•Isaiah 66:1-14
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly)
•1 Thus says the LORD:
•“Heaven is my throne,
•and the earth is my footstool;
•what is the house that you would build for me,
•and what is the place of my rest?
•2 All these things my hand has made,
•and so all these things came to be,
•declares the LORD.
•But this is the one to whom I will look:
•he who is humble and contrite in spirit
•and trembles at my word.
•3 “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
•he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
•he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig’s blood;
•he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
•These have chosen their own ways,
•and their soul delights in their abominations;
•4 I also will choose harsh treatment for them
•and bring their fears upon them,
•because when I called, no one answered,
•when I spoke, they did not listen;
•but they did what was evil in my eyes
•and chose that in which I did not delight.”
•5 Hear the word of the LORD,
•you who tremble at his word:
•“Your brothers who hate you
•and cast you out for my name’s sake
•have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified,
•that we may see your joy’;
•but it is they who shall be put to shame.
•6 “The sound of an uproar from the city!
•A sound from the temple!
•The sound of the LORD,
•rendering recompense to his enemies!
•(Isaiah 66:1-6, ESV)
•7 “Before she was in labor
•she gave birth;
•before her pain came upon her
•she delivered a son.
•8 Who has heard such a thing?
•Who has seen such things?
•Shall a land be born in one day?
•Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
•For as soon as Zion was in labor
•she brought forth her children.
•9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
•says the LORD;
•“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
•says your God.
•10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
•all you who love her;
•rejoice with her in joy,
•all you who mourn over her;
•11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
•from her consoling breast;
•that you may drink deeply with delight
•from her glorious abundance.”
•12 For thus says the LORD:
•“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
•and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
•and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
•and bounced upon her knees.
•13 As one whom his mother comforts,
•so I will comfort you;
•you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
•14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
•your bones shall flourish like the grass;
•and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants,
•and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
•
(Isaiah 66:7-14, ESV)
•Main Point
•These verses describe the judgment of God against the wicked
•Those who are in the truth are so because they trust in the Word of the Lord
•It is through Him they find their assurance
•It is by following God, not the world, that they find true peace
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly)
•We see common themes being woven together
•There was criticism against a hypocritical and ultimately pagan religion
•The conclusion of Isaiah takes much of this reflection into account
•We cannot find God in the rituals
•Instead, we find God in the heart as we seek obedience to Him completely in this life
•Anything less than seeking God’s glory is worthy to be burned up and discarded
•It requires them to turn toward God trusting in Him
•Some might believe that this means Isaiah is saying that the rituals don’t mean anything
•Ritual without obedience is meaningless
•Rituals with obedience, however, is life giving
•
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly) (2)
•Far too often we can become entrapped just as those who came before us
•We can believe we can continue to sin because we still [insert good thing here]
•Would anyone say such things are bad?
•What is wrong is the belief that we can do whatever we want and so long as we give God His dues He will not care
•It is reminiscent of the Apostle Paul in Romans when he says…
“15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”
(Romans 6:15-19, ESV)
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly) (3)
•God desires us to live in righteousness, to bear good fruit in keeping with repentance, to walk in step with His Spirit, to abide in Him as He abides in us
•Through God’s power we who were once in sin can now live in a whole new life
•This is the point of true religion
•They would say that we are being overbearing
•“Who are they (the prophets, the Apostles, etc.) to say such things about us?”
•They are the same ones described above
•They are radicals in their faith
•If we believed the truth as with as much ferocity as they believe the lie…imagine the transformation
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly) (4)
•We must always be looking at ourselves, examining ourselves, to see if we are in the truth
•There are those who claim to be temple worshippers, but they are idolaters following false mirages in the desert
•We see this as they distort the physical world God created for His glory
•When they say the devil is good and God is bad
•Consider the following…
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly) (5)
•Could anything better describe our culture and society?
•They view the devil as good because the devil freed them from that pesky, good, wise, and all-powerful God to deal with
•The truth of it is this
•We do have a libertarian freedom which is a gift
•But that does not mean we always utilize our freedom is good in and of itself
•Our libertarian freedom can lead to doing good
•Or, to beliefs held by Marquis de Sade where sadism is encouraged, immorality is accepted, and reality is distorted
• When we uncouple our freedom from the One who gave us the gift…it only ever leads down a path of darkness
•
•Application Points
•Reflections (Nothing but Folly) (6)
•Meanwhile, “These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that which I did not delight.”
•Yet there is hope
•Those who hear the Word of the Lord and listen…will find peace
•If we should seek this, then true peace will come to us
•Though there may be storms, we will be safe with our God who guides us
•Though we are reviled, we will not be shaken or moved should we remain faithful to our God
•The warnings are clear for the religious
•What we believe matters, and what we place our faith in matters
•This is the reflection Isaiah beings toward the end, and it would be nothing but folly to ignore what he has said
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•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
•Origins
•Where we began
•Fall
•What went wrong
•Redemption
•How it is fixed
•Glorification
•Where it at leads
