This week's text from Isaiah acts as a brutally honest spiritual diagnosis of our state before God as human beings.

Life of greedy self-indulgence is detestable to our God, and there are both short- and long-term consequences for living in such a way.

Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion

1. ​Out of the seven woe statements in Isaiah 5 and 6, were there any ones that especially stood out to you? Why?
2. What is the essence of the sinful behavior that Isaiah describes in these two chapters?
   
3. What hope do we find in these two chapters despite Isaiah's scathing accusations? 

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

Dear ICB family,

The silver tongued poet-prophet had denounced the state of the nation in no uncertain terms. Personal and private sins along with systemic corruption and oppression all came under his fire and thunder. ‘Woe to you!’ he cried out six times. He had given a full 359º survey of every thing that was wrong with his own nation but now the final 1º remained as he looked into what Pastor Kanat called ‘the mirror of the soul’ and cried out, “Woe is me!” Words and speech and poetry were his forte, but now he cries out that even his strong points are impure, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” In the consuming holiness of God, any human claims of purity shrivel to nothing.
 
Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and John all saw a vision of the glory of God, and an overwhelming dread or a warning of imminent disaster came on each of them. On Abraham a deep and dreadful darkness descended (Genesis 15:12). To Moses the Lord gave this warning (Exodus 33:20), “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” When Joshua came face to face with the ‘Commander of the Lord’s armies’ he fell down on his face (Joshua 5:14) and similar accounts are given in Ezekiel 1:28, Daniel 10:8-9 and Revelation 1:12. When Peter realised who it was that was sitting in his boat, that he knew what was under the surface of the waves and under the surface of his soul, he cried out, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). In the consuming holiness of God, any human claims of purity shrivel to nothing.
 
Only Jesus had the right to utter all seven woes, because he in himself is the holiness of God. To summarise Matthew 23:13-39, Jesus said to the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites:
 
Woe to you, teachers of the law
You turn the key in heaven’s door
Woe to you, wretched sons of hell
The harm you’ve done no-one can tell
Woe to you, fools with blinded eyes
You do not know what God supplies
Woe to you, when you give a tithe
And swagger in conceited pride
 
Woe to you, acting out a part
With deep corruption in your heart
Woe to you, slayers of the just
You will depart and bite the dust
Woe to you, spawn of ancient snake
How do you think you might escape?
Your destiny in hell is plain
For all my prophets you have slain
 
In the consuming holiness of God, any human claims of purity shrivel to nothing. Complete and final judgment. Or is it?
 
For then comes Acts 9 and a murderous Pharisee comes face to face with the glory of God, the risen Lord Jesus. In his pride, he falls to the ground. He is struck blind, so that he can see. The persecutor of the church becomes the preacher of the gospel. The hypocrite becomes the champion of truth.
 
The sinner becomes a saint. The murderer becomes a martyr. ‘Woe is me!’ then becomes ‘Worthy are you, O Lord!’

Grace and peace,

​Pastor Neil

Isaiah 5:2 NIV

Dear ICB family,
​
The Hebrew word for ‘bad fruit’ is be'ushim—‘stinkers’—over-ripe, maggot-ridden, mouldy, rotten fruit. All the hard work had been put in by the singing gardener: he found a fertile space, cleared the land, dug it and prepared the soil, planted choice vines, built a watch tower, planted a hedge, built a wall, dug a wine-press. But then when he came looking for fruit he found just little stinkers. They looked bad, tasted bad and smelled bad.
 
But this is not the only place we find God looking for fruit. His first command was, ‘be fruitful and multiply!’ But more often we read about unacceptable fruit being offered to God. The whole creation turned sour underneath a fruit tree when humankind decided that living according to the manufacturer’s instructions was not the way to go. Our ancestors chose to eat the forbidden fruit and were sent out of Eden into exile.

​Cain offered ‘fruit of the ground’ but that was unacceptable to the Lord for reasons that are not entirely clear. What is clear, however, is that Cain was not in a good place and his sour grapes turned to anger and his anger to murder and his murder to exile.
 
Noah planted a vineyard, brewed wine, got drunk and for more reasons that are not entirely clear, something evil happened in the tent during his drunken stupor. Nevertheless, what is clear is that Noah was very angry and his anger turned to cursing and his cursing turned his son into a slave and cut him off, effectively in exile.
 
Isaiah sang this song about a vineyard, but the vineyard produced only little stinkers. The disappointed singing gardener pronounces judgment on the ‘finest vine’ with seven woes in which culminate in Isaiah 6:12 with the people of God being sent ‘far away’ into exile.

John the Baptist preached that people should ‘produce the fruit of repentance’ and not rely on their ethnic group or any other superficial badge of identity. “The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Which would be like being sent into exile.
 
Jesus told many stories and parables about planting things and expecting a harvest. Jesus talked about good trees producing good fruit and bad trees yielding bad fruit. Jesus came to a fig tree looking for fruit, but found none and cursed it. Jesus said he was the vine, his Father was the vine-dresser (gardener), and that his followers are the branches. He is looking for fruit, and the only way his followers can produce fruit is by staying connected to the Vine: ‘Abide in me!’. Those branches that bear no fruit are cut off, like being sent into exile.

Paul in Romans 9-11 picks up the same theme about us gentiles being grafted onto the olive tree (just to vary the tree in the metaphor) of Israel, but to hold faithfully to the Lord and avoid being ‘cut off’ which would be like exile.
 
Are we seeing a pattern here? Goodness, it appears that the last seven paragraphs all end with the word ‘exile’—now how did that happen? The good news is that there is a way home from ‘exile’ and that there is a way to stay ‘grafted in’ and connected to the Vine, abiding in Christ. For without him we can do nothing. As Pastor Sasha Kim said, “We need to take responsibility for our walk with God, otherwise there are going to be consequences.”
 
Like the fruitless, prodigal son, wallowing in a stinking pig-sty in self-imposed exile, let us come to our senses and start heading towards home. Before we get there with our prepared speeches and explanations and bargaining positions, we shall find the Father waiting for us, running towards us, then sweeping us up in his arms, lavishing on us kisses and honour and welcome. He will put on us a robe in place of those stinking rags from the pig-sty, a ring for our stinking fingers and sandals for our stinking feet.
 
Dear stinking brothers and sisters, let us come home from exile.
 
Let us be joined to Christ!
 
Let us bear much fruit!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Neil

​John 15:16-17
Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

II Peter 1:5-9
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 

Jesus desires fruitful lives among those who follow him and Peter gives his list of fruit which is similar to Paul’s in Galatians 5.

Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion

1. In Isaiah 5 what were the fruits that stink?
2. What is the primary fruit Jesus is looking for? (John 15:17)
3. What does that look like in the life of ICB
4. How can we be more fruitful?
5. How can we abide in Christ?

Isaiah 1:3​ ESV

Dear ICB family,

​What was the essence of Israel's problem? Someone might say that it was their idolatry. Someone else might say it was their sinfulness—their abandonment of God's law as evidenced by their oppression of the weak and vulnerable and their violations of justice.

While both of those charges are certainly true, and while God certainly makes a big deal of both of those, there is something else more essential that resulted in Israel's idolatry and sin. Isaiah reveals the essence of Israel's problem to us in 1:4. Simply put, Israel didn't know God. Oh, they knew things about God, but they didn't know him as a husband knows his wife, as two dear friends know each other, or as a child knows his parents.
​

To know God is to know God's character.
First, a big part (though not all) of what it means to know God is to know God's character. That is, the person who knows God knows what God is like. The more deeply you know God, the more deeply you know his attributes. Because Israel didn't know God, they didn't grasp what he was like.

To know the beauty of God's character is to love that beauty.
Second, to truly know the beauty of God's character is to love that beauty. We as human beings inevitably admire, esteem, value, and love what we deem as beautiful. Because Israel didn't know what their gloriously beautiful God was like, they didn't love his gloriously beautiful character traits. That is, they didn't love traits like righteousness and compassion. They didn't value traits like justice and holiness.

To love God's character is to imitate it.
Third, once we as human beings have identified something as lovely and valuable and desirable, the next step we inevitably take is to move toward that beauty like a moth to a flame. When it comes to lovely attributes that we view in others, that means we begin to imitate those traits. We desire to have those traits for ourselves. If we esteem someone else's sense of humor, we will want to be funny, too. If we love the wisdom we see in others, we will desire to be wise.  

Because Israel didn't love God's character, they didn't desire to share in his character. They didn't think righteousness was a very beautiful trait to have; therefore, they didn't act righteously. They didn't think that faithfulness to worship one God alone was a lovely attribute; therefore, they dove headfirst into idol worship.

In summary, because Israel didn't know God personally, they didn't know what God was like. Because they didn't truly grasp what God was like, there was no way for them to love the beauty of his attributes. Because they didn't love his attributes, there was nothing to draw them into imitating those very traits. 

To say it in reverse order, Israel didn't want to be holy as God was holy because they didn't love holiness. They didn't love holiness because they'd never seen how beautiful holiness is. And they hadn't seen the beauty of God's holiness because they did not know their God as they should.

Do you know him? Do you really know him? I'm not asking you if you know things about God. I'm asking if you've met him face to face, if you've come to know him as you know your spouse, your best friend, your parents, your children, or a close family member. 

If you know him that way, you will love what you see in him, and that love will compel you to imitate his character. If you aren't growing in holiness, it's because you don't love holiness. If you don't love holiness, it's because you haven't seen it as you should. And if you haven't seen God's holiness, it's because you don't know him as you could know him.
​

​There is simply no biblical concept for a person who knows God yet does not begin to adopt his character. And the adoption of God's character is impossible apart from knowing him intimately.

God wants you to know him. In fact, he's promised that his people will know him. "'You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me'" (43:10). And, "Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am" (52:6).

So come and know your God. And let your intimate knowledge of him have its intended effect: that you might be holy as he is holy. 

Desiring to know him more that I might be more like him,

Pastor Eric

The accusation: 1:2–3. Israel had rejected God as their Father.

The judgment: 1:4–12. They were going to be beaten by their enemies, and they would experience poverty and the devastation of war.

An appeal to repent: 1:16–17. "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean."

Offer of redemption: 1:18–20. "Though you sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow."

This four-step pattern repeats itself throughout the first four chapters of Isaiah. 

This is the diagnosis of Israel: They had turned their back on God. They had relied on their idols. They were full of pride and arrogance. They trusted their military strength and their economic prosperity. They were full of fake spirituality. They had oppressed the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among them.

Isaiah preaches the gospel to them: He gives them the bad news first but then offers the hope of redemption. This is the very same gospel message that we find throughout the New Testament.

Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion

1. How do you think it was possible that Israel, God's chosen people, had gotten to the point at which their spiritual diagnosis was so dire?
   
2. In what ways are we as God's people today similar to Israel in Isaiah's day? How do we turn our backs on God? How do we rely on idols? How are we full of pride and arrogance? How do we trust in our own strength and prosperity? In what ways is our spirituality fake? How do we oppress others around us?
   
3. How is it possible that God could appeal to Israel to repent and offer them redemption? How is it possible for God to appeal to us to repent today and offer us redemption?
   

—​Isaiah 33:22 NIV

—​​Isaiah 33:1 ESV
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—​Isaiah 33:14
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—​Isaiah 34:2–3
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​The context makes it clear that "destroyers," "betrayers," "sinners," and the "godless," whether those "in Zion" or those in whatever nation they might live, are bound for "destruction" and "slaughter."

It is a terrible—and terrifying—thought. 

So for whom, then, is the fact that God is a judge, lawgiver, and king good news?

Isaiah 33 also makes that clear:
​

--Isaiah 33:15–17

​The fact that God is judge, lawgiver, and king is only good news for the righteous. It's only good news for those who walk and speak uprightly. It's only good news for those who shun oppression, refuse bribes, and don't even speak of or look at evil. Those people—the righteous—will live securely, will be guaranteed all their needs, and will be able to look with their own eyes upon the "king in his beauty." 

(Reminds you of Matthew 5:8, doesn't it? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.")

So will the righteous please stand up?

And not a soul on the planet rises to his or her feet.

Why? Because Romans 3 comes crashing down as a scathing indictment against all humanity:
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—​Romans 3:10–12

​But the righteous are the only ones for whom God's presiding as a judge, legislating as a lawgiver, and ruling as a king is good news! What kind of hope could we possibly have?

Peter summarizes the good news this way:
​​

—​1 Peter 3:18

There is a righteous one who has walked and spoken uprightly. There is one who has never oppressed anyone under his authority for selfish gain. There is one who has never accepted a bribe and who has closed his ears and eyes from dwelling on evil. His life was made secure. He never lacked bread from heaven or living water. And most certainly, at the end of his road, he looked up and saw the face of God. 

His name is Jesus Christ. And there is no one like him. It is this one, the only one worthy in and of himself to be called righteous, who "suffered once for sins." And who'd he do that for? For all the rest of us: "for the unrighteous." In other words, for the "destroyers," "betrayers," "sinners," and "godless," all bound for destruction.

And do you see the amazing purpose he had in mind as to why he did that? He suffered for the sins of the unrighteous "that he might bring us to God." We don't have to be like the "sinners in Zion" or those among the nations who are "afraid" and "trembling" (Isaiah 33:14). Instead, Jesus the righteous one freely gives the gift of his righteousness to the unrighteous, and when the unrighteous simply receive it, God looks down and considers Christ's righteousness to be their very own. 

Only as such can they enjoy the hope of Isaiah 33:15–17. They will be the ones who can dwell with the God who is a consuming fire and not be burned but instead enjoy the radiant heat of his beautiful glory forever (Psalm 23:6). There will be no one who can ultimately shake them (even if someone destroys these fleeting tents called bodies [2 Corinthians 5:1–5]). Bread from heaven and living water will be theirs forever (John 6:33–35). And their eyes will finally get to see the happy, delighted face of God (Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2). 

This is the hope that is ours and that we proclaim to the world.

Holding onto the gifted righteousness of the truly righteous one with you,

Pastor Eric

"The Lord is our judge." The judges delivered Israel time and time again, but a better judge was coming.

"The Lord is our lawgiver." Moses was a law giver, but a better lawgiver was coming.

"The Lord is our king." The people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul. But a better king was coming.

It is Jesus alone who can save us.

Questions to think about for personal reflection and/or group discussion

1. How can we as A.D. twenty-first century believers read and understand prophecy like Isaiah from the eighth century B.C.? How should we read the promises of blessing and of judgment scattered throughout this book?
2. Does the fact that God is a judge, lawgiver, and king strike you as good news or as terrifying news? Why?
3. Why is the fact that God is a judge, lawgiver, and king good news for the world? Why is it good news for you?