Canvey Methodist Church Bible Month - Isaiah - Week1- Tough Love
Welcome to the first week of Bible Month when we will be looking at the Old Testament Prophetic writings to be found in the book of Isaiah. The contents of Isaiah cover a period of about 200 years between 740 to 597 BC and they trace the ups and downs of events in the southern nation of Judah with its Davidic Kings and the larger northern nation of Israel governed by a succession or royal dynasties, each of which was overthrown by force. Eventually, both nations were defeated by neighbouring empires and their peoples either dispersed or taken into captivity and exile in Babylon.
Against this backdrop came the courageous prophecies fearlessly proclaimed and recorded in the book of Isaiah, all seeking to bring people back into covenant relationship with God as was offered all those years before. (Deuteronomy 28).
As Isaiah looked at the National life of Judah, he saw a people who had largely turned away from following God's Covenant way of living in three specific areas.
-Judah was failing to trust God but instead was putting its trust in surrounding nations
-They were putting their trust in the gods of other nations
-Their behaviour was unjust; expanding the land of the wealthy(v8),
-They perverted justice through bribery (v23), outwardly worshipping God but oppressing and being violent to people (58:1-12).
Thus Isaiah tackles this National nose-dive in behaviour head on by presenting two aspects of God's Character-
tough love
and
tender love.
Bible Readings:
Read: Isaiah 5:1-7; 5:8-23, 30:1-4. (We read of God’s sorrow and anger).
Read: Isaiah 58:6-12 ( We read of Gods tenderness)
Isaiah 5:1-7. New International Version
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Isaiah 5:8-23. New International Version
Woes and Judgments
8 Woe to you who add house to house
and join field to field
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.
9 The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing:
“Surely the great houses will become desolate,
the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
pipes and timbrels and wine,
but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord,
no respect for the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people will go into exile
for lack of understanding;
those of high rank will die of hunger
and the common people will be parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Death expands its jaws,
opening wide its mouth;
into it will descend their nobles and masses
with all their brawlers and revelers.
15 So people will be brought low
and everyone humbled,
the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice,
and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;
lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
let him hasten his work
so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One of Israel—
let it approach, let it come into view,
so we may know it.”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.
Footnotes
a Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
b Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
c Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
d Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat
Isaiah 30:1-4. New International Version
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
Isaiah 58:6-12. New International Version
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Footnotes
a Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
Comment
We know that God is love, but He is also Holy and Just and here we read that God gets angry with sin and wrongdoing. And yet as God, quite rightly rages against injustice He, at the same time, forgives our wrongdoings and continues to love us unconditionally - amazing grace.
As Isaiah writes, although the people were being disobedient and not keeping the covenant with God, it was not too late, With repentance comes forgiveness.
Questions:
1). What, do you think, might make God angry today?
2)Isaiah provides a stinging critique of social injustice. How might the idea of “righteous anger” make you read the text differently?
3) When is it right for us to be angry? Can you think of a time when you had a “righteous anger”or when an act of discipline was also an act of love? How did you feel? What about the people around you?
4)Are there examples of “good grapes” and “bad grapes” growing in the Christian church?
NB: Jesus picked up this image in his parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard (Mark 12:1-9,20-21) to criticise the Jewish leaders. He also enacted the parable in “the cursing of the fig tree” (Mark 11:12-14) and in the “I am the vine” part of his final discourse. (John 15:1-17).
4) How do you reconcile the fact that God is keeping His side of the Covenant with Israel, despite Isaiah's critique of their actions?
Read Isaiah 41:1-11. New International Version
The Helper of Israel
41 “Be silent before me, you islands!
Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.
2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,
calling him in righteousness to his service[a]?
He hands nations over to him
and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
to windblown chaff with his bow.
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
4 Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.”
5 The islands have seen it and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
6 they help each other
and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer
spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.
8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
U11 “All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
Footnotes
a Isaiah 41:2 Or east, / whom victory meets at every step
5) In the light of these texts, how would you explain the love of God to someone who has a strong reaction to more challenging parts of the Bible.
6) Can you think of places in the New Testament where the theme of “tough love” is picked up?
Conclusion:
Some words from the Hymn “Here is love, vast as the ocean”
Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heaven's eternal days
On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God's mercy
Flowed a vast a gracious tide
Grace and love, like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
And Heaven's peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is deeper, no love is truer
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is like Your love, o Lord
Matt Redman, Robert Lowery, Robert Lowery and William Reece
May God bless us all as we trust in his grace and redeeming love.
Amen