SIGNS OF A REBELLIOUS NATION – (PART 1 – REBELLION AGAINST GOD)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken:

“I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

“Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Isaiah 1:1-4    

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today we start our study of the Book of Isaiah, renowned as one of the greatest prophets of the Bible. If you want the story of where Israel went wrong, how God chose to judge and correct those wrongs, and how God restored and redeemed His chosen people then this is the book for you and we’ll be studying here for quite a while so buckle up and get ready for a great ride through a critical part of Israel’s history and an important part of our Christian history and heritage.

Looking at the opening chapter, we find God very unhappy with Israel as relayed through the prophet Isaiah in a vision. These statements of God should serve as a warning for nations today, for we can see where His chosen nation went wrong and thus incurred His judgment and justice. Any nation today is subject to the same if they choose to turn from God and His will and way for their land.

So what are the signs of a rebellious nation?

That’s what we’re going to look at in this opening series from this book. The first sign is a nation’s rebellion against God. Look at these words from the Lord as He speaks about Israel:

Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken:

“I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

“Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.  1:2-4

Look at the specific indictments against Israel:

1. They rebelled against God.

“I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

God is the Father of all mankind, the Creator and Maker of everything. He reared Israel, nurtured the nation from its infancy, correcting where necessary while blessing and protecting His chosen people. But like a teenager rebels against their parents, the people of Israel decided to reject their Father God and follow their own will and way, ignoring His guidance and turning away from giving Him their full worship and praise. This rebellion, a blatant disrespect and dishonoring of the God who made them, saved them, and sustained them, incurred His anger and punishment, something the people of Israel did not understand would come upon them. For if they had truly understood their place, as an ox knows its master and a donkey its owner, then they would not have even considered insolence, insubordination, or shaming God an option.

Today, nations are repeating the mistakes of the past and turning from the God who made and reared them to rebel against Him. And like Israel, all nations who choose to adopt this mindset will face the consequences for their defiant attitudes and actions.

2. They chose sin and evil over righteousness.

“Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption!

The rebellion of the people of Israel, turning from God’s ways to their own, led the people to sin and evil, placing them firmly guilty before their supreme Judge, God. Sin and evil led to wicked behavior like corruption and idol worshipping. Sodom and Gomorrah should have served as a chilling example of what can happen when the people of God chose sin over righteousness, both cities experiencing woe by way of utter destruction. As we will see, Israel will have their own set of woes attached to their disobedience and impudence. Any nation today can expect the same.

3. They turned their backs on God.

They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Perhaps this was the biggest slight of all by Israel. For God had never turned His back on them but rather loved, guided, protected, and delivered them through many challenges and now that He had brought them to the promised land, the land He had set aside to bless them with, they now turned their backs on Him, the One who promised His people He would never leave them or forsake them.

It’s little wonder that God was angered by the actions of His people and their complete disregard for Him. Only a foolish people would do so and there’s no doubt the Israelites became foolish in their life attitudes, falling prey to the way of the world and the false worship practices that abounded around them. God had warned them about interaction with other nations but they didn’t listen and as soon as Israel began to get intertwined with those nations, then they became intertwined with the cultures that ran counter to God’s commands and decrees.

Today, we find nations doing the same. The United States has had a saying, “In God We Trust,” on their currency for some time. Through the years, this saying served as a bold statement that America had placed their faith and trust in God’s guidance, direction, and protection. But in present day, we find our country moving in a direction that is counter to the assertion that we believe and trust in God. Rather, we are moving in a direction that is rebellious, a direction that too often chooses sin and evil over righteousness, a direction that cries out that we have turned our backs on the very God we assert we trust.

With this, we should not forget the story of Israel and what happened to them when they did this. For God will not be mocked or disrespected and anyone who chooses to do so can expect woe from His wrath and judgment, even the mighty United States of America or China or Russia. Certainly, mightier empires have risen and fallen at the hands of the Lord God Almighty.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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