Read Isaiah 9:8-10:4.

Introduction⤒🔗

What makes you angry? Have you ever heard about an injustice or an act of wrongdoing and said, “That makes me angry”?

Let me tell you what happened to a Christian woman named Jackie: In 1975, Jackie was in an auto accident that left her paralyzed. Rather than supporting her, her husband filed for divorce and took the children with him.¹ Doesn’t that make you angry?

Let me tell you what happened to Sharon: Sharon had been a faithful public-school teacher for fourteen years with an excellent reputation in the community. Then one day she was falsely and maliciously accused of child abuse and a permanent shadow was cast over her reputation.² Doesn’t that make you angry?

When we witness acts of injustice or wrongdoing it should make us angry! After all, we have been created in the image of God with the moral capacity to respond to right and wrong.

Some Christians think it is wrong to ever become angry. On the contrary, the Bible says anger is wrong only if it is for the wrong reason or if it is handled in the wrong way, namely, when it is allowed to ferment into bitterness or when it results in the taking of personal revenge.

Some people are appalled to hear that God expresses anger. They prefer to view Him as some sort of neutral impersonal cosmic force, or as a benevolent grandfather figure that tolerates any and every form of moral offense with a condescending acceptance.

On the contrary, the LORD God is a highly personal moral being who expresses His righteous anger against injustice or wrongdoing. Look at your own reaction to injustice or wrongdoing, especially when it is perpetrated against yourself. Observe how you react. Now remember that you react in this way because you are a moral being created in the image of God. Now you can better understand how God as the absolute moral being manifests righteous anger against injustice and wrongdoing.

From the passage of Scripture presently before us, we learn that when the LORD sees a people reject His law and defy His gracious chastening, His righteous anger is expressed against them. Because the LORD is a God who possesses a righteous anger, let us be diligent to abstain from those attitudes and practices that incur His righteous indignation, so that we do not encounter His anger.

Let Us Abstain from the Spirit of Defiant Pride←⤒🔗

In Isaiah 7:5-8 the LORD had declared that He would oppose Israel’s ungodly alliance with Syria in their ungodly aim to destroy the southern kingdom of Judah. Speaking to Judah about them He declared,

[Do not become fainthearted] because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have planned evil against you, saying, ⁶Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it. ⁷This is what the Lord GOD says, Their plan will not be established, neither will it be accomplished; ⁸because the head of Syria is [only] Damascus, and the head of Damascus is [only] Rezin. Furthermore, within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to any longer be a people. Isa. 7:5-8

Israel has begun to experience the LORD’s opposition to their evil course, (i.e. their aligning themselves with Syria against the southern tribe of Judah). But their response to the LORD’s initial chastisement has not been one of humble repentance, rather, it has been that of defiance:

The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall upon Israel. ⁹All the people will experience it; namely, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, those who say with pride and arrogant hearts, ¹⁰The bricks have crumbled, but we will rebuild with stone cut [out of the quarry]; the sycamore trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars. Isa. 9:9-10

The nation of Israel exhibits a spirit of pride and arrogance; they are described as speaking “with pride and arrogant hearts,” (literally, “greatness of heart,” i.e. stout, hard, defiant hearts). Their heart is swollen with arrogance, self-determination, and defiance. Far from being humbled and becoming repentant as a result of the chastening judgments of the LORD, they are resolutely determined not to give in but to resist. They are determined to withstand God and rebuild on an even grander scale: “The bricks have crumbled, but we will rebuild with stone cut [out of the quarry]; the sycamore trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.”

How do we react to God’s chastening in our lives? Like these Israelites, do we stubbornly resist God, refusing to admit wrongdoing, refusing to yield to God’s will? Like these Israelites, do we foolishly think that we can withstand God and then rebuild a life in defiance of God? Let us consider the words of Job 9:4b; “Who has hardened himself against [the LORD] and prospered?”

Because of this spirit of defiant pride and arrogance in the face of His former judgments, the LORD will now bring upon them even greater judgments: Therefore, the LORD will strengthen Rezin’s foes against them [i.e. against Israel], and will spur his enemies on: ¹²the Syrians before and the Philistine behind, and they shall devour Israel with their mouths wide open. (vs. 11-12a). The Syrians, having been defeated by the invading Assyrian armies and now under the control of Assyria, would be aligned with that invader against their former ally, the nation of Israel. Furthermore, the Philistines would harass Israel, attacking them from the southwest.

Isaiah now goes on to declare, ''Yet, despite all this, [the LORD’s] anger is not pacified, his hand is still raised [against them]” (9:12b). That is to say, because of the people’s arrogant defiance in the face of the LORD’s chastening judgments (note verse 13), His anger is not pacified, indeed, it cannot be pacified. Because His acts of judgment have met with resistance rather than repentance, the LORD will continue to set Himself against these people who persist in their sin. Let us take to heart the lesson: If we do not give in to the LORD, He will not give up against us.

Let us abstain from the spirit of defiant pride, because such an attitude meets with the LORD’s righteous anger. In contrast to defiant pride, let us exhibit the attitude of humility commended to us in 1 Peter 5:5b-6,

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another; because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. ⁶Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the appointed time.

Isaiah now goes on to declare, ''Yet, despite all this, [the LORD’s] anger is not pacified, his hand is still raised [against them]” (9:12b). That is to say, because of the people’s arrogant defiance in the face of the LORD’s chastening judgments (note verse 13), His anger is not pacified, indeed, it cannot be pacified. Because His acts of judgment have met with resistance rather than repentance, the LORD will continue to set Himself against these people who persist in their sin. Let us take to heart the lesson: If we do not give in to the LORD, He will not give up against us.

Let us abstain from the spirit of defiant pride, because such an attitude meets with the LORD’s righteous anger. In contrast to defiant pride, let us exhibit the attitude of humility commended to us in 1 Peter 5:5b-6,

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another; because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. ⁶Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the appointed time.

Let Us Abstain from the Spirit that Refuses Correction←⤒🔗

In spite of what they have thus far suffered, the people of Israel have not turned to Him who has struck them (vs. 13). In administering His chastening, the LORD’s design and desire was to bring these people back to Him in repentance and restoration; as His discipline accomplished in the life of the Psalmist:

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I obey your word... ⁷¹It was good for me to have been afflicted, so that I may learn your statutes... ⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Psl. 119:67,71,75

Their forefathers in the days of the Judges turned back to the LORD their God when He administered His discipline:

¹Again the people of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he delivered them into the hands of the Midianites... ⁶And Israel was brought very low because of the Midianites; and the people of Israel cried to the LORD. Judg. 6:1,6

But unlike their forefathers, this generation has shown itself to be incorrigible: refusing to learn from the correction the LORD has brought into their lives, and demonstrating a refusal to be reformed.

How do we respond to God’s disciplinary work? Do we have a tender heart towards God, or a hardened heart? Do we have a teachable spirit, or an incorrigible spirit? Are we sensitive to the LORD’s directives, (from His Word as it is read, preached, or administered), or are we indifferent and callous to those sacred directives?

Are we careful not to offend the LORD, and quick to repent when we have offended Him, or are we unconcerned about our behavior and what response it will elicit from the LORD? When we have gone our own way and suffered the consequence, has that experience made us very sensitive to listen to the LORD from now on? Or do we habitually go our own way, failing to see or acknowledge any connection between our course of behavior and the painful consequences we have incurred?

Consequently, due to Israel's incorrigibility, “in a single day the LORD will cut off from Israel both “the head” and “the tail,” both “the palm branch” and “the reed” (vs. 14). Because of their incorrigible spirit in the face of God’s partial judgments, the LORD will enact a total judgment against these people, cutting off “both 'the head' and 'the tail;’” and He will do so with incredible swiftness: “in a single day.”

As verses 15-16 indicate, the political and religious leaders are held to blame for the moral and spiritual state of the nation: “the elders and prominent men are 'the head,' and the prophets who teach lies are 'the tail.'” ¹⁶[All this will happen] because those who lead these people cause them to go astray, and those who are being led will be destroyed.”

As Isaiah 10:1-2 indicates, the political leaders practiced injustice and made no effort to enforce God’s moral law: “Woe to those who make unjust laws and those who record mischievous decisions, ²intended to deprive the powerless of justice and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and they may plunder the orphans.” The religious leaders, the prophets, are condemned for teaching lies. They acquiesced to the people’s desire and proclaimed a message of peace and immunity from judgment, instead of calling for the repentance that would result in true peace and communion with God. What is later said with regard to Judah, is certainly true also of the northern tribes of Israel:

...they are a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not listen to the law of the LORD; ¹⁰[children who] say to the seers, Do not see [any more visions]; and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us what is right, tell us things that will make us comfortable, prophesy delusions. ¹¹Get out of our way, get off the path, stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel! Isa. 30:9-11

But, as 9:16b indicates, the people themselves are also held accountable for their conduct: “those who lead these people cause them to go astray, and those who are being led will be destroyed.” Note, also, 9:17b; “everyone is godless and wicked, and every mouth utters folly.”

What about us? Do we prefer preaching that concentrates solely on the love of God—a preaching that allows us to feel comfortable with God while still practicing our sins? Do we realize how dangerous and how deadly such a situation can be? Will we pray for our preachers and teachers to be like the Apostle Paul who did not shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God (cf. Acts 20:27)? Will we pray that the LORD will give to each of us a heart that desires the whole counsel of God, receives that counsel, and submits to it unto the glory of God?

Let us abstain from the spirit that refuses correction, because such an attitude meets with the LORD’s righteous anger. In contrast to an incorrigible spirit, let us accept and follow the LORD’s counsel: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. ⁹Do not be like the horse or the mule” (Psl. 32:8-9a). Note: The horse is known for being headstrong and defiant; the mule is known for being stubborn and resistant.

Let Us Abstain from the Unrestrained Passion for Wickedness←⤒🔗

In Isaiah 9:18 the wickedness and ungodliness of the nation is portrayed as a great wild fire that is raging out of control. This unbridled passion for wickedness is raging through the society, threatening to consume everything: “[their] wickedness burns like afire, it consumes briers and thorns, it sets ablaze the thickets of the forest, and their ashes roll upward in a column of smoke.”

Note 9:17b, where the people are described in the following terms: they are “godless” (i.e. secular), as opposed to being sacred; they are world-centered and self-centered, as opposed to be God-centered. They are “wicked,” practicing the sins of dishonesty and immorality, as opposed to living in fellowship with their God and with respect for and obedience to His holy law. They “utter folly,” i.e. they propose foolish and ungodly ideas, based on their secular approach to life. They have lost the sense of living in the presence of God, of looking to God for guidance, of acknowledging their accountability to God and dependence upon God; consequently, their society ignores God and advocates folly.

Verses 19-21a portray the consequence of a society giving free rein to an unbridled passion for wickedness: God’s judgment takes the form of allowing the society to consume itself:

By the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire—no one will spare his brother. ²⁰They will devour what is at their right side, but still be hungry; they will eat up what is on their left side, but still not be satisfied. Each of them will 'at the flesh of his own arm,' ²¹Manasseh will devour Ephraim, and Ephraim will devour Manasseh, and both of them will turn against Judah.

The picture is that of a prairie fire that ravages the land and leaves men desperate for food; and in this condition the people exhibit utter selfishness: every man for himself. The passage is referring to the civil strife that characterized the ten northern tribes that composed the nation of Israel in the last days of its history (note 2 Kings 15:23-25,29-30, printed below), as well as the conflict between Israel and Judah:

In the fiftieth year of Azariah [i.e. Uzziah] king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁵One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah...in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king... ²⁹In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came...He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria. ³⁰Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

The whole structure of society (civic and economic), which should be based upon morality and integrity, fear of God and respect for one’s neighbor, collapses into anarchy and chaos.

Let us abstain from the unrestrained passion for wickedness, because such conduct meets with the LORD’s righteous anger. In contrast to the unrestrained passion for wickedness, let us exhibit the spirit and conduct commended to us in 1 Peter 4:1-3,

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, also fortify yourselves with the same attitude, because he who suffered in the flesh is done with sin. ²As a result, he does not live the remainder of his [earthly] life for evil human desires, but for the will of God. ³You have spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles choose to do: living for debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

Let Us Abstain from the Practice of Injustice←⤒🔗

In Isaiah 10:1 woe is pronounced against those who write unrighteous and perverse laws: “Woe to those who make unjust laws and those who record mischievous decisions.” The reference is to those who seek to use the legal system for their own selfish ends—instead of enacting justice.

According to 10:2, the design and effect of such practices is to take unfair advantage of those who are socially and politically powerless and helpless:

Woe to those who make unjust laws and those who record mischievous decisions, ²intended to deprive the powerless of justice and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and they may plunder the orphans.

What about ourselves? Would we dare to use the courts of justice for our own personal gain? Would we use our access to the courts, (our ability to hire an attorney, our acquaintance with a judge or other public official), to dispossess the poor and disadvantaged—to deprive a widow of a piece of property we might want for ourselves; to deprive a member of a racial minority the justice due him?

In verse three the question is posed to those who would pervert justice and manipulate the legal system for their own personal gain at the expense of justice: “Now what will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes upon you from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you find a secure place to leave your wealth?” To whom will you turn for defense when the Righteous Judge calls you before His judgment seat and enacts His sentence of judgment against you?

In verse four the answer is provided: “There will be nothing else to do but cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.” There will be no escape for such people when the judgment of God comes, in the present instance it came in the form of foreign invasion and conquest.

Let us abstain from the practice of injustice and the use of the legal system for personal benefit at the expense of justice, because all such practices meet with the LORD’s righteous anger. In contrast to the practice of injustice, let us heed the counsel of the LORD as found in Zechariah 8:16-17,

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; ¹⁷do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, declares the LORD.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Because the LORD is a God who possesses a righteous anger, let us be diligent to abstain from those attitudes and practices that would cause us to be exposed to that righteous anger. To the extent that we have engaged in such attitudes and practices, let us give them over to our Lord Jesus Christ in repentance, seeking the LORD’s mercy and forgiveness on the basis of His atoning sacrifice.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. How have the northern tribes of Israel responded to the LORD’s act of judging them by means of a devastating Assyrian invasion because of their alliance with Syria against Judah? See Isa. 9:9b­10. How does the LORD now respond to them? See Isa. 9:11, 12b. Do you realize that defiance against the LORD is met with His righteous indignation and incites His anger? Note Isa. 2:12; 1 Pet. 5:5b-6,

...Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, those who say with pride and arrogant hearts, ^10'The bricks have crumbled, but we will rebuild with stone cut [out of the quarry]; the sycamore trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.' Isa. 9:9-10

Therefore, the LORD will strengthen Rezin’s foes against them, and will spur his enemies on: ¹²the Syrians before and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with their mouths wide open. Yet, despite all this, [the LORD’s] anger is not pacified, his hand is still raised against them. Isa. 9:11-12

The LORD of hosts has a day in store for all that is proud and arrogant, for all that is exalted­ and they will be humbled. Isa. 2:12

...God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. ⁶Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the appointed time... 1 Pet. 5:5-6

2. How has Israel responded to the even more severe measures of judgment the LORD has brought upon the defiant nation? See Isa. 9:13. How does the LORD, in turn, respond to them? See Isa. 9:14, 17. Do we take seriously the fact that an incorrigible spirit, one that refuses to be corrected, encounters the LORD’s righteous indignation and incites His anger? Note Job 9:4b; Psl. 32:8-9a,

But the people still have not returned to the one who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD of hosts. Isa. 9:13

Therefore, in a single day the LORD will cut off from Israel both 'the head' and 'the tail,' both 'the palm branch' and 'the reed;' ...¹⁷Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in their young men, nor will he take pity on the fatherless and widows, because everyone is godless and wicked, and every mouth utters folly. Yet, despite all this [retribution], [the LORD’s] anger is not pacified, his hand is still raised [against them]... Isa. 9:14, 17

Who has hardened himself against [God] and prospered?Job 9:4b

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye. ⁹Do not be like the horse or like the mule... Psl. 32:8-9

The horse is known for being headstrong, and the mule for being stubborn.

3. What role did the leaders play, especially the prophets (those who were supposed to be the spokesmen for God), in encouraging the people to develop an incorrigible spirit? See Isa. 9:15­ 16; note, also, Jer. 23:17. Do you desire and support the faithful preaching of God’s Word (cf. Acts 20:20-21), or do you encourage the preaching of false security and preaching that even advocates perversity? Note Isa. 30:10,

...the elders and prominent men are 'the head,' and the prophets who teach lies are 'the tail.' ¹⁶[All this will happen] because those who lead these people cause them to go astray, and those who are being led will be destroyed. Isa. 9:15-16

Speaking of the prophets, the LORD declares,

They continually say to those who despise me, The LORD has said, ‘You shall have peace,’ and to everyone who walks according to the stubbornness of his own heart, they say, 'No evil shall come upon you.' Jer. 23:17

The Apostle Paul testifies:

I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you...²¹testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:20-21

[They are children] who say to the seers, Do not see any more visions! and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us what is right; [rather], tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions! Isa. 30:10

4. How is the nation’s wickedness poetically depicted in Isaiah 9:18? What is being portrayed by the imagery of a wild fire raging out of control? Note 1 Pet. 4:3-4a. Again, what is the LORD’s response to such a life, to such a society? See Isa. 9:19a, 21b. As Christians, what is the LORD’s command to us as we find ourselves living in the midst of such a society? See Rev. 18:4-5,

...their wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes briers and thorns, it sets ablaze the thickets of the forest, and their ashes roll upward in a column of smoke.Isa. 9:18

You have spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles choose to do: living for debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. ⁴Engaged in such a lifestyle, they think that it is strange for you not to plunge with them into the same flood of dissolute living, so they malign you. 1 Pet. 4:3-4

By the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire—no one will spare his brother. Isa. 9:19

Then I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, my people, so that you have no fellowship with her sins and that you do not receive the plagues that will come upon her. ⁵Her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.' Rev. 18:4-5

The call to come out of Babylon is the call to lead a morally pure life in the midst of a hedonistic and perverse society.

5. What other sin is mentioned, which aroused the LORD’s righteous anger and eventually calls forth His act of judgment? See Isa. 10:1-2. As a Christian, do you practice justice in your dealings with your fellow man? See Mic. 6:8; Matt. 23:23. Do you promote the cause of justice? See Zech. 8:16-17,

Woe to those who make unjust laws and those who record mischievous decisions ²intended to deprive the powerless of justice and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and they may plunder the orphans. Isa. 10:1-2

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Mic. 6:8

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, but have neglected the weightier [matters] of the Law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Matt. 23:23

These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice and peace; ¹⁷ let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; and do not love a false oath. For all these [are things] that I hate, says the LORD. Zech. 8:16-17