9/30/12. Isaiah 3:1-15. THE LORD ENTERS INTO JUDGMENT-devotional

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF     Saturday, September 29, 2012

Isaiah 3:1-15
Key Verse: 3:13

“The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ thank you for the meditative life you have called us to live. How satisfying it is. Without you I would be a news junky with no direction for my thoughts and mental energies. But with the Gospel I can come to know you and humanity and more about the Kingdom of God. Life in you is truly satisfying. May the young people of DeKalb, NIU discover the satisfying life in Jesus and dwell in Christ. Lord, I pray that you may come to aid of the First Nations People in Northern Ontario. Please send Ron and Jen there in your time. Please help me to accept one word of God through this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Both Supply and Support (1-7).

Verses 1-7, “See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, 2 the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter. 4 “I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them.” 5 People will oppress each other— man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored. 6 A man will seize one of his brothers in his father’s house, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!” 7 But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”

The nation of Israel had been surviving by God’s grace. He was their provider and their ever-present help. He had raised up leaders from the time of Moses to the kings. Now the Lord was taking from his people both supply and support. They would soon degenerate into chaos and enmity with one another. The nation would be in such ruins that nobody would want to be a leader. This reminds me of soviet Russia during the communist revolution. It is when a society falls apart. It is chaos where the brutal survive.

I ask myself, why did God allow this? Verses 8-9, ““8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.” It was because the people had turned idols and depending on other nations for support. They had turned their backs on the worship of the one true God. It was inevitable that such things would happen. God wanted them to draw the people back to himself. They wouldn’t come willingly and joyfully and so he left them to their own devices to struggle to make something out of the rubble of their former lives. They would attempt to establish order out of their self imposed anarchy. Which, as we see in this passage, proved to be fruitless.

How helpless we are to make fruitful, peaceful and blessed lives on our own without Jesus. We try but we fail. I tried my best to live as blessed life without Jesus for the first 22 years of my life. Where did that leave me? A slave to my sins, living in sorrow and broken dreams and headed towards eternal condemnation with a mind and heart filled with things that just didn’t matter. This is what I achieved on my own, without the Lord Jesus Christ. But God came into my life and saved me. He rescued me from my self and sin and the devil and set me on a new course, out of spiritual and emotional anarchy and into the Kingdom of God. Thank you Lord, for rescuing me and raising me up in this world.

What will it take to rescue a people lost in the darkness of sin. What would it take for people to repent and come back to God for the grace of salvation. It will take many Christians willing to lay down their lives to love and serve others, even with very little in return.

Part 2: He Rises To Judge His People (8-15).

Verses 8-12, “8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. 10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. 12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.”

The nation was in rebellion against God. They defied him and lived as open unrepentant sinners against God, reminiscent of Sodom. Verses 13-15, “13 The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. 14 The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: “It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. 15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”

There is something that we can not forget. The Lord judges sin. When his own people went astray, the Lord took his place on the judgment seat and brought them into judgment. He was most displeased by the leaders leading his people astray. He was also displeased that the vineyard that he entrusted to his people to cultivate and to care for was ruined. He wanted them to nurture their spiritual lives and the spiritual life of their nation so that they can could live as a light to the Gentiles. But they ruined their vineyard by their rejection of the word of God and the rejection of faith and God’s ways. They were more interested in promoting their nationalism and their own man made religious institutions. But God reveals that he is the owner of the vineyard.

We have been given a vineyard. But our sins have led us astray and our sins have ruined our vineyard spiritually. According to this passage, God does not look on this lightly. He will judge those whom are called to care for their vineyard. That is the cold, hard truth. God takes this very serious and so have we.

What is my vineyard? Is it not my family? Is it not NIU students? Is it not the people to DeKalb and Sycamore and the people at the hospital? I have not been doing a good job taking care of my vineyard. I find it hard to minister to my kids. I have let spiritual weeds grow in my family and ministry and my own heart. I can only ask God for his forgiveness and the strength to recommit myself to taking care of the important vineyards that God has called me to be a caretaker for.
We can easily ruin our vineyard by trying to preach the gospel without taking the way of the cross. We can ruin it for centuries to come by not taking the narrow way, the way of suffering that includes living an incarnational life. We need to love and serve and lay down lives for the flock of God, just like Jesus did. Then we can tend the vineyard and protect the vineyard from ruin.

Prayer: Lord, you are the judge, and this world is your vineyard. Help me to be a good steward of my vineyard. .

One Word: The Lord is very serious about tending our vineyard. So should we.