•Isaiah 56:9-57:13
•Heed Caution
56:9 All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
all you beasts in the forest.
10 His watchmen are blind;
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent dogs;
they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
11 The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
But they are shepherds who have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
each to his own gain, one and all.
12 “Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
and tomorrow will be like this day,
great beyond measure.”
57:1 The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
2 he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
(Isaiah 56:9-57:2, ESV)
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
11 Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit my holy mountain.
(Isaiah 57:3-13, ESV)
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
11 Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit my holy mountain.
(Isaiah 57:3-13, ESV)
•Main Point
• These verses show us three things
• The first the leadership which was more focused on themselves than their responsibility
• The Second is the righteous and how societies who have such leadership lead to less righteous people
• Third, it focuses on the unrighteous people themselves and their acts
Application Points
• Heed Caution
•No matter who you are or your circumstances, a text like today is one for you
• The question is are we going to consider the warnings or not?
• The leaders were individuals who were more worried about their own grandeur and importance…then the people
• We can see the warning signs of this
• We have seen well-known Christian leaders fall
• They believe their ministries are too big to fail…to important
• We also see many leaders who are more concerned about filling their coffers than they are with filling the hearts and minds of their people
• They proclaim a lie because power and money are more important than the truth
Application Points
• Heed Caution (2)
•There are false teachers aplenty in this world
• “1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” –II Peter 2:1-3, ESV
Application Points
• Heed Caution (3)
•We must be on guard with false teachers
• False teachers only ever lead us farther away from the truth
• We must also continue to pray for our leadership
• All are subject to fall into this state of playing the numbers game
• Our leaders are faulty humans who can err
• When our leaders fall, many fall in their wake
• Each of us must be cautious
Application Points
• Heed Caution (4)
•This leads to…the children of unrighteousness
• We notice the biggest problem with such individuals
• They were willing to practice sexual immorality and call it worship
• Surely there aren’t human sacrifices anymore
• Back in March a Satanist temple in Texas sued for the right to perform an abortion ritual
• At the end of the ritual the woman says, “by my body, my blood. By my will, it is done.”
Application Points
• Heed Caution (5)
• People will doubt whether this is the same thing as sacrificing children
• I would argue children in the womb are humans genetically and biologically
• These individuals are sacrificing their children for themselves, calling it a spiritual ritual
• Even if we take out the overt spiritual nature, we often find even Christians encouraging such things
• We encourage child sacrifice to the god of self, where self-sacrifice is of less importance than sacrificing someone else for us
Application Points
• Heed Caution (6)
•We find this to be done in the light
• One wonders…what is done in the dark?
• Do we really think there aren’t those still practicing (what we find in Isaiah) today?
• The less light in society, the more darkness comes out
• It isn’t that these are new sexually immoral practices and child sacrifices and they weren’t being done for thousands of years
• It is now more acceptable because we do not love what is good
• The warning here is clear from Isaiah
• Those who adapt their beliefs with the world will not find happiness or peace
• The only One who can satisfy is God Himself
• The farther we get from God…the farther we get from our all sustaining source of life
Application Points
• Heed Caution (7)
• As such, let us continue to be steadfast to not be duped by the world and what is says is good
• Let us seek the truth, and let us be strong to uphold the truth
• Let us examine ourselves and test ourselves to make sure we are in the true faith
• Let us submit to our great God who is worthy of all praise
Application Points
• The Gospel of Christ
• Origins
• Fall
• Redemption
• Glorification
