Everyone who has been the parent of a two-year-old or even been around one knows the amazing defiance those little tiny people can express. It seems they are able to express a defiant “No!” long before most other words. Even before they can say it, their little faces and bodies can express an amazing resolve to do things their own way. We have all watched helplessly as a two-year-old will put their pants on backwards because they want to do it themselves.
Isaiah says, this is not just two-year-olds. This is the human condition called sin. It is an obstinate “no” that we declare, even to God himself! In the opening eight verses of this chapter, Isaiah describes human obstinacy. It means we make plans that we know are not what God has planned for us. We form alliances, depend on people and things, that God has warned us against relying on. We go places and do things without consulting the Word of God. We look for help from other people and things demonstrating that we do not believe or trust God to do for us what he has promised. The result is not help. It is only shame and disgrace, says Isaiah.
These are rebellious and deceitful children, “unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.” (vs. 9)
The obstinacy goes further. We knowingly do not want to hear the truth but want only pleasant things spoken to us. I often struggle with this as a preacher. The scripture is full of hope, but it is also full of warnings and hard sayings. It is a temptation to only preach the hope and not the warnings. People adore sermons on love. They are not so appreciative of sermons on repentance and the need for transformed living! Isaiah says that if we only hear what we want to hear, it is like having a great wall built around us. But that wall is faulty and eventually will come tumbling down and destroy us (vs. 10-11).
As usual in the juxtaposing of judgment and hope in Isaiah’s message, in the middle of his warning comes a word of hope. Verse 15 offers salvation. How does it come? It comes from repentance and rest, quietness and trust. But like two-year-olds, we say, “No! I don’t want any of that!” It sounds ridiculous when stated like this. We are offered salvation and we say, “No thanks. I don’t want it?!” That is exactly what we do by the way we live our lives, no matter what our lips say (remember yesterday’s reading!). And beginning in verse 18, again, we hear the tender and compassionate plea of God who “longs to be gracious.” Like a parent dealing with an obstinate two-year-old, our heavenly father does not turn away or abandon us. He allows us to suffer the consequences of our behavior (because we are not two-year-olds, we are adults and most often the best learning comes from natural consequences).
And then the promise returns in the final verses. When human beings cry for help–really knowing we need it–graciousness awaits us “as soon as he hears.” Verses 19-26 explain what he will do. He will answer. He will open the eyes so that we can see our teachers–we can listen to the instruction of the Lord (v.20). He will lead us in the right way. (v.21) We will rid ourselves of all other false gods (v. 22). He will send rain and make produce plentiful (vs. 23-24). Water will flow and the sun and moon will be brighter than ever and he will heal his people’s wounds (vs. 25-26).
the final verses of this chapter, vs. 27-33, summarize the message of Isaiah throughout the book. The guilty, those who will not finally listen, will be judged (Topheth, a place of burning death, v. 33) and those who trust in the Lord will celebrate (v. 29). Doesn’t seem like much of a choice, does it? Yet, each day, not just in “that day” we are faced with this choice–to follow the instruction of the Lord or to go our own way. The important question is not, what will you decide “in that day.” The question is, what are you deciding today!