Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2 NIVUK
We now move away from people who chose to repent and be converted, to those who told other people that they should repent.
And they had a very specific reason to do so – a reason so controversial that there are those who want to legislate against it:
They warned their people of consequences.
You see, these men were prophets. They received a message of God and passed it on to their people.
And they were prophets at a very specific time in history – a time in the story of the Jews when there were more prophets than at any other.
You see, Jewish society had taken an enormous downward turn. Morality and correct religiosity were seriously tainted. The result was firstly an adoption of religious practices from the surrounding nations, and then nothing short of anarchy. Descriptions of this are clear and unflinching:
For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
Isaiah 59:3 NIVUK
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.
Isaiah 59:7 NIVUK
For our offences are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offences are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
Isaiah 59:12-15 NIVUK
So this is the first thing we see here. Sin is real. An absolute moral code is as real as gravity. God has lines that cannot be crossed and they are being crossed. Regularly. Every day.
We also see that sin has consequences.
Many of the consequences are listed in this chapter: violence, rebellion, revolt, oppression, injustice.
Book after book after book in the Bible illustrates the perils of abandoning God’s way and doing our own thing.
And the end result for the Jews is illustrated perfectly in the Exile itself:
The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling-place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
2 Chronicles 36:15-20
In the New Testament, Paul also states the consequences of rebellion against God:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 NIVUK
John states it even more clearly:
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:18 NIVUK
And again:
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15 NIVUK
So the Bible is absolutely clear: there is a consequence for those who refuse to believe in Jesus. That consequence is their bearing the penalty for their own sin. That penalty is death: eternal death in hell.
So why wouldn’t you warn someone of this?
In fact, the Bible is clear that we have the duty to do so (Ezekiel 3:16-21; 33:1-9). So every Christian has the sombre responsibility to tell the people around them that their actions have consequences.
There are those nowadays who do not wish to hear the Gospel. They are not like radio listeners or TV watchers who change the channel if they don’t like what’s on.
No, these people want to ban the channel.
And this, apart from being a flagrant breach of religious freedom and freedom of expression, will also lead to their eternal demise.
They call warning people of the consequences of their sin ‘coercion’?
Really?
Is it coercion if a dentist warns you to cut back on the sweets and soft drinks to stop your teeth from rotting?
Is it coercion if a doctor tells you to change your eating habits so you don’t become obese, or to stop smoking to avoid cancer, or to stop drinking alcohol to save your liver?
Is it coercion if a sign warns you of a steep cliff or choppy waters or heat or cold or any other danger.
No! Of course not!
So is it coercion if a loving Christian who, like their God, wants you to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4), warns you that there are eternal consequences for how you are living?
No! Of course not!
The news might not be pleasant, or at all welcome, but it is needed.
Having seen that sin and consequences are real, we see that salvation is real:
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no-one, he was appalled that there was no-one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
Isaiah 59:15-16 NIVUK
This passage talks of God rising up in judgement to rescue His people from their oppressors.
But Isaiah talks on several occasions of the coming of One who would set God’s people truly free:
The Messiah.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 NIVUK
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NIVUK
‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.’
Isaiah 42:1-4 NIVUK
Jesus is the person who fulfilled all of these prophecies, and many, many more. This is why Christians believe Him to be the Messiah and the only answer to the sin question.
This is why Christians also believe that He is the only way to be saved:
Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’
Acts 4:12 NIVUK
So Isaiah not only told his people that they were sinners, he also told them that their sin had consequences and that God would provide them a Saviour to save them from it.
Modern Evangelicalism is no different. We are simply doing exactly the same thing.
And it’s not to gain an extra notch on our Bible, or to gain Brownie points with God, or to save one more so we get a free Communion glass, as some might cynically say.
The number of people we lead to Jesus has no bearing on our salvation.
We do it because we care. We do it, to use a saying my boss (who, by the way, is not a Christian) uses often, because we see the steamroller coming towards them and want them to get out of the way.
So let’s dispense with this foolish idea that all evangelism is coercion and therefore is wrong.
That is utter nonsense, propagated only by those who are so touchy that they can’t stand the prospect of anyone disagreeing with them.
Even reality itself.
Let's instead learn from ancient prophets like Isaiah that sin has consequences, and because of that we need a Saviour.
And let’s follow Him instead.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I see clearly that my sin has consequences. It is what causes me the biggest pain. I don’t want to live like this anymore. Help me to repent and follow You. Amen.
Questions
1. Why did Isaiah warn his people if impending doom? Is this the right thing to do? Why / why not?
2. Is he coercing them to believe? Why / why not?
3. What does this passage say about how God reacts to their predicament? What do you think about this? What will you do about it?
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