing judgment on the serpent, but also hope even for the serpent’s seed.

There is a fork in the road ahead. There is ALWAYS a fork in the road ahead which means we are constantly in a state of “decision.” But which “way” do we choose? Through the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah, we have seen Isaiah pointing to YHWH’s people choosing the wrong path, setting a pattern of making bad choices. The people of the promised land are devoid of “righteousness and justice” and because of it, they have been exiled, placed back in the wilderness like their forefathers. Even Israel’s kings have gone the wrong way. King Ahaz offers a faithless, pseudo-spiritual rejection to God’s request to ask for a sign in chapter 7. King Hezekiah (chapters 36-39) leans upon God to save Jerusalem from the Assyrians who had already ravaged the northern part of Israel. He faithfully calls out to God for physical healing. Unlike Ahaz, Hezekiah seems to resemble the messianic “Branch” of chapter 11, but within a few verses our hopes are dashed. In a faithless attempt to seek protection outside of YHWH, he reveals all the treasure and strength of Israel to Babylon, the nation that will be the next invader, sacking the city and destroying its temple. You can feel the irony. Israel was to be the light to the nations, but when God’s solution becomes part of the problem, someone must save humanity from itself.

There is a fork in the road ahead. There is ALWAYS a fork in the road ahead which means we are constantly in a state of “decision.” But which “way” do we choose? Through the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah, we have seen Isaiah pointing to YHWH’s people choosing the wrong path, setting a pattern of making bad choices. The people of the promised land are devoid of “righteousness and justice” and because of it, they have been exiled, placed back in the wilderness like their forefathers. Even Israel’s kings have gone the wrong way. King Ahaz offers a faithless, pseudo-spiritual rejection to God’s request to ask for a sign in chapter 7. King Hezekiah (chapters 36-39) leans upon God to save Jerusalem from the Assyrians who had already ravaged the northern part of Israel. He faithfully calls out to God for physical healing. Unlike Ahaz, Hezekiah seems to resemble the messianic “Branch” of chapter 11, but within a few verses our hopes are dashed. In a faithless attempt to seek protection outside of YHWH, he reveals all the treasure and strength of Israel to Babylon, the nation that will be the next invader, sacking the city and destroying its temple. You can feel the irony. Israel was to be the light to the nations, but when God’s solution becomes part of the problem, someone must save humanity from itself.

At this point, we see Isaiah describing the marriage between human rebellion and satanic influence giving birth to systematic evil—what the Bible consistently refers to as Babylon. In the sixth and seventh centuries, the nation conquering the known world was Babylon, so when an Israelite heard its name, it would bring painful images to mind: the place of their exile, the ruin of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the Temple where YHWH met His people. But over a century earlier, when Assyria was the world power that conquered Israel’s Northern Kingdom, cosmic “Babylon” already existed. When Nazi Germany sent out its forces to overtake Europe with its fascist ideology, “Babylon” was there. Today, “Babylon” is still at work. Whenever our broken humanity desires the same exalted position, or when groups come together with the goal to elevate themselves above the throne room of God, we will find communities, institutions, and even governments that look just like the Babylon of the Bible.

The majority of chapters 13 through 24 of Isaiah are grim oracles for the nations, where YHWH proclaims His dismay and judgment, ultimately, on all the lands. Individuals disobey. Rebels band together in groups, tribes, even nations. YHWH has clearly labeled His own people, Israel, as unfaithful and unrighteous. But as we read the Scroll, we are posed with another deep question—what is the essence that lurks beneath the evil of humanity? What gives humanity such a sinister unity and boldness in the face of its Creator? In Isaiah 14, we are introduced to the “day star,” where the King of Babylon is likened to the planet Venus wanting to elevate itself at the beginning of each day before the light of the Sun. But we know this imagery has a greater implication. There are spiritual forces that underlie all of humanity’s rebellion, and these forces influence our physical actions (or inactions) and Isaiah is dreadfully aware of this reality and its effect on all. This includes his own people.

A theme easy to find in Isaiah is judgment. It comes for the enemies of Israel and the neighbors of Israel, but it also comes for Israel itself. One of the images used to identify judgment is the use of YHWH’s “outstretched hand or arm” indicating his sovereign power not only to save, but judge. The King of the universe can be found in several parts of Isaiah as a presiding judge in a courtroom, presenting the facts of the case against His enemies, including Israel, His chosen people. We might imagine a courtroom with Perry Mason, Judge Judy, or our favorite version of Law & Order, but we should think more of a similar biblical scene. Imagine the wisdom of Solomon as he hears the arguments of two women who claim an infant as their own. No attorneys. No court reporter. Just a king on his throne interpreting the facts, identifying what is needed to produce his desired outcome, and rendering a decision— ”Cut the baby in half.” The sovereign, decisive power of a king delivering royal judgment compels immediate response, but Isaiah shows us that Israel as a nation is not easily moved.

It is here that the true king of Israel calls his servant to deliver a message to people who don’t want to hear it. Do you like being a messenger? Were you “that kid” in middle school that shuttled notes between your best friend and the person they had a crush on because your friend was a “chicken”? Imagine for a minute what Isaiah was asked to do. Go tell your people—your family— that they are a bunch of rebellious losers who are about to experience the beat down of the century, but you need to know something else. This horrifying message you are communicating, which should motivate change, will not only be rejected, but no matter how clear, obvious, and rational the message is, it will have the opposite effect. Do you feel the weight of this task? The burden of this message is unfathomable, and the obedience to deliver it astonishing.