Please begin this lesson by reading Isaiah 5:13-16. These verses are found in the opening section of Isaiah when the kingdom of Judah was intact. Their fall and captivity had not yet occurred. They were preoccupied with their physical existence, not with God.
This lesson depends on having this text in mind and consciously thinking about it. Ask who has read the text in preparation for the class. If several have not, do not embarrass them. You want people spending their class time considering the lesson, not reacting to a rebuke. If many have not read this text in preparation for the class, begin by having someone (or the class) read it.
God was extremely upset with them. He had endured all He could. It is not difficult to see just how upset God was with these Israelites. They had no awareness that their relationship with God was a dependent relationship (1:2,3). They were a sinful nation weighed down with iniquity (1:4). They were like a body so full of untreated sores, wounds, and raw places that there were no healthy places [God's opinion of them, not their opinion of themselves] (1:5,6). Soon their homes and farms would be abandoned and become desolate [unimaginable!] (1:7,8). Were it not for God's intervention, no one would survive (1:9). They were an impure, unjust, unconcerned people whose worship disgusted God (1:10-17).
Stress the reasons for God being quite upset with His people. [Do remember that these are supposed to be His people.] The reasons: (1) their failure to be aware that their relationship with God was a dependent relationship; (2) their wickedness as a nation of people when they were supposed to represent God to the world; (3) the evil focus of their actions. Consequences were inevitable and unavoidable.
Consider the general condition of Judah in this early section. God's people were oblivious to the fact that God was at work in the world. They thought life and the world was about their purposes and desires, not about God's purposes and desires. They were so concerned about "quality" physical existence that they concluded this should be their core concern. Did they worship? Yes. Did they do "the commanded things" in the "approved ways." Yes. Was this happening at the "right place"? Yes.
The key point: they concluded existence in this world was about their physical well-being instead of being about God's purposes. They seemingly decided when God delivered Israel from Egypt and gave Israel Canaan, the majority of His work was accomplished.
There is a frightening parallel. Today American Christians conclude existence in this world is about our physical well-being rather than God's purposes. We seemingly decide once Jesus died and salvation was extended to the world that the majority of God's work was accomplished.
Then why was God so upset? They had ceased being God's unique people who existed in covenant relationship with God. [Read Exodus 19:5,6 again and remind yourself of the critical importance God placed on their being His unique, covenant people from their beginning.] They became like everyone else. In worship, traditions, and ceremonial behavior? No, they were quite different in numerous ways when compared to most other nations. Then how were they like everyone else? They were impure as were people who did not know God. They were evil as were people who did not know God. They were unjust as were people who did not know God. They took advantage of the helpless as did people who did not know God. To God, their religious distinctions were meaningless and insignificant when their wicked treatment of others was like that of people who did not know Him.
They concluded if they were observing the right religious rituals [offering the correct sacrifices at the correct place at the correct times in the correct manner] God was quite happy with them. They failed to see the connection that combined purity, godly living, and treating others justly WITH religious [and worship] activity. In their minds, if religious and worship activities were correct, God was happy. That conclusion meant they did not know God or understand His purposes.
Again, the parallel is frightening. Too many Christians place confidence in "the church" and it's "correct" functions rather than placing their confidence in surrender to God's rule in their lives. Such Christians think God is happy if an organization they call "the church" performs their understanding of the "correct" things. Too often we fail to see the connection that combines purity, godly living, and treating others correctly WITH God's purposes here and now. Too often the things we think make God happy verify we do not know God or understand His purposes.
The verses you read at the beginning of the lesson appear as a part of six woes pronounced on those in Judah and Jerusalem (5:8,11,18,20,21,22). They specifically appear as a part of the second woe. The over-all context was a people living "the good life" in a prosperous time. Yet, it was also a time of great wickedness. The rich made the poor miserable by taking advantage of them (5:8, 23). Heavy drinking and banquets for pleasure are common (5:11,12). Evil was considered insignificant and God was considered a joke (5:18,19). Evil was considered to be good, and good was considered to be evil (5:20). Wisdom was found in the arrogance of human thinking, not in understanding God (5:21). A person gained renown and status through drinking and exploiting the helpless (5:22,23).
This paragraph's purpose: increase students' awareness of the context of Isaiah 5:13-16. Since those people were living "the good life" physically, they were convinced that everything was okay and God was happy. Again, the parallels are frightening.
God said the unthinkable was about the occur. Why? A lack of knowledge would result in God's people being exiled (5:13). The point was much more significant, much deeper than a mere failure "to know enough scripture." These people lost their awareness of God. They were so devoted to the pursuit of their purposes in this world that they lost all consciousness of God working in the world. The world was not about God. The world was about them. Human existence was not about God's purposes. Human existence was about human purposes. Life's meaningful objectives were not about God. Life's meaningful objectives were about "us."
The key point in this paragraph is a contextual understanding of "My people go into exile for a lack of knowledge." Remember: Bibles did not exist, and people did not have personal copies of God's word. Printing from moveable type was hundreds of years from discovery/invention. The "lack of knowledge" was the failure to understand God was at work on His purposes in their world. Physical existence was about God's purposes in this world, not about their physical desires.
"God? Who is God? What does He have to do with any decision (or pursuit)? If things change, it is up to us. If progress is to be made, it is up to us. The 'good life' we enjoy was produced by us, not by God! If God is going to do anything, let Him hurry up and get on with it! If He is going to show us something, let Him get on with it." [This is the attitude of 5:19.]
Some of God's people were skeptics. In their thinking, God 's purposes and reality were two entirely different considerations, and they were not to be mixed. They thought physical existence was consumed with human concerns, not divine concerns.
Judah could not comprehend the consequences that were coming! Soon society's upper level would not have enough to eat (5:13). Soon the masses would not be able to find enough drinking water (5:13). There would be an enormous amount of death, though not enough [it never is!] to satisfy the grave's insatiable appetite (5:14). The citizens of the magnificent, reveling, "good life and good times" Jerusalem would certainly be a part of the "death march to the grave" (5:14). Conditions surrounding the common people would decline, and conditions surrounding the significant people would plummet.
Israelites were totally consumed in their dedication to enjoying "the good life." Their situation was so prosperous and their physical circumstances so stable and desirable, they could not imagine (a) becoming a conquered people and (b) living in severe poverty. Neither situation could possibly happen! What would become their reality in no way depended on their ability to "see it coming"!
What would be the end result of this approaching catastrophe that would befall the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem? (1) God would be exalted in judgment. (2) The holy God would demonstrate His holiness in righteousness. In all that occurred, God would be vindicated. God's holiness and righteousness would be evident. Because Judah misrepresented God, God would use their coming captivity to represent Himself.
The essential fact in this paragraph: the catastrophe that fell on these Israelites would declare God's holiness and righteousness. Their lives, their focus, and their declaration of the purpose of physical existence misrepresented God! In the coming conquest and exile of Israel, God would represent Himself! The coming horrible events would declare what God was and was not about!
How had Judah misrepresented God? In two ways: (1) by the wickedness of its people and (2) by its devotion to pleasure. The people who existed to represent God to the world had failed miserably. Because they did not worship? No! Because they did the wrong things in worship? No! Then how? People who did not know God could look at Judah and see a people devoted to (1) the abuse of helpless people and (2) pleasurable, indulgent existence. They could look at Judah and conclude those two considerations were the core purposes for human existence. And that is a total misrepresentation of God!
When God's people confuse wicked daily conduct with godly daily conduct, they misrepresent God. When God's people adopt pleasure as the foundation of physical existence, they misrepresent God. This misrepresentation occurs when the helpless are abused by God's people, and when God's people live to indulge themselves. Correct worship practices do not make such misrepresentations of God meaningless. Godly worship rituals cannot hide an ungodly daily existence.
Therefore through Judah's catastrophic captivity, God would represent Himself. The holy God did not [and does not!] abuse or exploit helpless people. The righteous God knew [knows!] that physical pleasure and indulgence were [are] not the core purposes for human existence. Judah forgot that God was at work in the world. However, God would declare to the world that He was not at work in Judah's evil, pleasure-centered acts. Captivity would bring catastrophe to Judah, but vindication for the holy, righteous God.
God does not abuse helpless people. God's people do not abuse helpless people. God and His people bring hope to the helpless. The center of our holy God's existence is not Self- indulgence. God's people do not allow indulgence to be the center of their existence. The holy, righteous God tirelessly works in our troubled, struggling world. God's people never forget that fact.
Supreme arrogance takes root in God's people when they forget that God is at work in the world. When they become their purpose for existing instead of God being their purpose for existing, they misrepresent God. How? They have rejected God's sovereignty. God is not exalted by their judgments. God's holiness and righteous is not evident in the way they treat others. God's people must never forget existence is about God, not about us.
God's people become arrogant when they lose awareness of the fact that God is at work in our world. In their arrogance, they live as if life is about them rather than about God. In the arrogance of ungodly lifestyles, they reject God's rule. When those who do not know God see the way God's people live and the way God's people treat others, they misunderstand God. Thus God is misrepresented by His own people.
Discussion Question
Judah's situation seems too typical of America's situation. The wealthy indulge themselves. The poor are helpless in many contexts. People of strength and position take advantage of people who are helpless. Life is about "us." Pleasure and the exploitation of the helpless are the core purposes of existence for many. And God's people become so engrossed in their purposes and objectives that they lose all consciousness of God being at work in our world. Why do we "buy into" that view of existence? How are these circumstances produced?
Christians "buy into" this view when "now" is accepted as true reality and God is regarded as hypothetical. This view measures the "real" by the physical benefits of "now."
These circumstances are produced when God's people think existence's important matters occur before death. They lose awareness that existence continues after death.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 5