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Hope For America

Song of Solomon 5 – Isaiah 1

Well, we have gone through the Song of Solomon in two days and I have got to tell you that to make sense of this book I think we would need two months!  I’ve been reading the commentaries and even if we just look at this book as a story about Godly marital love there is still a lot of explaining to do.  I cannot do this book justice in this format.  So, of necessity, not wishing to slight the Song of Solomon in the least, but unable to do it justice, I will move on to Isaiah.

Isaiah is the first of 17 prophetic books, not because it was written first but because it is the most comprehensive in content.  Isaiah lived around 700 B.C. and prophesied to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  The Northern Kingdom had fallen to the Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C. and things weren’t looking to good for Judah as well.  Juda was in political and spiritual decline and it was in this atmosphere that Isaiah rose to urge God’s people to return to Him, trust in Him, and obey Him.  He urged them to look to God for salvation.

Below are a few comments and an outline from:

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“Some have suggested that the book has two themes, one for chapters 1-39 and another for chapters 40-66. Judgment seems to be the emphasis in the first part, and salvation and comfort are prominent in the second. Since Isaiah followed the theology of Deuteronomy (punishment must come for failure to live according to the Mosaic Covenant before a time of blessing can come), the two parts of Isaiah can be reconciled. Chapters 1-39 point out the nation’s problem of sin which must be rectified before a proper relationship with the covenant God can be restored. Judgment, emphasized in chapters 1-39, is the purifying force that leads to the forgiveness and pardoning of sins emphasized in chapters 40-66 (cf. 27:9). Ultimately redemption for Israel must come from the “ideal Servant,” the Messiah, who will accomplish what the servant-nation cannot do. This accounts for the so-called “Servant Songs” in the second major division of Isaiah (42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12).

But chapters 40-66 emphasize more than redemption from sin. Those chapters go beyond that to speak of a change in the cosmos, of the Lord’s restoration of His created order. In chapters 1-39 judgment on sin is stressed; in chapters 40-66 atonement for that sin and the resulting change in people and the world system are discussed. Judgment, then, must come before blessing can follow.”

OUTLINE

I.        The Retribution of God (chaps. 1-39)

A.       The Lord’s indictment of the nation (chaps. 1-6)

1.       The heading for the book (1:1)

2.       The Lord’s lawsuit against the nation (1:2-31)

3.       An affirmation of restoration (2:1-5)

4.       The present condition and future consequences (2:6-4:1)

5.       The holy survivors (4:2-6)

6.       The worthless vineyard (5:1-7)

7.       An indictment on sin (5:8-30)

8.       Isaiah’s commission (chap. 6)

B.       Prophecies of deliverance (chaps. 7-12)

1.       The birth of Immanuel (chap. 7)

2.       The coming Deliverer (8:1-9:7)

3.       Exile for the Northern Kingdom (9:8-10:4)

4.       Assyria’s fall and the great  kingdom’s rise (10:5-12:6)

C.       Judgment on the nations (chaps. 13-23)

1.       Babylon (13:1-14:27)

2.       Philistia (14:28-32)

3.       Moab (chaps. 15-16)

4.       Damascus (17:1-11)

5.       The land of whirring wings (17:12-18:7)

6.       Egypt (chaps. 19-20)

7.       The desert (21:1-10)

8.       Edom (21:11-12)

9.       Arabia (21:13-17)

10.     Jerusalem (chap. 22)

11.     Tyre (chap. 23)

D.       Punishment and kingdom blessing (chaps. 24-27)

1.       A time of judgment (chap. 24)

2.       A time of blessing in the kingdom (chaps. 25-27)

E.       The woes (chaps. 28-33)

1.       Woe to Ephraim and Judah (chap. 28)

2.       Woe to Jerusalem (chap. 29)

3.       Woe to the obstinate children (chap. 30)

4.       Woe to the Egyptian alliance (chaps. 31-32)

5.       Woe to the destroyers (chap. 33)

F.       Vengeance and blessing (chaps. 34-35)

1.       The Lord’s day of vengeance (chap. 34)

2.       The Lord’s day of blessing (chap. 35)

G.       Historical interlude: Judah to be in captivity (chaps. 36-39)

1.       God’s superiority to Assyria (chaps. 36-37)

2.       Judah’s captivity in Babylon (chaps. 38-39)

II.       The Restoration by God (chaps. 40-66)

A.       Deliverance of God’s People (chaps. 40-48)

1.       The majesty of God (chap. 40)

2.       A challenge to the nations (chap. 41)

3.       The individual Servant contrasted with the servant nation (chap. 42)

4.       A promise to regather the unworthy servant (43:1-44:5)

5.       The Lord’s uniqueness as the only God (44:6-45:25)

6.       The Lord’s superiority over Babylon (chaps. 46-47)

7.       An exhortation for Israel (chap. 48)

B.       Restoration by the Suffering Servant (chaps. 49-57)

1.       The Servant to be rejected (chaps. 49-50)

2.       The remnant to be exalted (51:1-52:12)

3.       The Servant to be exalted (52:13-53:12)

4.       Salvation to come from the Servant (chaps. 54-57)

C.       Restoration realized and completed (chaps. 58-66)

1.       The restoration to come by God’s initiative (chaps. 58-60)

2.       The coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Father (61:1-63:6)

3.       The nation’s prayer and the Lord’s response (63:7-65:25)

4.       The Lord’s fulfillment of His promises (chap. 66)”

As I read this first chapter of Isaiah I felt I was reading the entire case stating our need for a savior.  I also found myself thinking of our nation.   Billy Graham once said “If God doesn’t punish America He will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.”

Isaiah 1:21-236

“How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.”

I’m afraid I see my country that way; once faithful, now full of greed.  Our “princes”, or politicians, are rebels and companions of thieves.  God speaks of judgment for sinful ways.  He also speaks of the fact that He will wash our sins away if we are willing and obedient.

Isaiah 1:18-19

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;”

This is the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  I believe this hope is available for our nation as well.  A nation is made up of people.  The deplorable moral state of our nation exists because of the lostness of our countrymen.  How do you change a nation?  You change it one heart at a time.  I found this verse particularly apropos.

Isaiah 1:9

“If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.”

The Lord of hosts has left America a few survivors; a remnant, you and me.  America does not have to be like Sodom and Gomorrah.  If a few good men will stand in the gap, if they will share their faith with the lost, if they will be faithful and obedient to the will of God, then this nation will be changed.  What an awesome responsibility God has given us.  By sharing our faith we can be part of God’s saving grace.  We can be part of changing hearts and changing this nation.  The solution to the problems of this nation will not be found in political parties and programs but in Jesus Christ.

I’m looking forward to reading through this book as it has a lot to tell us about the Messiah and His saving grace!

May you have a day that offers you the chance to share Jesus with others!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!