Isaiah 28 & 29 vs 21-29 & 1-10

Isaiah Chapter 28 Verses 21 – 22

 I mean and that’s the thing right there! We all fight this, this

revelation of all the things about us that need work…, and when we

run from these things, which at times we all do, and we take refuge

for a time or season in false realities, lies…, we strengthen our own

personal bondage. No one has ever been any better by mocking

God… Agree with Him quickly the Bible says…

Isaiah Chapter 28 Verses 23 – 29

 You’re not going to yield a crop by planting seeds sealed in plastic

bags. The point is, there is a Way that leads to life and that is what

God wants to do in your heart, in your mind, in your life. What is He

wanting to do in yours? He’s interesting though. Since He won’t force

His way or Himself, we either seek it, or miss it…

Isaiah Chapter 29 Verses 1 – 2

 Only in these two verses and one other place in this chapter is Israel

given this name, “Ariel,” in scripture. (This is a name of a priest in

Ezra 8:16) It’s an interesting and an odd name, and it could be

translated one of two ways. It’s (one) literal meaning is the

“Lioness/Lion of God.” (Just returning from Israel, there are lions

depicted everywhere throughout Jerusalem, even on the sewer

covers) It’s actually a tragic assignment for Israel in terms of a name.

Because the lion is the king of the jungle, the top of the food chain,

the supreme and the rightful leader and yet this chapter pronounces

woe/suffering and judgment and victory of their enemies…

 Which walks us to the other possible translation of this name which

would be “altar,” or “place of sacrifice.” Israel is not only the

recipient of the promises of God but as a nation and as a people it is

also the called of God to be nothing short of amazing on this earth for

the glory of God. To be the lion, the lioness. But through their

rejection and turning away from God, it has become in many ways an

altar of sacrifice…, and not in a good way. Where God meets with

man is the altar, our ultimate altar being Jesus Christ, and it was Jesus

Himself who said in Matthew 21:44, “Whoever falls on this stone

will be broken; but whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

How we encounter God is entirely up to us… Lion, or a life

sacrificed…

 Rather than sacrificing unto God, they themselves have become their

own sacrifice (does that make sense?). And because of it, we have

this chapter, these woes, and we have that God Himself has even

distressed the nation bringing heaviness and sorrow. Not in terms of

spite but in terms of correction and also just fulfilling His Word to

them…

Isaiah Chapter 29 Verse 3

 A siege is a methodical and slow/gradual process of surrounding and

threatening a fortified place in such a way as to compel the surrender

of the defenders. Often a prolonged effort to overcome resistance, and

it’s entirely interesting and to me and makes total sense because I’ve

seen it a thousand times, that God uses this word to describe what

happens to a life that is spiritually indifferent towards Him.

Isaiah Chapter 29 Verses 4 - 6

 The enemies of the nation of God are like fine dust. How do you get

rid of dust? Well, you can dust it…, ha! Which is such an odd verb.

You dust dust but you can’t food food. HA! You dust dust but you

can’t car a car. You drive a car. HA! It’s just an odd verb but

anyway…, how do you get rid of dust? You blow on it. It’s that easy.

And the Word of God is described as the very breath of God. 2

Timothy 3:16 (NIV) says, “All scripture is God breathed and is

useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in

righteousness, so the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for

every good work.”

 I know it’s counter-intuitive and so impossible in the flesh to process

and understand, which is why it must be taken by faith, but the way

to defeat every enemy that rises against you in your life is through

the application of the Word of God. Why would I say impossible to

process and understand? Here’s one example. Romans 12:20, “If your

enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to

drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Which

means what? You will turn an enemy to a friend through serving

them. Counter-intuitive, impossible to receive in the flesh, but the

only way to blow the dust of an enemy away…

 Or, they can be allowed to become like a great thunder in your life.

An earthquake that upsets everything. Or like a devouring fire that

just burns your britches every time you think about them or they

come around… The enemy will form all kinds of weapons against

you, he’s welcome to, this is his time, but whether or not they prosper

is entirely up to you… Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against

you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in

judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of whom? The

servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me (trusting His

Word), says the Lord!”

Isaiah Chapter 29 Verses 7 – 8

 This we have seen played out throughout history against the Jew as

the enemies of the Jews seem to never be satisfied. Having a land, a

nation smaller than the size of New Jersey, their enemies yet want to

take the little that they have been given. It wasn’t enough to exile the

Jews from enemy nations, the enemies of Israel wanted and want

them wiped off the face of the earth. Historically observable and also

spiritually applicable and a warning to you and to me that the enemy

will never stop. He will never be satisfied. He will never relent and

show mercy. He is truly an enemy, not an opposing force against me

and against you… We must not just get ready when weapons form

against us, we must stay ready!

Isaiah Chapter 29 Verses 9 – 10

 This is SUPER interesting! As I ponder these verses through the lens

of the goodness of God, this becomes clear. It’s not God who has

made them drunk or blind or added to their incapacity. All of this

condition is entirely their doing and all God has done is confirm their

own personal choices, which He has promised in His sovereignty that

He will do…, that’s true and pure free will…, and that is, in a way,

terrifying!

 If I won’t walk by faith, that’s my decision. If I decide to live on in

the flesh, that’s entirely tolerable even in the family of God. That’s

true free will. And that trap of a mindset which leads to all types of

distress in life, wars and strife and contentions as James puts it in his

letter in the New Testament, it’s described in these verses as being

drunk. And that’s…, so revealing!

 Many of you have never been drunk and I applaud you for that but

for those of us who have been drunk before, it’s a totally different

state of mind, even body, even soul and even spirit. You are a

different person entirely. Unable to think straight or walk straight…

You’re under the control of the substance. And God says that when

we habitize (my word) a life of not obeying the Word of God, we get

drunk with the flesh!

 We stagger, we stumble, we fuzz up our vision, and the truth is not

only rejected, we can’t see it at all anymore. That’s what these verses

say. You’ve seen this right? Someone who is so in the habit of living

in the flesh and when you try to correct them using the Word of God

and the authority of scripture, take cover! When someone alive and

awake to wisdom, (and the fear of God / obedience to the Word of

God / is the beginning of wisdom), when you correct them, they are

corrected. Proverbs 9:8 says if you rebuke a wise man, he will love

you.

 And so here is where I can scratch on a conclusion…, that no logic,

reason, persuading or pleading will ever bring about pure repentance

unto life in a person and/or even a Christian…, it is and only ever is

a work of the Holy Spirit through the will of the person willing to

be broken over their own sin… It’s like a shot of Narcan…

 Narcan in incredible. Take someone totally GONE, comatose…, and

fire this into their system and its like a miracle, they’re back. No

longer spiritually indifferent. Narcan is described as “an opioid

antagonist.” It literally attaches to the opioid receptors in the brain

and blocks all others… This is how, and the only way, the Word of

God and the blessings of God and the promises of God activate in

our lives. Everything else, blocked… It’s either live this way and

sacrifice yourself or walk with the Lord, for real for real, and be the

lion/lioness God designed you to be!