Bible Talks - Family Church (9:45am)

From Darkness to DawnSeries: From Darkness to Dawn · Talk No. 1

When your world falls apart

Sunday, 18 September 2005

Neil Atwood

Isaiah 40 ESV or NIV

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1. Trusting in the rock.
When I first moved to Australia in the late 60’s, we first lived in Bondi. As a 12 year old, I thought this was just excellent! Just a few minutes walk from the famous beach.
One of the things I really enjoyed doing was walking over the rocks on the north end of the beach, and watching the rock fishermen doing their thing. Rock fishing is a dangerous pastime – in an eight year period between 1992 and 2000 there were 74 fatalities in NSW alone. Interestingly, most of those killed were beginners in the sport, who simply did not have the knowledge or the respect for the sea and it’s treachery.
Rock fishermen who survive are those who have watched and observed the conditions and the weather over years. From the knowledge they have accumulated, they know when to trust their lives to the rocks and sea – even in the blackness of the pre-dawn night – often the best time to fish.

In the second half of Isaiah – chapters 40-66, the prophet calls upon the people of Judah to trust God in their own ‘pre-dawn’ darkness – a period in the life of God’s people that would be so dark, so black, that they would feel like dawn would never come.
But before we jump in with chapter 40, let’s quickly re-cap, and remind ourselves of what this giant book is all about:

By the best of Isaiah’s and our reckoning, the year that he wrote – or started to write - was 740bc, the year that King Uzziah died (6:1). The whole book of Isaiah is a vision, as v1 reveals, which means that God himself is the author.
There are six aspects to this vision – as you can see from your outlines.

a. An Historical Vision.
The vision that God gives Isaiah addresses real historical circumstances, and while some of the exact dates are a little fuzzy, this doesn’t detract from the ‘realness’ of the events and situations.
Isaiah lived in the time when the once united nation of Israel had split. 8 [map 1] The term ‘Israel’ now referred to the northern kingdom which consisted of the northern-most of the original twelve tribes, which rebelled and split off from the tribe of Judah. Judah retained Jerusalem as it’s capital, along with the temple that Solomon built. It’s in Jerusalem that Isaiah has this vision.
As Isaiah started to write, political and military pressures were building fast, and threatening both Judah and the northern kingdom. 8 [blank]
In the year that Uzziah died things were not good on the home front either. The new-found wealth that had come in the earlier years of Uzziah’s reign was not evenly distributed. The wealthy few had little regard for the poor and struggling majority, and deep cracks were opening up in Judean society as justice was bought and sold, or disregarded totally.
Religious observance had continued, but it increasingly failed to conceal the rot underneath. The cry that the ‘Lord God was King’ was ringing increasingly hollow as people disregarded what it meant to really live with God as their King.
That the Lord God really was King was going to be a hard belief to live out in the scary times that lay ahead.
But what we have in Isaiah’s prophecy is God speaking into the chaos giving his perspective on all that is happening around them and how Judah must respond.

b. A Grand Vision.
Given that, it’s no surprise that the vision God gives Isaiah is big in size, but it is also big in ideas.
It begins (1:2) with heaven and earth called to bear witness, and finishes (66:22) with a new heaven and a new earth. The opening describes Jerusalem under judgment, and the closing chapters picture a new Jerusalem representing paradise.
It covers God’s dealings with his people from the 8th century BC (1:1) right down to our own time and beyond – to the things that will bring history to a close and usher in eternity (66:22-24).What we have is the whole Bible in miniature.

c. A Focussed Vision.
The opening verse of the book spotlights Judah and Jerusalem as the focus of the vision.
But as we look closer, we discover the focus sharpens with the promise of a royal Messiah, a special chosen one of God, who will arise from the remnant of God’s people.
This king appeared in the early chapters, and will reappear later in this second half, in a different guise - this time as the servant who will actually create this remnant community.

f. A Foundational Vision.
Isaiah is often regarded as the ‘Romans’ of the O.T., because it is here that the threads come together and the big picture of God’s purpose for his people and his world are clearly set out.
It is no coincidence that it is the second-most quoted O.T. book in the N.T. (66 quotes from Matthew to 1 Peter), and the book that Jesus quotes from the most. But the primary importance of Isaiah in the N.T. is because it’s the O.T. book that bears witness to Jesus the most. The whole N.T. moves to it’s climax by echoing Isaiah’s promise of seeing sin and death conquered and the new heaven and new earth established.
The climax of the New Testament echoes and completes the climax of Isaiah.

So lets open our Bibles at Is 40 and begin the ride through the second half of this great book...

2. For those whose world is falling apart
Back in 1992, the Queen, looking back over that year in her Christmas Day speech, called 1992 her ‘Annus Horribilis’ – her horrible year. Two of her children had marriages fall apart, Windsor Castle caught fire and support for the monarchy was slipping.
Some people have days when it seems their world was falling apart, the Queen apparently has entire years that do that!.
Has life ever got so bad that you wonder if God is there at all? Does he care? Can he do anything? Why do your prayers seem to go unanswered?
Does it get too difficult to go on believing, trusting and living for God? Welcome to the world of Isaiah and his fellow countrymen!

(a) The Babylonian Exile (39:5-7; 40:27)
Remember, there were two major, bad events in the life of God’s people in and around Isaiah’s time.
The first was when the northern kingdom was invaded and destroyed by the mighty Assyrian forces from the north. 8 [Assyrian Empire] That was around 721bc. The Northern Kingdom simply ceased to exist!
But worse was to follow, and in Is. 39:5-7 we have the terrible words prophesying the seventy year exile to Babylon that Judah was to experience in 585bc. 8 [Babylonian Empire]
This was a massive crisis for the people of God. Their nation, land, temple, even the blessing of God were all taken away! Isaiah prophesied these things and they happened as he had written. You can feel something of their pain and abandonment in 40:27. They literally felt like there was nothing left to exist for. God appears to have abandoned them.
This week, we saw the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the destruction it bought to the Gulf states of the U.S. 8 The obliteration of New Orleans and surrounding areas is devastating. But... it’s re-buildable. People may have lost houses and businesses, but they still have their land, they still have many identifiable parts of the city, and they will only be ‘exiled’ for a couple of months – and even then, that exile will be to friendly cities and towns.
For God’s people, they would be cut off from everything. Enslaved

(b) A new message for Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 6)
And it’s in anticipation of these things, Isaiah writes. You may remember Isaiah 6, where he is called to preach a message dominated by judgment. And that dark and sombre message dominated the whole first half of this book...
Well, chapter 40 serves as a kind of recommissioning.
Here, Isaiah is given a new message – one of hope, comfort and rescue. This is good news, actually, great news – literally, this is ‘gospel’. This will be no cheap comfort of empty words, but a rich and powerful message grounded in the heart of God.
So let’s take a look at...

3. The gospel of God
There are four key things that Isaiah tells us about this great news from God:
(a) God has not forgotten (v1)
v1. God’s people belong to him. That has never and will never change. His people remain his treasured possession and God is not indifferent to their plight. In spite of their circumstances, of how it’s their disobedience and rebellion that will lead to the exile, God has special plans for his people. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it is God who is providing it.
Which is another powerful reminder for us when we become focussed on whatever is concerning us at the moment. God never forgets his people. It may seem like it at time, that God has abandoned you.
I’m sure the Israelites must have felt that intensely as they watched everything that was significant to them being taken away. But Isaiah reminds us that God never reneges on his promises to his people. He never turns his back on them, and never turns his back on us.

(b) God has forgiven them (v2)
v2. The penalty for their sins has been paid in full. But how is this possible? Can 70 years of hard labour in exile really pay for all their sin?
Well, yes and no...We will see how this works in chapter 53, but for now the great truth is that they have been forgiven and God no longer holds them as guilty. For a shattered nation under judgment, this brings great comfort. Think of the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told. Of the longing of the son to return to his father, but afraid of what his response would be. And then of the great relief and instant bonding that took place when the Father showed his willingness to forgive and accept his son back into the family. That is something close to what the people would have felt here.

(c) God will bring them home (3-5,10-11)
So, God has not forgotten his people, and He has forgiven them. Wonderful words and concepts – but God doesn’t stop there – and he will put his words into action. This is not the empty talk of American politicians making promises to the Hurricane victims that they can’t and won’t keep. God will bring them home – In fact, v3-5 use language that makes it sound like a new Exodus.
His glory is seen in the rescue of his people (v5). As powerful and significant event as when God led his people out of slavery in Egypt to the land he had promised them.
A little further on in v10 and 11: God comes in power, and he brings his people with him (v10), and yet he is loving and gentle (v11).

(d) God can be trusted (v6-8)
Then we see in v6-8, how, in contrast to his fickle people, God’s word stands forever. Isaiah’s new message starting in this chapter, is of the faithfulness of God. The God who keeps his promise and rescues his people.

(e) So, lift up your voice! (v9)
All of this is the best news possible! And when you receive very good news, you don’t often keep it to yourself. Every now and then, you see people sharing the good news of their engagement very publicly, by stringing a banner across a bridge over the M4, or even by sky-writing the news overhead.
Well, all this is very good news. This is the gospel! So v9 says, don’t keep it to yourself, lift your voice and shout it out!
Good news is for passing on, not keeping to yourself.
Here is the message: God is coming, in strength and tenderness. He has not forgotten his people, but has forgiven them and will bring them home. What fantastic news! What a powerful gospel!
And the reason it is so powerful is that it is the gospel of God [Romans 1:1-2]. So we’ve summarised this gospel of God, now lets see what Isaiah says about the:

4. The God of the gospel.
There are two main things he says about God:
(a) The power of God (12-26)
The section in v12-26 reads like a catalogue of the wonderful statements about God.
There is no comparison (v18,25);
the designer/creator of the universe (v12);
who is infinitely wise (v13-14);
untroubled by Israel’s enemies (v15-17);
cannot be represented by man made things (v19-20);
He is enthroned over all (v22); and more.
The God who has given this good news, is this God!
In the midst of the disasters and calamities that they are going to face as they are carted off into exile in a foreign land, they can look with absolute confidence to this God, because he is so much bigger than they or their problem.
The danger is not that God is inadequate, but that they will forget to turn to him, and to trust him. They needed reminding just how mighty and capable God is... and so do we.

(b) The compassion of God (27-31)
Of course, it is one thing to believe in an all-powerful God, but it is another to believe that he cares. We see and hear that all the time don’t we?
After the Boxing Day Tsunami, people were questioning that if God was so powerful, why didn’t he stop the wave, if he’s so loving, why did he allow it to happen?
And the people in Isaiah’s time ask the same question in v27. “Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
But God’s power and glory that the previous section speak of, is also displayed by his compassion and caring, as v28-31 explain.
He strengthens the weary (v29), and empowers the weak. Nothing is too small or insignificant for God, and those who place their hope in God will find that he gives what they need.

5. The gospel of God now.
Just pause and think back to what we’ve just heard Isaiah speak about: In just 31 verses, he has spoken words of comfort, forgiveness, compassion, salvation and hope.
For his original readers, when they found themselves in the bleak period of the exile, those words were powerful, life-giving, hope-giving straws for the remanent of God’s people to grab hold of as God bought them back to the land he had kept for them.
We too live in a world that desperately needs to hear those same voices: comfort, forgiveness, compassion, salvation, and hope.
We live in times are more troubled than we’ve seen for decades, and people of all ages are desperate to feel more secure and safe. It’s easy to just say those words, and not really come to understand how desperate is the plight of people we go to school with, live next door to, share a house with, or work next to.
People’s worlds are caving in around them, but where do they turn? What are people looking to for feelings of security, safety, and significance? [We know that for young people, increasing numbers turn to alcohol and other drugs, when you’re a bit older, you might express it by living in a huge fortress of a house, by surrounding yourself with endless possessions, and so on. So much of what passes for ‘normal’ life in western cultures is in reality driven by our insecurity and lack of purpose.] [ SNC: Ideas?]
What about you and me? Where do we turn? How do you show your lack of trust in God?

(a) Our only hope (Luke 2:25; 3:2-6,15-18)
History shows that the comfort for Israel was short-lived. But some, like a bloke called Simeon, continued to hope. His five minutes of fame is found in Luke 2:25.
When we read the surrounding verses in Luke, we can easily see that Jesus is the promised comfort, and Luke 3:2-6 makes clear that John the Baptist is the voice of Isaiah 40:3.
Like Simeon recognised, our only hope is in Christ, the ultimate expression of God’s great plan for us.
If you are not a follower of Jesus, then turn to him, for all the reasons that Isaiah 40 speaks of.
If you are a Christian, then keep your eyes firmly on Jesus. When you are weary, struggling, burning out. When it seems that God doesn’t care, remember that God has kept every promise he has made. And think back to these words of Isaiah and rejoice in the gospel of our powerful, forgiving, compassionate, saving God.