We’re into the next chapter of this third section of Isaiah, the section which is about Jesus’ dealings with the nations. Our first two weeks in this section we looked at Babylon and Moab. So, it’s no surprise that Isaiah now has something to say about Jesus’ dealings with Syria identified by its capital, Damascus. What is surprising, though, is that much of the chapter isn’t about Syria. Actually, much of the chapter is about Israel. Let me remind you that the original kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom kept the name ‘Israel’ while the southern kingdom took the name ‘Judah’. There is much in our text about Israel, the northern kingdom. By the time that we get to the end of the chapter the topic has broadened, and Isaiah is talking about the nations in general. You will see that all of this is quite striking and even very helpful once we get to the end of the chapter. Those last verses will give us an important perspective on the rest of the chapter. Well, so much for the overview.
The first question we need to deal with is this. This section of Isaiah’s prophecy is about Jesus’ dealings with the nations. Isaiah has even labeled this chapter, ‘An oracle concerning Damascus.’ So, why is there so much here about Israel? Isaiah writes about ‘the cities of Aroer’. Those are cities in Israel, not Syria. He tells us that, ‘The fortress will disappear from Ephraim…’ Ephraim is another name for Israel. Then there’s this. ‘And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.’ And this is certainly not about the Gentile Damascus. ‘For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge…’ So, what’s going on? Why do we have all of this about Israel in a section of Isaiah that is about the nations and a chapter labeled as if it were about Damascus? The answer is clear, especially in light of that last verse I mentioned. Despite its glorious history from the days of Abraham and despite its claims to have a special relation to God, Israel is no longer the people of God. It has become one of the nations. And so, in our text Jesus treats them as such. He has labeled this part of His Church as no longer a part of His Church. It makes sense to include it here in the oracle concerning Damascus when you remember how Israel joined with Damascus to stand up to the superpower, Assyria. We looked at this a few weeks ago. So, Israel, no longer a part of the Church, has become a part of the world. They have forgotten the God of their salvation. They have not remembered the Rock of their refuge. And so, Jesus has forgotten them. He no longer remembers them. They are no longer His people but just one of the nations.
There is much to learn from this. But before we can benefit from it, I need to explain some things from those last verses of the chapter. ‘The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.’ The point I want to make from this is not complicated. It boils down to this. There is an ‘us’ and there is a ‘them’. Those who are the ‘them’ are the people who loot and plunder those who are the ‘us’. But the claim of these verses is that Jesus will act. He will deal with the ‘them’ – ‘He will rebuke them’ – and defend the ‘us’.
Now, we’re ready for a question that will frame the rest of the sermon. Who is the ‘us’ and who is the ‘them’? I think that it is clear that the ‘us’ is Isaiah and those with him. That means Judah. And that makes sense when you remember ‘Immanuel’, God with us. So the ‘us’ is Judah. Who is the ‘them’? Well, that’s easy also. ‘He will rebuke them.’ Isaiah is talking about the nations. So, we have Judah as the ‘us’ and the nations as the ‘them’. This is the great divide, the great difference. It’s Judah and the nations, the Church and the world, ‘us’ and ‘them’. But, and this is very significant, that means that since the northern kingdom of Israel is one of the nations, it is also one of ‘them’. So, for the purposes of this sermon, this ‘us’/‘them’ is a contrast between the southern kingdom, Judah and the northern kingdom, Israel. It’s this contrast that we’re going to look at.
Here’s my first thought. While in one sense the difference between Judah and Israel is huge, in another sense it really isn’t. First, the huge difference is this. Judah is the Church, the people of God. Israel isn’t. Israel is just one of the nations of the world. And while Jesus loves the nations of the world, He has a special affection and a unique commitment to His Church. The Church is the love of His life, His Bride, the Beloved He intends to the rest of His life with. And on the Last Day, there will be a glorious wedding celebration within the banquet hall, but the world will be completely shut out. So, this difference between the Church and the world, Judah and Israel, is huge.
And yet, if you were there in Isaiah’s day, taking a trip through Judah, spending time in Israel, traveling, talking observing, what would you see? You would see that life in Judah would look pretty much the same as life in Israel. Sadly, the difference would not seem very huge. In fact, you probably wouldn’t see much of a difference at all. In both places, you would see people who were quite religious. And while it needs to be said that, in Israel, you would see worship of idols along side worship of God, you need to remember that Jesus didn’t think very highly of the worship of Judah. In fact, it wouldn’t be too strong to say that He despised it. Go back and read chapter one. Judah was no better than Israel in this area. And all of that would show in how the people lived. So, listen again to what Isaiah wrote back in chapter one. ‘…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.’ These words were aimed at Judah though they were also appropriate for Israel.
But it wasn’t just how people behaved on the outside. The people of both kingdoms had similar attitudes of the heart. Remember Isaiah’s appeal to King Ahaz back in chapter seven as he faced his political crisis. What did he tell the king? ‘Trust Jesus. He will bring you through this.’ Remember: ‘Faith or Fear?’ But what did the king do? He forgot the God of his salvation and he did not remember the Rock of his refuge. King Ahaz looked to Assyria to be his savior. Remember? The attitudes of his heart were really no different from that of the people in Israel who also forgot their God. And bear in mind that Judah was destined to be punished by Jesus. Isn’t that what He told Isaiah back in chapter 6? Remember His words about there being only a tiny remnant?
All of that gets us to this question. What is the difference between the ‘us’ and the ‘them’, the difference between Judah and Israel? Why is it that as Isaiah writes this chapter Judah is still the Church while Israel is no longer? It certainly isn’t because Judah is better than Israel, either in behavior or attitude. So, why the difference in status? I have absolutely no idea. The only difference that I can discern is that Jesus has said that there is a difference. Jesus has defined Judah as ‘us’ and Israel as ‘them’.
And what about today? What is the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’ today? What is the difference between the Church and the world now? Well, consider the Church in America. What a mess! The difference is certainly not because we are better than they are. What evils we harbor! If we compare ourselves with some people, especially if we are careful whom we pick, we can make it so that we look okay. But that’s not Jesus’ standard. His standard is Himself. And according to that, we are as evil as so many of the rest. Wasn’t that the point of last week’s sermon? So, why are we privileged to be His Church, His Bride, the love of His life? I have absolutely no idea – except that Jesus says so. And that is so very humbling. It’s another example of Jesus’ great kindness toward us. Remember this the next time the Spirit points out some sin in your life. Right then, you should yourself, ‘This qualifies me to be part of the world instead of the Church. There are lots of people out there who don’t sin like this. And yet, they are part of the world while I am part of the Church.’ How can pride exist when we see things this way?
But there is also an encouraging flip side to this point. Though it would make total sense for Jesus to change the label and identify you as part of the world, you aren’t. You are part of His Church. And that means that Jesus is totally committed to you. Totally committed to you. And why is that? It’s not because you’re good enough. You aren’t. It’s not because the difference between you and the world is so obvious. It isn’t. But Jesus is committed to you anyway. He loves you because He loves you. So, next time Satan whispers in your ear, ‘Look at that!! Look at what you just did! You are so unworthy of Jesus. There is no reason that He should care about you, you sinner! You’re no better than anyone else.’, this is what you should tell him. ‘Satan, you are absolutely right. I am unworthy of Jesus. My sin disqualifies me from expecting any good from Him. I should be classified as the world. But I’m not. Jesus has decided to love me. And because of that He will care about me.’ So, this thought that is so humbling is also so encouraging. It gives great hope.
Next thought. When Isaiah writes this chapter Judah is ‘us’ and Israel is ‘them’. But Israel wasn’t always ‘them’. These ten tribes used to be included in the ‘us’. What happened? Isaiah tells us. They forgot their God. They began to think like ‘them’. Now, you need to understand that thinking like ‘them’ makes so much sense. Here you are, little Israel, a small nation with limited resources. And your neighbor, Syria, another small nation with limited resources, says to you, ‘Look, Assyria is pretty big. It will probably want to expand its territory by conquering us. What if you and I and Judah join together to stand up to this bully? Together we might have a chance.’ There is a certain logic to this way of thinking, a certain appeal to it. It fits the facts. Assyria is a bully. Israel has no chance against it. Three nations are stronger than one. It all makes sense. So, Israel agrees. Now, together, Israel and Syria make the same pitch to little Judah. Remember that Isaiah discussed this whole situation with King Ahaz. This was his political crisis back in chapter 7. And what did Ahaz do? He rejected the offer of these two nations – but he accepted their logic. Wouldn’t Assyria be an even better ally than these two puny nations? Same kind of logic with a better solution. The thinking of ‘them’ seems so right. It just makes sense. But it makes sense only if you forget your God.
We are in the same situation as Israel, Syria and Judah, as people all around us apply the same kind of logic to the multitude of problems that they and we face. And their logic sounds so right. It makes perfect sense – but only if you forget Jesus; if you forget what He has to say about dealing with those problems. Now, it is a fact that when compared to the thinking of ‘them’, Jesus’ way seems odd, foolish, you might even say counter-intuitive. Who else says, ‘Do not resist the one who is evil’ or ‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth’ or, ‘Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’ There are too many times when we think that maybe this is a little impractical for modern life. Let’s face it. In so many ways, we think like ‘them’. Our attitudes to so many things – children, security, career, church, money, approval – are so much like ‘them’. And sliding into becoming ‘them’ is so subtle. Do you realize that when the wise King Solomon died, he had idol shrines to several different gods in Jerusalem? How did that happen? And we don’t even know where the line between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is, so we can’t tell when we’re sliding right past it. It happened to Solomon. It happened to Israel. It can happen to you. The danger that you might be labeled as ‘them’ and no longer as ‘us’ is real.
Now, this is where, according to some, I’m supposed to give you a checklist and tell you, ‘If you are careful to do the things on this list, you’ll be fine.’ Ah, the allure of technique. I would remind you that the Pharisees had a very detailed checklist, complete with supporting Bible verses. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing that you can do to insure your safety in this, even if you consider yourself wiser than Solomon and think you know your Bible better than the Pharisees.
So, is there no hope? Of course there’s hope. But that hope has nothing to do with anything you do. Your only hope is Jesus. If you would be saved from this danger, along with all the other dangers that you face, then Jesus must act. He must save and He alone. So, on the one hand, I want to impress upon you the reality of the danger. I want you to be a little afraid because of that danger. That is your protection against presumption. But I don’t want you fearful. So, I also want to impress upon you the reality of Jesus. It’s all up to Him. And He can do it. He can keep you safe from these evil influences that you can’t see, hear, smell, taste or touch. So, with as much sincerity as you can muster you need to pray. You need to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, You are my only hope. There is nothing that I can do when it comes to the danger of my becoming one of ‘them’. It’s all up to You. Help me to trust You alone.’ Jesus is your Savior and He will continue to be your Savior until He gets you home, safe and sound. Expect Him to act, to keep you safe. This is the Gospel. Believe it and be safe.
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