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Isaiah 53, The First Gospel
“..each turned to his own way;” these words from the prophet Isaiah come from the segment about the Lord’s Righteous Servant. Some Bibles may have given this passage a different name but it starts in Isaiah 52 verse 13 and continues until the end of chapter 53. At work, I’ve found a prayer group and one of the members of that group calls it the first gospel because it gives such a description of what Jesus went through for us and the condition of mankind describing our need for Him.
When we read something that says that “each turned to his own way” we are left with the question “Why has this happened?” The answer is found in verse 3 of Isaiah 53 which says “He was despised and rejected by men.” Showing us that when we reject Jesus Christ who is Immanuel, which means “God with us,” we turn to our own ways.
The first sin that comes when we reject God is that of idolatry which exults something above Him and replaces God in our life.
Lucifer, the angel who fell and became Satan was guilty of this sin. Isaiah 14:14 is clear of his desires for it records that he said to himself “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” This ultimately leads to our ruin as the following verse gives us the response of The Lord to this behavior “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.”
Some of you are most likely wondering “Why do I bring this up?” I bring this up because of the recent Supreme Court ruling which overturns Roe V Wade. The original ruling of Roe V Wade was a terrible ruling that led to the death of 62 Million Children. For numbers that are easier to grasp let me put it to you like this. From that date, in 1973 the average number of deaths due to abortion grew to between 1800 and 2000 deaths per day. That is roughly the same as one graduating class in a large high school.
That means if you tallied it all up at the end of a day there would be one graduate class executed for the crime of just existing. Killed because they merely were inconvenient to the mother. The mother valued her life above the unborn child. She said that one life was worth less than hers which goes against the statutes of God who values each individual life as priceless and unique. In this action, they have placed themselves as the replacement for God and when a nation does this it will definitely earn the punishment of God. If God did not spare an angel who didn’t obey God do you think he will do so for a nation of humans who also violate His principles?
The answer is no. God is a God of Justice who will not stop once He has decided to bring it. But He gives us time to repent. And that is what we are doing in this nation right now. Overturning Roe V Wade allows the individual states to decide where they stand on this matter. It makes it so that God is able to save a remnant from his wrath. Those places that have decided to return to God about the value of human life and when it starts are able to receive the cleansing of their sins. While the others are being reserved for wrath. For now, however, we are being spared the wrath that is being stored up for us because of what we are told in 2nd Peter 3:8-10
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”
Before wrath comes there is a warning of impending judgment and a time to repent. A repentance that will be recognized and honored by God. This is a fact that Jonah knew and it is why he ran away from the city of Nineveh heading to Tarshish so that the evil city might be destroyed. Jonah is a quick read but it’s in the last chapter where we see that Jonah wanted the city to be destroyed and then God has to give him an attitude adjustment to realize how He cared for those people as well.
It doesn’t take more than a quick internet search to find many preachers speaking out against abortion and other forms of sin that have been glamorized in our society. People have been told to feel no shame for their sins and even boast that others may know about what they are doing. Israel is the nation that was the chosen people of God from which He would bring forth Jesus the Messiah.
But even they were not spared the torchers and sufferings of life. They would repeatedly turn away from God and live how they wanted which caused them to lose the protection of God so their enemies would gather together and ravage the land taking all food from Israel. Israel would then turn back to God for salvation and a rescuer would be sent to them who would be a military leader against their enemies securing their nation again.
Read Isaiah 57:12 and you will see that God has nothing against people getting the fruits of their labor. This chapter speaks of Israel’s idolatry and turning away from God detailing how they would worship idols setting things above God as though they were a god above Yahweh. And here is what He tells Israel at the end of that chapter in verse 12.
“When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.” Isaiah 57:12 ESV.
Israel was favored by God but not even He would spare them discipline when it was needed look at that last sentence. It refers to those who take refuge in God inheriting His holy mountain and having possession of the land. When you take refuge in something it has the connotation of you trusting it to be a place of safety. A good place in turmoil. By taking refuge in God you are saying to Him “I trust You wholeheartedly.” If you trust God you will obey Him and all His commands about right and wrong. You listen to His teachings about righteousness and the need to repent from sins. It develops within you an understanding of who He is which causes you to change.
He reveals the deepest parts of our being and will show us in detail where we are fallen.
These places are shown for the reason of purifying us. See Isaiah chapter 6 verses 5 through 7 where Isaiah has his unclean lips revealed to him and then purified after he confesses it. Our nation is the same way. An entity of power that can be brought into alignment with God but only if we confess that it has fallen out of alignment. We cannot and must not make any form of excuse for our behaviors as a nation.
Part of this is to correct the errors of our ways. To remove laws that enshrine sin as something to be lauded over. Those who worship sin will fight to defend it and those who love the Lord will fight to destroy the laws of sin while bringing with them an offering of salvation to the captives. Bringing with them the word of God which is able to bring rescue to the captives. A message that we are able to be made free. We tell of the one who Isaiah records as being pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, who received the chastisement bringing us peace, and by whose wounds we are healed.
I only pray that we are not in a time like King Josiah who was told that Judah would still suffer and be destroyed but that it wouldn’t happen during his reign because he sought the Lord. Please pray to ask God to have mercy on us as a nation to bring a change in the hearts of man so that we might be spared His wrath for now.